Adena Springs

Moira (Ghostzapper), dominant winner against males in last year's Queen's Plate S., took home both Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-Old honors at the 48th Annual Sovereign Awards ceremony hosted by the Jockey Club of Canada on Thursday. The evening began with a commemoration of the club's 50th anniversary and recognition of the founding members from 1973. The top three finalists in each category are determined by the online ballots of the Jockey Club of Canada's voters. The media category award finalists were determined by professionals within the industry...

ETOBICOKE, ON--Heading into the 163rd Queen's Plate, most of the pre-race talk swirled around X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables and SF Racing's Moira (Ghostzapper), and her pre-Woodbine Oaks antics that led to her ultimately running, and romping, without hind shoes. Keeping her shoes--if not entirely her composure--firmly intact prior to Sunday's Classic fixture at Woodbine, the filly appeared to sprout wings in the stretch, cruising to an eye-catching seven-length victory over the Mark Casse-trained pair of Hall of Dreams (Lemon Drop Kid) and Sir For Sure (Sligo Bay {Ire}). "There are...

The Jockey Club of Canada has announced the finalists for the 2021 Sovereign Awards, which honor Canada's champions and recognizes their outstanding achievements in Canadian Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding. The winner of each category, along with Canada's Horse of the Year for 2021, will be announced during the 47th Annual Sovereign Award Ceremony that will be held on the evening of Thursday, Apr. 14, 2022 at Universal Eventspace in Vaughan, Ontario. Tickets can also be purchased online here. The 2021 Media Awards finalists, the winner of the Award for Outstanding...

Alphabet Soup (Cozzene--Illiterate, by Arts and Letters), who won a memorable renewal of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Woodbine in 1996, died Jan. 28 at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Georgetown, Kentucky, due to chronic kidney disease. The oldest living Classic winner, the gray was 31 years old and had been pensioned at the farm since 2015. Bred in Pennsylvania by Southeast Associates, Alphabet Soup was trained by David Hofmans for Georgia B. Ridder and came to hand at four in 1995, winning the GII Del Mar Budweiser...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale continued Thursday with a third session dominated by mares from the Godolphin draft. Dan Hall, acting on behalf of Frank Stronach's Adena Springs, made the day's highest bid when going to $480,000 to acquire the unraced Crowning Jewel (Into Mischief). Sheikh Mohammed's operation, on track to earn the Eclipse Award as leading breeder of 2021, was responsible for three of the session's top four prices. In all, 259 head sold Thursday for a gross of $5,471,700. The session average...

Adena Springs Farm, located near Paris, Ky., will be sold, according to Dallas real estate firm Icon Global. Frank Stronach purchased the land that makes up the 2,300-acre property in 2005 and built the facility from scratch, opening it in 2007. It is capable of handling over 1,000 horses and has been the home of a number of prominent stallions, including homebreds Awesome Again and Ghostzapper. Adena Springs Farm is part of The Stronach Group's (TSG) real estate portfolio and is being sold under the direction of its Chairman, Chief...

Keeneland has named bloodstock consultant Cormac Breathnach, Ph.D., associated for many years with first Adena Springs and then Airdrie stallions, as its new Director of Sales Operations. Breathnach succeeds Geoffrey Russell, who retired in April after 25 years with Keeneland. Russell will remain in a consulting role with Keeneland through the rest of 2021. "We are excited to have Cormac join the Keeneland sales team as the Director of Sales Operations," Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. "I have long admired his professionalism, knowledge, and integrity, which is...

Breeders' Cup Classic winner and top sire Awesome Again (Deputy Minister--Primal Force, by Blushing Groom {Fr}) died suddenly Tuesday at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement farm in Georgetown, Kentucky. He was 26. (Click here for video feature 'The House That Awesome Again Built')  The exact cause of death is unknown. A full necropsy is pending and a full veterinary report will follow. The Canadian-bred had an exemplary resume as both a racehorse and a stallion. He broke his maiden at Hollywood Park in just his second start as a 3-year-old in...

Former Adena Springs stallions Awesome Again and Milwaukee Brew have been transferred to the Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement farm, according to a press release sent from Old Friends Friday afternoon. The announcement follows on the heels of the relocation from Adena Springs of three sires announced last Saturday--Awesome Again's Ghostzapper, Mucho Macho Man, and Point of Entry--who were moved to Hill 'n' Dale Farm's new Xalapa facility to stand at stud. Awesome Again and Milwaukee Brew were pensioned from stud duty in 2019. Awesome Again, now 27, retired after an...

Five-time Grade I winner Einstein (Brz) (Spend a Buck--Gay Charm {Brz}, by Ghadeer {Fr}) was euthanized at Park Equine Hospital Wednesday due to complications from cancer. He had been pensioned at Old Friends since 2019. Trained by Helen Pitts, Einstein captured the 2009 GI Santa Anita H. and four Grade I stakes on turf. In all Einstein made 27 starts, winning 11 races. He won or placed in 13 stakes, all of which were graded, and his career earnings totaled $2,703,324. Einstein retired from racing in 2010 to stand at...

All eyes will be on Santa Anita for their opening weekend feature in the GI Awesome Again S. as Bob Baffert trainees Maximum Security (New Year's Day) and Improbable (City Zip) go head to head for the first time since that consequential first Saturday in May last year. The $300,000 Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" contest could mark the emergence of an unusual stablemate rivalry. Over two decades ago, the race's namesake was part of a different rivalry-- one for 1998 Horse of the Year. Awesome Again had gone...

The $100,000 Perfect Sting S. at Saratoga features a talented field with several older mares who have the potential to be racing at Keeneland come November. The mile-and-a-sixteenth turf race will feature two Chad Brown trainees in Grade III winner Café Americano (Medaglia d'Oro) and the French-bred Altea (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), as well as Graham Motion's three-time graded stakes winner Secret Message (Hat Trick {Jpn}). Last year, the race was run over Belmont's turf and won by Uni (GB) (More Than Ready), who would go on to claim the GI...