John Sikura

The Jockey Club today has elected five new members: Gatewood Bell, Fred W. Hertrich III, James McIngvale, Dr. Mary Scollay, and John Sikura. As a bloodstock agent, Gatewood Bell, president of Cromwell Bloodstock Agency, selected horses including Mastery and Undrafted. In addition to his work in bloodstock, Bell is a memberof the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and a United States representative for Goffs sales agency. He previously worked for Kiaran McLaughlin and Nicoma Bloodstock and served as a jockey's agent for Fernando Jara. Fred W. Hertrich III is chairman of...

With the smoking hot sire Violence picking up another Grade I win, with Volatile in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga, John Sikura has a lot to talk about and a lot to be happy about. The President of Hill 'n' Dale Farms, where Violence stands, has seen that stallion's career get off to a fast start, slow down and now take off again. Sikura joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to discuss Violence's recent accomplishments, the decision to bring in Kantharos and his thoughts on...

Hill 'n' Dale Farm President John Sikura joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to talk hot sire Violence, his thoughts on the Jockey Club's decision to impose a 140-mare cap, and more.

As his name suggests, there appear to be no half measures with Violence. He had, let's face it, suddenly been under a bit of pressure. It was only last year that Hill 'n' Dale had been able to hoist his fee from $25,000 to $40,000, his first sophomores having confirmed him as the most glamorous stallion in his intake: clear top of the class in 2018 by earnings, winners, stakes winners/performers, graded stakes horses. Having started out at $15,000, he had just processed his third crop of yearlings for an...

Hailing from the same shedrow of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen isn't the only thing that recent, ultra-impressive Oaklawn Park winners Casual (f, 3, by Curlin) and Volatile (c, 4, by Violence) have in common. The promising duo--both bred in Kentucky by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, Inc. and Stretch Run Ventures, LLC--trace their lineage back to the millionaire and brilliant two-time Saratoga Grade I winner and the Asmussen-trained Lady Tak (Mutakddim). After acquiring an interest privately in the GI Test S. and GI Ballerina H. heroine from owners...

The number-one sophomore sire of 2018, Violence took a step backward last year. It happens. The problem is that the marketplace can be unforgiving and ready to move on from any stallion that isn't the hottest of commodities. So Hill 'n' Dale was proactive, dropping Violence's stud fee from $40,000 to $25,000. At that price, he may go down as one of the best bargains among all stallions this year. "Last year, we had some bad luck on the racetrack," said Hill 'n' Dale President John Sikura. "A few horses...

LEXINGTON, KY--John G. Sikura is not afraid to think outside the box when it comes to his stallion roster at Hill 'n' Dale Farm in Kentucky, and indeed he is not prone to allowing such fickle factors as marketplace fashion to sway his belief in the long-term potential of an animal. These traits are apparent in his own pedigree-his father, the late great Canadian breeder and stallion master John Sikura Jr., had a tendency of shaking up the status quo during the Windfields Farm reign of the 1960s and 70s...

MGISW and champion juvenile Good Magic (Curlin--Glinda the Good, by Hard Spun) sired his first foal Saturday night, a filly out of Decor (Declaration of War). The mare, a half to GSW and G1SP Conquest Tsunami (Stormy Atlantic), is owned by Teddy Burnett's Josham Farms and Yvonne Schwabe. "We had a gorgeous Good Magic filly last night at 9:50 p.m.," Schwabe said Sunday. "She has a great frame with lots of substance, solid bone, with a very pretty head. An excellent foal, we are delighted." John Sikura, President of Hill...