Fri, 11/11/2022 - 11:43

Jack Christopher retired; will stand for $45K at Coolmore's Ashford Stud

Barbara Livingston
Jack Christopher's wins include three Grade 1s - the Champagne, Woody Stephens, and H. Allen Jerkens.

Multiple Grade 1 winner Jack Christopher has officially been retired after missing last week’s Breeders’ Cup, and will enter stand in 2023 at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

Jack Christopher, campaigned by Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, and Coolmore, which bought in during the colt’s juvenile season, will debut for an advertised fee of $45,000. The flashy colt will stand alongside his sire, Munnings, who he closely resembles. Munnings has been a consistently successful sire the last several years, and has seen his fee climb from $20,000 in 2019 to $100,000 for 2023.

Wed, 11/09/2022 - 14:01

Flightline will stand for $200,000 at Lane's End

Barbara D. Livingston
Flightline luciendo impecable al día siguiente de lo que fue su carrera final

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Flightline, the undefeated Breeders’ Cup Classic winner who is sure to be named Horse of the Year, will have a $200,000 fee in his first year at stud, according to an announcement by Lane’s End Farm, where the 4-year-old colt will stand next year.

The $200,000 fee will be the highest since 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh went to stud in 2016.

Wed, 11/02/2022 - 13:26

Breeders' Cup: Moulton has Breeders' Cup starters Friday and Saturday

Debra A. Roma
Andthewinneris, bred and owned by Susan Moulton, runs in Friday's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. She also owns Manny Wah, who will start in Saturday's BC Sprint.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Susan Moulton will have runners both days of the Breeders’ Cup in Manny Wah and homebred Andthewinneris, both graded stakes winners at Keeneland, and both carrying the sentimental silks of her late father, Naylor Morton.

“It’s been amazing – the silks I use are my father’s,” she explained. “I had some silks in the past, but when my father passed, I started using his.”

Mon, 10/31/2022 - 13:26

Breeders' Cup: Two sets of half-siblings will compete

Debra A. Roma
Distaff contender Nest (left) is a half-sister to Lost Ark, who is in the Juvenile. They are out of the mare Marion Ravenwood, who also produced Grade 1 winner Idol.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – It’s rare, but not unprecedented, for half or full siblings to contest races at the same Breeders’ Cup. This year, however, it’s an exceptionally unique circumstance, as two sets of half-siblings will share the weekend.

Lost Ark (Juvenile) and American Rockette (Juvenile Fillies) will be in action on the Nov. 4 card. One day later, their respective older half-siblings will take the track in Nest (Distaff) and Frank’s Rockette (Filly and Mare Sprint).

Mon, 10/31/2022 - 09:16

Fightline: The making of a partnership

Flightline is campaigned by the partnership of Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, breeder Summer Wind Farm, West Point Thoroughbreds, and the Lane’s End-affiliated Woodford Racing. Bloodstock agent David Ingordo, who advises several of those entities, said the partnership came together quite naturally, as several of those groups already had ties with the others.

“It was very organic,” Ingordo said, “and it ended up being a match made in heaven for horse, trainer, and owners.”

Summer Wind Farm

Mon, 10/31/2022 - 08:10

Breeders' Cup Classic: Flightline breeder Lyon enjoying the ride

Barbara D. Livingston
Jane Lyon, owner of Summer Wind Farm, is the breeder of Flightline.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jane Lyon bred and raised the unbeaten and unchallenged Flightline. But she can’t say he’s her favorite horse.

“Do people love one of their children more than the others?” Lyon asked rhetorically. “Probably not.”

Thu, 10/27/2022 - 13:50

Breeders' Cup heavy with Gun Runner offspring

Debra A. Roma
Gunite returned $16.80 in winning the Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga on Sunday.

Gun Runner set the earnings record for a North American freshman sire in 2021, with his first Breeders’ Cup winner that season. He was the busiest stallion in North America in 2022, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred.

Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year, is now loaded for the upcoming Breeders’ Cup.

Thu, 10/27/2022 - 13:46

Stallion duties loom next year for several Breeders' Cup Classic runners

Barbara D. Livingston
Olympiad heads to stud next year at Gainesway Farm, which consigned him to the Keeneland September yearling sale in 2019.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Major farms are rolling out their stallion rosters for 2023, and they include several Breeders’ Cup candidates.

The stallion class of 2023 will include Grade 1 winners Life Is Good, Olympiad, and Happy Saver, all candidates for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 5. The Breeders’ Cup Classic might be the final ontrack appearance for those three, but Grade 1 races remain on the calendar and several retiring horses in recent years have taken a shot at the Pegasus World Cup, which falls prior to the start of breeding season.

Wed, 10/26/2022 - 10:54

Golden Pal to retire after BC Turf Sprint, stand at Coolmore's Ashford Stud

Barbara Livingston
Golden Pal, a son of Uncle Mo, will be favored to score a repeat win in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint favorite Golden Pal will retire to Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky following that Nov. 5 race at Keeneland, the farm confirmed Wednesday.

Trainer Wesley Ward had already indicated that Turf Sprint was likely to be the colt’s swan song.

Golden Pal is undefeated in North American stakes company, with his eight starts at that level including victories in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Keeneland and 2021 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar.

Tue, 10/25/2022 - 13:37

Olympiad comes full circle, will stand at Gainesway

Barbara Livingston
Olympiad, shown at Saratoga on Oct. 15, was consigned to the Keeneland September yearling sale by Gainesway. He will return there to begin his stud career.

Grade 1 winner Olympiad is the latest Breeders' Cup Classic contender spoken for as a stallion as it was announced that Gainesway Farm will stand him upon his eventual retirement from racing.

Olympiad, who was bred by Emory Hamilton and offered as a Keeneland September yearling by the Gainesway consignment, now races for Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable, and LNJ Foxwoods. He has won six of seven outings this season, including five graded stakes.

The most recent score for the 4-year-old son of Speightstown came in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 3 at Saratoga.