An aftercare facility named for a record-breaking Thoroughbred celebrated a record-breaking year in 2016.
The Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center, which operates from the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, placed 62 retired Thoroughbreds in new homes in 2016 – a facility record. The MMSC, founded in 2004, is a Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited nonprofit that retrains and showcases adoptable Thoroughbreds for a variety of disciplines.
Olympic gold-medal-winning skier Bode Miller’s interest in horse racing has been well documented, so it was no surprise to see his name among the buyers at the Keeneland January sale of horses of all ages.
What did surprise was seeing Miller’s name on the $25,000 ticket for Grade 1-placed stakes winner Red Vine – a stallion prospect.
A highly-accomplished group of first-crop stallions went to stud in 2016, counting among them victories in the Triple Crown, three editions of the Belmont Stakes, six Breeders' Cup races, and several international classics. The DRF Breeding staff is now reporting on first foals by notable stallions as they arrive. A compilation linking to all these reports, alphabetized by stallion name, is below. To submit a new arrival for your stallion, contact the staff.
Grade 1 winner Afleet Express has been sold to stand in Korea, where he will continue his stud career.
The 10-year-old son of Afleet Alex previously resided at Gainesway in Lexington, Ky., where he debuted at stud in 2011, and was advertised last year for a fee of $2,500. According to Korean Racing Authority records, the stallion was imported on Jan. 11.
Afleet Express has sired four crops of racing age, with 31 winners and combined progeny earnings of more than $1.8 million.
Grade 1 winner Bradester and Grade 1-placed Mexikoma will each begin his stallion career in Texas for the 2017 breeding season.
Bradester, a 7-year-old son of Lion Heart, will stand at Valor Farm in Pilot Point for an advertised fee of $3,500.
Mexikoma, a 6-year-old son of Birdstone, will stand at Keen Farms in Burleson for $1,000.
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Grade 3 winner Metaboss will begin his stallion career at Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif. for the 2017 breeding season, where he will stand for an advertised fee of $2,000.
The 5-year-old son of Street Boss finished his career with three wins in 12 career starts for earnings of $300,420. He won the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields at age 3, then finished second by a fast-closing nose in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap last year.
Eclipse Award finalist Exaggerator owns three Grade 1 victories – more than any other son of rising young classic sire Curlin. As a result, the Preakness Stakes winner already has several Grade 1 winners in his first book for 2017 at WinStar Farm.
Three stallions are represented by multiple individual finalists at this weekend’s Eclipse Awards – Curlin, Dansili, and Medaglia d’Oro.
Of those three, Medaglia d’Oro, who is based at Darley’s Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, is the only one who seems likely to have a winner. The outstanding filly sire is represented by Horse of the Year finalist Songbird, a virtual lock to earn her second divisional Eclipse as champion 3-year-old filly. Medaglia d’Oro is also the sire of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner New Money Honey, a finalist in the 2-year-old filly division.
Inevitably, the explosion in stallion book size that began in the early 1990s led to a severe reduction in the number of stallions at stud compared to the number of mares. The dramatic reduction in the overall size of the breeding population dictated by the global economic meltdown of 2008 reduced the available choices in bloodlines even more drastically.
Michael Blowen did not hear voices that said, “If you build it, they will come.” But everyone did think he was out of his mind when he told people his concept for Old Friends.
“People told me, are you crazy? This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Blowen, founder and president of Old Friends, of his initial effort to solicit support for the fledgling idea.
