Classic-placed multiple Grade 1 winner and sire Congaree was euthanized Nov. 22 due to the infirmities of old age. The son of Arazi was 22 and had resided at Valor Farm near Pilot Point, Texas, where he had been standing prior to being pensioned earlier this year. The farm shared the news of his death on its social media channels Monday.
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Curlin recorded a rarity when the regally bred Malathaat led home a trifecta of his fillies in the Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes on Saturday at Aqueduct.
Malathaat is out of Grade 1 winner Dreaming of Julia, by A.P. Indy, and out of Grade 1 winner Dream Rush. Shadwell purchased Malathaat from breeder Stonestreet Farm for $1,050,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale and placed her with Todd Pletcher, who also conditioned her dam.
Multiple Grade 1 winner McKinzie was one of the most successful runners of his generation, winning graded stakes in four consecutive seasons. Gainesway hopes for him to be similarly consistent as a sire, as he enters stud in 2021 in Kentucky.
The Metropolitan Handicap has a history of being a stallion-making event because it showcases brilliance that is so desired in the American market in a top-class, competitive race. Vekoma will become the latest winner of the historic event to stand at Spendthrift Farm, and, with a pedigree that sports several successful sires, he has solid credentials to become a top sire himself.
Into Mischief, who has risen through the ranks to become North America’s reigning leading sire, will have a number of prominent sons with runners in the coming years, led by his Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Authentic. But also entering stud this year in Kentucky is his Instagrand, who will get every opportunity to get off on a good foot, thanks to his owner, Larry Best
Champion Midnight Bisou will be bred to two-time Horse of the Year and perennial classic sire Curlin in her first season as a broodmare in 2021.
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WinStar Farm is essentially adding a new constellation for 2021, with four Grade 1-winning millionaires debuting at stud among the five new faces in its stallion barn. Two of those newcomers will continue to build on one of America’s most prominent sire lines.
Fresh off claiming his first North American general sire title in 2019, Spendthrift Farm’s Into Mischief continued to raise the bar higher and higher for himself in 2020. He sired his first classic winner in Kentucky Derby victor Authentic. That colt went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, one of two track record-setting winners on the program for Into Mischief, whose daughter Gamine also set a track record winning the Filly and Mare Sprint.
War of Will gave War Front, a popular international stallion and one of Kentucky’s biggest commercial standouts, a milestone first American classic winner in 2019. He later showcased his sire’s versatility by becoming a dual-surface Grade 1 winner, and will now get a chance to build his own legacy while continuing to bolster War Front’s reputation. This fall, War of Will took up residence alongside his sire at historic Claiborne Farm, after the Hancock family’s Paris, Ky., operation purchased an interest in the colt earlier in the year.
Country House and Maximum Security will forever be linked in racing history by their run down the stretch at Churchill Downs on May 4, 2019. Maximum Security crossed the line first in the Kentucky Derby, but was disqualified for interference, marking the first time in the history of the Run for the Roses that the horse who crossed the wire first was disqualified for an in-race infraction. His demotion put Country House in the winner’s circle.
