Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Unbridled sired a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner from his first crop in Unbridled’s Song, and that colt was sent away favored in the 1996 Kentucky Derby. But as he faded to fifth in the lane after being hampered by foot problems in the lead-up to the race, it was another first-crop son of Unbridled, Grindstone, who staged a dramatic rally to win by a nose.
There is no denying that Kendall Hansen has put in the legwork to help prove out his namesake stallion, the champion juvenile Hansen, in his lone U.S. crop before being sold to Korea in late 2013.
The northern Kentucky-based pain-management doctor expanded his broodmare band to breed or co-breed 37 of Hansen’s 102 registered foals in his debut crop. Twenty-five of those horses would later be offered at auction by the doctor himself, who was often in attendance with the stallion’s collection of trophies earned during his racing career.
The Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector male lines completely dominate worldwide group and graded stakes results, but the eight races at the Dubai World Cup meeting produced a remarkable variety of winners from relatively rare male lines.
Male-line descendants of Northern Dancer captured the Group 2 UAE Derby (Thunder Snow), Group 1 Golden Shaheen (Mind Your Biscuits), and Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint, while Mr. Prospector’s descendants won the Group 1 Dubai World Cup (Arrogate) and Group 2 Godolphin Mile (Second Summer), but they accounted for only five of the eight races.
The road to the top of New Mexico’s sire list took a long sweep through A & A Ranch in 2016, with the farm’s stallions taking up four of the top five spots on the state’s general earnings list.
It was the latest milepost in an extended run of success for the Anthony, N.M., operation of Fred and Linda Alexander. A member of the farm’s stallion roster has occupied the top spot six times in the past decade, including each of the past five seasons.
Grade 1 winner Tamarando will enter stud at Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif., for the 2017 breeding season and will stand for an advertised fee of $2,500.
The 6-year-old son of Bertrando retires with four wins in 31 starts over five seasons of racing for earnings of $722,652, highlighted by wins in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity, Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby, and the listed Real Quiet Stakes. His seven stakes placings include third-place efforts in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity and Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes.
The Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Incentive Program, designed to encourage the retraining of off-the-track racehorses, recently announced the winners of its 2016 performance awards program.
The awards recognize Thoroughbreds who accumulated points at horse shows in various disciplines throughout the year.
Fantastic Style, a Grade 2 winner in Southern California who last raced at Oaklawn, has been retired and is to be bred, trainer Doug O’Neill said Tuesday. A 5-year-old mare by Harlan’s Holiday, Fantastic Style won 5 of 12 starts and earned $427,358.
“She’s been retired,” O’Neill said. “Her owner, Kaleem Shah, decided to retire her, and she was sent to Kentucky.”
Although a decision has yet to be reached on the future of unbeaten Mastery’s racing career, a deal has been inked to stand him at historic Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., upon his eventual retirement.
Mastery, a Grade 1 winner as a juvenile, improved his career mark to 4 for 4 by winning the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes by 6 3/4 lengths on March 11 at Santa Anita. However, the post-race celebration was short lived, as he was pulled up past the wire and vanned off. Radiographs revealed a condylar fracture to his left front leg, and he underwent surgery two days later.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Frosted will shuttle to Darley Australia for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season.
A Southern Hemisphere fee for the 5-year-old son of Tapit will be announced at a later time. He currently stands at Darley’s Jonabell Farm location in Lexington, Ky. for $50,000.
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