Blame

5th-CD, $120k, Msw, 3yo/up, 6f, 3:01p.m. ET Conditioner Steve Asmussen will unveil the regally-bred WITHOUT A SONG (Medaglia d'Oro), a half-brother to Champion older horse Honor Code (A.P. Indy) as well as GISP Noble Tune (Unbridled's Song); hailing from the female family of Hall of Famer and blue-hen Serena's Song (Rahy). This is also the family of MGSW Vocalised (Vindication) and Grand Reward (Storm Cat) as well as at least nine other graded and group runners beneath that stellar third dam. The late starter will have Ricardo Santana Jr. in...

With the 2022 breeding season right around the corner, we will feature a series of breeders' mating plans over the coming weeks. Today we have Katierich Farms, a boutique breeding farm owned by Larry and Karen Doyle and located in Midway, Kentucky. Katierich president George Barnes said the farm not only boards and breeds for clients, but is also focused on developing their own high-quality broodmare band for the commercial market. ENHANCING (m, 14, Forestry--Heavenly Prize, by Seeking the Gold), to be bred to Blame Enhancing is a daughter of...

With the 2022 breeding season right around the corner, we will feature a series of breeders' mating plans over the coming weeks. Today we have Barry Butzer of Sun Valley Farm. WILLA (m, 5, Will Take Charge--Miss Kilroy, by A.P. Indy), to be bred to Blame, and her half-sister KITTY (m, 3, Street Boss--Miss Kilroy, by A.P. Indy), to be bred to Union Rags Very lucky to have my dad at side the day Miss Kilroy strode into the ring at the 2009 January Keeneland Breeding Stock Sale, an 11-year-old...

And so we reach the final leg of our journey hunting out value among Kentucky sires in 2022. It's been a rather more focused exercise this time round, and if that means plenty of stallions (and indeed some farms) have been overlooked, so be it. It's only ever the subjective view of a single bystander. You'll know what works for your own mare, and for your own agenda, too, whether you're an end user, say, or first and foremost need to anticipate commercial demand. We've often complained that a market...

War Front (Danzig--Starry Dreamer, by Rubiano) heads all Claiborne stallions in 2022 with a stud fee of $100,000. The 19-year-old stallion, who stood for $150,000 in 2021, was represented by 10 stakes winners, led by Group 1-winner Homesman and four other Grade I/Group 1 performers worldwide. He is the sire of 29 seven-figure yearlings over his career, and again showed his prowess in 2021 with a a $1.2 million filly. Standing alongside his sire at Claiborne is War of Will (War Front--Visions of Clarity {Ire}, by Sadler's Wells)), a winner...

There are 177 juveniles catalogued for the Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze Up Sale, the sales company announced on Tuesday. The breezes will be held at Doncaster Racecourse on Apr. 20 beginning at noon local time. The sale is slated for Apr. 21-22 with sessions starting at 10 a.m. local time each day. Several Royal Ascot winners have been sourced from the sale in recent years, including G1 Princes Of Wales's S. hero My Dream Boat (Ire) (Lord Shanakill), G1 Commonwealth Cup S. winner Quiet Reflection (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), G2 Norfolk...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Tuesday's observations feature a full-sister to Arc winner Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). 14.20 Chantilly, Mdn, €27,000, unraced 3yo, f, 9 1/2f (AWT) Andre Fabre trainee WILDFEDER (GB) (Galileo {Ire})--who represents the axis of Newsells Park Stud, Gestut Ammerland, Michael Tabor and Susan Magnier--is the fifth of six foals out...

As former stable star and popular GISW Tom's d'Etat (Smart Strike) gets his career at stud underway at WinStar Farm, a pair of flashy 3-year-old maiden winners and an emotional stakes victory have helped propel the 2021 season for veteran trainer Al Stall, Jr. "Trying to fill the shoes of horses like Blame and Tom's d'Etat are awfully tough," said Stall, who trained the former to a heart-stopping victory over Zenyatta in the 2010 GI Breeders' Cup Classic. "When horses like that leave the barn to go to Claiborne Farm...

So here we are at last, rounding the home turn. This series has unfolded in familiar fashion, with an initial stampede of unproven young stallions progressively thinned out by the impatience of a commercial sector operating in ever decreasing cycles. Today we finish with a selection from those admirable stallions who have survived the ruthless attrition, and created a viable niche at various levels of the market. The odds they have overcome, to get here, are such that the long-term health of the breed is clearly being treated as something...

3rd-AQU, $80K, 2yo, 8.5fT, 12:50 p.m. ET Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, William Freeman and Michael Valdes's AVIANO (Medaglia d'Oro) debuts for trainer Todd Pletcher, who recorded his 5,000th career victory last weekend and becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2021. Out of graded stakes winner Bryan's Jewel (Rockport Harbor), the April foal realized a $775,000 final bid from Eclipse at last year's Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling sale in Saratoga. Bryan's Jewel, a daughter of $650,000 Fasig-Tipton buy Saphiria (Touch Gold)--trained by Pletcher--is also responsible for a Bodemeister filly ultimately named...

Claiborne Farm has released stud fees for the majority of its stallions who will stand at the Paris, Ky.-based farm during the upcoming 2021 breeding season, which included a significant reduction in price for its international super-sire War Front. Among Claiborne's 13 stallions, War Front leads the charge with a stud fee of $150,000. The internationally acclaimed son of Danzig and emerging sire of sires is North America's top sire by percentage of lifetime stakes winners, graded stakes winners, and Grade I winners. In 2020, War Front has added three...

The juvenile sales season, on pause since March due to the global pandemic, began its return to action with the first of seven under-tack sessions for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's delayed Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training in Central Florida Sunday. A New York-bred filly by Into Mischief (hip 1240) recorded the day's fastest furlong breeze when covering the distance in :9 4/5. Consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds and part of the sale's supplemental catalogue, the filly is out of Miss Vigilance (War Pass), a half-sister to Grade I winner...