First Samurai

The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Brendan Jacobson of Wimberley Bloodstock. HOLIDAY SOIREE (15, Harlan's Holiday--Try to Remember, by Include) to be bred to Gun Runner. Holiday Soiree was a talented racehorse who won the Shine Again S. at Saratoga and placed in the GI Humana Distaff at Churchill. She is the dam of Vahva (Gun Runner), who won the GII Raven Run S. and GIII Charles Town Oaks last year. She is a gorgeous filly with lots of tenacity...

War Front (Danzig) will again lead the way at Claiborne Farm among their nine-stallion roster for 2024, with a fee of $100,000, the same price for which he stood in 2023. In 2023, War Front's yearlings sold for up to $800,000, and he is among the top 10 North American-based sires this season by percentage of black-type winners from starters (6.9%), black-type performers from starters (11.8%) and total graded stakes winners (six). War Front's GI Preakness S.-winning son War of Will will stand for $25,000. His first yearlings sold at...

It tells you plenty about the business today that this final leg of our quest for value on Kentucky farms should compress together stallions whose various retirements from the racetrack spanned more than decade. In devoting nearly all the previous instalments to individual classes of younger stallions, we've simply mirrored the distribution of mares, which as we all know is massively loaded towards largely unproven sires. To me, then, those few survivors that do establish a viable niche in the Bluegrass are real heroes. While dozens of their original competitors...

The Thoroughbred is certainly more versatile than we sometimes give it credit for. There is always the capacity to surprise, particularly when it comes to predicting stallion success. For instance, despite examples showing otherwise, it remains tempting to box sires as 'dirt' and 'turf' and 'American' and 'European' when actually some of them will prove capable of crossing the differing racing jurisdictions quite easily. Had all breeders and buyers remained on 'the straight and narrow', the chance to appreciate the likes of Scat Daddy, Medaglia d'Oro, More Than Ready and...

International sire War Front leads Claiborne's stallion roster yet again, remaining at a fee of $100,000 for 2023. His son War of Will, whose first weanlings will be on offer at the upcoming breeding stock sales, will stand for $25,000. Champion Blame will have his fee increased for 2023 from $20,000 to $25,000. Fellow Eclipse winner Runhappy's fee also went up from $12,500 to $15,000. GI Met Mile victor Silver State will stand his second season for $20,000. MGISW Catholic Boy's fee was decreased from $20,000 to $15,000 and Demarchelier...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 2nd-KEE, $100K, MSW, 3yo/up, 5 1/2fT, 1:32 p.m. Trainer Wesley Ward brings 3-year-old LAWMAKER to Keeneland on Saturday for owners Westerberg Limited and Mrs. John Magnier. The son of Uncle Mo, who sold for $550k at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is out of the stakes-winning Big Brown mare Red Sashay, herself a half-sister to GSW Shamaal Nibras (First Samurai) who earned over $580k and GSP & SW New Edition (Stormy Atlantic). Lawmaker has been in consistent work in preparation for his debut including...

Claiborne Farm has released stud fees for the majority of its stallions who will stand at the Paris, Ky.-based farm during the upcoming 2021 breeding season, which included a significant reduction in price for its international super-sire War Front. Among Claiborne's 13 stallions, War Front leads the charge with a stud fee of $150,000. The internationally acclaimed son of Danzig and emerging sire of sires is North America's top sire by percentage of lifetime stakes winners, graded stakes winners, and Grade I winners. In 2020, War Front has added three...

Plum Ali remained undefeated and picked up her second straight stakes win with a convincing score in Sunday's GII Miss Grillo S. on the Belmont turf. Unveiled going two turns over the Saratoga lawn July 23, the $65,000 Keeneland September buy rallied to a two-length success. Shipped south to Kentucky Downs for the Mint Juvenile Fillies S. Sept. 7, the chestnut overcame a troubled start and uncorked a powerful late run to score going away by 2 3/4 lengths. Hammered down late to even-money favoritism, Plum Ali traveled last of...

Beau Lane has been in the horse business for half a century. He came to Lexington 23 years ago with six broodmares in tow and $50 in his pocket. Not long after, three of those mares became stakes producers--a harbinger of things to come. Since then, the veteran horseman has grown his band of breeding stock and now has 30 broodmares at his Woodline Farm near Paris. While he's never been able to sign tickets on million-dollar broodmares, he said he doesn't find it necessary. "I usually don't spend over...

Duly favored after an easy two-length win going 1 1/16 miles at Saratoga on debut July 23, she made the jump up to black-type company look easy at Kentucky Downs Monday. Well off the pace while saving ground against the fence, she continued to rate patiently at the half-mile mark in :48.23. Set down for the drive and shifted out to the center of the course through the long Kentucky Downs stretch, the chestnut seized command inside the final 300 yards and quickly put the race to bed, winning with...

Cutting Humor (First Samurai--Pun, by Pulpit), winner of last year's GIII Sunland Derby, has been retired to has been retired to Bill McDowell's McDowell Farm in Sparkman, Arkansas. Bred by Dell Hancock & Bernie Sams, the $400,000 FTSAUG buy carried the colors of Starlight Racing to two wins in nine starts and earnings of $525,467. He was trained by Todd Pletcher. "Cutting Humor presents a tremendous opportunity for Arkansas breeders to get access to an awesome physical specimen, from a great Claiborne family, who raced at the highest level," said...

"The Homeboy, I call him: the Louisville Homeboy." Bruce Lunsford gives a proud chuckle. "With Tommy, and Brian, we've made it an all-Louisville crowd. So that's kind of fun. In fact, when we laid out a plan, one of the good things was that we could get all the way to the Breeders' Cup without leaving Kentucky. I think that's an advantage, but who knows?" One thing he does know: he would prefer to cede the limelight to those unsung horsemen, Tom Drury, Jr. and Brian Hernandez, Jr. But if...