Grade 1 winner and 2000 Kentucky Derby and Belmont runner-up Aptitude has died in Argentina of a ruptured stomach, according to Thoroughbred Times.
The Juddmonte-bred A.P. Indy horse was 15 and had stood at Haras Vacacion permanently since 2010. He died on April 30, according to the report.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Lexington's historic Calumet Farm has a new operator: Thoroughbred owner and breeder Brad Kelley.
The De Kwiatkowski Trust, which operates Calumet's owner, Kennelot Stables, announced late Thursday that it had entered a private purchase agreement with a new group, the Calumet Investment Group, to buy the famed farm. That group will lease the 798-acre farm to Kelley, who owns and bred Kentucky Derby contender Optimizer.
Calumet's sale price was $35,931,960, according to records filed May 3 with the Fayette County Clerk.
The Barretts May 2-year-old sale catalog, featuring 116 horses, is out now in print and online at www.barretts.com.
The catalog is slightly larger this season, up from 108 horses in 2011. The Pomona, Calif., sale will take place Monday, May 14, at 6:30 p.m. in Fairplex Park’s Hinds Pavilion. The auction’s under-tack preview is set for 10 a.m. Friday, May 11, at Fairplex Park.
Florida stallion Skip Trial, sire of Hall of Famer and 1998 Horse of the Year Skip Away, died Tuesday at Bridlewood Farm, the Ocala, Fla., nursery announced Wednesday. He was 30.
The Bailjumper horse was euthanized due to the infirmities of old age and will be buried in the farm cemetery, the farm said. Skip Trial stood at Bridlewood for his entire breeding career, which began in 1988 and ran until his pensioning in 2010.
Dynaformer -- sire of 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, multi-million-dollar earner Perfect Drift, and three-time steeplechase champion McDynamo -- has died two weeks after an aortic valve rupture prompted Three Chimneys Farm to pension him. A 27-year-old son of Roberto, Dynaformer was euthanized at about noon Sunday, the Midway, Ky., farm announced.
Three Chimneys president Case Clay had said earlier this year that the farm would limit the popular stallion’s book to 40 mares this year, but he was abruptly pensioned April 14 when the heart problem became apparent.
Age is apparently an asset for California Flag, the 8-year-old turf sprinter.
Making his first start of 2012, California Flag won the eighth stakes of his career in the $100,000 San Simeon Handicap at Santa Anita on April 21. He looked every bit as competitive through the race, run on the track’s hillside turf course, as he did earlier in his career.
The victory left trainer Brian Koriner thinking of a fifth consecutive start in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November for California Flag.
After two days of hefty increases, Wednesday’s third session at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company spring juvenile sale saw plenty of trade and a new high price overall.
Wednesday’s leader at 3:15 p.m. was a $450,000 Orientate-Mir Cat colt that Hill ’n’ Dale Bloodstock bought from Eddie Woods, agent. The dark bay or brown colt’s dam is an unraced Tale of the Cat mare and is from the family of A Phenomenon, Seattle Meteor, and other graded winners.
