Orb, winner of the 2013 Kentucky Derby, has been retired from racing and will begin his stallion career at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., for an advertised fee of $25,000, payable when the foal stands and nurses.
The 3-year-old son of Malibu Moon retires with five wins in 12 career starts for earnings of $2,612,516 racing as a homebred for Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stable. He was trained by Shug McGaughey.
Special Rate, who ranks among the leading stallions in Texas, has moved within the state and will stand the 2014 season at Stoneview Farm in Hempstead. He will stand for an advertised fee of $3,000.
Special Rate had previously stood at Key Ranch in Salado.
Through Nov. 3, Special Rate ranked as the 10th leading sire in Texas in 2013, with 14 winners from 38 runners.
Champion turf horse and leading North American sire Kitten’s Joy will stand for an advertised fee of $100,000 for the 2014 breeding season at Ramsey Farm in Nicholasville, Ky.
The fee is double the rate Kitten’s Joy stood for in 2013. Breeders will receive a 5 percent discount if the fee is paid by Nov. 1 of the year bred.
Grade 1-winning sprinter Justin Phillip has been retired and will enter stud at Shane Ryan’s Castleton Lyons in Lexington, Ky. He will stand the 2014 season for an advertised fee of $12,500, payable on Nov. 1 terms.
The 5-year-old son of First Samurai closed out his racing career with a fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park.
In its three decades of existence, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile has firmly established its position on the calendar as a season-defining event. Not only does the race typically determine the Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old male, the winner is traditionally recognized as the winter-book favorite for the Kentucky Derby.
Following the expected scratch of Cleburne, a near-capacity field of 13 will go postward in the 2013 renewal of the Grade 1, $2 million race Saturday at Santa Anita Park, with morning line favorite Havana drawing to the outside.
The Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies has crowned the divisional Eclipse Award champion in 26 of its previous 29 runnings. This year's renewal, to be contested Saturday at Santa Anita Park, figures to continue that trend, as it brings together East Coast standouts Sweet Reason - the morning line favorite - and Artemis Agrotera, and West Coast stars Secret Compass and She's a Tiger in a well-matched field.
A closer look at the pedigrees and backgrounds of the contenders, in post position order.
Harlan’s Holiday, a multiple Grade 1 winner and sire of champion Shanghai Bobby, was euthanized on Friday at Haras Firmamento Farm in Mar de Plata, Argentina, where he was standing the Southern Hemisphere breeding season.
The 14-year-old son of Harlan suddenly collapsed after returning to his stall from a routine breeding session, having suddenly lost use of his hind end. He prolapsed intestine from his rectum and went into shock. After multiple attempts to repair the prolapse, the horse was euthanized.
Smoke Glacken, the champion sprinter of 1997 and sire of 16 graded or group stakes winners, has been pensioned from stallion duty at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Ky.
The 19-year-old son of Two Punch had declined in fertility, which, combined with his advanced age, led to his pensioning. He stood the 2013 season for an advertised fee of $10,000.
A federal judge in New Mexico issued a ruling Friday allowing two horsemeat facilities to begin operations next week, striking down a lawsuit filed by The Humane Society of the United States and other groups and clearing the way for horse slaughter to resume in the U.S. for the first time since 2007.
