Audible

The 2022 class of first-crop yearling sires features a diverse batch of Kentucky-based young stallions including a pair of Breeders' Cup champions, two sons of reigning top sire Into Mischief, five graded stakes winners at two and five Grade I winners on turf. Throughout the course of the yearling sales season, we will feature a series of freshman sires as their first crop points toward the sales ring. Check out the first few editions of our series here. WinStar Farm's Liam O'Rourke vividly recalls the day that breeders got their...

With the 2022 breeding season underway, we continue to feature a series of breeders' mating plans. Today we have Brian Moore of Brushy Hill, LLC, breeder of recent G1 Saudi Cup winner Emblem Road (Quality Road). Before getting into Brushy Hill's mating plans this year, we asked Moore about the story behind the mating, which was put together by the late Mike Recio, that produced Emblem Road. "That was a Mike Recio special," Moore said. "All the matings up until last year and our entire portfolio is because of Mike's...

With the 2022 breeding season right around the corner, we will feature a series of breeders' mating plans over the coming weeks. Today we have Erin Fisher of Harper Ridge Thoroughbreds. "All my horses are crossed with stallions that I feel will throw appealing and sound horses that can provide second and third careers off the track and provide longevity to the breed," said Fisher. "I look for soundness and attitude with the idea that my foals can have long futures in any discipline after racing." APPEALING WAY (m, 8,...

Thoroughbred Charities of America's 32nd annual Stallion Season Auction will begin Jan. 5 and conclude Jan. 9. The fundraiser opens with an online auction of stallion seasons at 9 a.m. Jan. 5 and continues through 4:30 p.m. EST Jan. 7. Over 150 seasons will be available in the online auction, including to stallions Audible, Basin, Candy Ride, McKinzie, More Than Ready, Speightstown, and Volatile. A full list of seasons is available here. An online silent auction of non-season items, including halters worn by Life is Good, Curlin, Charlatan, Tapit, Knicks...

Three-year-old De la Soul (More Than Ready), offered in foal to fast-starting freshman sire Gun Runner, topped all returns Tuesday as Book 4 of the Keeneland November Sale concluded. A total of $9,455,400 changed hands for the session at an average of $31,623 (up 60.07% year over year compared to last year's auction conducted in the pre-vaccine era of the pandemic) and median of $23,000 (up 91.67%). The buyback rate was 11.54% compared to 13.11% 12 months ago. The cumulative gross now sits at $186,168,500--it was $140,214,700 through the same...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, which reached its halfway mark Sunday, has already surpassed the total gross of its 10-day 2020 renewal. At the conclusion of Sunday's session, 1,120 horses had sold for $166,206,000. The auction's total 2020 turnover was $151,017,300. At the halfway point in the sale, the average of $148,398 is up 13.23% from last year's $131,060, while the median of $95,000 is up 26.67% from $75,000. The buy-back rate stands at 20.90%. It was 25.66% a year ago. The auction's Book 3 section...

Speightstown will head the roster at WinStar Farm in 2022 with a fee of $90,000, stands and nurses, the same fee for which he stood in 2021. Right behind the chestnut is Constitution, North America's second-leading third-crop sire, who will stand for $85,000 S&N, also the same as 2021. Among notable changes on the 18-horse roster, More Than Ready gets a trim from $65,000 to $50,000. "Our 2022 roster is suited for breeders at every level," said Elliott Walden, WinStar's president, CEO, and racing manager. "Speightstown, Constitution, and More Than...

What an interesting crossroads we reach with the next group of young stallions in our survey. On the one hand, you have this new dynamic in the marketplace, with Spendthrift increasingly welcoming blue-chip prospects to build on its blue-collar successes. Yes, these may be looking to build more conventional, fee-based careers, as opposed to relying on the type of innovative promotions that helped Into Mischief evolve from a source of cheap commercial speed into the champion sire of a Kentucky Derby winner (who has himself now joined the roster, of...

On the last day of 1990, T. Murray McDonnell made his regular call from the United States to Ireland. "David," he said. "We're going to have the best year ever. I can feel it." The next day, a call from McDonnell's son instead. They had found him that morning on the kitchen floor. David Hanley flew out for the funeral. He was reserved a spot in the second row, next to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. McDonnell had never had the best of health, so his heart attack couldn't be the biggest...

Nowadays, after Audible (Into Mischief) has retired and is ready to begin stud duties at WinStar Farm, WinStar General Manager David Hanley can say with confidence that the 2018 GI Florida Derby winner was a "tremendous horse." It just took everyone a while to figure that out. It seems that Audible didn't actually present as an overnight sensation. After being purchased for $500,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Florida Select 2-Year-Olds in Training, the New York-bred wasn't exactly blowing away his owners or trainer Todd Pletcher. "He was always a very...