Tue, 06/03/2014 - 14:07

Catching up with Holy Bull

Barbara Livingston
Horse of the Year Holy Bull is a pensioned stallion at Darley's Jonabell Farm in Lexington.

The brilliant Holy Bull was sent off as the favorite in all but two of his starts – and, almost two decades after last setting foot on a racetrack, that adoring public hasn’t forgotten him.

“He still gets a lot of visitors,” Charlie Boden, head of sales for Darley America, said of the 1994 Horse of the Year, who resides at Darley’s Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky., as a pensioner. “It’s great fun to see people come by here. He was such an awesome racehorse. He certainly captured the hearts of the American public.”

Mon, 06/02/2014 - 12:40

Majesticperfection represented by first winner

Freshman sire Majesticperfection was represented by his first winner on Sunday, when It’s Free prevailed by a neck in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream Park.

The dark bay or brown colt is the first foal to race by Majesticperfection, who was a Grade 1-winning sprinter during his on-track career. Majesticperfection stands at Airdrie Stud in Midway, Ky., for an advertised fee of $10,000. He is represented by 79 foals in his initial crop.

Sat, 05/31/2014 - 08:52

Big Swag gives The Pamplemousse first winner

ARCADIA, Calif. – Big Swag, a 2-year-old first-time starter, gave the California stallion The Pamplemousse his first winner with his first runner in Friday’s second race at Santa Anita.

Big Swag ran 4 1/2 furlongs in 52.23 seconds, finishing 3 1/4 lengths in front of Nardo in the field of seven California-bred maidens.

Fri, 05/30/2014 - 15:04

Sparkman: Does California Chrome have a Triple Crown pedigree?

Barbara D. Livingston
John Sparkman examines California Chrome's pedigree in relation to the 11 Triple Crown winners.

The short answer to that headlined question is no.

The longer – much longer – answer is: Well, maybe, depending on how you look at it.

Navigating from the short, easy answer to the longer, more equivocal answer requires at least a cursory analysis of the pedigrees of the 11 previous Triple Crown winners as a baseline.

Fri, 05/30/2014 - 13:15

Noble Causeway, sire of Samraat, dies of laminitis

Noble Causeway, a Grade 1-placed runner and sire of Belmont Stakes hopeful Samraat, was euthanized the evening of May 27 after his condition deteriorated due to laminitis.

The 12-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway stood at Sequel Stallions in Hudson, N.Y. for an advertised fee of $5,000, and was withdrawn from service in early May when he began to show symptoms of the hoof disease.

Wed, 05/28/2014 - 12:58

Vision in Gold, Grade 2 winner, dies of colic

Benoit & Assocaites
Vision in Gold will try to rebound in Saturday's Santa Maria Stakes, a race she won last year.

Grade 2 winner Vision in Gold died May 25 from complications due to colic.

Per the Paulick Report, the 7-year-old Medaglia d’Oro mare recently underwent colic surgery and was found to have a twisted intestine. She came out of surgery well, but her condition rapidly worsened and she later died.

“They did everything they could for her,” Pat Payne, vice president of sales at Taylor Made Farm, told Paulick Report.

Owner Jay Em Ess Stable boarded Vision in Gold at the Nicholasville, Ky., farm.

Wed, 05/28/2014 - 12:22

Danehill Dancer pensioned from stud duty

Danehill Dancer, a multiple Group 1 winner and Irish stallion, has been pensioned from stud duty due to declining fertility, Racing Post reports.

The 21-year-old son of Danehill  stood at Coolmore Stud in County Tipperary, Ireland, where he has sired 87 graded/group stakes winners from 15 crops of racing age. He was Ireland’s leading sire in 2009, and Hong Kong’s leading stallion by progeny earnings a year later.

Danehill Dancer stood for an advertised fee of $33,983 (25,000 Euros) in 2014, but failed to get any mares in foal.

Tue, 05/27/2014 - 14:16

The Factor, Declaration of War to shuttle to Australia

The Factor will shuttle to stand in Australia later this year, joining Declaration of War as the second young stallion by leading U.S. sire War Front who will stand on that continent in the upcoming Southern Hemisphere breeding season.

The Factor, a 6-year-old from War Front’s first crop, will shuttle to Newgate Farm in Aberdeen, New South Wales, Australia for an advertised fee of $20,329 ($22,000 Australian). He stands the Northern Hemisphere season at Lane’s End in Versailles, Ky. for $15,000, and his first foals arrived in 2014.

Mon, 05/26/2014 - 14:50

Clever Allemont dies at Old Friends

Clever Allemont, a Grade 1-placed stakes winner, was euthanized due to colic Monday morning at Old Friends Equine Retirement in Georgetown, Ky.

The 32-year-old son of Clever Trick was the oldest resident of Old Friends at the time of his death. He arrived at the farm in January 2009 after being discovered two months earlier in a kill buyer’s pen in Kansas.

Mon, 05/26/2014 - 14:14

Vessels Ranch in California listed for sale

Vessels Ranch, a 1,390-acre Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse breeding farm in Bonsall, Calif., has been put up for sale with a $55.6-million price tag.

The farm has undergone a significant downsizing since the death of owner Frank “Scoop” Vessels III in 2010, shifting its focus from standing stallions to owning mares. Vessels Ranch currently stands Thoroughbred stallion Square Eddie and offers frozen semen for the late Quarter Horse sire First Down Dash.

The property has been listed with Sotheby’s International Reality.