Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa

If there has ever been a quintessential Saturday afternoon sire--as well as Breeders' Cup sire and champion sire--Curlin would have to be at the top of the list. He tends to churn out top-level horses at a dizzying rate. "Not to take anything away from other great stallions, but I don't believe Curlin is second to anybody when you speak of Grade I performers and accomplishments," said John Sikura, who stands the 2007-08 Horse of the Year at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. "If you think of the Breeders' Cup,...

The mighty Curlin's heir apparent might be a son standing alongside him at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. Your average young stallion doesn't usually follow up a first-crop Classic winner with another one in his second crop. To be fair, your average young stallion doesn't often have a Classic winner at all. Good Magic is quickly proving he is not your average young stallion. "Classic horses are certainly the peak, the goal of anyone who breeds, sells, or owns, or even stands stallions," said Hill 'n' Dale's John Sikura, who...

Society Man capped a big weekend for trainer Danny Gargan and Hill 'n' Dale stallion Good Magic with a powerful victory in the GIII Matt Winn S. at Churchill Downs Sunday. Like his GI Belmont S.-winning stablemate Dornoch (Good Magic), Society Man was making his first start since the May 4 GI Kentucky Derby, where he was 16th. The chestnut gelding was unhurried and settled near the back of the pack while racing along the rail and avoiding traffic on the first turn. Favored Who Dey rushed between foes to...

William Johnson Bloodstock secured the day's top lot on Day 2 of the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale when lot 297, an imposing daughter of the Champion Sire I Am Invincible, was knocked down for A$800,000 on behalf of Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. The fact that this is one of Australia's most prolific black-type families was not lost on this filly's new owners, with William Johnson explaining that the Sikura family of Hill 'n' Dale have been keen to tap into the best Australian bloodlines. "Racing...

7th-Aqueduct, $84,000, Alw (NW2$X)/Opt. Clm ($62,500), 4-20, 4yo/up, 1m, 1:34.55, ft, 1 length. BLAZING SEVENS (c, 4, Good Magic--Trophy Girl, by Warrior's Reward) made a name for himself in his juvenile season through the spring of his sophomore one, earning 'TDN Rising Star'-dom, winning the GI Champagne S., and hitting the board in three other Grade I events, including coming a head short of claiming the second jewel of the Triple Crown--the GI Preakness S. to MGISW National Treasure (Quality Road)--before going on the shelf after an even third-place finish...

When the dust settled at the close of the Fasig-Tipton April Digital Sale Tuesday evening, the 15-year-old broodmare Eileen's Dream (Bernardini, hip 21) held the new record for a single offering on the digital platform when she sold for $660,000 to DJ Stable. Consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, Eileen's Dream sold with her 2024 colt by Curlin at her side. She was bred back to Charlatan Mar. 27. The sale closed with 87 horses sold for $4,274,300, an average of $49,130. The clearance rate was 92.5% with 670...

Graded stakes winner She Can't Sing (Bernardini) became the second seven-figure mare of the Lothenbach dispersal at Fasig-Tipton Tuesday when selling for $1.1 million to the Sikura family's Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. John Sikura did the bidding on the 7-year-old mare before handing off the ticket to his 22-year-old son Jes to sign.

The Keeneland January sale got its third seven-figure horse when Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa's John Sikura and Determined Stud's Matt Dorman partnered up to purchase Star Act (Street Cry {Ire}) (hip 144) for $1.2 million. The 13-year-old mare, dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Just F Y I (Justify), was originally led out unsold at $950,000 during the auction's first session Monday. "She is a class mare," Dorman said Wednesday. "She's a Grade I producer. She has a phenomenal horse who is three-for-three and primed for next...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, which hadn't had a million-dollar mare since 2019, had two reach seven figures during its opening session Monday in Lexington, with 19-year-old Tom Wachman making the day's highest bid of $1.6-million to acquire the broodmare prospect Prank (Into Mischief) on behalf of his grandfather, John Magnier's Coolmore. Late in the session, Tomoyuki Nakamura of K I Farm purchased Curlin's Voyage (Curlin) for $1 million. "I think we've got to be very happy with...

Otto the Conqueror (Street Sense) picked up a black-type feather for his cap with this gutsy victory in the Remington Springboard Mile S., and picked up 10 points for the Road to the Kentucky Derby. A dominating four-length winner last out over a Churchill allowance optional claiming group which included next out GII Kentucky Jockey Club winner Honor Marie (Honor Code) and SW Just Steel (Justify), he'd broken his maiden two back over that track by a neck and ran a length second on unveiling Aug. 13 at Ellis Park...

Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa stallion Violence (Medaglia d'Oro--Violent Beauty, by Gone West), the sire of last year's champion 2-year-old Forte, has had his 2024 stud fee reduced from the previously announced $60,000 to $40,000 live foal. In announcing the reduction Sunday evening, Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa president John Sikura explained, "At the end of last breeding season, Violence had a period where he was missing  too many of his mares. We raised his fee to, not only reflect his race track success, but to lessen demand for the...

2nd-AQU, $85k, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 12:20p.m. ET From the family of GISW Acoma (Empire Maker) and her half-brother, the late, great GISW Arch (Kris S.), CONQUEST WARRIOR (City of Light) will be the priciest unveiling on the afternoon in New York, carrying a princely $1 million tag from the 2022 KEESEP sale. Racing for Courtlandt Farms under the tutelage of Shug McGaughey, the colt is a half-sibling to a series of winners out of dam MSW Tea Time (Pulpit) including unraced 3-year-old filly Soul Play (Union Rags), who was also...