When the Eclipse Awards are presented Thursday night at Santa Anita, Essential Quality will be spending a quiet evening at his birthplace, Darley’s Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky., while continuing to prepare for his upcoming first season at stud, with breeding sheds set to open in the coming week in Kentucky.
Alphabet Soup, the upset winner of the 1996 Breeders' Cup Classic, was euthanized Friday at Old Friends in Georgetown, Ky., after battling chronic kidney disease. At the time of his death, the 31-year-old son of Cozzene was the oldest living Breeders' Cup Classic winner.
Alphabet Soup, who stood for Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs in various locations, had been pensioned at Old Friends since 2015.
“There was something about Into Mischief that Wayne always gravitated toward,” Spendthrift Farm general manager Ned Toffey recalled of the late Spendthrift Farm owner B. Wayne Hughes. “He was always very, very optimistic about his chances of being a sire.”
Too Much Bling, a perennial leading sire in Texas, was again the leading stallion with state-sired progeny in 2021.
He’ll have more competition moving forward.
Texas, which takes the spotlight Sunday with the $1 million Houston Racing Festival, has seen an influx of new stallions in recent years. The state has five newcomers for the 2022 breeding season, including Mr Speaker and Poseidon’s Warrior, both Grade 1 winners who have sired Grade 1 winners.
Broodmare of the Year Leslie’s Lady, whose legacy continues to impact racing through son Into Mischief, died early Monday at her longtime home, Clarkland Farm in Lexington, Ky. The daughter of Tricky Creek was 26.
Leslie’s Lady, whose death was first reported by the Blood-Horse, had been pensioned since delivering her final foal, the Kantharos filly Love You Irene, in May 2020. She resided with fellow pensioner Hidden Assets at Clarkland and was buried on the farm.
The first several months of a new year are always full of foaling announcements, particularly anticipated arrivals for new stallions. The incoming stallions of 2021 – whose resulting first crops are arriving now, roughly 11 months later – were led by 2020 Horse of the Year Authentic. The Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner, standing alongside his sire Into Mischief at Spendthrift Farm, was the most expensive member of his incoming class, with an advertised fee of $75,000.
Halladay, the winner of the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga in 2020 and two other stakes, has been retired to stud at Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif., it was announced earlier this week.
Halladay, by War Front, will stand for $7,500.
A winner of 6 of 17 starts, Halladay earned $565,245 in a four-year career for owner Harrell Ventures and trainer Todd Pletcher. Halladay raced primarily on turf. He won the Tropical Park Derby in December 2019 and the Sunshine Forever Stakes in March 2020, both at Gulfstream Park.
Grade 1 winner Frost Giant was euthanized from complications of laminitis on Monday. The 19-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway had resided as a pensioner at the ReRun Thoroughbred retraining and adoption farm in East Greenbush, N.Y., since early last year.
The stallion served as an ambassador for the aftercare organization, which has taken in several of the stallion’s retired offspring over the years, including multiple stakes winner West Hills Giant.
Grade 3 winner Speightster, who hails from one of Canada's most successful families, will return to those roots to continue his stud career, as he has been purchased by Jay and Christine Hayden’s Saintsbury Farms to stand at Northern Dawn Stables in Hillsburgh, Ontario.
