One of the most attractive yearling fillies to enter the training barn at Windfields Farm in Chesapeake City, Md., in 1973 was Ballade, a $55,000 purchase at the Keeneland July sale of selected yearlings. Though she still was very narrow at that stage, she exemplified the extraordinarily long shoulder and deep girth so notable in the conformation of her sire, French champion Herbager.
Dual classic winner and champion Smarty Jones will return to Kentucky to stand at historic Calumet Farm in Lexington for the 2016 breeding season.
The 14-year-old Elusive Quality horse most recently stood at Northview Stallion Station in his home state, Pennsylvania. Smarty Jones began his stud career at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., in 2005 before moving to stand at Ghost Ridge Farms in York, Pa., for the 2011 season. He moved to Northview, in Peach Bottom, Pa., a year later.
Grade 2-placed stakes winner He Be Fire N Ice has relocated to Ridgeley Farm in Hemet, Calif., for the 2016 breeding season, where he will stand for an advertised fee of $2,500.
The 7-year-old son of Unusual Heat made his debut at stud in 2015, standing at Rancho San Miguel in San Miguel, Calif. for the same price. His first foals arrive in 2016.
Custom for Carlos has gotten off to such a fast start at stud that the leading freshman sire in Louisiana could be bred to more than 100 mares during the 2016 season. His reputation has been bolstered by Big World, the winner of the Grade 3 Tempted earlier this month at Aqueduct, and Customizer, a 10-length maiden special weight winner at Evangeline Downs.
Grade 3 winner Chitu will debut at stud during the 2016 breeding season at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala, Fla., for an advertised fee of $3,000.
In addition to the standard live foal contract, the 4-year-old son of Henny Hughes will be offered to breeders through the “Share the Upside” program, and breeders can pay out of sales proceeds.
The 26th annual Thoroughbred Charities of America stallion season auction will be held Monday, Jan. 4 through Saturday, Jan. 9.
The event features a five-day online auction, where the majority of the seasons will be offered, and culminates with a live select stallion season auction on Jan. 9 at the Keeneland Entertainment Center in Lexington, Ky.
Curlin to Mischief, an unraced half brother to champion Beholder and popular young sire Into Mischief, will debut at stud in 2016 at Rancho San Miguel in San Miguel, Calif.
The 4-year-old son of Curlin will stand for an advertised fee of $3,500 under a standard live foal contract, or breeders can enroll in the stallion’s “Share the Upside” program, in which he is advertised at $5,000.
Tiago, a multiple Grade 1 winner and resident of Adena Springs’ stallion operation in Paris, Ky., was euthanized due to an inoperable chronic digestive disorder.
The 11-year-old son of Pleasant Tap suffered his first major bout of colic in 2012 and did not service mares that year. Since then, he has been under the care of Adena Springs Kentucky stallion manager Bill Drury and his staff.
Tiago was not advertised by Adena Springs for the 2016 breeding season. He stood in 2015 for an advertised fee of $3,500.
Soviet Song, a five-time Group 1 winner and Europe’s champion older horse of 2004, was euthanized Monday at Oak Lodge Stud in Paris, Ky. due to recurring foot problems, Racing Post reports.
Dan Downie, spokesman for owner/breeder Elite Racing Club said the 15-year-old Marju mare had long struggled with foot issues, and that her constant abscesses had become unmanageable and increasingly uncomfortable for the horse.
Sir Alfred James Munnings’ signed painting Lord Astor’s Broodmare and Foal topped the third annual Sporting Art Auction on Wednesday evening at Keeneland, hammering for $207,000, including buyer premium.
The single-day auction was a collaborative effort between Keeneland and Cross Gate Gallery of Lexington, the country’s premier gallery of fine sporting art and contemporary British figurative painting.
