Fort Larned, winner of the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic, has been purchased by Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs and will stand at Adena Springs Kentucky in Paris, Ky. after his final career start on Saturday in the 2013 Classic.
The purchase of the 5-year-old E Dubai horse will be effective following his start in the Classic, which he won last year by a hard-fought half-length.
Sea The Stars, Europe’s Horse of the Year in 2009, naturally dominated the hype machine surrounding prospects for leading European freshman sire this year, and, indeed, he has done well enough, with 10 winners through last Monday, including Group 3 winner My Titania.
However, the standout among first-year sires in Europe has been the horse who came closest to beating Sea The Stars during his undefeated 3-year-old season: Mastercraftsman, who forced the champion into an all-out drive for his one-length victory in the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes.
A number of participants in the Breeders’ Cup have pledged a percentage of their purse earnings in their respective races to the New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program.
This is the fifth consecutive year the aftercare organization, which rehabilitates, retrains, and rehomes racehorses, has partnered with Breeders’ Cup horsemen. In the past four years, the pledge initiative has raised nearly $200,000.
Grade 2 winner Cool Coal Man will relocate to Brent and Crystal Fernung’s Journeyman Stud in Ocala, Fla., for the 2014 breeding season, and will stand for an advertised fee of $3,500 when the foal stands and nurses.
The 8-year-old son of Mineshaft had previously stood at Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds in Ocala, where he began his stallion career in 2011. His first foals are yearlings of 2013.
Thirteen 2-year-olds will line up for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Friday at Santa Anita Park, in which morning-line favorite Bobby's Kitten could help cap off a huge year for sire Kitten's Joy with a victory.
A closer look at the pedigrees and backgrounds of the contenders, in post position order.
1. All Cash
English Channel – Andover the Money, by Dynaformer
Breeder: Bluegrass Hall (Ky.)
A full field of 14 2-year-old fillies, including Grade 1 winner My Conquestadory and European Group 1 winners Vorda and Chriselliam, will contest the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf Friday at Santa Anita Park.
Below is a closer look at the individual pedigrees and backgrounds of the contenders, in post position order.
1. Nesso
Roman Ruler – Devotedness, by Anet
Breeder: Donald Dizney (Fla.)
DRF Breeding staff writer Joe Nevills analyzes each race of the 2013 Breeders’ Cup World Championships in the form of Haiku; a Japanese poem of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five.
Friday, Nov. 1
Marathon
Close eyes, throw a dart
Indian Jones whips the field
But watch for Worldly
Juvenile Turf
Lots of ways to go
But when in doubt, just default
To the Ramsey horse
Prominent sire Smart Strike will stand for $100,000 in 2014 to lead the Lane’s End roster, which was unveiled Wednesday.
The 21-year-old Mr. Prospector horse, who stood for $85,000 in 2013, was the only horse on the Versailles, Ky., farm’s 18-stallion roster to get a fee boost. Among the leading sires in the U.S. each of the last six years, the versatile Smart Strike is the sire of 98 stakes winners. His progeny have bankrolled more than $106.6 million, while averaging $114,508 in earnings.
Grade 1 winner Emcee has been retired from racing and will stand the 2014 breeding season at Becky Thomas’s Sequel Stallions in Hudson, N.Y.
The 5-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song was a prominent member of the sprint ranks during his 2012 campaign, winning the Grade 1 Forego Stakes and turning in a pair of third-place finishes in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap and Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap. He had not raced since the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, but last registered a timed workout at the Greentree Training Center in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Sept, 21.
