Horse of the Year Gun Runner established an earnings record for a North American freshman sire over the weekend as he continued to extend his dominance of this season’s juvenile divisions.
Gun Runner, who stands at Three Chimneys Farm, is represented by first-crop progeny who have earned $3,827,373 through Sunday, according to Daily Racing Form statistics, well clear of his closest competitor on the freshman sire list, Coolmore's Practical Joke, with $1,967,961.
Many North American yearling sales posted record or near-record figures in the resurgent 2021 season, leading to speculation that this fall’s weanling marketplace could be strong. Those predictions came to fruition when young stock helped boost both the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale and the Keeneland November breeding stock sale to improved figures this month.
The Keeneland sale, which concluded Friday, also posted a record median.
The Keeneland November breeding stock sale concluded a 10-day run last week with improved figures across the board from its pandemic-hampered 2020 edition. Those figures included a sales-record median, a crucial figure for market health.
"The median is such a good guide of the health of the market, and the health of the middle market, in particular," said Cormac Breathnach, Keeneland’s director of sales operations. "It's very gratifying."
Rock Your World, winner of this year's Santa Anita Derby, has been retired and will stand at Spendthrift Farm in 2022.
Rock Your World, a Candy Ride colt campaigned by Hronis Racing and Talla Racing, won his first three starts, including the Pasadena Stakes on turf and then the Santa Anita Derby by 4 1/4 lengths over Medina Spirit in his dirt debut. That proved to be his final victory.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Successful sire Alternation has been re-syndicated and will continue his stud career at Darby Dan Farm as his birthplace, Pin Oak Stud, continues to wind down its operations.
Josephine Abercrombie’s Pin Oak had been downsizing its stock over the past several years as part of its strategic exit from commercial operations. The most serious step in that process took place in September, as Pin Oak’s broodmares, their 2021 weanlings, and some racing fillies were dispersed in a special auction at Fasig-Tipton.
Sam Huff, the Hall of Fame professional football player and the founder of the West Virginia Breeders Classics, died on Saturday, according to multiple sources. Huff, who had dementia, was 87.
A native of West Virginia, Huff returned to his home state after a 13-year professional football career and immersed himself in Thoroughbred racing and breeding. He started Sporting Life Farm in nearby Middleburg, Virginia, in 1986, with his partner, Carol Holden, and one year later organized the West Virginia Breeders Classics, modeled on the Maryland Million.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - A weanling half-sister to Grade 1 winner Juju's Map led Sunday's session at $360,000 as the Keeneland November breeding stock sale reached its midway point with significant gains, having already surpassed its total gross sales from 2020.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The well-related young broodmare Belle Street sold for $550,000 to lead the Book 3 opener as the Keeneland November breeding stock sale moved deeper into the marketplace with continued gains.
Keeneland reported 252 horses sold on Saturday, the first of two Book 3 sessions and the fourth of 10 sessions overall at this auction, for grosses of $19,981,500. In last year's comparable Book 3 opener, 226 horses brought $13,141,000.
Eclipse Award champion turf horse and leading turf sire English Channel died Thursday morning following an illness. One of the heirs to leading sire Smart Strike, English Channel was 19.
Calumet Farm reported Wednesday that its prominent sire was likely to miss the 2022 breeding season after being “diagnosed with multiple health issues.” The exact nature of the issues were not disclosed. The stallion’s health continued to worsen despite treatment.
Eclipse Award champion turf horse and leading turf sire English Channel died Thursday morning following an illness. The son of Smart Strike was 19.
Calumet Farm reported on Wednesday that its prominent sire was likely to miss the 2022 breeding season after being “diagnosed with multiple health issues.” The exact nature of the issues were not disclosed. The stallion’s health then continued to decline.
