Grade 1 winner Geri was euthanized on May 25 at Park Equine Hospital in Versailles, Ky., due to complications from colic.
Geri, who was 27, had been repatriated from Italy in 2013 to reside at the Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement farm in Georgetown, Ky.
It turned out to be a significant Preakness Stakes Day for Claiborne Farm.
The farm's flagship sire War Front sired his first American classic winner in War of Will; one race prior, Catholic Boy won the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes in his 2019 debut; and now Claiborne has purchased an interest in the versatile colt and will stand him upon retirement, the farm announced Tuesday via press release.
The late sire Smart Strike sired a pair of Preakness Stakes winners in Curlin (2007) and Lookin At Lucky (2010). The stallion’s influence was strongly present at Pimlico this Preakness Stakes weekend, with Curlin siring three graded stakes winners on Friday’s card and another champion son of Smart Strike, English Channel, represented by a pair of stakes winners Saturday.
Entering this year, War Front was already the most expensive stallion in North America, with graded/group stakes winners worldwide on both dirt and turf and massive success in the commercial arena. There was one frontier he had yet to cross, however, as he hadn’t yet sired a Grade 1-winning male around two turns on dirt. War Front answered that question earlier this year, as Omaha Beach won the Arkansas Derby to make himself the Kentucky Derby morning-line favorite before being scratched days before the race due to an entrapped epiglottis.
One Bad Boy
Twirling Candy – Cumulonimble, by Stormy Atlantic
Bred in Ontario by Ron Clarkson ($65,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Say Jay Racing)
The Canadian Triple Crown is a unique challenge in that it requires races on a variety of surfaces. One Bad Boy, a candidate for this year’s series, is by a stallion and out of a mare who both ran well on three different types of surfaces throughout their careers.
The young classic sire Bodemeister will be represented in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes by Bodexpress, looking to become the first maiden to win the second jewel of the Triple Crown since 1888. But regardless of the result, Bodemeister’s ties to a century-plus of racing history already run deep. The young stallion was bred by Audley Farm of Berryville, Va., less than 100 miles from Pimlico, and the former home of 1919 Triple Crown winner Sir Barton.
