Lane's End

If City of Light was considered to be in demand after the close of Book 1 at the Keeneland September Sale, his yearlings were perhaps even more challenging to get ahold of by the end of Book 2. First a colt by the first-crop stallion out of the graded stakes-producing mare Ghostslayer (Ghostzapper) brought $1.05 million late in the second session of the auction on Tuesday, selling as Hip 376, but then the next day another colt by the Lane's End sire, Hip 612 out of SP Anchorage (Tapit), brought...

Lane's End's outstanding Quality Road became the fifth sire to be represented by a seven-figure yearling at Keeneland September when hip 286 was hammered down to bloodstock agent David Ingordo for $1.15 million Tuesday afternoon. The February-foaled bay colt is the first produce from Grade III-placed Brielle's Appeal (English Channel), whose MGSW/MGISP half-sister Authenticity (Quiet American) is the dam of the recently retired MGISW 'TDN Rising Star' Charlatan (Speightstown) as well as SW Hanalei Moon (Malibu Moon). Hip 286 was bred and consigned by William Shively's Dixiana Farms. American Pharoah,...

First-crop yearling sire City of Light (Quality Road - Paris Notion, by Dehere) was a physical standout long before he joined the Lane's End stallion roster. In 2015, the son of Quality Road bred by Ann Marie Farm topped the sixth session of the Keeneland September Sale by a landslide when he sold for $710,000 to Mark Reid of Walnut Green. It was the largest ticket price for a Keeneland Book 3 horse since 2007. Allaire Ryan recalls watching City of Light develop at Lane's End Farm in the days...

Lane's End Farm's longtime Stallion Manager Bill Sellers will retire in September after 39 years of service. Sellers has overseen the management and care of influential Lane's End stallions including the legendary A.P. Indy, champion sires Kingmambo, Smart Strike, Dixieland Band, Gulch, Lemon Drop Kid, Mineshaft and City Zip in addition to current top stallions Quality Road, Candy Ride (Arg), Union Rags and Twirling Candy. Sellers has been a valued member of the Lane's End Farm team since 1982, when he was hired in a foreman capacity to work with...

Came Home (Gone West--Nice Assay, by Mr. Prospector), a Grade I-winning juvenile who effectively carried his speed a classic distance, has passed away after a bout with colic in Japan, according to published reports. He was 22 years old. Bred by the late John Toffan and Trudy McCaffery, the half-brother to GSW A. P. Assay (A.P. Indy) was bought back on a bid of $650,000 as a weanling at Keeneland November in 1999 and failed to meet his reserve when offered as a yearling at Keeneland September and as a...

When a horse carries a name like this, there can be no evasion or equivocation. With due honesty, then, let us admit that Honor Code is not yet converting his transparent eligibility as a stallion--apparently so watertight in pedigree, physique and performance--in quite the fashion that seemed likely when he produced the luminous Honor A.P. from his very first crop. Not yet. Small, agonizingly flexible words, in the context of a suffocatingly impatient marketplace. By any rational measure, it should still feel like early days in Honor Code's stud career....

While there are certainly some strong contenders vying for this year's Champion 3-Year-Old Colt title, it's still possible that the future recipient hasn't yet had his breakout win. Perhaps, he wasn't even seen in a Triple Crown race. In the past 20 years, two colts have managed to earn the crown for Eclipse Champion 3-Year-Old Male despite having skipped the Triple Crown trail. The first was Arrogate, who did not make his graded stakes debut until his famed 13 1/2-length, record-setting GI Travers. The second came the following year. [Elite_video_player...

3rd-Gulfstream, $60,000, (S), Msw, 7-1, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:06.17, ft, 1 length. QUEEN CAMILLA (f, 2, Connect--And Away We Go, by Awesome Again) was third in her 4 1/2-furlong debut at this oval June 3. Sent off at 8-1, the dark bay filly was outfooted in the early going and settled well back as favored Lara's Lady (Uncaptured) rushed out to set the pace. My Sassenach (Uncaptured) overtook the favorite on the turn and took a clear lead in upper stretch, but Queen Camilla was rallying down the center...

David Ingordo has undoubtedly inspected thousands of yearlings, many of whom went on to become Ingordo-purchased success stories, since he saw Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky) at the 2014 Keeneland September Sale. Nevertheless, the well-respected agent has a vivid memory of seeing Hip 1162 at the Bluewater Sales consignment, a May-foaled son of the stakes-placed Awesome Again mare Issues. "When a horse first walks out, you get an impression--at least, that's what it is for me," Ingordo said. "And he was an extremely well- balanced horse, plenty of substance to him....

On Wednesday on Steve Byk's radio show "At the Races," while discussing the pedigree of Gl Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}), I mentioned that the undefeated colt is suited for dirt despite beginning his career successfully with two wins on grass. In fact, Rock Your World, who earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure on the main track, is bred to handle any surface and would probably be equally as adept on all-weather. Owned by Hronis Racing and Talla Racing and trained by John Sadler,...

By the time a stallion's fourth book opens, the team behind him is usually pulling out all their stops to fill those pages. But perhaps no marketing technique in their repertoire can have quite the same effect as just one big price tag when the stallion's first crop of juveniles go to market. At last week's OBS March Sale, three first-crop juvenile sires were represented by youngsters that surpassed the $500,000 mark in the sales ring, and representatives from each of their respective farms said the phone has been ringing...

Jan Vandebos and her late husband Robert Naify paid a visit to Coolmore on a trip to Ireland several years ago, fueling a desire to seed her high-quality broodmare band with a mare by the world's most dominant stallion. That rendezvous set in motion a chain of events that will see the RanJan Racing-bred Congratulation (American Pharoah), the former 'TDN Rising Star' Monarch of Egypt, take part in one of the world's richest age-restricted events, the HK$24-million (US$ 3.09 million) BMW Hong Kong Derby (NH/SH 4-year-olds only, 2000mT) Sunday afternoon...