Since 2000, nine stallions have gotten off the mark with a winner in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, or Belmont Stakes in their first crop, and two of them did it in 2017.
Always Dreaming did it first, winning the Derby with WinStar Farm’s Bodemeister, followed by Cloud Computing’s win in the Preakness for Maclean’s Music of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm.
Raised a Secret, a Grade 3-placed stakes winner, will begin his stallion career at Oakhurst Equine Veterinary Services in Newburg, Ore., during the 2018 breeding season for an advertised fee of $1,000.
The 8-year-old son of Songandaprayer finished his racing career with five wins in 31 starts and earnings of $492,130, with a victory in the Harris Farm Stakes at Fresno. His six in-the-money efforts in stakes include a third in the Grade 3 Los Angeles Stakes at Los Alamitos.
Grade 2 winner Iliad will begin his stallion career at Battle River Stud in Camrose, Alberta, Canada, for the 2018 breeding season, standing for an advertised of $3,500 Canadian.
The 4-year-old Ghostzapper ridgling finished his on-track career with two wins in five career starts for earnings of $247,345, highlighted by a victory in the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes and a runner-up effort in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes. He raced for owner Kaleem Shah and trainer Doug O’Neill.
The headline for a recent stallion advertisement exerted perhaps a very different effect on my brain than the advertiser planned. “The stallion who made the best-ever start at stud” immediately made me think of Uncle Mo instead of the stallion advertised.
NEW ORLEANS – Mo Tom, a major player on the 2016 Kentucky Derby trail, has been retired from racing and will go to stud at Red River Farms in Coushatta, La.
Mo Tom won the Lecomte Stakes in January 2016 at Fair Grounds, then suffered through high-profile terrible trips in the Risen Star Stakes and the Louisiana Derby, finishing third and fourth, respectively. He had another relatively luckless trip finishing eighth in the Kentucky Derby, and won the $500,000 Ohio Derby in his next start.
Mo Tom, 5, is retired with a record of 4-2-4 from 19 starts and earnings of $665,356.
Toews On Ice, a Grade 3 winner, will begin his stallion career at Justin and Vanessa Evans’ A & A Equine in Anthony, N.M., during the 2018 breeding season for an advertised fee of $1,000.
The 5-year-old son of Archarcharch finished his on-track career with 6 wins in 17 starts for earnings of $394,740, highlighted by victories in the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes and the non-graded William Walker Stakes, Speakeasy Stakes, and Barretts Juvenile Stakes. He also finished second in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity.
A campaign that saw strong efforts within his home state and elsewhere helped earn Shadow Tracer the Michigan Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association’s 2017 Horse of the Year title.
The Even the Score colt was dominant in three starts against his fellow Michigan-breds at Hazel Park, winning a June allowance by 8 3/4 lengths, then taking the Lansing Stakes by 14 3/4 lengths in June and Mackinac Stakes in August by 5 1/4 lengths.
Grade 1 winner and Canadian champion Shaman Ghost will begin his stallion career at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds in Santa Ynez, Calif., during the 2018 breeding season for an advertised fee of $10,000.
Special considerations will be made for young stakes-winning mares at a reduced fee of $7,500.
Kennedy, a half-brother to Grade 3 winner Thiskyhasnolimit, will stand the 2018 breeding season at Raimonde Farms in Wooster, Ohio, for an advertised fee of $1,000.
The 10-year-old son of A.P. Indy sold to Raimonde Farms for $2,000 on Wednesday at the Keeneland January sale of horses of all ages. He previously resided at River Oaks Farm in Sulphur, Okla., for $1,250.
