Greatest Honour

Having dealt with the rookies separately, we now start our quest for value among those stallions already at stud. We'll be going through the pyramid by price band, and today kick off at the level most accessible to breeders on a budget. But do not be deceived that we must be scraping the barrel here. If anything, candidly, there are more horses standing at four figures that one could trust--above all, for a breed-to-race program--than among far more expensive newcomers featured in the first instalment. Whether one could also recommend...

Spendthrift Farm's Greatest Honour sired his first reported foal Jan. 5 when KatieRich Farms in Midway announced that I Love Nola had delivered a colt by the well-bred son of Tapit. "This colt has the longest legs we've ever seen on a newborn foal. He has an extraordinary hip and a beautiful head. This is the biggest foal the mare has had. We are very, very happy," said Martha Rattner, whose Rattner Bloodstock LLC bred the foal. Greatest Honour, hailing from a half-sister to champion Rags to Riches; Irish Highweight...

Having dealt with the new sires as a case apart, today we start our journey through the price bands of Kentucky stallions by seeing what we can do with a four-figure budget. Even at this end of the market, the perennial dilemma remains that value means different things to different people. A breeder operating at this level tends to appreciate every cent of a commercial return, however marginal. If your belt is already at the last notch, then the understandable inclination is to leave any selfless consideration of the breed's...

Cyberknife, Greatest Honour, Jackie's Warrior, and Mo Donegal--the four first-season stallions standing at Spendthrift Farm for 2023--have all stopped their first mares, according to the Central Kentucky farm. The first mare reported in foal to GI Arkansas Derby and TVG.com Haskell S. winner Cyberknife, a son of sire sensation Gun Runner, is graded producer Afleet Lover (Northern Afleet), who is located at Wynnstay Farm. Likewise, the beautifully bred GII Fountain of Youth S. winner Greatest Honour, a son of Tapit, also had his first mare confirmed in foal. She is...

As we approach the opening of the 2023 breeding season, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. Today, we catch up with George Adams at Housatonic Bloodstock, who serves as the Director of Stallions and Breeding for Wasabi Ventures Stables. WHY NOT TONIGHT (5, Tapiture—Pay the Lady, by Not For Love), to be bred to Nashville This filly became Wasabi's first stakes winner last year when she won the All Brandy Stakes at...

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...

Into Mischief once again leads Spendthrift Farm's roster for 2023 with his stud fee remaining at $250,000 S&N, the operation announced Thursday. Spendthrift has added four new stallions including MGISWs Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) and Cyberknife (Gun Runner), who are both pointing for the Breeders' Cup. The other new additions are GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and GSW Greatest Honour (Tapit), who are both available for inspection at the farm. Champion Jackie's Warrior, the likely favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, will command a fee of...

Courtlandt Farm's Greatest Honour (Tapit--Tiffany's Honour, by Street Cry {Ire}), winner of Gulfstream's GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. and GIII Holy Bull S., has retired to stud at Spendthrift Farm and will stand the 2023 breeding season for a fee of $7,500 S&N. "Greatest Honour has one of the best combinations of pedigree, looks and ability among the sons of Tapit that we've evaluated," said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. "Unfortunately, he came up with an injury in last year's Florida Derby as the odds-on favorite before the Triple...

After finishing behind the likes of future graded winners Olympiad (Speightstown), Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) and Known Agenda (Curlin) in his first three starts, the homebred followed up on a Gulfstream maiden win in late 2020 to take the GIII Holy Bull S. and GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. in his next three appearances. He makes his first start since finishing a well-beaten third behind Known Agenda in the GI Curlin Florida Derby last March. (Click for more from trainer Shug McGaughey in Steve Sherack's APB series) Also on...

A pair of highly regarded sophomores of 2021 are on the comeback trail for Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey. Courtlandt Farm's homebred Greatest Honour (Tapit--Tiffany's Honour, by  Street Cry {Ire}) was a serious early contender for the GI Kentucky Derby following flashy wins in Gulfstream's GIII Holy Bull S. and GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. last winter. After finishing a flat third as the 4-5 favorite in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 27, however, McGaughey decided to hit the reset button on the bay. "I wasn't really pleased...

Well, I guess in the week we lost Mrs. Chandler--that elegant bridge at the center of five generations (and counting) of Kentucky horse lore--nobody will need reminding to take the long view. Certainly not Shug McGaughey, who will perhaps be reminding the disappointed connections of Greatest Honour (Tapit) how things didn't turn out too badly for Coronado's Quest (Forty Niner) after he was likewise derailed from the Classic trail. Maybe Greatest Honour can now become Shug's fifth winner of the GI Travers S., a race with an even longer history...

According to a report from Daily Racing Form's Jay Privman, leading GI Kentucky Derby contender Greatest Honour (Tapit) will be forced to miss the "Run for the Roses" and will instead get approximately 60 days off. Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey had the Courtlandt Farms homebred examined by Dr. Larry Bramlage after not being satisfied with how he came out of a somewhat disappointing third as the 4-5 favorite in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 27. The regally bred bay colt had taken each of his three starts...