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.
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.
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.
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.”
With the inaugural Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards, presented by Godolphin, drawing closer, and with several of the finalists in the news for their work with major horses recently, Godolphin has rolled out a series of videos for a behind-the-scenes look at the finalists at work.
European champion Air Force Blue has been retired from racing and will begin his stallion career at Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., for a fee to be announced later.
The 3-year-old son of War Front finished his ontrack career with four wins in nine starts for earnings of $844,919. He is owned by the Coolmore partnership and trained by Aidan O’Brien.
He was named Europe’s champion 2-year-old male in 2015 after winning the Group 1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes and Phoenix Stakes in Ireland and the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes in England.
Multiple Grade 3 winner Gottcha Gold has been sold to stand at Peaceful Valley Farms in Didsbury, Alberta, for the 2017 breeding season for an advertised fee of $2,500 Canadian.
The 13-year-old son of Coronado’s Quest previously stood at Stride Away Thoroughbreds in British Columbia. He was the province’s leading sire by progeny earnings in 2014.
The natural order of the Thoroughbred marketplace dictates that leading sires become leading commercial sires. Buyers at yearling sales, first and foremost, are looking for top racehorses, and sires at or near the top of the General Sire List have proven their ability to produce those horses. The biggest buyers, however, also are looking for top racehorses with what are loosely deemed “stallion pedigrees,” and current fashion can influence those purchases almost as much as pure racetrack results.
Louisiana-bred legend Star Guitar was represented by his first winner on Saturday night when Senor Guitar swept five wide to win a maiden claiming race at Churchill Downs as the longest price on the board.
Star Guitar, an 11-year-old son of Quiet American, stands at Clear Creek Stud in Folsom, La., for an advertised fee of $4,000. He has 41 foals in his first crop, with two starters to date, and 39 foals in his second crop.
Texas Bling, who pulled a 128-1 upset at Remington Park in 2012 when he won the $300,000 Springboard Mile over eventual champion Will Take Charge, has been retired, said trainer Danele Durham. The horse will enter stud next year at Brazos Reproduction Center in Weatherford, Texas.
Texas Bling, a 6-year-old by Too Much Bling, retires with earnings of $406,072. He won consecutive runnings of the Assault Stakes at Lone Star Park in 2014 and 2015 and made his last start in the race this year, finishing fourth July 9.
