Country Grammer

Not just anyone can hire their own personal bloodstock agent for Keeneland September to walk them through that voluminous catalogue and bid at one of the world's signature sales. Likewise, breeders, owners and agents do not always have access to pools of investors and some are actively looking to add more capital, so they can take money off the table to mitigate risk. If you hadn't heard, racing a horse is expensive, and speed dating at the sales does not always yield a match. In the global world market of...

WinStar Farm will host an Open House for breeders from Sunday, Jan. 7 through Thursday, Jan. 11, between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET. each day, the farm said in a release Friday. The open houses will be held at the farm's stallion complex on Paynes Mill Road in Versailles, Kentucky. Visitors are welcome without an appointment to view the WinStar roster for the 2024 season, led by Constitution ($110,000 S&N) and Life Is Good ($85,000 S&N). Breeders will also be able to see WinStar's newest additions for 2024: Country...

Somehow this is a real sweet spot in the market. For a stallion farm, the $10,000 cover is a particular pitch: you're a cent away from offering a horse at four figures, but you feel that dropping him into a low-rent neighborhood might be beneath his dignity. You're offering a very accessible fee, but you're not going to let him look cheap. That makes this a surprisingly congested zone, ample for separate assessment. And since clinging to a five-figure fee somewhat represents a show of faith, some of these sires...

Elliott Walden has nothing but confidence in WinStar Farm's two new stallion recruits for 2024 and he has the numbers to show it. The speedy Two Phil's (Hard Spun) posted some eye-catching figures this year as a 3-year-old, including 105 Beyer Speed Figures in both the GIII Ohio Derby and his runner-up performance in the GI Kentucky Derby. Meanwhile his new studmate Country Grammer (Tonalist), winner of the G1 Dubai World Cup, retired as the third highest-earning North American-bred horse of all time--behind great company in Arrogate and Gun Runner--...

This is the first in a new TDN series on people in the Thoroughbred industry who have a passion for a non-industry charity. Want to recommend someone for the series? Email katiepetrunyak@thetdn.com or suefinley@thetdn.com.  Dr. Scott Pierce has a lot to be proud of and even more to look forward to. The Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital partner and owner of Omega Farm is the breeder of MGISW Country Grammer (Tonalist), who is set to join the WinStar stallion roster this coming year. But if you caught Dr. Pierce bragging...

Constitution (Tapit), the leading sire of 2-year-olds of 2023 whose progeny were highly coveted at auction this summer, will stand the 2024 breeding season for $110,000, stands-and-nurses terms, at WinStar Farm. The 12-year-old is responsible for no fewer than 18 juvenile winners this season, led by Aspenite, impressive winner of the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile last month. The sire's current crop of yearlings proved extremely popular at the recently concluded Keeneland September Sale, with five horses sold in excess of $750,000, including a colt out of Solo Uno (Medaglia d'Oro),...

2022 G1 Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammer (Tonalist) has been retired at the age of six. He will stand the 2024 season at WinStar Farm for an introductory fee of $10,000 LFSN. Campaigned by Commonwealth, WinStar Farm, and Zedan Racing, the Bob Baffert-trained colt started three times this year, finishing second for the second year in a row in the G1 Saudi Cup but failing to hit the board in both his Dubai World Cup defense and the GII Hollywood Gold Cup S. May 29. Bought for just $110,000...

Santa Anita will play host to three Grade I races, while Grade III action features the return of a champion at Churchill Downs and a talented Louisiana-bred attempting to make the grade at Lone Star Park during holiday stakes action Monday. The GI Shoemaker Mile S. at Santa Anita is set to be the first of 41 Breeders' Cup Challenge series races in North America this year. A field of 11 goes postward seeking the winner's share of the $500,000, as well as an automatic berth in the GI Breeders'...

Chase Chamberlin scrutinized the numbers. It was a Dickensian moment to be sure. The bank account didn't lie, he did in fact have a $120 balance. There wasn't any way around it, he was broke. Well, nearly broke. It was just a couple years prior that he had received one heck of a proposal though and it wasn't something he could pass up. So going all-in, as they say, was the plan. Not to put too fine a point on it, when opportunity knocks or in this case, arrives via...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- My, oh my, how times have changed. When the G1 Dubai World Cup was introduced at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse back in 1996, its $4 million in prize-money equaled that on offer for that year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic and an American clean sweep of the top three placings--won by the legendary Cigar after an unforgettable final-furlong battle with compatriot Soul of the Matter--really and truly put the race on the map. The locally owned Halling, one of four in the race for a trainer...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- WinStar Farm, Commonwealth Thoroughbreds and Zedan Racing LLC's Country Grammer (Tonalist) was assigned gate 14 in a field of 15 when he goes out in defense of his title in Saturday's G1 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline at Meydan Racecourse, with the draw held at the Armani Hotel located in the towering Burj Khalifa in Central Dubai. The 6-year-old, the final World Cup ride for jockey Frankie Dettori, won the GII San Antonio S. in dominating fashion in late December at Santa Anita...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- Bloodstock agents are equal parts pedigree analysts, money managers and equine recruiters for those audacious (crazy?) enough to dabble in Thoroughbred ownership. Few have followed the trajectory of the career of Country Grammer (Tonalist) more closely than the well-respected Peter Bradley, who went to work on behalf of the late Paul Pompa, Jr. at the 2019 OBS April Sale. It was Bradley's name on the docket when the hammer fell in the first 20 minutes of the final day of the auction, having parted with...