Scat Daddy
◗ Leading Kentucky general sire by stakes winners
Medaglia d’Oro
◗ Leading active Kentucky general sire by stakes winners
◗ Second-leading Kentucky general sire by earnings
By all indicators, the stallion industry lost something special when the young sire Scat Daddy suddenly died of a suspected cardiac event at age 11 in December. Already a successful young stallion, the son of Johannesburg was completing the best season of his career.
◗ Leading active Kentucky general sire by average earnings
The group of 12 horses to win the Triple Crown is about as exclusive as a club gets in any sport. Just as select is the group of 12 horses that sired them.
Pioneerof the Nile became the newest member of that group on a June afternoon in New York when his champion offspring American Pharoah crossed the finish line unchallenged in the Belmont Stakes to sweep the series of classic races.
◗ Leading Kentucky freshman sire by earnings, average earnings, winners, stakes winners, and stakes wins
◗ Leading Kentucky juvenile sire by earnings
Uncle Mo’s position atop the 2015 North American freshman sire ranks was no surprise, as the stallion was himself an unbeaten 2-year-old with every right to produce similar runners. Still, his dominance of the category, as well as the way he held his own among established stallions, was spectacular in fashion.
◗ Leading Kentucky turf sire by earnings, average earnings, winners, stakes winners, and stakes wins
Few of Kentucky’s leading stallions have their respective honors in their grasp as tightly as Kitten’s Joy has for the past several years.
So great is Kitten’s Joy’s dominance of North American turf sires that if his top two earners were removed from the equation, he still tops the standings by a seven-figure margin.
Leigh Ann and Kerry Hopper’s R Star Stallions at Richwine, located in Anderson, Ind., stood its first stallion in 2010. Only a few years later, the operation has become a prominent player in the regional stallion market, and is poised for continued success in 2016 with some of the top stallions in the state.
The Ohio breeding program remains in the midst of significant upheaval as the market continues to adjust to the state’s new tracks and expanded gaming.
At the forefront of this critical period has been runners sired by residents of Mapleton Thoroughbred Farm in Polk, which accounted for the top two sires by progeny earnings in 2015.
Leading the way was Cowtown Cat, with 47 winners and progeny earnings of $1,814,628.
Shore Breeze ended Added Edge’s three-year reign at the top of Iowa’s sire standings by earnings, but both stallions walked away from 2015 with their own victories.
Shore Breeze topped the overall 2015 earnings list among Iowa stallions, with 25 winners and progeny earnings of $634,879. However, the 18-year-old son of Danzig relocated to Iowa for the 2014 breeding season, making his first Iowa-sired foals yearlings of 2016.
The Keeneland January horses of all ages sale closed Friday with declines in average and median, but a slight bump in gross, led by a trio of high-profile purchases by prominent owner and breeder Virginia Kraft Payson.
A total of 1,040 horses sold over five sessions for revenues of $35,463,000, up 0.45 percent from last year’s final gross of $35,305,500 from 948 horses sold over four days.