ARCADIA, Calif. - Eblouissante, a half-sister to 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, has been retired from racing and will be bred to one of England’s leading stallions in coming months.
Trainer John Shirreffs said on Friday that Eblouissante left his stable at Santa Anita early Tuesday for Kentucky, where she will be in quarantine before departing for Europe. Owned by Ian Banwell, Eblouissante will be bred to Oasis Dream or Frankel this year.
News coverage
- Horse of the Year is California's ambassador - By Steve Andersen
- Barretts kicks off year of growth, transition - By Steve Andersen
Profiles - 2014 California stallion honors
ARCADIA, Calif. – The horse with the ideal name has become the perfect ambassador for California Thoroughbred breeding.
When the immensely popular California Chrome was named 2014 Horse of the Year on Jan. 17, he gave California breeding a much-needed boost in recognition after several years of declining foal crops in one of the nation’s most important racing regions.
California’s top 10 general sires of 2014 averaged 124 starters each last season. Lucky Pulpit checked in significantly below that, with just 73 representatives on the track in 2014. But when one of those runners is California Chrome, numbers don’t matter.
Through all the changes in California racing over the past 17 years – shuttering tracks, shuffling of racing dates, new surfaces, and new leadership – one of the state’s pillars of consistency has been Unusual Heat.
The 25-year-old son of Nureyev has been a fixture in the Golden State since entering stud in 1998, and that enduring success has helped him become the all-time leading sire by California-bred earnings.
It took little for Grace Upon Grace to lead California’s freshman sires in 2014.
The 8-year-old stallion had six runners who earned $81,872 in 2014. None were winners. His most successful foal was London Legacy, who was winless in four starts, finished second three times, and earned $39,400.
It was still good enough for the freshman stallion title.
“He kind of backed into it, didn’t he?” stallion owner Terry Lovingier said.
Sky Classic, a Canadian Hall of Famer, champion in the U.S., and sire of 1999 Canadian Horse of the Year Thornfield, has been pensioned from stud duty at Pin Oak Stud in Versailles, Ky.
The 28-year-old son of Nijinsky II stood his entire career at Pin Oak Stud, retiring to the farm in 1993 after an on-track career that featured 15 wins in 29 starts for earnings of $3,329,398, at the time a record amount for a Canadian-bred colt.
Multiple Grade 2 stakes winner Bluesthestandard was found to have died last year at age 17.
The gelded son of American Standard had been adopted out to a farm, along with fellow retired racehorses Falcon Scott and Bonfante, after previously residing at Old Friends Equine Retirement in Georgetown, Ky. Michael Blowen, founder and president of Old Friends, said that allegations on social media that the horse had been abused or neglected prior to his death are “absolutely not true.”
Guy and Deb Russell stood outside their filly’s stall, bewildered by what had just happened.
The filly, a gray named Comeflywithanangel, had gone through the ring at the 2009 Michigan Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association yearling sale without drawing a single bid. At the time, it was a significant blow to the Russells’ fledgling breeding program, and one they didn’t see coming.
“They just weren’t interested,” Guy said. “People just weren’t looking, or looking other ways.”
