sire of sires

Speightstown (Gone West--Silken Cat, by Storm Cat), Eclipse Champion Sprinter in 2004 and among the leading sires of the past 15 years, had to be euthanized Friday, Dec. 8, due to foot issues from old age, WinStar Farm announced in a press release Friday. Speightstown, a Taylor Made/WinStar stallion, was 25 years old. "Speightstown was a foundational sire for WinStar and helped stamp our legacy as a sire-making farm," said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm. "I want to thank Larry McGinnis and his team for...

Which stallion does the data say is the outstanding sire-of-sires in Britain and Ireland? The answer will surprise you. We often hear chat about a stallion's ability as a sire-of-sires being bandied about, but it is less common to see it examined in a more detailed and data-driven manner. First and foremost, my personal opinion is that using a stallion's record as a sire-of-sires is one of the most brutally harsh measures in all of bloodstock on which to judge a horse. In short, the reality is that the vast...

Lion Heart (Tale of the Cat--Satin Sunrise, by Mr. Leader), a Grade I winner at two and three and runner-up to Smarty Jones (Elusive Quality) in the 2004 GI Kentucky Derby, has passed away in Turkey, where he stood stud since 2011. He was 22 years of age and died from a circulatory disorder caused by heart failure. A $100,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic yearling turned $1.4-million Fasig-Tipton Florida juvenile, the Sabine Stable-bred Lion Heart was trained for the Coolmore connections by Patrick Biancone and capped a perfect 2-year-old campaign with a...

Kodiac (GB) (Danehill) has long been a sought-after source of precocity, and as he has risen toward the upper echelon of proven stallions, the hunt is now on for his heir. Or heirs, as the case may be, because just as Kodiac's winners are legion, his sons' foals are starting to display that same vaunted quick-maturing zest for racing: a quartet of group-winning sons of Kodiac retired to stud in 2017-Kodi Bear (Ire), Adaay (Ire), Coulsty (Ire) and Prince of Lir (Ire)--and all have sired group winners with only two...

Candy Ride (Arg), by Ride the Rails from Candy Girl (Arg), by Candy Stripes, came from Argentina, where he was a champion miler, and quickly established himself as both a high-class racehorse with a win in the Gl Pacific Classic and as a sire here in a similar way that Forli (Arg) and Lord At War (Arg) did before him. Make no mistake, it was quite a feat, because South American-bred racehorses, no matter how successful they are on the track in North America, most often whiff at stud in...