Life Is Good

13th-Churchill Downs, $127,847, Alw (NW1X)/Opt. Clm ($125,000), 5-3, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 1:15.69, sy, 2 1/4 lengths. PATCH ADAMS (c, 3, Into Mischief--Well Humored {SW}, by Distorted Humor), who always has been marked by the betting public as the chalk, earned a 'TDN Rising Star' badge at second asking when the colt won by 10 1/2 lengths and posted a 98 Beyer under the Twin Spires at the end of November. The Triple Crown nominee just missed hitting the board in the GIII Southwest Stakes Jan. 25 and ran a well-beaten...

With breeding sheds opening last week across North America, farms have been quietly preparing stallions for the demanding months ahead of them. All jokes about them having the best jobs aside, stallions have to be ready for a marathon during breeding season. It's not simply a matter of bringing stallions up from fields and expecting them to be ready to cover a full book of mares over the ensuing months. Perhaps that may work for small operations where a stallion covers a handful of mares all season, but for the...

Based at his Mill Ridge Farm, Headley Bell and his Nicoma Bloodstock have been helping clients mate their mares since 1979. With such notable successes as Trempolino, Suave Dancer, Keeper Hill, Barbaro, Street Sense, Havre de Grace, Oscar Performance, Bricks and Mortar, and the 2024 Preakness winner Seize the Grey, it's no wonder that many of the clients he discusses below have been with him for over 40 years. "It's such a gift to be able to assist our clients in this manner because it's something I'm passionate about," said...

Peter Bradley, Bradley Thoroughbreds Gold: MCKINZIE Street Sense--Runway Model, by Petionville Gainesway Farm, $75,000 Even though his stud fee more than doubled, McKinzie may be the best bang for the buck at $75,000 this season. A Grade I winner at two, three and four, he completed his racing career at five with a Grade II win. His precocity, soundness and class are all evident in his first crop to race. Narrowly missing out on the Champion First-Crop Sire title, he has already produced four Grade I performers including Grade I...

Edited Press Release WinStar Farm will host an Open House for breeders each day from Jan. 12-15, between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The open houses will be held at the farm's stallion complex on Paynes Mill Road in Versailles. Visitors are welcome without an appointment during those times to view the WinStar roster for the 2025 season, led by Constitution and Life Is Good. Breeders will also be able to see WinStar's newest additions for the breeding season: Eclipse Award finalist for Champion Male Sprinter Cogburn (Not This Time),...

Obviously this is too wide a category, at $60,000 and upwards, to be always comparing like with like. And really those at the very apex have earned their monster fees by excellence too blatant for contention. Most of that will instead be reserved for those sires that remain somewhat more accessible, relatively speaking--especially given the Uncle Mo-sized hole that has tragically appeared in this sector. La creme de la creme is divided between a trio in the evening of their careers--Into Mischief, Curlin, Tapit--and those aiming to supplant them, led...

When bloodstock agent David Ingordo bought Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) for just $60,000 out of the 2005 Keeneland September Sale he probably thought he had found that once-in-a-lifetime horse. Little did he know that the 2010 Horse of the Year, who was admitted to the Hall of Fame in 2016, might not be his very best purchase. Fourteen years after he discovered Zenyatta, he picked out Flightline (Tapit), paying $1 million for the future superstar. There was nothing coincidental about any of these selections. Over the years, Ingordo has solidified...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - Solid trade continued right through the conclusion of the second and final Book 2 section of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale Thursday, with the 3-year-old broodmare Finesse (Street Sense) bringing the section's top price of $900,000 when selling to Dixiana Farms. "It was really solid today," said Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. "It was very competitive. I was speaking to a lot of buyers out there, and they were finding it very difficult to buy the foals that...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale produced a day of solid trade with the opening session of its two-day Book 2 section Wednesday in Lexington. For the session, 201 horses grossed $29,440,000. The day's average of $146,468 dipped 9.38% from the corresponding session in 2023, while the median remained unchanged at $120,000. "It was a good, solid day's trade," said Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. "I think it was fair. There were some sticky spots, it was a little...

It was quite a few days for Canadian-based trainer Kevin Attard. On Saturday, he won his first Breeders' Cup race with Moira (Ghostzapper) in the GI Maker's Mark Filly & Mare Turf and some 48 hours later she went through the ring for $4.3 million. Knowing he'd have plenty to say, we invited Attard to join us on this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. He admitted that saying goodbye to the best horse he has ever trained was difficult. "Well, right now it's extremely difficult, no doubt...

WinStar Farm will host open houses at the farm beginning Nov. 6 and running through Nov. 15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the farm's complex on Paynes Mill Road in Versailles. No appointment is necessary to inspect the WinStar stallions for 2025, headed up by Constitution and Life Is Good, in addition to two of WinStar's newest stallions, Heartland (Justify) and Timberlake (Into Mischief). Heartland, a 'TDN Rising Star', is a son of Justify and a half-brother to Classic Empire. Heartland flashed his brilliance in a head-turning career...

Constitution (Tapit) continues to lead the roster at WinStar Farm and will stand the 2025 season for $110,000 S&N alongside Life is Good (Into Mischief) who will stand for $75,000 S&N, the farm announced Monday. The roster will be fortified further by new additions Cogburn (Not This Time), who will make his next start in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint with a stud fee to be announced after the race; Timberlake (Into Mischief), who will stand for $20,000 S&N; and Heartland (Justify), who will stand for $10,000 S&N. "We...