Malibu Moon

Spendthrift Farm has erected its new Malibu Moon memorial statue that will serve as the centerpiece at the front of the B. Wayne Hughes Visitors Center, which is set to officially open Nov. 1 during Breeders' Cup week. "The B. Wayne Hughes Visitors Center has really come together, and the addition of the Malibu Moon statue in front is a special highlight that we are all very proud to see go up," said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift General Manager. "We look forward to unveiling the visitors center Breeders' Cup week as...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 2nd-SAR, $105K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:39 p.m. Making her first start Thursday for trainer Wesley Ward, PLAYLIST (Uncle Mo) was a $400,000 KEESEP yearling purchase for Coolmore's M. V. Magnier. Out of the GISP Bon Jovi Girl (Malibu Moon), herself a half-sister to champion older horse & sire Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat) and a $950,000 pick up for Denali Stud from the 2010 Keeneland January Horses of all Ages Sale, Playlist is a half-sister to GSW You're To Blame (Distorted Humor)....

2nd-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 8-14, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.18, fm, 1 3/4 lengths. MOMA (f, 2, Uncle Mo--Discreet Moon {GB}, by Malibu Moon) muscled her way between horses like a seasoned runner to kick clear for conditioner Todd Pletcher and owner/breeders Wertheimer and Frere. Squeezed slightly at the break when rivals came in on her, she tracked contentedly from the rear of the field with only two others beaten going into the first turn. Saving ground as pacesetters put up :23.56 and :48.35 fractions up the backstretch, she cut the...

6th-Santa Anita, $67,500, Msw, 3-27, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:37.99, ft, 7 1/2 lengths. SET SAIL (c, 3, Malibu Moon--Fleet of Gold {SP, $109,892}, by Medaglia d'Oro) was third on debut Feb. 26 in a seven panel maiden over Santa Anita's main track after altering course early and losing second by 1 1/4 lengths. Trying a mile here, the bay Mandella trainee broke on top and never looked back, coasting home much the best by 7 1/2 lengths as the 2-1 second choice over One More Bid (California Chrome). Q B One...

H P Moon (Malibu Moon), controversially scratched at the gate due to a horse identification issue out of an intended debut at Saratoga July 31, proved well worth the wait with this jaw-dropping Pimlico unveiling against five overmatched rivals. Working a steady diet of bullet drills at trainer Lacey Gaudet's Delaware base, including a four-furlong move in :47 (1/63) Aug. 14, the 2-5 choice took control from his rail draw and was pressed through an opening quarter in :23.10. He began to shake clear approaching the quarter pole, and put...

While it's obviously an extremely poignant day to be reflecting on a breakout success for one of the youngest stallions at Spendthrift, then at least those now mourning the farm's owner know that his own legacy to the breed could scarcely be more secure. For the same cannot quite be said of the horse who started it all for B. Wayne Hughes, Malibu Moon, whose loss earlier this year has now obtained a tragic symmetry. Between the farm's consecutive bereavements, there's no denying that the equine patriarch cannot yet match...

B. Wayne Hughes, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who resurrected Spendthrift Farm and turned it into one of the leading stallion farms in North America, died Wednesday at his residence on the farm surrounded by his family. He was 87 years old. Born Bradley Wayne Hughes on Sept. 28, 1933, in the small town of Gotebo, OK, he was known by his middle name since childhood. The son of a sharecropper who fled Oklahoma's Dust Bowl and resettled in California shortly after he was born, Hughes grew up poor in...

Sophomore filly More Moonshine (Malibu Moon) sat off a quick pace and skipped home in the muddy stretch to earn the 'TDN Rising Star' nod for an impressive belated debut Sunday at Saratoga. Having been very close to an unveiling here last year only to suffer a setback, the dark bay showed an upbeat local tab for a barn that can win with a firster but doesn't often get bet like it, and was let go at 6-1. Away in good order, the Summer Wind Equine homebred sat in a...

Generally well-represented at most sales venues throughout the yearling season, Spendthrift Farm offers a sextet of homebred youngsters, dominated by the offspring of a trio of the nursery's fledgling stallions, at the Fasig-Tipton July sale, set to take place July 13. And while the operation has reached great heights with its marquee stallions--the late Malibu Moon and Into Mischief--the basis of Spendthrift's program has been largely built upon the continuous replenishment of young stallions offered at affordable fees. "We want breeding to work for everybody involved," explained Spendthrift General Manager...

The shocking loss this week of the young gun Laoban, preceded just days earlier by that of the venerable Malibu Moon, could not fail to renew the kind of questions we should all keep asking themselves about how a stallion can make an enduring reputation. Both had started out in a regional program, having shown only marginal eligibility for a stud career on the racetrack, before quickly earning migration to Kentucky. If that was just about all they had in common, then their different roles on two of the biggest...

Three Chimneys Farm, trainer Chad Brown and a 'TDN Rising Star' 3-year-old filly. Shades of GISWs and 'Rising Stars' Carina Mia (Malibu Moon) and Guarana (Ghostzapper) were on display at Belmont Park last week when Always Carina (f, 3, by Malibu Moon--Miss Always Ready, by More Than Ready) romped to 'TDN Rising Star' status  for those same connections in an allowance optional claimer. The aforementioned pair, of course, both enjoyed memorable wins at three in Belmont's GI Acorn S. "Hopefully, she can step into those kind of shoes," Three Chimneys...

Following the sudden passing of Spendthrift foundation sire Malibu Moon, much has been said on his accomplishments at stud. The perennial leading sire has had 126 stakes winners, 51 graded winners and 17 Grade I winners. He's the sire of a Kentucky winner in Orb and an Eclipse Champion in Declan's Moon. As a broodmare sire, he has produced champion Stellar Wind (Curlin) and Breeders' Cup runner-up Bellafina (Quality Road). Just yesterday, he had his 21st 'TDN Rising Star' with Always Carina. To Spendthrift's Stallion Manager Wayne Howard, those stats...