John Sikura

The mighty Curlin's heir apparent might be a son standing alongside him at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. Your average young stallion doesn't usually follow up a first-crop Classic winner with another one in his second crop. To be fair, your average young stallion doesn't often have a Classic winner at all. Good Magic is quickly proving he is not your average young stallion. "Classic horses are certainly the peak, the goal of anyone who breeds, sells, or owns, or even stands stallions," said Hill 'n' Dale's John Sikura, who...

William Johnson Bloodstock secured the day's top lot on Day 2 of the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale when lot 297, an imposing daughter of the Champion Sire I Am Invincible, was knocked down for A$800,000 on behalf of Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. The fact that this is one of Australia's most prolific black-type families was not lost on this filly's new owners, with William Johnson explaining that the Sikura family of Hill 'n' Dale have been keen to tap into the best Australian bloodlines. "Racing...

When Domestic Product (Practical Joke) bullied his way through traffic to get his nose in front in the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby Saturday, he not only earned valuable qualifying points to the GI Kentucky Derby, he also provided a timely update for his half-sister who is scheduled to sell during the first session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales' Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Tuesday. "She's been very popular today, let's put it that way," Becky Thomas said of the filly from the first crop of Complexity (hip...

Graded stakes winner She Can't Sing (Bernardini) became the second seven-figure mare of the Lothenbach dispersal at Fasig-Tipton Tuesday when selling for $1.1 million to the Sikura family's Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. John Sikura did the bidding on the 7-year-old mare before handing off the ticket to his 22-year-old son Jes to sign.

There was an international flavor to the top lot through the ring on Friday's fourth session of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in Australia, with Gai Waterhouse, Adrian Bott and Bruce Slade's Kestrel Thoroughbreds teaming up with Jes Sikura of Hill 'n' Dale Farm and William Johnson Bloodstock (FBAA) to secure a filly by I Am Invincible (Aus) for AU$1.7 million (US$1,140,479), as reported by The Thoroughbred Report. The purchase represents the first foray into the Australian market for Hill 'n' Dale. The farm's Jes Sikura was one...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale continued into its second half Wednesday in Lexington with a session which, while significantly smaller, produced results largely in line with its 2023 counterpart. For the session, 196 horses sold for a gross of $4,352,900. The average of $22,209 was down 2.54% from last year's corresponding session, while the median of $10,000 was up 25%. From 316 catalogued horses, 242 horses were offered and 46 failed to meet their reserves for a buy-back...

The 150th GI Kentucky Derby scheduled for Saturday, May 4 will be the richest in history as the purse for America's greatest race has been elevated to a guaranteed $5 million, Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) said in a release Wednesday. The $2 million increase to the race highlights a record-setting, 50-race stakes schedule cumulatively worth $25.6 million for Churchill Downs' 2024 Spring Meet, which will be run over 43 dates from April 27-June 30/ The Derby purse structure was the subject of a Chris McGrath TDN interview with John Sikura,...

The Keeneland January sale got its third seven-figure horse when Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa's John Sikura and Determined Stud's Matt Dorman partnered up to purchase Star Act (Street Cry {Ire}) (hip 144) for $1.2 million. The 13-year-old mare, dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Just F Y I (Justify), was originally led out unsold at $950,000 during the auction's first session Monday. "She is a class mare," Dorman said Wednesday. "She's a Grade I producer. She has a phenomenal horse who is three-for-three and primed for next...

Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa stallion Violence (Medaglia d'Oro--Violent Beauty, by Gone West), the sire of last year's champion 2-year-old Forte, has had his 2024 stud fee reduced from the previously announced $60,000 to $40,000 live foal. In announcing the reduction Sunday evening, Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa president John Sikura explained, "At the end of last breeding season, Violence had a period where he was missing  too many of his mares. We raised his fee to, not only reflect his race track success, but to lessen demand for the...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - After a vibrant afternoon-into-night of bidding, the Fasig-Tipton November Sale grossed over $100 million for the third straight year with champions Nest (Curlin) and Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) leading the way when bringing matching $6-million final bids Tuesday at Newtown Paddocks. "It was another remarkable horse sale, literally from start to finish," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "It's really humbling to think that we've been able, for three years in a row, do over $100 million in sales in a single night....

Good Magic entered the GI Juvenile a maiden; he came out a Breeders' Cup winner. He's making an even bigger splash at stud. A little more than six weeks before his first crop turned up GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage, he had this year's priciest OBSMAR 2-year-old. That $2-million colt is now GISW Muth and will be one of the favorites for this year's Juvenile. "The odds are rare to buy a horse and have it become an important stallion," said Hill 'n' Dale's John Sikura of Good Magic. "Intuitively...

It's a busy time at Keeneland. The September sale has just ended, the fall race meet is upon us and the November sale is right around the corner. With that in mind, the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland called upon Keeneland Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach to fill us in on the latest from one of America's favorite racetracks. Breathnach was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. The foal crop keeps dropping every year, but that doesn't seem to affect the September sale. There were...