Issam Fares’s Fares Farm, breeder of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, will disperse its Thoroughbred breeding and racing stock at the Keeneland horses of all ages sale, held Jan. 7-11. Lane’s End Farm will act as agent for the dispersal. The 80-horse consignment consists of 37 broodmares, 33 yearlings, and 10 horses of racing age and will be offered without reserve.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Rock Hard Ten has been sold to the Korean Racing Authority to stand at stud in Korea. The 11-year-old son of Kris S. began his stud career in 2006 at William S. Farish’s Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky., and stood for $20,000 in 2012. Bloodstock agent Rollin Baugh handled the sale, and the horse will return to the U.S. at the conclusion of his stud career.
Pin Oak Lane Farm in New Freedom, Penn., has reduced the fees for two of its stallions, Albert the Great and Lite the Fuse, and will stand Rockport Harbor for the first time in 2013. The farm also is offering multiple-mare discounts for breeders sending more than one mare to any stallion at the farm; mares do not have to be bred to the same stallion to qualify for the discount.
Susan and John Sykes’s Woodford Thoroughbreds in Reddick, Fla., announced its three-stallion roster for 2013. The breeding and training facility near Ocala was formerly named CloverLeaf Farms II. Repent, currently fifth on the Florida general sire list, will stand for $3,000, the same as in 2012. The 13-year-old son of Louis Quatorze stood at CloverLeaf Farms II this year.
“We feel (Repent’s) fee gives tremendous value to breeders; his progeny are so tough and durable,” said Woodford Thoroughbreds farm manager Scott Kintz.
Multiple graded stakes winner Unbridled Energy will stand the 2013 breeding season for $2,500 live foal at Larry Mabee’s Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona, Calif. The 10-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song stood the 2012 season for $3,500 at Pin Oak Lane Farm in New Freedom, Penn.
Unbridled’s Energy’s progeny have earned nearly $1.5 million in 2012, led by stakes winner Sterling Madame and stakes-placed winner Forty Nine Watts. With his relocation to California and departures of Giacomo and Aragorn, Unbridled Energy becomes the leading third-crop sire in the state based on 2012 earnings.
The Keeneland November breeding stock sale generated one more round of fireworks before the end of Friday's 11th and final session when broodmare Royal Irish Lass sold to Brandywine Farm for $210,000.
Royal Irish Lass was one of several horses in the Keeneland November sale purchased by Brandywine Farm who were consigned and co-owned by Jim and Pam Robinson's Paris, Ky., farm and subsequently bought outright in the public market from Rob Whiteley's Liberation Farm.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Aided by strong international participation and a trio of $4 million-plus mares, Keeneland’s 11-day November breeding stock sale ended Friday with generally solid trade despite declines, though sellers remarked that the market remains highly polarized.
The auction sold 2,414 horses for a total of $143,025,600, down 31 percent from last year’s gross of $208,031,700 for 2,550 horses sold. The 2012 average after 11 days was $59,248, down 27 percent from last year’s $81,581, and the $22,000 median was 6 percent lower than 2011’s $23,500.
Castleton Lyons in Lexington, Ky., announced on Friday that champion Gio Ponti will stand for a fee of $20,000 in 2013, the same as this year. The three-time Eclipse Award winner stood his first season in 2012 at Castleton Lyons before shuttling to Arrowfield Stud in Australia for the Southern Hemisphere season.
Gio Ponti was bred to a full book of mares at Castleton Lyons, his mates including Arch’s Gal Edith, dam of Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner I’ll Have Another.
Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms in Lexington, Ky., released its 2013 stallion roster along with stud fees on Friday, and lowered fees for six of its eight returning stallions, including Stormy Atlantic and Zensational.
Stormy Atlantic, 11th on the North American general sire list, will stand for $30,000 in 2013, down from $40,000 this year. His top runners in 2012 include Grade 1 winners Get Stormy and Next Question.
Zensational will stand for $15,000 in 2013, down from $20,000. The first foals for Zensational, a 6-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song, will race next year.
The sixth and final book of the Keeneland November breeding stock sale on Thursday began with a decline in total sales and average but an improved median.
The November sale's 10th session finished with 216 horses sold for a total of $1,695,500, down 20.1 percent compared with last year's final total of $2,122,800 from 233 sold. The average sale price fell 13.8 percent to $7,850 from $9,111, while the median price of $5,500 rose 22.2 percent compared with last year's figure of $4,500.