Grade 2 winner O’Prado Again has been retired, and will begin his stallion career in 2014 at Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Ky.
The 4-year-old son of El Prado will stand for an advertised fee of $5,000 and will participate in the farm’s Share The Upside program. Participating breeders will receive a lifetime breeding right to O’Prado Again after breeding twice to the sire - sending two mares in 2014 or one mare in both 2014 and 2015 - producing two live foals, and paying both stud fees.
One week after a broken weight-bearing pin complicated St Nicholas Abbey’s recovery from a fractured pastern, the 6-year-old Montjeu horse and six-time Grade/Group 1 winner has had what Coolmore Stud declared “his best week since his initial surgery.”
Grant Williamson has been hired to join the marketing and sales team at Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs. Williamson will be based at the operation’s Paris, Ky., location, but will promote Adena stallions in all locations.
Williamson, a native of England, has nearly 20 years of experience in the Thoroughbred industry. Most recently, he was the stallion director at Vinery, Ltd. He now joins Adena’s team of sales and breeding specialists that includes Jack Brothers, Cormac Breathnach, Liam O'Rourke and Tony Gattellaro, all available to assist with mating selections.
Stonewall Farm in Midway., Ky., once home to such stallions as Medaglia d’Oro and Leroidesanimaux, has sold for $7.5 million to an entity called Stonewall Dominion LLC, according to the Paulick Report.
Lethal Force, a multiple Group 1-winning sprinter, has been purchased by Cheveley Park Stud and will begin his stallion career at the English farm in 2014.
The 4-year-old son of Dark Angel will remain in training with Clive Cox for the remainder of this year, and he will continue to race under the colors of Alan Craddock, Racing Post reports. Lethal Force is entered in Saturday’s Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup at Haydock Park.
Silic, winner of the 1999 Breeders’ Cup Mile and a California-based sire, has died of chronic renal failure at Dr. Ben and Kayleeta Davis’ Pacific Coast Thoroughbreds in Hemet, Calif. The son of Sillery was 18.
In a release, the farm said that Silic, who had been undergoing treatment for a kidney disease for several years, maintained his stud duties until the middle of the 2013 breeding season, but only got six mares in foal. Silic initially stood in Kentucky from 2001 to 2006 before moving to California in 2007.
I fell in love with Unbridled’s Song the first time I saw him at the 1994 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of selected yearlings. Though already more than 16 hands, he moved with such fluid grace that it was obvious he possessed tremendous potential despite less-than-perfect forelegs.
Sheikh Fahad al Thani has acquired Longholes Stud in Cheveley, near Newmarket, England, as a base for his expanding Thoroughbred operation.
The facility, which offers stabling for 50 mares and foals, encompasses 100 acres of paddocks. It is equipped with a five-horse walker, a lunge ring, and a 10-stall isolation unit.
