Mill Ridge Farm

Aloha West (Hard Spun--Island Bound, by Speightstown) was represented by his first foal when Bashful (Orb) produced a colt  by the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Monday at Machmer Hall Farm. "The baby has great bone, size, and substance," said Machmer Hall owner Craig Brogden. "Very happy with the beautiful baby." In addition to the 2021 Breeders' Cup Sprint, Aloha West also finished second in that year's GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. and third in the 2022 GI Churchill Downs S. Aloha West stands at Mill Ridge Farm for...

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to [email protected] My favorite '23 moment was watching Jena Antonucci and her team, 'vigorously' rooting home Arcangelo in the Belmont and then becoming the 'spokesperson extraordinaire' on behalf of our industry! --Headley Bell, Mill Ridge Farm

Every day, just as the the lull of the afternoon wants to take hold, Dad walks into the office from the farm and proclaims the rhetorical: "How lucky are we?" You see, Dad frequently goes out to greet our guests on our Mill Ridge-Horse Country tours, most often after they have fed carrots to mares standing by the fence. To a person they will look him in the eye: "You know how lucky you are to do what you do?" This is the reward we did not anticipate as we...

Mill Ridge Farm will host a stallion open house every day from Tuesday, Nov. 7 through Saturday, Nov. 12, the Lexington, Ky, farm announced on Tuesday. The farm will showcase their two Breeders' Cup-winning stallions--Oscar Performance (Kittens Joy) and Aloha West (Hard Spun)--every day from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Lunch will be served. Oscar Performance, who won the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in 2016, will stand for a fee of $25,000, live foal in 2024. He currently is a top second-crop stallion with five black-type winners and two...

MGISW Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy) will stand for $25,000, live foal, in 2024 at Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, the farm announced on Tuesday. The figure represents an increase of $5,000 over his 2023 fee. Aloha West (Hard Spun), the winner of the 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint will stand for $8,500, live foal, a slight decrease from the $10,000 fee he stood for this year. "Having two Breeders' Cup winners as stallions at Mill Ridge, in Oscar Performance, who has made such an exciting start to his stud...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends In the nearly 40-year history of the Breeders' Cup, only two sets of full-siblings have won Breeders' Cup races. It's difficult enough for a mare to produce one Breeders' Cup winner, but two individual Breeders' Cup winners? That's such a rarity only six mares have ever done it. And only two of those six have had lightning strike twice as they've produced two Breeders' Cup winners by the same sire. The first set, Juddmonte homebreds Banks Hill (GB) and Intercontinental...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends It wasn't so long ago that the magnificent sire Gone West held court at Mill Ridge Farm near Lexington. From 22 crops, all while at Mill Ridge, he netted a mouth-watering 9% black-type winners from starters, including Breeders' Cup winners Da Hoss (twice), Johar, and Speightstown, all back in the days when the Breeders' Cup was still a single day and there were far fewer races. The son of Mr. Prospector passed away in 2009, but his influence on the...

Longtime Kentucky breeder Audrey "Tolie" Otto passed away on Apr. 18 after a lengthy illness, longtime friend Headley Bell of Mill Ridge Farm announced. A native of St. Louis, Otto moved to Lexington in the late 1980s and bred and raced a number of top runners under the stable name Jamm Ltd., which stood for her four children--John, Audie, Michael and Matthew. Among the more notable names Otto either owned, bred or raced were MGISW Keeper Hill (Deputy Minister); and MGSW producers Hamba (Easy Goer), the dam of GI Blue...

Elizabeth Snellings has been named Director of Sales at Denali Stud. Snellings, who previously served as farm office manager at Indian Creek, replaces Sarah Fishback, who held the position for the last seven years. "We are thrilled to welcome Elizabeth onto the team at Denali Stud. She brings a large skillset that will benefit us, as well as our clients," said Conrad Bandoroff. "Elizabeth has always felt like part of the Denali family, so we're happy and very excited to make that official." Snellings has held positions at American Association...

Amerman Racing's Devine Actress (Theatrical {Ire}--Devine Beauty, by Mr. Prospector) hemorrhaged after foaling a Not This Time filly Feb. 24 at Mill Ridge Farm and has died. Winner of Santa Anita's Santa Lucia H. in 2010, the mare produced three graded winners, including MGISW and young Mill Ridge stallion Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy). Her other foals include MGSW & MGISP Oscar Nominated (Kitten's Joy) and GSW Award Winner (Ghostzapper). "Devine Actress had been a part of the Mill Ridge family since 2010," said Mill Ridge's general manager, Price Bell. "It...

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...

After a short hiatus from the stallion business, Mill Ridge welcomed GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Oscar Performance to their farm in 2019. Four years later, they now add a second stallion to their roster in Aloha West (Hard Spun - Island Bound, by Speightstown), who claimed the 2021 GI Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Wayne Catalano. With breeding shed doors opening soon, what has this newcomer's initial reception been like with breeders? "A lot more positive than the Oscar Performance reception was," said...