Gray Meteor, an unraced half-brother to Grade 1 winner Flashy Bull, will stand at the Agar, S.D., farm of new owner Paul Brandt after being purchased as a stallion prospect on Thursday for $11,000 at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale.
The 6-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song is out of the winning Mt. Livermore mare Iridescence, whose four winners from six runners includes stakes winner Pink Viper, in addition to the aforementioned Grade 1 winner and sire.
Tiz Tiger, an unraced son of Grade 1 winner Honey Ryder, will begin his stud career at the Oklahoma farm of Steve Williams after selling to the trainer and breeder as a stallion prospect on Thursday for $2,000 at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale.
The 5-year-old son of Tiznow is the third foal out of Honey Ryder, who is the dam of two winners from three runners. He trained toward a debut start at the Palm Meadows training center, turning in his last timed workout in March 2014.
Bakken, a Grade 2-placed son of Distorted Humor, will stand at Flying Horse Farm in Kelowna, British Columbia, after selling to farm owner R. J. Bennett for $50,000 on Thursday as a stallion prospect at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale.
The 6-year-old Bakken retired with three wins in 10 starts over three seasons of racing for earnings of $223,900. He finished second to Palace in the Grade 2 True North Handicap and competed in that year’s Breeder’s Cup Sprint. Chad Brown trained Bakken for owners William and Suzanne Warren.
To my mind, the Debut Reports are among the most interesting features of DRF Plus. These reports provide details by calendar year on how trainers, sires, and dam sires have fared with first-time starters. With 2016 just two weeks old, let’s look back at the results from 2015 and see which sires stood out with first-out winners.
HALLANDALE, Fla. – Master of ceremonies Tom Durkin made his entrance into the second OwnerView conference at Gulfstream Park on Tuesday barefoot, in a T-shirt and shorts, accompanied by four dancers. It got a lot of laughs and attention, but then came the serious stuff. The two-day conference, held in the run-up to the Eclipse Awards here on Saturday, is designed to educate new and existing owners on the joys, hazards, and experiences to expect in the racing game.
Exchange Rate, a Grade 2 winner standing at Three Chimneys Farm, has been euthanized due to complications from pneumonia and liver dysfunction, and from deep vein thrombosis of a hind leg. The 19-year-old son of Danzig was preparing to stand the 2016 breeding season at the Midway, Ky., farm for an advertised fee of $20,000. He will be buried at Three Chimneys.
Stroud’s Lane Farm has launched a commercial stallion operation at the former Mariblue Farm in Reddick, Fla., and will stand a trio of debuting stallions for the 2016 breeding season.
Seek Again, a Grade 1-winning son of Speightstown, will stand for an advertised fee of $8,500. The 6-year-old retired with five wins in 18 career starts for earnings of $942,926, highlighted by wins in Grade 1 Hollywood Derby and the Grade 2 Fourstardave Handicap.
Flick, a Grade 2-placed stakes winner and resident of Old Friends Equine Retirement in Georgetown, Ky., was euthanized Friday due to complications from colic.
The 24-year-old gelded son of Kris had resided at Old Friends since January 2009, and was best recognized on tours as the pasturemate of Grade 3 winner Danthebluegrassman.
Ken and Sarah Ramsey led all individual North American breeders by earnings for a third consecutive year in 2015, with horses bred solely by their operation earning $9,399,425.
Based in Nicholasville, Ky., the Ramseys were represented by the winners of 202 races from 1,667 starts. The Ramseys are finalists to earn Eclipse Awards for the third consecutive year, having swept both the owner and breeder awards during the previous two seasons.
Advertised fees for the eight-horse roster of Pleasant Acres Stallions in Morriston, Fla. will remain largely unchanged in 2016, as the operation unveils its new stallion facility for the coming breeding season.
The only Pleasant Acres stallion to stand for a fee different from his 2015 rate will be Grade 2 winner Handsome Mike, who rises from $4,000 to $5,000. The 7-year-old son of Scat Daddy’s first foals will arrive in 2016.
