2021 sires

As a year of unprecedented achievement draws to a close, the distribution of laurels among our champion stallions must first and foremost celebrate their sheer potency. For while we already know Into Mischief to be a phenomenon, he demands fresh admiration in sealing his third consecutive general sires' championship with a prizemoney haul just shy of $25 million, shattering the $22,507,940 record he set in his second; the work of 260 winners, similarly raising the bar giddily on the 221 who compiled his first. As the revelation of the year,...

Three months after it was announced that Larry Best's OXO Equine would venture into the stallion business with 'TDN Rising Star' Instagrand (Into Mischief) at Taylor Made Stallions, a second addition was made to the farm's 2021 roster in Best's leading earner Instilled Regard (Arch). The 6-year-old will stand his first year at stud for a fee of $12,500 and Taylor Made's Frank Taylor said that demand has been high since his retirement was announced in December. "We are very excited about having Instilled Regard added to our roster at...

In just its first 14 years of running, the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile has emerged as a stallion-making race and in recent years, its winners are making top headlines as they kick off their stud careers. Goldencents (Into Mischief), winner of both the 2013 and 2014 edition, now leads his class of third-crop sires. The following year's winner, Liam's Map (Unbridled's Song), is already a two-time Grade I producer with his first crop of 3-year-olds while 2016 champion Tamarkuz (Speightstown) now has a Grade III winner in his first...

With 18 stallions already standing at stud, WinStar Farm already had one of the largest stallion rosters in Kentucky, but they will be busier than ever in 2021 after having welcomed five new recruits for the upcoming season. Laoban (Uncle Mo) will stand his first year in Kentucky after becoming a Grade I-producing sire this year, while Grade I winners Improbable (City Zip) and Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford) will start off their career at the Versailles farm. Today, we speak with WinStar's General Manager Dave Hanley on Global Campaign (Curlin) and...

Two years ago, dual Eclipse Champion Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) joined the Three Chimneys' stallion program after collecting six Grade I wins for the farm and partner Winchell Thoroughbreds. This year another Three Chimneys-owned racehorse in Volatile, a son of Violence campaigned by Three Chimneys and Phoenix Thoroughbred III, has been added to the roster for 2021 and will stand for an initial fee of $17,500. Before even stepping on a racetrack, the imposing gray was one to watch. [tdn_vimeo_embed title="Volatile at Three Chimneys" admp4="https://player.vimeo.com/external/487235114.sd.mp4?s=25a5c5a8313ed81787e24e23ea3117880258e35a&profile_id=165" videomp4= "https://player.vimeo.com/external/489919593.sd.mp4?s=d1494459006ee327070e97ab1900642eb941ccf7&profile_id=165" thumbnail= ""]...

For the first half of this story, please visit yesterday's instalment. Precocity may not be the first thing you'd have in mind from Tom's d'Etat (Smart Strike--Julia Tuttle, by Giant's Causeway), who enters service at WinStar at $17,500 after only really seizing our attention at the age of seven. Nonetheless, he represents one of the most promising prospects of the intake. For a start, he's by a sire of sires out of a graded stakes-placed Giant's Causeway mare whose own dam was a full-sister to Candy Ride (Arg). And nine...

Welcome to our annual survey of covering options in Kentucky for the forthcoming breeding season. As usual, we'll start with the rookies and work our way through the preceding intakes, before trying to eke out some value among the more established stallions. A wholly subjective exercise, clearly--so apologies if your fellow doesn't make our "value podium." Every farm is understandably sensitive about the reputation of its stallions, for whom opportunity can be so fleeting and about whom fashions can swell or fade on the flimsiest grounds. We'll do our best...