New Chapter for Claiborne Stallions in 2025

Two new stallions with powerful partnerships behind them will begin their stud careers at Claiborne Farm in 2025. Prince of Monaco, Speightstown's only Grade I winner at two, and Bright Future, a Grade I-winning son of Curlin, will bring the Hancock family operation's roster up to 11 members.   

This past October, a third newcomer joined Claiborne when Jacob West toke on the role of stallion seasons and bloodstock manager. West, who continues to manage his company West Bloodstock, has been busy ahead of his first breeding season with Claiborne. One of his initial undertakings was overseeing the installation of a walking ring inside the farm's iconic stallion complex. The new investment has seen plenty of use as breeders have dropped in to visit the latest stallion recruits over the past several months.

“With the history and the tradition that is associated with Claiborne and the way they do things around here, there's no excuse for the success,” said West. “They do it the right way. They have for a very long time. I get to be a part of something that's been special for a long time.”

One of West's longstanding bloodstock clients Mike Repole co-campaigned Claiborne's new addition Bright Future. Out of the stakes-winning Bellamy Road mare Sophia's Song, Bright Future was a $350,000 yearling for Repole Stables and St Elias Stables and he went on to collect just under a million in earnings.

“There's a reason why he's standing here and it doesn't have anything to do with my association with the horse,” West explained. “Walker [Hancock] and Bernie Sams were believers in the horse before I even came on board. When it came time to negotiate a stallion deal, they were the first phone call that we made.”

A winner on debut by nearly five lengths early in his sophomore season, Bright Future's signature win came the following year in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes, where he battled to deny Grade I victor Proxy (Tapit) by a nose at the wire. The Todd Pletcher trainee later claimed the GIII Salvator Mile Stakes.

West said that Bright Future's active family was another boost to his stallion credentials. His half-sister Musical Mischief (Into Mischief) claimed this year's GII Locust Grove Stakes and his half-brother Booth (Mitole) was a 'TDN Rising Star' at Keeneland last October.

“Grandview and Repole Stable just bought his yearling half-brother by Maxfield at Keeneland September for $800,000, so we're big believers in the family,” noted West. “We feel like he's a horse that fits what American breeders are looking for. He was dirt. He was two turns. He was a son of Curlin with speed and he was able to carry it over a route of ground.”

Bright Future at home in the new walking ring at Claiborne | Sara Gordon

Bright Future will stand for $12,500 in 2025 and owners Repole and Vincent Viola of St. Elias have retained an interest in the new sire.

“He's been a popular horse amongst breeders,” said West. “We see the likes of Good Magic and other sons of Curlin that have gone on. He's got the pedigree backing and he's got the support of his owners. The best day for this horse was when the ticket was signed for him as a yearling by Vinnie and Mike because they're going to support him and they're going to give him every chance that he can get.”

Another stallion with an active ownership group, Prince of Monaco was raced by the sizable partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Robert Masterson, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan and Tom Ryan.

A $950,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling bred by Stonestreet, the son of Speighstown was at the head of his class in California last year as a juvenile for Bob Baffert, earning the 'Rising Star' nod when he broke his maiden on debut by eight lengths and then scoring in the GIII Best Pal Stakes and the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity. He closed the season with a fifth-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

“Prince of Monaco came onto our radars right after the Best Pal, when he earned a 103 Beyer,” said West. “It showed how brilliant he really was and being a son of Speighstown, it kind of picked everybody's heads up around here. He stacked up against some of the best 2-year-olds in the country.”

Lightly raced this year at three, Prince of Monaco put in two runner-up performances against Grade I company behind Book'em Danno (Bucchero) in the Woody Stephens Stakes and Domestic Product (Practical Joke) in the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes.

Prince of Monaco will stand for $30,000 in his debut season.

“He's been incredibly popular since we got him in,” West explained. “For breeders to see a son of Speighstown out of a Medaglia d'Oro mare, it's the perfect blend of speed over distance. He's an outcross for a lot of different mares that are here in Central Kentucky and around the world, quite frankly, because he's got international interest. When breeders come see him, they fall in love with him. Being a $950,000 Saratoga yearling, you think he's good looking and then when you show up here, you know he's good looking.”