Virginia’s racing and breeding programs sit on opposite ends of the spectrum.
On one side, the Virginia-bred banner has flown proudly over champion Stellar Wind, who became an Eclipse Award winner on the track and topped last year’s Keeneland November breeding stock sale with a $6 million price tag. On the other, the state has been without a significant live meet since Colonial Downs closed its doors in 2014.
Brereton and Libby Jones’s Airdrie Stud has never been in the market for the $10 million stallion coming off the racetrack. Airdrie has focused instead on horses just below that top tier, horses of proven top-class ability with perhaps a bit of a hole in their race records or pedigrees that meant they had to prove their worth to breeders before they could attract the best mares at high-dollar stud fees.
Noted breeder and farm owner Ben Walden, whose involvement in the Thoroughbred industry has shifted recently, has taken a key role with Adena Springs, also undergoing changes.
Walden will serve as director of marketing and bloodstock consultant for Frank Stronach’s nationwide operation. Stronach announced last October that he will sell Adena’s flagship farm in Kentucky and will expand his programs in California and Maryland to bolster the industry in those states, where he owns racetracks.
Shaman Ghost, a Grade 1 winner and Canadian champion, has been relocated to Lovacres Ranch in Warner Springs, Calif., for the remainder of the 2018 breeding season and will stand for an advertised fee of $7,500.
The 6-year-old son of Ghostzapper was retired in December and initially stood at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds in Santa Ynez, Calif., for a fee of $10,000. In late February, the horse’s owner and breeder, Adena Springs, reduced his fee to $7,500, retroactive to any contracts signed before the price change.
Bolt d’Oro
Medaglia d’Oro–Globe Trot, by A.P. Indy
Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm ($630,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling purchase by Ruis Racing)
Multiple Grade 1 winner Bolt d’Oro helped power a career year for sire Medaglia d’Oro and this spring will look to give his sire another career accomplishment, as the elite stallion is still hunting his first Kentucky Derby win.
After the dust settled from Saturday’s Kentucky Oaks prep races, a pair of fillies by Midnight Lute sat tied atop the leaderboard, each with 60 points.
Midnight Bisou shed any doubt about her two-turn ability in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita, winning her first start beyond seven furlongs by 2 1/4 lengths. On the other side of the country, Midnight Disguise maintained her status as New York’s top Oaks contender, winning the listed Busher Stakes at Aqueduct by 1 3/4 lengths.
When the historic Phipps family racing operation made a rare buying appearance at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale as part of a plan to diversify its stock, one of its carefully selected purchases was a filly from one of the most active family trees in racing today, with roots in another vaunted program.
Good racehorses come in all shapes and sizes, but on average the breed tends toward the 16-hand average height. At the same time, though, buyers tend to prefer big, mature horses at yearling and 2-year-old sales, which can give the progeny of larger stallions an early advantage.
The freshman sire race came down to the line in 2017, with traditional earnings lists and winners lists decided by narrow margins. The class also spread the wealth when it came to the Beyer Sire Performance Standings, with a handful of stallions making an impact.
Violence, who stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm, was represented by the most individuals from his first crop to meet or exceed the threshold figure of 80, with four. That group was led by Peace, who earned an 88 when finishing second in a maiden race at Del Mar. The colt came back to win his next outing.
