Owner and breeder Charles Fipke’s adventures – and misadventures – in geology and prospecting have taken him around the globe. Now, his Thoroughbreds are doing the traveling.
After a week in which he was represented by Soul Choice, the first Australian stakes winner in his colors, and Shirl’s Bee, who turned in a promising effort in Dubai, his homebred Grade 1 winner Shirl’s Speight will become the first foreign-based horse to contest Japan’s prestigious February Stakes on Feb. 19.
Second careers for many major runners, including 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline, begin in earnest in the coming days. North American breeding sheds open during and around this second week of February – as one example, Spendthrift Farm, which stands reigning leading sire Into Mischief and adds four newcomers to its roster, opened its shed on Friday.
Peace and Justice was an immediate draw in Pennsylvania as the only son of prominent sire War Front in the state. He lived up to his early billing as the state’s standout freshman sire of 2020, and has since continued to make an impact in the Keystone State’s general sire ranks.
With the addition of Colonel Liam late in the game, Ocala Stud will debut three new stallions for 2023, all Grade 1 winners, giving them one of the strongest new hands of any farm on the East Coast.
Colonel Liam, a two-time winner of the Pegasus World Cup Turf, was retired prior to this year’s edition with an ill-timed ankle issue. He had been training in Florida for his repeat bid, and now remains in Florida for stallion duty. The son of Liam’s Map won five turf stakes, with a trio of Grade 1s – his Pegasus victories and the Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs.
Great Notion is continuing his streak atop the Maryland sire list, and his win streak in one of the state’s biggest events.
Great Notion, by Elusive Quality, stands at Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, and has led the Maryland general sire list every year since 2018. Last year the veteran stallion, who just turned 23, handily outgunned regional rising star Uncle Lino, who turned 10.
It seems the baton has been securely passed to Central Banker, as he cashed in to lead the New York general sire list by a comfortable margin in 2022. It was the second consecutive title for the young standout, a graded stakes winner who has quickly climbed the ranks in the Empire State.
A distinctive face in the barn at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud for more than a decade now, Munnings had a career year in 2022, which included siring North America’s winningest horse.
Munnings, a multiple graded stakes-winning son of Speightstown, entered stud in 2011, and was fourth on the 2014 freshman sire list. He has made a steady ascent through the general sire rankings since then.
Constitution was among the best in a strong class of freshman sires of 2019, as he and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah slugged it out. Multiple Grade 1 winner Constitution, who stands at WinStar Farm, has continued on in strong fashion, and it looks like the best could be on the horizon for 2023.
