Pink Lloyd’s undefeated campaign of 2017 will have a looming presence over Canada’s Horse of the Year race, but it also will be the likely deciding factor in Old Forester’s bid to again top the country’s sire list by progeny earnings.
Old Forester, a 16-year-old Forestry horse, leads second-place Silent Name by a margin of $589,927 with about three weeks left in the year. If Old Forester keeps his lead, it will be his fifth reign at the top of the standings, and his third in a row.
River Dancer, a Grade 2-placed son of Pioneerof the Nile, will make his stallion debut at Breakway Farm in Dillsboro, Ind., during the 2018 breeding season for a private treaty.
The 6-year-old horse finished his ontrack career with one win in eight starts for earnings of $91,648. He finished second in the Grade 2 With Anticipation Stakes as a juvenile after winning on debut in a Belmont turf maiden special weight.
River Dancer came out of the With Anticipation with a torn suspensory ligament that sidelined him for 27 months before making his return to the races at age 4.
Swifty Farms in Seymour, Ind., has released its advertised fees for the 2018 breeding season, led once again by Majestic Harbor at $4,000.
Majestic Harbor, a 9-year-old Grade 1-winning son of Rockport Harbor, stood his debut season in 2017 for the same fee, and his first foals will arrive in 2018. He covered a reported 24 mares during the most recent season, tying him for fifth-most in the state.
Swifty Farms will debut two new stallions in 2018, including Fear the Kitten, who will stand for $1,000.
Read our feature piece on the new stallions of 2018 as individual stories below, or download the complete special section as a PDF. The download includes a complete chart of new stallions and stud fees nationwide.
In the early part of this century, stud fees for incoming Kentucky stallions were soaring. Horse of the Year Ghostzapper (Adena Springs) entered stud for $200,000 in 2006 – a debut fee it would take a decade, and a Triple Crown winner, to match – while champions Smarty Jones (Three Chimneys) and Bernardini (Darley) cashed in on their racetrack accomplishments to the tune of $100,000.
Kentucky traditionally sees the most stallions enter its ranks each breeding season, but the migration of prospects from the racetrack to regional farms can fluctuate depending on the health of each state’s program.
The Thoroughbred industry is a landscape of dynasties and history. That is evident in this year’s Kentucky class of sires, with major farms tapping into lines that have worked for them in the past by standing young stallions aside their sires or close relations, or securing sons from rising sirelines.
A stallion open house at Spendthrift Farm is often a laid-back affair. Expensive decisions are made by breeders as they inspect the horses and plan their matings, of course, but the business is broken up by laughs, handshakes, and catered sandwiches. The stakes are relatively low for the stallions themselves in the moment as they stand, walk, and go back to their stalls.
For Lord Nelson, just getting to that point was a triumph.
After Gun Runner gamely turned back Collected to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar, co-owners Three Chimneys Farm and Winchell Thoroughbreds were reminded that they had yet to announce the horse’s plans for 2018.
“We meant after the party,” Three Chimneys’ Goncalo Torrealba promptly responded to the crew gathered for the post-race press conference.
“Great answer,” trainer Steve Asmussen said with a laugh.
But now, the party is almost over.
