Freshman sire Cairo Prince had a massive day Saturday, including striking the first blow on the Kentucky Derby trail, to move among the leaders of his peer group.
The Cairo Prince colt Cairo Cat edged Tight Ten in the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs to earn an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and 10 points toward a spot in the 2019 Derby in the first points race of the series.
Gun Runner won the world’s richest race, the $16 million Pegasus World Cup, in January, and his $7 million share of the purse gave his sire, Candy Ride, a big leg up in the 2018 stallion race. Candy Ride is no one-hit wonder, either, with Grade 1 winners Game Winner and Separationofpowers also adding to his tally over the summer.
Multiple graded stakes winner McCraken has been retired and will stand for $10,000 at Airdrie Stud in 2019.
McCraken, a 4-year-old son of Ghostzapper who raced as a homebred for Janis Whitham and was trained by Ian Wilkes, compiled a career mark of 14-6-1-3 with earnings of $869,728.
Who is the world’s best racehorse? You may be surprised to learn that the official holder of that title for 2017 was Arrogate, whose dramatic Dubai World Cup performance was the highest-rated single performance of the year according to the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. Unlike electoral trophies such as the Eclipse and Cartier awards, the IFHA’s annual World’s Best Racehorse Rankings are based on the single best performance by a horse every year instead of form over the whole year.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Ransom the Moon, a contender for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, will enter stud at Calumet Farm for the 2019 breeding season.
Ransom the Moon is a son of Malibu Moon trained by Phil D’Amato for Agave Racing Stable and Jeffry Wilke.
“As the only Grade 1-winning sprinting son of Malibu Moon to go to stud, Ransom the Moon offers breeders with a dirt-speed option on an incredible sire line,” Calumet Farm’s director of stallions Jak Knelman said in a release.
Grade 1 winner Girvin will stand the 2019 breeding season at Ocala Stud in Florida in a deal involving several parties, including major Kentucky operation Airdrie Stud.
Brad and Misty Grady of Grand Oaks Farm, who campaigned Girvin on the racetrack, have partnered with Kentucky-based Airdrie to co-own Girvin through his stallion career. The deal was structured by West Bloodstock.
Always Dreaming, the 2017 Kentucky Derby winner, has officially been retired from racing, it was announced Wednesday. He will stand at stud in 2019 at WinStar Farm for a fee of $25,000.
Always Dreaming was originally owned by Anthony Bonomo, Maryellen Bonomo, and Dominick Schettino, who was the trainer for the colt’s first two career starts as a 2-year-old.
Spendthrift Farm has announced that it will discontinue the Spendthrift Stallion Stakes at Churchill Downs after October’s renewal, citing a refusal by the North American International Cataloguing Standards Committee to give black-type consideration to the race. The race is restricted to runners by Spendthrift sires.
