After Bolt d’Oro captured the Del Mar Futurity and Moonshine Memories won the Del Mar Debutante, their half-siblings fetched $250,000 and $750,000, respectively, at the Keeneland September yearling sale, thanks to those Grade 1 catalog updates.
Those price tags will look like bargains if Bolt d’Oro and Moonshine Memories complete unbeaten seasons. They are expected to start as favorites in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies.
Medaglia d’Oro has made his mark as an outstanding filly sire - and that’s no knock.
For all his accomplishments, one has been elusive for classic sire Malibu Moon. The Spendthrift Farm stalwart has not yet been represented by a Breeders’ Cup winner, with his best finishes two fourth-place efforts from 19 progeny starts at the event.
Grade 2 winner El Kabeir has been retired from racing, and will enter stud for the 2018 breeding season at Yeomanstown Stud in Ireland.
The 5-year-old son of Scat Daddy finished with five wins in 20 starts for earnings of $946,557, highlighted by victories in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, and the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes and Jerome Stakes. He also placed in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial, Grade 2 Nashua Stakes, and Grade 3 Withers Stakes.
Lani, the enigmatic Group 2 winner and U.S. classic-placed runner, has been retired from racing, and will stand the 2018 breeding season at Arrow Stud in Hokkaido, Japan.
The 4-year-old son of Tapit finished with three wins in 17 starts for earnings of $1,671,708. He raced as a homebred for owner Yoko Maeda’s North Hills Co. Ltd. and trainer Mikio Matsunaga
Canada’s most active stallions of 2017 according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred revealed a mix of established names and newcomers at the top of the list.
As usual, the bulk of the country’s breeding activity was based in Ontario, led by fast-rising sire Giant Gizmo, who covered 72 mares this year. The 13-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway’s book declined slightly from 79 in 2016. Giant Gizmo stands at Adena Springs North in Aurora, Ontario.
The 2018 advertised fees for Darley’s U.S. stallion roster have been revealed, with cornerstone sire Medaglia d’Oro entering rarified air at $200,000.
The son of El Prado stood at Darley’s Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky., for $150,000 in 2017. Just two North American stallions met or exceeded the $200,000 threshold last year, Gainesway’s Tapit and Claiborne Farm’s War Front.
Kentucky stallions perennially dominate the top of the list on The Jockey Club’s annual Report of Mares Bred, but the most active stallions in other major breeding states drew large books of their own in 2017.
The most active stallion outside of Kentucky during the 2017 breeding season was Uncaptured, a resident of Ocala Stud in Florida, who covered 140 mares. The 7-year-old son of Lion Heart met his second book of mares this year, after covering 108 mares in his debut season.
California Chrome covered 145 mares in his first season at stud, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred.
California Chrome is based at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky, and is currently standing the Southern Hemisphere breeding season at Haras Sumaya in Chile. His first Northern Hemisphere book included graded winners and producers including Champagne Royale, the dam of Grade 1 winners Danza and Majestic Harbor.
Young stallions typically garner strong books of mares when they retire to stud, with their supporters looking to get them off to a strong start, then cool down for a few years until their progeny are proven on the racetrack or in the sale ring.
But Triple Crown winner American Pharoah is a special case, and has not followed that trend.
