Wed, 10/05/2016 - 17:17

Hunters Bay relocating to Ontario

Canadian champion Hunters Bay will relocate to Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs North in Aurora, Ontario, for the 2017 breeding season.

The 9-year-old son of Ghostzapper had previously resided at Adena Springs South in Williston, Fla., after debuting at stud in 2014 at Heritage Stallions in Maryland. His first foals are yearlings of 2016.

Tue, 10/04/2016 - 22:39

TIEA finalists were part of American Pharoah's story

It takes a village to raise and campaign a top racehorse – and two men who worked closely with Triple Crown champion American Pharoah behind the scenes are among the finalists for the inaugural Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards, presented by Godolphin.

Mon, 10/03/2016 - 16:23

Sparkman: O'Brien, Galileo in a league of their own

Shigeki Kikkawa
Noted and Quoted wins the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes, giving her sire, The Factor, his first Grade 1 winner in his first crop.

Whatever the Coolmore partnership pays trainer Aidan O’Brien it is not enough.

That is the No. 1 lesson learned from a packed trans-Atlantic weekend of prep races for the Breeders’ Cup a month hence that began at Chantilly on Saturday morning and ended at Santa Anita on Sunday evening.

Mon, 10/03/2016 - 13:36

Flint keeps family line moving

Veteran trainer Bernie Flint was beaming in the Churchill Downs winner’s circle on Saturday – and not just because One Mean Man had captured the $100,000 Jefferson Cup for his fourth stakes win of the year. The victory was particularly gratifying because One Mean Man is the latest standout from a family of horses Flint has been involved in developing for more than two decades.

Fri, 09/30/2016 - 13:16

September a month of big strides for the Crosses

As her horses waited to go through the ring at the Keeneland September yearling sale, Kelli Cross could fully appreciate the value of standing on her own two feet.

The auction was a groundbreaking time for Kelli and Kenny Cross’s Sovereign Farm, which offered its first consignment at the premier auction under the Crosses’s own banner.

A year earlier, the chances of the Crosses fielding a consignment at all seemed remote.

Fri, 09/30/2016 - 12:27

Fort Prado, Benny the Bull join stallion roster at Swifty Farms

Jack Coady / Coady Photography
Fort Prado wins the Connally Cup under Robby Albarado, who will be aboard on Saturday.

Swifty Farms in Seymour, Ind., has a pair of new additions for its 2017 roster, in Fort Prado and champion sprinter Benny the Bull.

Fort Prado, a 15-year-old son of El Prado, previously stood at Buck Pond Farm in Lexington, Ky., where he moved in 2012 after entering stud in Illinois.

Fort Prado has sired four crops of racing age, with 48 winners and progeny earnings in excess of $2.7 million. His leading runners include Grade 3 winner Prado’s Sweet Ride, stakes winners Bold Rally, Lakotadreamcatcher, and R Dub, and Grade 3-placed Afortable.

Fri, 09/30/2016 - 11:15

Elnaawi retired to Indiana Stallion Station

Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club
Elnaawi, making his seventh stakes appearance, collects his first stakes victory under Sheldon Russell in the Native Dancer.

Elnaawi, a Grade 1-placed stakes winner, has been retired from racing and will enter stud at Indiana Stallion Station in Anderson, Ind., for the 2017 breeding season for an advertised fee of $2,500.

The 6-year-old son of Street Sense finishes with five wins in 22 starts over five seasons of racing for earnings of $407,305. He raced for owner Shadwell Stable and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.

Thu, 09/29/2016 - 18:11

1997 champion Hidden Lake dies at 23

Hidden Lake, the champion older female of 1997, was euthanized Thursday morning at Old Friends Equine Retirement in Georgetown, Ky., due to the infirmities of old age.

A 23-year-old daughter of Quiet American, Hidden Lake had resided at Old Friends since 2009, when she was donated by then-owner Robert S. Evans.

Bred in Kentucky by Charles Nuckols and Sons, Hidden Lake was a $13,000 purchase out of the 1994 Keeneland September yearling sale by Jim Weir and his son Dennis, who campaigned Hidden Lake for the bulk of her career with trainer Walter Greenman.

Thu, 09/29/2016 - 17:17

Outwork, Speightster retired to stand at WinStar Farm

Michael Amoruso
Outwork wins the Grade 1 Wood Memorial Stakes in April.

Grade 1 winner Outwork and Grade 3 winner Speightster have both been retired and will begin their stud careers next year at WinStar Farm, joining the farm’s expanding stallion roster.

Outwork, the first Grade 1-winning son of breakout young sire Uncle Mo to retire, raced as a homebred for Mike Repole. Speightster, who raced as a WinStar homebred, is by the farm’s successful sire Speightstown. Fees for both newcomers will be announced at a later date.

Wed, 09/28/2016 - 20:43

Colonel John sold to stand in Korea

WinStar Farm sire Colonel John has been sold to the Korea Thoroughbred Breeders Association (KTBA) to stand in Jeju-do, Korea in 2017.

“The KTBA is very excited to stand Colonel John,” said bloodstock agent Jun Park, a longtime advisor to the KTBA who brokered the deal. “He will be a wonderful addition to their growing breeding program.”