Stalwart sire Medaglia d’Oro has been pensioned, Darley revealed in announcing its stallion roster for the upcoming season. The 26-year-old son of El Prado will retire at the Lexington, Ky., farm.
Medaglia d’Oro won three Grade 1 races, placed in another six, and earned more than $5.7 million. He is the sire of 104 graded/group stakes winners worldwide. Those include a record three winners of the Kentucky Oaks – Rachel Alexandra (2009), Plum Pretty (2011), and Good Cheer this year.
Perennial leading sire Medaglia d’Oro’s best shot for a Breeders’ Cup victory appeared to be Juvenile favorite East Avenue, but the Grade 1-winning colt stumbled badly at the start of the race and was never involved. The sire did chalk up a few longshot placings, with Nitrogen finishing third in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Pleasant finishing third in the Filly and Mare Sprint.
But Medaglia d’Oro wasn’t completely shut out at the Breeders’ Cup. As his legacy continues to grow, two of his sons were represented by Breeders’ Cup winners.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Keeneland September yearling sale concludes what has been a robust first week with its second and final Book 2 session Thursday. The sale takes its traditional dark day Friday before continuing with daily sessions through Sept. 24.
Here are some of the horses to watch in the Thursday session, largely based on their pages and the market trends seen thus far. The selections reflect catalog updates and sale outs through Wednesday morning.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas saddled his fifth Kentucky Oaks winner with Secret Oath this spring, and on Saturday is expected to send her in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Meanwhile, the legendary trainer is looking ahead to his 2023 and 2024 3-year-old crops.
Champion Essential Quality will be retired following the Breeders' Cup and will join the Kentucky stallion ranks for Sheikh Mohammed’s international Godolphin racing and Darley stallions operation, along with Maxfield, the farm announced Monday.
A filly from the first crop of Collected sold for $320,000 to lead Tuesday's session as the Keeneland September yearling sale closed out its Book 4 portion with continued gains, moving toward its finish line with momentum.
Keeneland reported that 313 yearlings sold through the ring on Tuesday, the eighth of 11 sessions, for gross receipts of $20,569,000. In last year's corresponding eighth session, 255 horses were sold for a gross of $11,823,500 before any private sales were factored in.
Following are horses to watch during the Keeneland September yearling sale’s first week, comprising the upper-market Book 1 and Book 2 sections of the marathon sale. Tapit, War Front, Medaglia d’Oro, Curlin, and Galileo, who have led Keeneland September by average price each year since 2013, are all well represented on this list, as is two-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief. Horses were selected primarily based on the strength of their pedigrees and the racing or commercial results of notable family members. The selections reflect catalog updates through Aug. 25.
A filly from the first crop of Practical Joke sold for $425,000 to lead the way as the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s June sale of 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age opened its three-day run Wednesday.
OBS reported that 176 horses sold in the session and grossed $7,268,400. In the corresponding opening session of this sale last year - pushed back to July by the coronavirus pandemic - 163 sold for a total of $5,037,800.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Keeneland September yearling sale is considered a bellwether for the North American Thoroughbred market, as it tests the marketplace at a number of levels over a nearly two-week run. With the coronavirus pandemic touching every aspect of the business, the community braced for this year's sale and the long-term forecast it would provide as the market tends to react with restraint to turbulence in the world at large. The sale, which experienced a shift to a largely domestic marketplace this year, finished with declines that were not unexpected, but some bright spots.
