McKinzie

Welcome to our annual survey of covering options in Kentucky for the forthcoming breeding season. As usual, we'll start with the rookies and work our way through the preceding intakes, before trying to eke out some value among the more established stallions. A wholly subjective exercise, clearly--so apologies if your fellow doesn't make our "value podium." Every farm is understandably sensitive about the reputation of its stallions, for whom opportunity can be so fleeting and about whom fashions can swell or fade on the flimsiest grounds. We'll do our best...

As we approach the end of the calendar, we turn our attention to the incoming sire class of 2021. We asked several judges who their favorite incoming sire is for next year and if there are any other stallions, new or otherwise, that have caught their eye as under-the-radar picks. JOE MILLER, Kern Thoroughbreds McKinzie (Street Sense), $30,000, Gainesway  My favorite new sire is a tough decision. There are so many good choices in 2021 and I really do not want to jinx anyone, but I would have to say...

Since his maiden-breaking 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy juvenile debut, McKinzie had caught the eye of Gainesway Farm. But according to Gainesway's Director of Stallion Sales and Recruitment Sean Tugel, the son of Street Sense had the attention of nearly every top stud farm in the country. "He was on everybody's radar from the very beginning," he said. "Any time you see one win first time out from Bob Baffert's barn, you have to recognize it." [tdn_vimeo_embed title="McKinzie at Gainesway Farm" admp4="https://player.vimeo.com/external/454078835.sd.mp4?s=e4abccf474c464c025df68f2a109c29ca8402ae7&profile_id=165" videomp4= "https://player.vimeo.com/external/481849258.sd.mp4?s=b0108e0717b96d50a0ed06578fa2458c02f1f51e&profile_id=165" thumbnail= ""] McKinzie's resume only improved from there...

Four-time Grade I winner McKinzie (Street Sense--Runway Model, by Petionville) has been retired from racing and will stand stud at Gainesway in 2021, the farm announced Wednesday evening. "McKinzie was absolutely brilliant. He was an undefeated Grade I winner at two, as well as a multiple Grade I winner and top-rated horse at three and four years of age," Brian Graves, General Manager of Gainesway, said. "His speed, precocity and good looks make him an absolute standout." Purchased by Karl Watson, Michael Pegram and Paul Weitman for $170,000 at Keeneland...

As a multiple Grade I winner with 11 triple-digit Beyer figures to his name, McKinzie (Street Sense) has well established himself as a force in the older male division. But showing a pair of off-the-board finishes in three starts this season, he will be out looking for a bit of redemption when he returns to the site and race that produced his track-record setting performance last spring in Friday's GII Alysheba S. at Churchill Downs. Racking up powerful victories in the GI Pennsylvania Derby and GI Malibu S. as a...

The lightly raced sophomore Collusion Illusion (Twirling Candy) will try to give his elders a run for their money Saturday in Del Mar's GI Bing Crosby S., a "Win and You're In" event for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint S. Opening his account with a pair of wins, including the GII Best Pal S. last summer, he was pulled up when trying two turns in the GI American Pharoah S. in September. Returning May 17, he scored a decisive victory in a six-panel optional claimer at Santa Anita and repeated...

Four-time Grade I winner McKinzie (Street Sense--Runway Model, by Petionville) will begin his stud career at Gainesway Farm upon his retirement from racing after the Kentucky nursery announced Monday that it had purchased the breeding rights to the 5-year-old. "It is very exciting to stand a horse with McKinzie's credentials at Gainesway," said Gainesway's Director of Bloodstock Alex Solis, II. "I don't believe there is a more exciting prospect than McKinzie out there. We are grateful to Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, Paul Weitman, and Bob Baffert for this fantastic opportunity."...

It's been an up-and-down stretch of late for the Bob Baffert barn, but the classy 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie finished the week on a high note for the Hall of Famer. Making his first start since an 11th-place finish in the G1 Saudi Cup Feb. 29, and first over track and trip since he romped in the 2018 GI Malibu S., the bay settled in widest and last of a compact field as stablemate Ax Man (Misremembered) showed the way. Given his cue to inch closer into a :46.13 half,...

Three-time Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) returns to action against four rivals in Sunday's GII Triple Bend S. at Santa Anita. Beaten 28 lengths when last seen in the $20-million Saudi Cup Feb. 29, McKinzie is two-for-two at this seven-furlong distance, including a win in Santa Anita's GI Malibu S. in 2018. The 2019 GI Whitney S. hero was second-best in several high-profile races term, led by the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, GI Runhappy Metropolitan H. and GI Santa Anita H. McKinzie, trained by Hall...

A four-time Grade I winner in training at Santa Anita under Bob Baffert, an undefeated homebred Triple Crown hopeful, and a two-year-old named a 'TDN Rising Star' after winning on debut by almost nine lengths. This year, Street Sense is a stallion sales manager's dream. The champion juvenile and GI Kentucky Derby winner's race record speaks for itself, but now his top progeny are looking to make this their sire's biggest year yet. Street Sense spent a year in Japan in 2013 after starting off his first five years at...

A stellar group of international talent has been assembled for the inaugural $20-million Saudi Cup over 1800 meters at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh Saturday, with a quintet of impressive American contenders. Leading the American charge is Gary and Mary West's Maximum Security (New Year's Day). After infamously being disqualified from first in the GI Kentucky Derby last May, the bay colt redeemed his sophomore season with wins in the GI Haskell Invitational and GIII Bold Ruler H. before cementing an Eclipse championship with a win in the Dec. 7...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - The anticipation continued to build ahead of the $29-million Saudi Cup card, with a large crowd of locals and visitors on hand Thursday to watch contenders gallop over the mammoth King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh two days before the country's biggest-ever day of horse racing. Among the Americans on hand trackside on a chilly morning which quickly turned warmer as the sun rose was West Point Thoroughbreds' Terry Finley and bloodstock agent Bruno DeBerdt. "I've been to Dubai a couple of times, but I was really...