Rail Link, winner of the 2006 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, has been sold to stand at Haras de Cercy in France, Racing Post reports.
The 11-year-old son of Dansili previously stood at owner/breeder Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket, England, where he entered stud in 2008. Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms operation has retained five lifetime breeding rights in this transaction.
The board of directors for the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association announced a 12 percent breeders’ award bonus and a 15 percent stallion owner bonus.
According to the FTBOA, those bonuses result in the highest payout to date in the state’s breeding program.
Grade 2 winner Mark Valeski has been retired from racing, and will join Magna Graduate as additions to the stallion roster of Woodford Thoroughbreds in Reddick, Fla.
Mark Valeski, a 5-year-old son of Proud Citizen finishes his on-track career with four wins in 10 starts for earnings of $658,452.
The benefits of breeding and raising horses in Florida are undeniable. The year-round warm weather, rich limestone-based soil, and mineral springs of the Ocala area provide ideal climate and environmental conditions for raising a strong, healthy Thoroughbred.
Russian Rhythm, Europe’s champion 3-year-old filly of 2003, was euthanized Wednesday due to colic. She was 14.
The Kingmambo mare raced 10 times over three years, winning seven starts for earnings of $1,260,794. Her breakout season came during her sophomore campaign, where she won the English One Thousand Guineas, as well as the Group 1 Coronation Stakes and Nassau Stakes en route to being named European champion.
Champion sprinter Benny the Bull will relocate to stand the 2015 breeding season at John and Leslie Malone’s Bridlewood Farm in Ocala, Fla. His fee has not yet been determined.
The 11-year-old Lucky Lionel horse, who is currently standing the Southern Hemisphere breeding season in Brazil, previously stood at Winding Oaks Farm. His advertised fee for 2014 was $2,500.
Prominent English owner and breeder Sir Eric Parker died at age 81 after a lengthy battle with cancer, Racing Post reports.
Parker, a former accountant and chief executive for conglomerate Trafalgar House, owned racehorses for 43 years and operated Crimbourne Stud in West Sussex, England. He owned 1991 Grand National winner Seagram, and had other notable runners including Group 1 winner Havana Gold, Topsham Bay, and Indian Lodge.
Parker joined the Racehorse Owners Association council in 1994, and served as its president from 1998 to 2001.
New Mexico’s breeding program has received a jolt of energy over the past 18 months due to the auspicious early success of Diabolical’s first two crops on the racetrack. The 11-year-old stallion was retired to Fred Alexander’s A&A Ranch in Anthony, N.M., in November 2009 after a globe-trotting racing career during which he won 9 of 32 starts and earned almost $1.5 million. Thirty-one runners from his first crop made it to the races in 2013, and 14 of those won, tying him for second among all North American freshman sires last year.
Turf champion English Channel has relocated to continue his stud career at Brad Kelley’s Calumet Farm near Lexington, Ky. He most recently stood at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky.
The 12-year-old Smart Strike horse is listed at $25,000 on Calumet’s website, maintaining his advertised 2014 fee from Lane’s End.
