The board of directors for the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders announced changes to voter eligibility for their annual Kentucky-bred Champions and Broodmare of the Year awards. The amendments, announced on Jan. 31, expand voting privileges among the organization's membership and will facilitate voting by giving members the opportunity to cast their ballots online.
Getting mares to stallions today may be as hard as ever. The number of mares bred has fallen 39 percent from 2006 to 2011, and the foal crop in North America is at levels not seen since 1972.
Books for the most popular stallions have risen over the past several decades, negatively impacting many mid-level and lower stallions, and the pressure to get large books for any stallion is high. Without a lot of mares – and of high quality – the chance for a stallion to become successful diminishes greatly.
If a poll were taken asking participants to describe last year’s crop of 3-year-olds in one word, a popular response might be “snakebit.”
From the beginning of the Triple Crown season through the Breeders’ Cup, the division’s top males seemed to fast disappear from the racing scene, first canceling scheduled starts because of injury or illness, followed by many being shuffled off to the breeding shed for 2013.
The Illinois Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Foundation will conduct its annual stallion season auction online from Saturday, Feb. 2 through Sunday, Feb. 10.
Proceeds from past auctions have assisted the ITBOF with several projects, including seeking new legislation to represent breeders.
The auction will feature bidding on seasons to 64 different stallions standing in Illinois, Kentucky, New York, Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Oklahoma, Iowa and Missouri.
Group 2 winner Midas Touch has been retired from racing and will enter stud at War Horse Place in Lexington, Ky. for the 2013 breeding season.
The 6-year-old Galileo horse will stand for a fee of $10,000 live foal.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Life At Ten has produced her first foal, a colt by Medaglia d'Oro, at Adena Springs in Paris, Ky.
Life At Ten, an 8-year-old Malibu Moon mare, won her first four starts of 2010, including the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Handicap and Grade 2 Delaware Handicap, to establish herself among the top older females in the country. After finishing third behind Persistently and reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Invitational Stakes, she rebounded with a victory in the Grade 1 Beldame Stakes.
WinStar Farm has launched its Fantasy Derby contest for 2013. The contest, part of the Versailles, Ky., farm’s WinStar StableMates community, allows fans to create a Fantasy Stable, selecting Triple Crown contenders in different categories whose earnings will be tallied throughout prep season.
California-bred Variety Road, winner of the 1987 San Fernando Stakes and a top-level runner on the California circuit during the late 1980s whose career was interrupted by stud duty several times, was euthanized on Jan. 14 at age 30 due to the infirmities of old age, according to the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association.
Crossbow, a multiple stakes-placed winner, has been retired from racing and will stand at Clarence Scharbauer, Jr.’s Valor Farm near Pilot Point, Texas.
The 5-year-old Bernardini horse will stand for $1,500 live foal payable on Oct. 1 of the year bred.
Campaigned by Darley and trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, Crossbow won four of 11 starts in three seasons of racing. He finished second in the 2011 Hunch Stakes at Aqueduct and third in the Grade 3 James Marvin Stakes in 2012 at Saratoga Race Course.
Multiple Group 1 winner and young stallion Excellent Art has been sold by Coolmore to continue his stud career at Poonawalla Stud in India. His profile in India was enhanced in November when his daughter Art of Enchantment finished second in the Bangalore 1,000 Guineas.
