There were several major storylines in the Canadian stallion ranks in 2024, including the deaths of popular T.C. Westmeath Stud Farm sires Souper Speedy and Old Forester.
Souper Speedy was Canada’s leading sire in 2024 when he died in October in a paddock accident at age 15. Old Forester, the sire of five-time Canadian champion sprinter Pink Lloyd, succumbed in November at 23.
It’s less than a half-hour from Journeyman Stud in Reddick, Fla., to Ocala Stud in the eponymous city. Khozan is taking a short trip from one farm to another – but while his barn is changing, his location atop Florida’s leading sire list has not.
Juddmonte announced the birth of Elite Power's first foal, born on January 16th, at Norevale Farm. With nearly identical marking as his sire, the chestnut colt is out of Havin a Party, a daughter of GSW Chimichurri who sold for $2.1 million dollars as a broodmare. The dam's first foal to race is a winner. The colt's half siblings have sold as yearlings for $575,000 (by Constitution), $325,000 (by Constitution), and $275,000 (by Not This Time).
The dam is a half sister to the Stakes producing daughters:
Leading breeders Carrie and Craig Brogden and Dr. Sandra Fubini have reported that Lil Miss Moonlight, a stakes-placed City of Light mare who was carrying her first pregnancy, has foaled a bay colt by Airdrie Stud’s Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Mage at their Machmer Hall in Paris, KY. Out of a Malibu Moon half-sister to the top-class European miler Taareef, Lil Miss Moonlight was purchased by Machmer Hall at the 2023 Keeneland November Sale and sent to Mage for her first covering.
Spendthrift Farm’s Taiba, Gun Runner’s only 3-time Grade 1-winning son to date, sired his first reported foal this week when a colt was born late Monday, January 6th at Castleton Lyons in Lexington.
Bred by Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate, the chestnut colt is out of the Exaggerator mare Wecallherqueenmary, whose dam is a full sister to the late leading sire Speightstown.
Jan. 1 marked the official start of foaling season in the Northern Hemisphere, and among the notable arrivals this year will be the first foals for a quintet of Eclipse Award winners standing in Kentucky. The first of those represented was 2023 Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish, whose first reported foal is a colt born Jan. 6 in Kentucky.
Familiar names were atop the lists of leading sires, breeders, and owners of 2024.
Into Mischief, who stands at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky, claimed his sixth consecutive North American general sire earnings title, a streak that puts him in league with some of the all-time greats. The stallion’s progeny earned $35,406,575 in 2024, according to Daily Racing Form statistics. That not only easily outpaced runner-up Gun Runner, with $22,488,544, but smashed his own single-season earnings record of $28,568,753 from the 2022 season.
Rich Strike, upset winner of the 2022 Kentucky Derby who had a roller-coaster year-plus trying to make it back to the races, is expected to begin his stud career at Mountain Springs Farm in Palmyra, Pa., in 2025.
Owner Rick Dawson, who campaigned Rich Strike in the name of his RED-TR Racing, has long expressed his desire to strike a domestic stud deal for his star. He confirmed in a social media post on New Year’s Eve that he has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the farm.
The Street Fighter, a stakes-caliber performer by multiple Grade 1 winner Street Boss, has relocated to Rancho San Miguel in California for the 2025 breeding season. The 10-year-old stallion will stand for a fee of $2,500, with a live foal guarantee.
