Two-time Horse of the Year Curlin enjoyed another stellar weekend as he puts together a career year as a stallion, with three graded stakes winners in less than 24 hours.
Stellar Wind, last year’s Eclipse Award champion 3-year-old filly, highlighted the weekend by prevailing in a battle of champions, outgaming Beholder to win the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar by half a length.
Claiborne Farm stalwart Seeking the Gold, who died last week at age 31, will have an enduring impact for generations thanks to his outstanding résumé as a broodmare sire, as evidenced by Lord Nelson’s victory in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes on Sunday at Del Mar.
Lord Nelson, who is by Pulpit and out of the Seeking the Gold mare African Jade, has developed into one of the better older sprinters on the West Coast, winning all three of his starts this season. He took last month’s Grade 1 Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita prior to winning the Bing Crosby.
The Juddmonte juggernaut rolled into Saratoga on Saturday in the imposing form of Flintshire, who added a sixth graded stakes win to his globe-trotting record with an easy victory in the Grade 2 Bowling Green Stakes. Like almost all of Juddmonte’s runners, Flintshire is a homebred, as were his sire, leading French sire Dansili, and dam, Group 2 winner Dance Routine, and three of his four grandparents.
Seeking the Gold, a Grade 1 winner and prominent sire at Claiborne Farm, was euthanized Thursday due to the infirmities of old age. He was 31.
The son of Mr. Prospector was a third-generation member of the Phipps family breeding program and raced as a homebred for Ogden Phipps throughout his career.
“We’re saddened by the loss of this magnificent racehorse and stallion,” said Daisy Phipps Pulito, granddaughter of Ogden Phipps. “He meant so much to my grandfather and the Phipps Stable breeding program.”
Lane’s End Texas, a top breeding operation in the state, has closed, and the operation’s three stallions – Too Much Bling, Grasshopper, and Congaree – have been relocated to Valor Farm in Pilot Point, Texas.
The Hempstead, Texas, farm is owned by William S. Farish, a Texas native who also owns the primary Lane’s End base in Versailles, Ky. The stallions were managed by longtime farm general manager Danny Shifflett.
Unbeaten two-time European Horse of the Year Frankel, who is off to a flying start with his highly anticipated first crop, was represented by his first stakes winner Saturday, when his daughter Fair Eva rolled in the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot Racecourse.
Frankel, a son of international titan Galileo, stands at owner-breeder Juddmonte’s Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket, England. He is already represented by seven winners. That group includes Queen Kindly, who finished third in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting.
Last weekend provided something of a harmonic convergence for the stud career of Medaglia d’Oro. On the same day that the retirement of the only daughter of his first great champion filly Rachel Alexandra was announced, Medaglia d’Oro’s second great American champion filly Songbird soared to an emphatic victory in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.
Grade 1 winner Rachel's Valentina, the only daughter of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, has been retired from racing, owner-breeder Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Farm announced Sunday.
“We want to announce that Rachel’s Valentina will now retire from racing sound and injury-free,” the farm posted on its blog. “We look forward to sharing her babies with you, carrying on the legacy of ‘Rachel the Great.’ ”
The Jockey Club reminds stallion managers to submit their Reports of Mares Bred (RMBs) for the 2016 breeding season by Aug. 1.
“We ask that RMBs be submitted by Aug. 1 to enable us to provide the most comprehensive breeding statistics possible to industry stakeholders,” said Matt Iuliano, executive vice president and executive director of The Jockey Club.
Iuliano also pointed out that stallion managers who submit their RMBs by Aug. 1 are among the first to receive their Stallion Service Certificates, which expedite the timely registration of 2017 foals.
The first winner by freshman sire Overdriven came in the Dominican Republic on July 9.
The 2-year-old filly Nieve Morena won a $2,192 maiden race going 5.46 furlongs at Quinto Centenario to become the first winner for freshman sire Overdriven, who stands at Ocala Stud in Florida.
Nieve Morena has made two starts in the Dominican Republic.
Out of the Valid Expectations mare Meets Expectations, Nieve Morena was bred in Florida by Darsan and sold for $1,500 to F.N.D.C.C. at the 2015 Ocala Breeders’ Sales August yearling sale.
