By Katie Petrunyak
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 been added to the farm's roster for 2025 with record-setting turf sprinter Cogburn (by Not This Time), 2023 GI Champagne Stakes winner Timberlake (by Into Mischief) and 'TDN Rising Star' Heartland (by Justify).
Fletcher Mauk of Small Batch Thoroughbreds was among the breeders that stopped in to check out the newcomers during the past few weeks of open houses at WinStar.
“They're exciting stallion prospects,” Mauk said after inspecting the trio. “All three have good bone and nice feet. They were all accomplished as 2-year-olds, which I think is important for a lot of breeders to know that you have the opportunity to have something come running out of a mare. They're all three by very nice sire lines as well.”
Four-time graded stakes winner Cogburn leads the charge of new recruits at WinStar with a $30,000 stud fee. He is one of six Grade I winners for Not This Time (featured in Saturday Sires here) and will be the first son of the fast-starting sire to stand at WinStar.
WinStar's Liam O'Rourke reported that the multi-millionaire arrived at WinStar shortly after the Breeders' Cup and settled in immediately.
“It's rare that you see a stallion come in and have as much composure and as much presence as he's had since the first day he came in,” he said. “He went up there, put his head down, walked like he'd been doing this for 10 years, stood up perfect and didn't move a hair. He's been incredibly well received, a beautiful horse who is going over very well with the breeding public.”
Although Cogburn's biggest achievements came this year as a 5-year-old, including a record-setting GI Jaipur victory where he covered 5 1/2 furlongs in :59.80 and another memorable win in the GII Turf Sprint Stakes at Kentucky Downs where he completed six furlongs on 1:07.68, O'Rourke said that breeders are also taking note of his earlier resume. The Steve Asmussen trainee broke his maiden by over four lengths on dirt as a juvenile and was runner-up in the GIII Chick Lang Stakes on the main track the following year before he eventually switched to turf.
“He really excelled as a 2-year-old and showed a ton of ability on the dirt,” said O'Rourke. “When Steve moved him over to the turf, he definitely hit another level. Speed is speed. It's something that we've always been attracted to here at WinStar. We've had a lot of success with horses like Distorted Humor, Speightstown and More Than Ready who had that really elite speed.”
Fletcher Mauk said that he has plans to send an American Pharoah mare to Cogburn that was twice stakes placed going over a mile on turf.
“For me, the big thing is incorporating speed into that pedigree,” he said. “More than likely we'll end up with a turf horse just given her female side, but you don't know and that's what's exciting about a horse that has been able to run on every surface. Anything is possible and I don't even necessarily think that he is going to throw just speed given his sire. I think you could get any distance as well.”
Breeders check out Timberlake at WinStar's open house | Sara Gordon
A 'TDN Rising Star' in his 9 1/4-length maiden win for WinStar and Siena Farm, Timberlake was runner-up in the GI Hopeful Stakes before soundly claiming the GI Champagne over a field that included future 2-year-old champion Fierceness (City of Light).
“The Champagne places him as the only Grade I-winning 2-year-old by Into Mischief other than Practical Joke in Kentucky,” said O'Rourke. “We've gotten a great response from breeders on that. He was talented, very precocious, and just a big, strong, handsome horse that people are really falling in love with when they come out here.”
Timberlake, winner of the GII Rebel Stakes this year as a 3-year-old, will stand for 20,000.
After getting a look at the newcomer, Mauk said he believes the son of Into Mischief shows the potential to become a versatile sire.
“I don't think he's necessarily your typically shaped 2-year-old graded stakes winner,” he explained. “To me he has a little bit more range in his body, a longer shoulder and maybe a more slope-y hip. The fact that he did win a very important race as a 2-year-old in the Champagne and then went on to win the Rebel I think is a good indication that you're not limited in your scope of exclusively being a sprinter or a 2-year-old horse.”
Heartland at WinStar Farm | Sara Gordon
Rounding out the trio, Heartland made only one career start, but the team at WinStar believes he has the resume to succeed in this next chapter. Bred by CHC Inc. and a half-brother to juvenile champion Classic Empire, Heartland sold for $575,000 at the Keeneland September Sale, going to WinStar and Siena Farm with CHC staying in for a piece.
“He was at the head of the class among our 2-year-olds that year,” O'Rourke reported. “David Hanley, Elliott Walden and [trainer] Neil McLaughlin were gushing about this horse. He was our first 2-year-old that we sent on.”
Making his debut for Bob Baffert at Del Mar last July, Heartland rated off the pace before picking off rivals around the turn and then opening up over future stakes winner Slider (Jimmy Creed) by two lengths, completing 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.20 and earning a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.
While Heartland was never able to make it back to the starting gate, the WinStar team is hoping he can make his mark as a sire. Standing for $10,000, Heartland will be the second son of Justify to stand in Kentucky after Spendthrift's Arabian Lion retired last year.
“It's very intentional that he is here at WinStar,” said O'Rourke. “We are going to support him very strongly in his first several years at stud and we have some creative incentives for our breeders that we think make him a really good value proposition. Justify obviously is doing incredible things as a stallion and I think it's a great access point to Justify at that $10,000 level. He's got the pedigree to back it up being a half-brother to Classic Empire and by one of the most elite sires in the world, so we think he's got a big chance and we're getting some good support from breeders on him.”
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