The late B. Wayne Hughes had a feeling about the flashy bay colt. He purchased the son of first-crop sire Harlan’s Holiday for a relatively modest $180,000 as a 2-year-old, and later that year, campaigned him to a Grade 1 win in the colors of Spendthrift Farm, which he had purchased in 2004. Hughes was eager to get the colt into the stallion barn at Spendthrift.
When Khozan went to stud, he was commonly referenced in conversation as the half-brother to multi-time Eclipse Award champion Royal Delta. Now, he has made a name of his own as Florida’s leading sire.
Khozan, who has stood his entire career at Brent and Crystal Fernung’s Journeyman Stud in Reddick, Fla., led the Florida first-crop and 2-year-old sire lists with his initial runners in 2019. He has led the Florida general sire list for four consecutive years since, and turned in a particularly dominant performance in 2023, leading across a number of categories.
With a recent Grade 1 winner to his credit, Frac Daddy had a breakout year in 2023 and should be a popular sire for the 2024 Canadian breeding season.
Frac Daddy was Canada’s leading 2-year-old sire last year in both number of winners and money won. The 14-year-old son of Scat Daddy sired 10 juvenile winners, including stakes winners Scat Dancer and No More Options, a King’s Plate prospect. The icing on the cake was when his California-bred 3-year-old filly Daddysruby took the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita in December.
McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds already had plenty of firepower on its stallion roster, as it has developed New York’s current leading sire Central Banker and has a rising star behind him in 2023’s top freshman sire, Solomini. Now, the farm welcomes in Bucchero, who has proven himself in Florida and is poised to be a standout as the New York breeding and racing industry looks ahead to the future.
Triple Crown winner Justify had a breakout season with his runners in 2023. His popularity as a stallion is expected to spike – and thus, his stud fee has risen accordingly.
Justify stood for an advertised fee of $100,000 in 2023 at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, following a debut season in which he was among North America’s leading freshman sires. With his runners achieving Grade/Group 1 success worldwide last season, his 2024 fee was set at $200,000 in October. It was later moved to private – a common practice when stallions experience high success after the publication of fees.
Max Player, winner of the 2021 Jockey Club Gold Cup, has arrived at Annestes Farms in Middletown, New Jersey where he will stand for the 2024 breeding season. The six year old son of Honor Code has over 700 investors who own shares of the dark bay colt . “After an impressive career on the racetrack, we are excited about his prospects as a sire” said majority owner George Hall of Rumson, New Jersey.
Speaker’s Corner, who stands at Godolphin’s Darley division in Lexington, sired his first reported foal in Kentucky on January 18, a filly, for breeder Airdrie Stud.
Out of the Upstart mare Gratz Park, who is a half to G3 winner Rich Mommy, Airdrie General Manager Ben Henley commented, “We are overjoyed to see such a nice first foal by Speakers Corner out of the Upstart mare Gratz Park. She has a ton of quality and within a few hours of being born was running laps around the stall!"
Spendthrift Farm’s Mo Donegal, the classic-winning son of Uncle Mo, sired his first reported foal this week when a colt was born at WinStar Farm in Versailles.
Bred by Alfredo Gastaneta, the bay colt is out of the Declaration of War mare Andavete, a half-sister to 2020 Kentucky Derby (G1) third-place finisher Mr. Big News and hailing from the immediate family of champion sire Saint Ballado.
The late Robert Lothenbach's breeding, racing, and young stock will be dispersed in Fasig-Tipton sales over the next several weeks.
Lothenbach Stable’s breeding stock and yearlings will be sold at Fasig-Tipton’s Kentucky winter mixed sale on Feb. 5 and 6 at its Newtown Paddocks headquarters in Lexington, Ky. Prior to that, the stable’s horses of racing age will be dispersed on Fasig-Tipton’s digital auction platform, with bidding opening Jan. 29 and closing Feb. 2.
Texas champion Sunlit Song’s 2023 campaign earned him Horse of the Year honors and Champion Older Horse among Texas-breds. Owned by Carolyn Barnett and Becky Harding, Sunlit Song continued his high-level performance on track in 2023 with five wins and a second in 6 starts in 2023, including four stakes victories.
