Lere Visagie

MGSW War Dancer (War Front--Deed I Do by Alydeed) will return to Rockridge Stud in 2025, it was announced Thursday. The millionaire, who began his stud career at Rockridge Stud in 2017, led New York's turf sire since his first foals hit the track in 2020, with current progeny earnings nearing $10 million. "We are thrilled to once again partner with Rockridge in standing War Dancer, who has proven himself as a top turf sire," said Robin Malatino. "With the introduction of Tapeta at Belmont, he can only improve on...

Edited Press Release The Board of Directors of New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) held its first meeting of 2024 on Friday, Jan. 19. The newly seated board unanimously elected Dr. Scott Ahlschwede, D.V.M., to serve as Board President through 2026. Current NYTB director Seth Gregory, owner of Innisfree Farm and Seth Gregory Bloodstock, was elected to the office of Vice President. The board also elected Lere Visagie, owner of Rockridge Stud, to serve as Secretary-Treasurer. Dr. Ahlschwede is a shareholder veterinarian with Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital and owner...

CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm LLC's Americanrevolution (Constitution--Polly Freeze, by Super Saver) has been retired from racing and will stand in 2024 at Rockridge Stud in Hudson, NY, his connections announced in a release late Thursday afternoon. The Todd Pletcher trainee was a four-time stakes winner at three, culminating in the $750,000 GI Cigar Mile H. as he registered a Beyer Speed Figure of 105. "This is the best horse to retire in New York in a very long time," said Rockridge Stud's Lere Visagie. "We all know we need...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The momentum from last week's record-setting Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale carried into the first of two sessions of the company's New York-bred Yearlings Sale in Saratoga Sunday night, with a colt by Hard Spun bringing a record-tying final bid of $600,000 from owner Al Gold. "It was an outstanding session tonight," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "It was a great start to the New York-bred sale. The place was full of people and full of energy again, just like it was for the selected sale....

Last year's GI Santa Anita H. victor Combatant (Scat Daddy--Border Dispute, by Boundary) has been retired and will stand at Rockridge Stud in Hudson, New York, beginning with the 2022 season. Campaigned by Hronis Racing, the 6-year-old was sold to Brian Levings of Levings Racing in a deal brokered by Matt Bowling of Bowling Bloodstock, Colt Pike and David Ingordo. "I've had fun on the racing side and decided to dip a toe in the stallion market," said Levings. "New York has a strong program and has shown that stallions...

Multiple graded stakes winner Frank Conversation (Quality Road--Rushen Heat, by Unusual Heat) will shuttle to Haras Santa Sara in Santiago, Chile for the 2020 Southern Hemisphere breeding season. The 7-year-old stallion just completed his second year at stud at Rockridge Stud in Hudson, New York. "We're thrilled with the quality of his first crop of foals and would love to see international success for the horse," said Rockridge Stud's Lere Visagie. "An opportunity to shuttle just seemed like a no-brainer." The deal was brokered by Bowling Bloodstock and Sullivan Bloodstock....

A native of a small farming community in South Africa, Lere Visagie grew up a long way from the U.S. Thoroughbred industry. Today, he sits at the helm of one of New York State's leading stud farms, as the owner/operator of Rockridge Stud in Hudson, New York, which was established just seven years ago. While his is still a relatively new farm, Visagie said his goal is to improve the stallion market in New York through the growth of Rockridge's stallion division. This year, Rockridge welcomes two new Grade I...