Laoban

A one-eyed horse, as his name would imply, Un Ojo (Laoban) took the shortest way around over an increasingly rain-affected Oaklawn main track, and found his best stride in the final 50 yards, outfinishing an unlucky Ethereal Road (Quality Road) to cause a 75-1 upset of Saturday's GII Rebel S. in [not-so] Hot Springs. Ridden for pace from his inside draw, Kavod (Lea) dueled inside of heavily favored GIII Southwest S. hero Newgrange (Violence) passing under the wire for the first time and made the running just off the inside...

Late young stallion Laoban's full-brother Son of Thunder (Uncle Mo--Chattertown, by Speightstown) is set to stand in New York at Waldorf Farm for 2022. He will be part of the Climax Stallions roster for a fee of $2,500 LFSN. "We are honored to have been able to purchase a full brother to such an incredible stallion whose life was cut much too short" said Sean Feld, President of Climax Stallions. "We will honor Laoban's legacy by offering a complementary breeding to anyone who bred, bought or is racing any progeny...

The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Sale of breeding stock returns Monday after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic. A catalogue of 292 broodmares and broodmare prospects and New York-bred weanlings will be on offer at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion beginning at 10:00 a.m. The 2019 renewal of the sale saw 134 horses change hands for gross receipts of $3,384,700, at an average of $25,259 and median of $15,000. A $160,000 Practical Joke colt from the RFHF Bloodstock consignment topped the sale on a winning bid from Steven Weston. A...

Keepmeinmind (Laoban) has been scratched from Saturday's $1-million GI Pennsylvania Derby after an abscess was discovered in his left front foot. "It's just bad timing," trainer Robertino Diorodo said. "He trained like a monster [Thursday] and we needed the pony to get him off the track, he was feeling so good. This is definitely disappointing, but the main thing is the horse is going to be ok. Terrible timing." GSW Keepmeinmind was last seen finishing fourth in the Aug. 28 GI Runhappy Travers S.

The shocking loss this week of the young gun Laoban, preceded just days earlier by that of the venerable Malibu Moon, could not fail to renew the kind of questions we should all keep asking themselves about how a stallion can make an enduring reputation. Both had started out in a regional program, having shown only marginal eligibility for a stud career on the racetrack, before quickly earning migration to Kentucky. If that was just about all they had in common, then their different roles on two of the biggest...

Laoban (Uncle Mo--Chattertown, by Speightstown), a leading second-crop sire, passed away unexpectedly, officials at WinStar Farm said Monday. He was eight years old. "It is with heavy hearts that we have to announce that we lost Laoban this morning," said Elliott Walden, WinStar's president, CEO, and racing manager. "He had quickly become one of our favorite stallions, and it's sad that we will not have the opportunity to see how influential he could have been as a sire. His passing will leave a tremendous void for all of us, and...

Grade I-producing sire Laoban is off to a fast start in Kentucky as he nears the completion of his first book at WinStar Farm. Meanwhile, his son Keepmeinmind, one of two graded winners for the son of Uncle Mo, readies for his bid in Saturday's GI Preakness S. "He has settled in and is doing really well," WinStar's President and CEO Elliott Walden said. "He's going to breed around 140 mares this year." The transition from Laoban's original stud farm, Sequel Stallions in New York, to WinStar was a breeze,...

Simply Ravishing (Laoban), the 6 1/4-length victress of the GI Alcibiades S. at Keeneland last year, has been retired to be bred, with an eye toward a possible sale at public auction this autumn. Trainer Ken McPeek confirmed the news via phone to TDN late Wednesday afternoon, shortly after TVG's Gabby Gaudet broke the story. "She had a minor breathing issue that we were dealing with, and we decided that if she couldn't be as competitive in Grade I races as she was at age two, we were going to...

The buzz started around this time last year. The first crop of 2-year-olds from Sequel New York's Laoban were fast. In a TDN series last spring polling various juvenile consignors and buyers, the son of Uncle Mo was on several shrewd observers' lists as a predicted under-the-radar stallion. "Laoban is a sneaky one that I'm not sure if a lot of people will notice," Brandon Rice had said last March. "I can see that there's guaranteed speed, and I could see him having a break out year...They all have a...

After completing our marathon tour of covering options in the Bluegrass, today we take a tour of the main regional hubs. Clearly, it would be impractical to go into anything like the same depth and, besides, local breeders know their own markets best. But while we will only visit some of the principal centers, and pick out only one or two names in each, bloodstock investors anywhere can acknowledge the professionalism that unites horsemen, coast to coast, and think about the possibilities of diversification or experiment--above all in those programs...

Keepmeinmind (Laoban) worked five furlongs in a bullet :59 at Oaklawn Tuesday morning in preparation for a start in the GIII Southwest S. Feb. 15. The fastest of 17 works published at the distance, the 3-year-old completed the final quarter-mile in a sharp :22.80, galloping out six furlongs in 1:11.80, seven furlongs in 1:25.40 and a mile in 1:40.40, according to local clockers. Accompanied by David Cohen, the winner of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. last November worked over a fast track following the second break to renovate the...

A filly by fast-starting young sire Laoban (Hip 805) topped Wednesday's open session and the entirety of the OBS Winter Mixed Sale, selling to Nick de Meric, who signed as Sand Hill Stables, for $175,000. Consigned by McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, the bay was bred in New York by the late Kenny LeJeune. A colt from the first crop of MGISW Mor Spirit (Eskendereya) (Hip 616) brought the day's second-highest price, hammering for $115,000 to bloodstock agent Donato Lanni. The bay was bred in Florida by Beth Bayer, who consigned...