stallion

Horse of the Year Mineshaft (A.P. Indy) has been retired from stud duty at the age of 26, and will be pensioned at Lane's End, the farm announced Monday morning. In excellent health as he transitions to the newest stage of his life, Mineshaft wraps a breeding career which saw him garner acclaim as one of the leading sons of the great A.P. Indy, including being named a top five general sire in 2024 and a top 20 lifetime active sire. Bred and campaigned by Bill Farish, James Elkins Jr.,...

Just seven years into his own stud career, the continually climbing Hill 'n' Dale sire Good Magic already has four Grade I-winning sons standing in Kentucky. The team at Darby Dan Farm believes that with their new son of Good Magic, value is the distinguishing factor. Standing for $12,500 in his debut season, Blazing Sevens (Good Magic -Trophy Girl, by Warrior's Reward) not only has the lowest stud fee among Good Magic's sons, but also among the four Grade I-winning juveniles new to stud in 2025. A 'TDN Rising Star'...

Rockridge Stud has added two new stallions for the 2025 season, bringing its roster up to seven members. With MGSW/GISP 'TDN Rising Star' Messier (Empire Maker - Checkered Past, by Smart Strike) and 2022 GII Joe Hernandez Stakes winner Chewing Gum (Candy Ride {Arg} - Shared Heart, by Forestry), the farm aims to capitalize on bloodlines that are not already represented in New York. Standing privately for a partnership that includes Wachtel Stable and Pantofel Stable, Chewing Gum is the only son of Candy Ride standing in New York. Over...

Darley nominations manager Eamon Moloney has shared the high opinion that Charlie Appleby has held Opera Ballo (Ire) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}) in all winter and revealed that the colt's impressive victory at Kempton on Wednesday has resulted in a slew of calls from breeders either side of the Irish Sea booking in mares to his sire.  Opera Ballo, who fetched €600,000 at the Arqana August Yearling Sale, won the same Kempton maiden that Appleby landed with subsequent 2,000 Guineas hero Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) last year.  The wide-margin win, which...

It was the 2019 Keeneland November Sale and David Ingordo was busy buying mares for a Lane's End partnership. One of the prospects he landed on was Ladies' Privilege, a stakes-winning daughter of Harlan's Holiday in foal to More Than Ready, but he ended up getting outbid when Hinkle Farms went to $575,000 for the maiden mare. Ingordo didn't think much more of it until two years later, when he was out inspecting yearlings at Hinkle Farms ahead of the Keeneland September Sale. "I went through all their yearlings and...

A turf horse launching his stud career at the age of nine might go against the stallion market grain in Kentucky, but Mill Ridge Farm has already shown a knack for bucking those trends and doing so successfully. After all, it was only three years ago that Oscar Performance was standing for just $12,500 and bred only 63 mares. This year, the 2024 leading third-crop sire of graded stakes winners by percentage of starters has a sold-out book heading into the season as he commands a fee of $45,000. So...

Three years ago, John Sikura was blown away by how breeders responded to Hill 'n' Dale's new sire Charlatan, a multiple Grade I-winning son of Speightstown who bred 222 mares in his debut season. Sikura didn't expected to see demand quite like that again anytime soon, but he admits that he has been proven wrong since another Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' recently arrived at Hill 'n' Dale. Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo-Borealis Night, by Astrology), winner of the 2023 GI Pacific Classic Stakes, will stand for $30,000 in his debut...

With less than three weeks remaining for stallions to make their mark on the General Sires list this year, Into Mischief and Gun Runner have the 1-2 spots solidly secured for the leading North American sires by earnings. In 2025, Three Chimneys Farm will add two sons of those top sires to their roster as Newgate and Gun Pilot become the first stallions by both Into Mischief and the farm's own Gun Runner to stand at Three Chimneys. Gun Pilot, a homebred for Three Chimneys out of their unraced Smart...

Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway--Private World, by Thunder Gulch), winner of the 2022 GI Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational S., has been retired to Pope McLean's Crestwood Farm for the 2025 breeding season. He will stand for $6,500 live foal. "We are thrilled to have Classic Causeway at Crestwood Farm," McLean said. "He was precocious at two, and a Grade I winner at three. He was versatile on both dirt and turf, with earnings over $1.5 million. His sire Giant's Causeway is a top sire of sires, with Not This Time proving...

Ashford Stud's Practical Joke has enjoyed perhaps his strongest season yet with seven graded stakes winners so far this year. Only four stallions in North America can claim more, while both Quality Road and Not This Time also have seven graded stakes winners to their credit in 2024. Practical Joke, a three-time Grade I winner in his own right, retired to Ashford in 2018 and has produced four Grade I winners from his first four crops. In 2025, the son of Into Mischief's stud fee will increase from $45,000 to...

WinStar Farm is hoping to see plenty of activity come out of their stallion division in the near future. In 2025, the farm's flagbearer Constitution, currently ranked a top five general sire, will stand for a fee of $110,000 while his son and fellow WinStar resident Independence Hall will see his first 2-year-olds hit the racetrack. Also this coming year, Life Is Good and Nashville will be represented by their first crop of yearlings while Country Grammer and Two Phil's are expecting their first foals. Meanwhile, three new sires have...

There was a buoyant atmosphere at the Lane's End Farm stallion complex on Tuesday as a steady stream of breeders came to admire new arrival More Than Looks (More Than Ready), but a few hundred miles away in Atlanta, Georgia, the dreary weather matched Anthony Bartolo's mood. The managing partner of Victory Racing Partners, Bartolo had gotten the call from trainer Cherie DeVaux at 6:30 in the morning the day before informing him that their stable's Breeders' Cup champion had an injury that would delay any possible return to the...