When the long-awaited opening of Resorts World Casino New York City at Aqueduct became a reality in October 2011, the state’s racing and breeding programs soon benefited from a boost in purses and incentives supported by gaming revenue – and, in turn, the value of a New York-bred horse skyrocketed.
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DRF Past Performances
Selecting a stallion to stand in a regional market is a much trickier proposition than selecting one for national breeding centers like the Kentucky Bluegrass area or Newmarket, England. As a general rule, stallion rosters of the major Kentucky stallion stations feature each year’s champions and Grade 1 winners with highly fashionable pedigrees. Owners of the most desirable stallion prospects often select among competing stallion farms as much or more than the stallion managers themselves make selections.
On the afternoon of last May 4 at Belmont Park, New York-bred turf horses Hessonite and Lubash took their careers to a new level, recording their first graded stakes victories in the Grade 3 Beaugay and Grade 3 Fort Marcy, respectively.
The two runners are among the standouts who helped their sire, Freud, maintain his usual stronghold among the leading stallions in New York for 2013. The 16-year-old Storm Cat horse, a full brother to perennial leading sire Giant’s Causeway, led the state’s turf sire list for the seventh consecutive year.
Gary and Mary West, owners of first-year stallions New Year’s Day and Power Broker, will offer incentives potentially totaling $2.5 million to the breeders of milestone winners by their sires.
The Wests will offer a $1 million bonus to the breeder of record if the winner of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile or Juvenile Fillies is sired by either New Year’s Day or Power Broker. If the stallions are represented by winners in both races, the prize will not be split, with each breeder receiving the full $1 million bonus.
The Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association named Princess of Sylmar, a four-time Grade 1 winner, its Horse of the Year for 2013.
The Majestic Warrior filly was one of North America’s elite 3-year-olds last year, with wins in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks, and Alabama Stakes. She also defeated two-time champion older female Royal Delta in the Grade 1 Beldame Invitational Stakes.
Two-time champion Groupie Doll, who concluded her career earlier this month, has arrived in Kentucky to begin her career as a broodmare.
The 6-year-old Bowman’s Band mare, who was purchased for $3.1 million by Mandy Pope at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, is scheduled to be bred to Gainesway sire Tapit on Saturday. Groupie Doll will be boarded at Wayne and Cathy Sweezeys’ Timber Town Stable near Lexington, Ky., where Pope’s other mares – including Horse of the Year Havre de Grace and Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty – reside.
Ben’s Cat was named Maryland-bred Horse of the Year for 2013, based on the results of an annual poll conducted by the Maryland Horse Breeders Association.
The 8-year-old Parker’s Storm Cat gelding became the first horse to be named Maryland’s top Thoroughbred three times, leaving the company of two-time winners Cigar, Richard’s Kid, Safely Kept, Broad Brush, Jameela, Twixt, and Politely. He previously won the award in 2011 and 2012.
Multiple Grade 1 winner and stakes producer Urbane died on Feb. 25 after giving birth to her final foal the night before. The Citidancer mare was 22.
“When one life ends, another begins,” owner Samantha Siegel wrote on her Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon. “Urbane gave us an Into Mischief filly last night then passed away a few hours later.”
The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Foundation Inc. (TAA) has made its 2014 application for accreditation available, and qualified organizations are encouraged to apply before May 15.
Based in Lexington, Ky., the TAA serves as both an accrediting body for aftercare facilities for Thoroughbreds following the conclusion of their racing careers and a fundraising body to support approved facilities.