Hill 'n' Dale

When Domestic Product (Practical Joke) bullied his way through traffic to get his nose in front in the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby Saturday, he not only earned valuable qualifying points to the GI Kentucky Derby, he also provided a timely update for his half-sister who is scheduled to sell during the first session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales' Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Tuesday. "She's been very popular today, let's put it that way," Becky Thomas said of the filly from the first crop of Complexity (hip...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale continued into its second half Wednesday in Lexington with a session which, while significantly smaller, produced results largely in line with its 2023 counterpart. For the session, 196 horses sold for a gross of $4,352,900. The average of $22,209 was down 2.54% from last year's corresponding session, while the median of $10,000 was up 25%. From 316 catalogued horses, 242 horses were offered and 46 failed to meet their reserves for a buy-back...

Horses aren't supposed to be able to do what Ghostzapper did. The Hall of Famer was so dazzling that the 128 Beyer Speed Figure he registered in the GIII Philip H. Iselin H.--still the highest figure in the history of American racing at a route--isn't even remembered as one of his top races. Some people might count his GI Vosburgh sprinting at three against older horses as one of his best, others might prefer his GI Woodward battle over eventual Horse of the Year Saint Liam, and still others might...

Hill 'n' Dale Farms multiple leading sire Curlin will have a stud fee equal to Spendthrift Farm's Into Mischief at $250,000 LFSN, as the breeding operation published its roster for the 2024 season in a press release Thursday morning. Farm stalwart Curlin, who has defined himself as one of the most preeminent sires at stud today, had his fee raised from $225,000. The 19-year-old is the sire of five individual Grade I winners this year, including Idiomatic, Cody's Wish, Clairiere, Elite Power and Bright Future. Curlin's champion son Good Magic...

Good Magic entered the GI Juvenile a maiden; he came out a Breeders' Cup winner. He's making an even bigger splash at stud. A little more than six weeks before his first crop turned up GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage, he had this year's priciest OBSMAR 2-year-old. That $2-million colt is now GISW Muth and will be one of the favorites for this year's Juvenile. "The odds are rare to buy a horse and have it become an important stallion," said Hill 'n' Dale's John Sikura of Good Magic. "Intuitively...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends There are great racehorses and there are great sires. One doesn't always equal the other. Sometimes, but not always, a horse is equally adept at both. "It's rare for world-class racehorse to become a world-class sire. It's two different resumes, two different achievements," said John Sikura, owner of Hill 'n' Dale. Rarely, ever so rarely, a top racehorse becomes a sire so good and so prolific in generating top-class horses that his own championship race record becomes almost an afterthought....

At a time that so plainly demands leadership, where better to come than the desk of John Sikura? A man of notably independent outlook, the owner of Hill 'n' Dale can be relied upon for a perspective that combines candor and detachment with flair and imagination. And those are all assets that appear to be in short supply right now. For while our community's emotional response to the traumas at Saratoga this summer was one of shared horror and grief, the polarization of opinion since has been emotive. Much as...

Coolmore's Lookin At Lucky was responsible for the top-selling colt and priciest filly as the Keeneland September Sale reached its second-last day of trade Friday afternoon in Lexington. Robert Clay's Grandview Equine signed for a pair of seven-figure yearlings--colts by Into Mischief and Curlin--during the select Book 1 and 2 sessions early last week, and the operation remained focused on the task at hand all the way through Book 6, going to $120,000 for hip 3910. The Apr. 27 foal was consigned to the sale by Hill 'n' Dale at...

With barely a dozen race days to be eked out of its remaining two years, the Steve Pini Memorial S. of September 2017 formed part of a pretty low-key bookend to the history of Suffolk Downs. The Boston track's opening era, after all, had been propped up by Seabiscuit himself. But it turns out that this race, honoring the late track superintendent, deserves a rather lengthier footnote than anyone might have imagined at the time. Over an extended mile of turf, a 5-year-old daughter of Big Brown overtook Queen Caroline...

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and Wet Paint (Blame) weren't the only 3-year-olds to impress on Oaklawn Park's loaded GI Arkansas Derby program. WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's Federal Judge (c, 3, Army Mule--Congarette, by Congaree) announced his presence with authority on the undercard, kicking off his career for trainer Rodolphe Brisset with a razor sharp, front-running performance, good for a flashy 97 Beyer Speed Figure. He broke sharply from post five beneath Ricardo Santana, Jr. and quickly cleared his six rivals, including a trio of older horses, at debut...

Hill 'n' Dale's Charlatan (Speightstown), a multiple Grade I stakes winner, was represented by his first two foals this past week. On Jan. 17, a bay colt out of Inventive (Dixie Union) was born at Seclusive Farm. Inventive is already the dam of GISW Klimt (Quality Road) and of GSP West Coast Chick (Malibu Moon). "This colt has strength, power, substance, and great bone," said Seclusive's Chris Baccari. "Excited to have other mares in foal to Charlatan and will plan to breed back to him after seeing this colt. I...

Bidding opens for the Jockey and Jeans Stallion Season Sale, benefitting the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, on Tuesday Jan. 10 at 9 am ET and ends Thursday, Jan. 12 at 9 pm ET with a preview beginning Jan. 9. The sale features over 70 stallions from Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York, California, Texas and Oklahoma and has raised over $500,000 for the PDJF to date. "Big farm or small, we thank them all," said Jockeys and Jeans President Barry Pearl. "There are many other valuable seasons and one for every pocketbook....