Ashford Stud

by Margaret Ransom A one-two finish from Communication Memo and Two Rocket in Friday's 6th race at Oaklawn Park and their combined earnings of $72,000 helped Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) extend his lead over Good Magic (Curlin) and Justify (Scat Daddy) in the first-year stallion earnings race heading into the weekend. Not willing to wave the white flag just yet, Good Magic's Almurtajiz, a $290,635 ARQMAY purchase earlier this year, finished second in the G3 Ministry of National Guard Cup at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on Friday and picked up...

by Margaret Ransom It's been a quiet week so far for the top stallions brawling it out to claim the title of 2022's leading first-crop sire, but the numbers for all three are likely to move with each having a number of runners over the next few days before the quiet of the Christmas holiday week sets in. On Thursday, Bolt d'Oro's (Medaglia d'Oro) daughter Bullock captured a $25,000 maiden claiming event at Gulfstream Park by a length and picked up a check for $28,400. In doing so, the filly...

Welcome to our annual assessment of Bluegrass sire prospects for the approaching covering season. As last year, we're going to confine our focus largely to a "Value Podium" for each intake--rather than attempt, as in the past, an exhaustive (not to say exhausting) assessment of every stallion in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Believe me, it wasn't always easy to find something adequately civil to say about every last one! But the fact is that this is only ever one person's opinion and, as such, a hopelessly subjective exercise. By restricting...

by Margaret Ransom It was a busy weekend for one of the top three stallions battling it out for the crown as the best first-crop sire of 2022 as Justify was represented by a pair of winners and another two to hit the board, leaving Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) and Good Magic (Curlin) winless from just a single runner each. Justify's two winners on American soil both came on Sunday and started with Don Alberto Stable's homebred Alpha Bella, who graduated with a hard-fought victory by a head at Gulfstream...

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Epicenter (Not This Time--Silent Candy, by Candy Ride {Arg}), a leading candidate for champion 3-year-old honors, will enter stud in 2023 at Ashford Stud. He will stand for $45,000. Bred at Mike, Brent and Kevin Harrises' Westwind Farms in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Epicenter was hammered down to the Winchell team for $260,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September sale and was ultimately turned over to the operation's Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. A maiden winner at second asking going the one-turn mile at Churchill Downs, the bay romped...

There has been no shortage of traffic flooding through the lofty gates of Ashford Stud as breeders are eager to set their eyes on the stud farm's four newcomers for 2023. Among the quartet, two of the new additions hold Breeders' Cup titles, and breeders have fervently responded to that prized piece of resume. While turf sprinting superstar Golden Pal (Uncle Mo - Lady Shipman, by Midshipman) boasts the rare distinction of taking home two Breeders' Cup trophies, his new studmate Corniche (Quality Road - Wasted Tears, by Najran) justified...

'TDN Rising Star' and three-time Grade I winner Jack Christopher (Munnings--Rushin No Blushin, by Half Ours) has been retired from racing and will stand in 2023 alongside his sire at Coolmore's Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky. His introductory fee will be $45,000. "We are delighted to have Jack Christopher now here at Ashford standing alongside his sire Munnings," said Coolmore's Dermot Ryan. "He's a striking horse with great presence and a lovely temperament. Horses like him are what makes racing exciting to watch." Owned by the partnership of Jim Bakke,...

To say that trainer Wesley Ward knows his way around turf sprinters is an understatement. To underscore the point, Ward has annexed the last three editions of the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and will try to add a record fourth consecutive win in the race with Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), Arrest Me Red (Pioneerof the Nile) and Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). Adding even great importance to this year's renewal, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Westerberg Ltd.'s 4-year-old--already a two-time Breeders' Cup winner following victories in the...

Caravaggio (Scat Daddy--Mekko Hotke, by Holy Bull), the leading European first-crop sire of 2021, has been acquired by the Japanese Bloodstock Breeders Association (JBBA) and is set to continue his stud career at Shizunai Stallion Station, according to multiple published reports. Trained by Aidan O'Brien for Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, Caravaggio was perfect in four runs as a juvenile, including a defeat of Mehmas (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot and capped by a four-length success in the G1 Keeneland Phoenix...

Klaravich Stables' Classic winner Early Voting (Gun Runner--Amour d'Ete, by Tiznow) has been retired from racing and will stand at Coolmore America's Ashford Stud for 2023, Coolmore announced Wednesday. Out of a half-sister to Speightstown (Gone West), Early Voting made each of his first three starts at Aqueduct, winning a maiden special weight and the GIII Withers S. before finishing second by a neck to eventual GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) in the GII Wood Memorial S. Despite having the required points for the GI Kentucky Derby,...

Coolmore has reached an agreement with the partnership that owns runaway Bashford Manor S. winner Gulfport (Uncle Mo--Fame and Fortune, by Unbridled's Song) to stand the undefeated 2-year-old colt at Ashford Stud upon his retirement. Gulfport is owned by L. William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Jackpot Farm, and Whispering Oaks Farm LLC. Bred in Kentucky by Diamond Creek Farm, Gulfport fetched $275,000 from Pick View as a Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling. He debuted for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen June 10 at Churchill Downs with a scintillating seven-length score to earn...

Triple Crown winners Justify (Scat Daddy) and American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) will not shuttle to Coolmore Australia this year. Justify, off to a strong start with his first 2-year-old in Europe and North America, will be represented by his first Australian 2-year-olds later this year and has two full crops to follow. American Pharoah has five Grade I winners in the Northern Hemisphere and is making his mark in Australia with first-crop Group winners Pretty Amazing and Head of State this season, while his current juvenile crop is headed...