stallions

Pleasant Acres Farm outside of Morriston, Florida launched its stallion division in 2013 with the vision of bringing top-class sires to the Sunshine State. Over a decade later, the operation founded by Joe and Helen Barbazon is still working toward that same goal. This year they've provided a major boost to the Florida stallion ranks with the addition of five newcomers for 2024, bringing their stallion roster up to a total count of 13 members. With his first-crop of 2-year-olds hitting the track this year, Bodexpress (Bodemeister) has relocated from...

For a stallion farm, it's the equivalent of the "difficult second album" so notorious in the music industry. You've launched a new sire, and profited from the customary stampede of commercial mares. But the vogue proves to be cruelly fleeting. When he returns to the covering shed, the following spring, he offers exactly the same performance history, chromosomes and conformation as before. But suddenly the phone is cold. Precisely the factors that drove his debut book--novelty, plus security from imminent exposure of his competence (or otherwise) to replicate ability--have meanwhile...

Eighty-five years and a number of equine generations ago, Nearco (Ity) embarked on his stallion career at Beech House Stud. The year was 1939 and, understandably given the age, a bomb shelter was constructed by order of the stud's owner Martin Benson to protect its most prized resident. Benson had bought the unbeaten Nearco, winner of the Grand Prix de Paris and Derby Italiano, from his breeders Federico Tesio and Mario Incisa della Rochetta for a then-record £60,000 (the equivalent of just over £5 million today). To note that the...

The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Hinkle Farms co-owner Tom Hinkle. "In determining the matings for our mares, it is a total team effort by my brother Henry, my daughter Anne Archer and me," said Hinkle. "We work hard to arrive at the best possible mating, at least in our opinions." SEEKING GABRIELLE (17,  Forestry - Seeking Regina, by Seeking the Gold) to be bred to Gun Runner        Seeking Gabrielle is the dam of Nyquist. She is...

The annual Select Stallion Season Auction hosted by the Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners (OTBO) will be held Thursday, Dec. 14 and Friday, Dec. 15 with previews Dec. 12 and 13. The OTBO has selected a group of stallions from around the country, including major farms in Kentucky and New York, for the auction. A preliminary list of offerings is available at otbo.com with more information and a catalogue to be forthcoming Dec. 12 at 1 a.m. EST at equiring.com/sale/291/OTBO2024. The OTBO also has access to additional seasons for sale....

Warrant (Constitution--Whisper Number, by First Samurai), winner of the 2021 GIII Oklahoma Derby and narrowly defeated into second in the GI Santa Anita H. the following spring, has been retired from racing and will enter stud in 2024 at Blackstone Farm in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania. He will begin his stud career at a fee of $4,000 S&N terms. A homebred for Twin Creeks Farm and trained by Brad Cox, Warrant won the 2021 Texas Derby and was runner-up in the GIII West Virginia Derby before winning the Remington feature by...

Standing in partnership with WinStar Farm, CHC Inc., Taylor Made Stallions, Mill Creek Farm and Fortune Farm, Grade I winner Americanrevolution (Constitution) will stand for a fee of $12,500 in his first year at stud at Rockridge Stud in Hudson, New York. Bred in New York by leading breeders Fred W. Hertrich and John D. Fielding, the chestnut was the top 3-year-old of his generation in the state-bred ranks in 2021, winning the Empire Classic by nearly 12 lengths before validating favoritism in the GI Cigar Mile H. He was...

The five stallions standing at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds will be shown to the public at the farm's annual stallion show to be held Saturday, Dec. 9 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET. A season drawing will be held for each of the sires. New to the Empire State for 2024 is Bucchero (Kantharos), a leading second-crop sire who has relocated from Pleasant Acres Stallions in Ocala, Florida. He will stand his first New York season at $7,500 alongside Solomini (Curlin), the leading freshman sire outside of Kentucky, and...

The seven stallions managed by IHDV Stallions LLC will see their stud fees remain static for 2024. Leading the roster is multiple Grade I winner Mind Control (Stay Thirsty), who set New York records for mares covered (190) and number tested in foal (171), has relocated to the Stillwater, New York, farm for the 2024 breeding season, having stood at Rockridge Stud in 2023. The move to Irish Hill & Dutchess View Farms was predetermined by the 'unprecedented and cooperative' agreement that brought Mind Control to the Empire State. IHDV...

Everybody understands the deal with new stallions. Most will never again command so high a fee, nor so potent a book, and many will complete their principal service to commercial breeders long before any of their stock has actually entered a starting gate. Once they reach that point, you need only browse the freshman tables of years past to get a chastening sense of how many "exciting" newcomers will establish a lasting eligibility to keep seeding the breed. On the other hand, their window of opportunity is ruthlessly brief. If...

'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Lion (Justify--Unbound, by Distorted Humor), who became the first Grade I winner for his boom sire in this year's Woody Stephens S. on the Belmont Stakes undercard, has been retired from racing and will enter stud in 2024 at Spendthrift Farm. He will stand for $30,000, stands-and-nurses terms. Bred in Kentucky by Bonne Chance Farm LLC, the chestnut was purchased by Amr Zedan's Zedan Racing Stable for $600,000 out of the 2022 OBS April Sale and made a big impression at first asking, graduating by three...

Quality Road (Elusive Quality), the sire of 17 stakes winners in 2023 including GI Preakness S. hero National Treasure, will stand the 2024 breeding season for $200,000, the same fee he commanded in 2023. The 17-year-old stallion, is responsible for an additional five winners at the graded level this season, including 'TDN Rising Star' Agate Road, who makes his next appearance in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita Nov. 3. Accordingly, it has been a strong yearling sales season for Quality Road, who was represented at the...