Ryan Norton

Four years ago this week, McKinzie was retired to Gainesway after a stellar racing career that netted four Grade I wins and 11 triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures. While it may have been difficult at the time for many to see past the ravages of the COVID pandemic--it was 2020, after all--those far-sighted breeders who patronized McKinzie the next spring are looking positively clairvoyant in 2024. As is becoming blatantly obvious, McKinzie isn't just starting strong as a freshman sire. Instead, McKinzie's beginning as a young sire has been the stuff...

While Ashford young gun Justify was busy making waves over the pond this weekend, it was Gainesway's time-tested sire royalty who quietly added to his legacy on American shores. No matter how you slice it, one stallion in North America--and only one--leads all active lifetime sires by every major category, be it earnings, black-type winners, graded winners, Grade I winners, and even lifetime starters and winners. Unmatched among living active sires, Tapit hasn't had bigger crops than the other stallions on the list (he ranks third among the top 10...

It's not often that a runner-up effort translates into a key selling point for a new stallion, but when that second-place finish comes behind a horse like Flightline, people take notice. Such has been the case for Olympiad (Speightstown - Tokyo Time, by Medaglia d'Oro), whose career finale in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic made him a standout in the 2023 class of incoming stallions. Ryan Norton, who joined Gainesway as the farm's new stallion director a few weeks before the Breeders' Cup, explained how Olympiad's performance at Keeneland over...

Ryan Norton, who previously served as stallion director at Darby Dan Farm, has been named the new stallion director at Gainesway, the farm announced Thursday. Norton had been at Darby Dan since 2002, starting in the sales division before being named stallion director in 2005. "Ryan brings with him over 20 years of experience in his field," said Gainesway General Manager Brian Graves. "Ryan's meticulous nature will make him the perfect person to give our clients and customers a great experience conducting business with Gainesway Farm." A native of Winchester,...

Mutasaabeq (Into Mischief--Downside Scenario, by Scat Daddy), a Grade II-winning juvenile, has been retired and will take up stud duty for the 2023 breeding season at Darby Dan Farm. The deal was brokered by The Stallion Company and his fee will be $7,500 S&N. "Hailing from a sire line with a lot of upside, Mutasaabeq is a fast and precocious son of Into Mischief," said Ryan Norton, Darby Dan Farm's stallion director. "He is an outstanding individual with all the ingredients to be a top sire, and we're excited about...

Grade I winner Leofric (Candy Ride {Arg}--Lady Godiva, by Unbridled's Song), who had been standing at Rockridge Stud in New York, will relocate to Darby Dan Farm in Kentucky for the 2022 breeding season. The 8-year-old stallion will stand for $7,500 S&N. "There's a lot to like about Leofric. He has a stallion's pedigree, and his first foals are outstanding," said Ryan Norton, stallion director at Darby Dan Farm. "Being a Grade I winner by Candy Ride, it makes a lot of sense to bring him to Kentucky now to...

Higher Power (Medaglia d'Oro-Alternate, by Seattle Slew) will retire to Darby Dan Farm at the conclusion of his racing career and stand in partnership with Matt Bowling Bloodstock, the farm announced Tuesday. The Hronis Racing colorbearer, trained by John Sadler, is pointing to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 7. His 2021 fee will be $10,000 S&N for nominations completed prior to the Breeders' Cup. A 5 1/4-length winner of the 2019 GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar, Higher Power recorded a career-best 107 Beyer in the 10-furlong...

We often talk of stallions who have had to earn their stripes. And there's no doubt that Dialed In has uncomplainingly completed every drill necessary to get his first Grade I insignia stitched onto his uniform, by Get Her Number in the American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita a few days ago. By the time the son of Mineshaft set up shop in 2013, his qualifications as favorite for the 2011 Derby had rather faded from memory. He had run down Shackleford (Forestry) in the GI Florida Derby, but their...