Nature dictates that the Thoroughbred bloodstock industry proceed with its business, even as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic. In the Northern Hemisphere, the breeding season is well under way, and with mares and their attendant staff shipping to stallion farms, the farms have begun rolling out policies to limit interactions between people that may spread illness.
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Enforceable
Tapit–Justwhistledixie, by Dixie Union Bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farms
The road to the 2020 Kentucky Derby has been thrown into flux, but for now it continues with Saturday’s Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, with the regally bred Enforceable the favorite.
:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2020: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more
The New York Thoroughbred Breeders’ announced Thursday it has canceled the organization’s awards dinner scheduled for April 6 in Saratoga due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
At the dinner, the NYTB would have announced and honored the 2019 New York-bred champion horses. The NYTB will publicly announce the award winners on April 6 via press release and later it will distribute a video through its website and social media channels. The NYTB is contacting individual attendees about their previous reservations.
Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner War Emblem, famous on the track and off for his strong will, has died at age 21.
War Emblem was found dead early Wednesday morning at the Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement facility in Georgetown, Ky., where he had been pensioned since 2015. A fatal paddock accident is suspected, but a full necropsy report is pending.
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Three Technique
Mr Speaker – Nite in Rome, by Harlan’s Holiday
Bred in Kentucky by Omega Farm LLC and Bally Breeders ($50,000 Keeneland November weanling purchase by Spin to Win Stables; $180,000 Fasig-Tipton July yearling purchase by August Dawn Farm)
From the traditional partnership model of Thoroughbred ownership, which is intended to spread out the reward and risk in the game, various other models have evolved in recent years. Companies such as MyRacehorse offer micro-shares in stock, and groups such as the Churchill Downs Racing Club and other track-affiliated organizations offer a chance to buy in to the “experience” of ownership.
Successful sire Belong to Me has died due to the infirmities of old age, his longtime home, Lane’s End Farm, announced Thursday evening. The New Jersey-bred son of Danzig was 31.
Belong to Me spent his first four seasons at stud in New York before being relocated to Lane’s End in 1998. This is the second recent loss of a prominent pensioner for the Versailles, Ky., farm, which on Feb. 21 said farewell to Hall of Famer and breed-shaping sire A.P. Indy, also 31. Belong to Me had been pensioned since 2013.
Breeder and consignor Gerry Dilger, known for his involvement with Kentucky Derby winners Nyquist and Always Dreaming, has died at age 61 following recent cardiac troubles.
Dilger, a native of County Clare, Ireland, came to the U.S. in 1978, and owned and operated Dromoland Farm in Kentucky. He and pinhooking partners Ted Campion and Pat Costello purchased Nyquist for $180,000 as a Keeneland November weanling and continued to raise the colt at Dromoland.
