Ten stakes races will be conducted on the star-studded opening week at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., with plenty of runners hoping to move on to the Breeders’ Cup. But the most popular Thoroughbred in competition in Lexington this week might be a few miles away at the Kentucky Horse Park as several hundred retired racehorses vie for their own rich prize.
The great French racehorse and sire Teddy, by Ajax, was unfortunate to be foaled in 1913 during World War I, and had few opportunities to race in France. Still he won six of his eight races in France and Spain, including the most important events available, and confirmed his genetic class by leading the French sire list in 1923. Teddy was imported to the U.S. in 1931 primarily because of the Triple Crown sweep in 1930 of his paternal grandson Gallant Fox, whose sire, Sir Gallahad III, led the sire list in 1930, 1933, 1934, and 1940.
Grade 2 winner and classic-placed Irish War Cry has been retired and will enter stud in 2019 at Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, Md.
Irish War Cry raced as a homebred for Isabelle De Tomaso. Irish War Cry's breeding rights were purchased in May 2017 by a partnership led by Hill 'n' Dale Farm, which stands his sire, Curlin.
Classic-placed champion Good Magic has been retired and will enter stud at Hill 'n' Dale Farm alongside his sire, Curlin.
Good Magic, who was bred by Stonestreet Farm, was sold by Hill 'n' Dale on behalf of his breeder at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale, where e Five Racing went to $1 million to acquire him. Stonestreet later bought back in, and the two entities raced him in partnership to three graded stakes victories from nine starts and earnings of more than $2.9 million.
Although yearling buyers are forever in search of high-quality individuals by stallions they believe to be sires of sires, success in the breeding shed is never guaranteed, and sire lines often take unpredictable twists and turns on the road to immortality.
Triple Crown winner Justify will debut for an advertised stud fee of $150,000 in 2019, while Triple Crown winner American Pharoah will stand for $110,000 as Coolmore announced the roster and fees for its Ashford Stud in Kentucky on Sunday.
The rare twin Thoroughbreds Mr. Ping and Mr. Pong, who drew national attention when they debuted in the same race in April, have been retired from racing and will embark on second careers as polo ponies under twin brothers Charlie and Harry Caldwell.
The 3-year-old geldings by Denis of Cork and out of the unraced Domestic Dispute mare Washingtonian were foaled on April 16, 2015, at Avonwood Farm in West Virginia for owner and breeder John P. Casey. The successful birth of twins is rare for horses, especially Thoroughbreds, whose pregnancies are closely monitored.
Sierra Farm patriarch Ed Hudon died last Thursday, just a day after an American Pharoah colt bred and raised by his operation sold for $1.4 million to Larry Best’s OXO Equine to top a session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
“I always wanted to sell a million-dollar horse, so when Ed died the next day, I feel like that was his last gift to me,” Hudon’s widow, Sharon, told Keeneland publicity.
Ed Hudon purchased the colt’s dam, the multiple Grade 2-winning Pulpit mare Bsharpsonata, for $375,000 out of the 2016 Keeneland November breeding stock sale.
