DRF Breeding staff writer Joe Nevills makes his selections for the 2013 Eclipse Awards in the form of haiku; a Japanese poem of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven and five.
2-year-old male
A final feather
For the late Hollywood’s cap
Shared Belief gets it
2-year-old female
They can take her race
But they can’t take her title
She’s a Tiger wins
3-year-old male
Late-season flurry
Seals the deal for Will Take Charge
No one else stepped up
New Year’s Day, winner of the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, will stand his initial season at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms in Lexington, Ky., for an advertised fee of $12,500.
The 3-year-old son of Street Cry was retired on Dec. 26 after a non-displaced chip was discovered on his left hind sesamoid. He finished his career with two wins in three starts for earnings of $1,154,000. The colt was campaigned by Gary and Mary West and trained by Bob Baffert.
Leslie Brownell Combs II, former president of prominent central Kentucky stud farm Spendthrift Farm, died on Sunday in Lexington, Ky. He was 80.
Combs was the son of Leslie Combs II, who founded Spendthrift Farm in 1937 and grew the business into one of the 20th century’s leading breeding and sales operations.
Lere Visagie’s Rockridge Stud in Hudson, N.Y., will host a stallion show on Saturday, Feb. 1, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern. A full lunch buffet will be served, and each attendee will be eligible to win a free season to one of the farm’s 2014 stallions. One free season to each stallion will be awarded.
Rockridge’s roster for 2014 consists of 2013 New York leading general sire Bluegrass Cat, D’Funnybone, Giant Surprise, Pomeroy, Posse, recently retired San Pablo, Soaring Empire, and champion Trinniberg.
New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc., will conduct its annual stallion season auction starting at 12 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Jan. 10, and ending at 12 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 13.
The auction supports NYTB and its political action committee in promoting the welfare of New York’s Thoroughbred industry and in advocating for the state’s breeders in debates impacting breeding and racing.
The U.S. stallion market has experienced major shifts in the past five years.
Leading racetrack and commercial sire Storm Cat was pensioned in 2008, followed by fellow breed-shaping sire A.P. Indy in 2011. Influential sire El Prado died in the fall of 2009, perennial leader Pulpit passed in late 2012, and the bloodstock market lost standout commercial sire Unbridled’s Song this past July.
Silver Train, winner of the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, died suddenly on Dec. 29 after suffering a bout of colic while shuttling back to the U.S. from Brazil.
The 11-year-old son of Old Trieste had recently completed his second Southern Hemisphere season at Siquiera & Mercadante in Parana, Brazil, and was returning to Northview PA in Peach Bottom, Pa. Owned by HnR Horseracing LLC, Silver Train was to stand the 2014 season at Northview for $5,000.
One of the perks of being a turf writer is the privilege of voting on the Eclipse Awards. Come to think of it, for a semiretired gentleman of the turf, that might be just about the only benefit one could characterize as a perk.
That being said, marking this year’s ballot is hardly a walk in the park.
As horses make fewer and fewer starts each year, choosing the “right” horse can become more subjective and less fact-based. When the two leading contenders for champion 2-year-old male each made only three starts and never faced each other, how do you choose between them?
