stallions

As a year of unprecedented achievement draws to a close, the distribution of laurels among our champion stallions must first and foremost celebrate their sheer potency. For while we already know Into Mischief to be a phenomenon, he demands fresh admiration in sealing his third consecutive general sires' championship with a prizemoney haul just shy of $25 million, shattering the $22,507,940 record he set in his second; the work of 260 winners, similarly raising the bar giddily on the 221 who compiled his first. As the revelation of the year,...

In reaching the penultimate instalment of our series, once again we are obliged by the steepening commercial gradient to combine different intakes--this time, those who have now launched between four and six juvenile crops--to ensure a suitably competitive podium. For by this stage of their career the majority of Kentucky start-ups will already have packed their bags for regional or overseas programs. One or two are still barely clinging on, their books plummeting, but overall we're now looking at those few who have bravely consolidated to the brink of inclusion...

This can be a terrifying business. Here we are, for the first time in this series, assessing stallions that have at least put some sophomores through the starting gate. And already, commercially, the game appears to be up for many. So much so, in fact, that to give adequate competitive depth to our value podium, we're going to combine the consecutive intakes who were in 2021 respectively contesting the second- and third-crop championships. Here's just one example of how ruthless the market is. I won't name the stallion, because he...

The Washington Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association's annual online stallion season auction began Dec. 15 and runs through Dec. 22. In addition to stallion premiums, this year the WTBOA has added a chance for bidders to receive a bonus. All winning bidders will now be eligible for one of two bonus level amounts, as they will be entered into a drawing to receive a credit of up to $1,000 or the actual bid amount, whichever is less, on their stallion season purchase. The second drawing will be for a $400...

WinStar stallions Carpe Diem (Giant's Causeway--Rebridled Dreams, by Unbridled's Song) and Exaggerator (Curlin--Dawn Raid, by Vindication) have been sold and will take up stud duty in new locations for 2022, the farm announced Thursday. Carpe Diem will be syndicated by a group led by Dawn and Jeff Picard's Picard Racing and David Tillson and he will stand the upcoming breeding season at Acadiana Equine at Copper Crowne in Louisiana. Campaigned by WinStar and Stonestreet Stables, the $1.6 million OBSMAR buy woon the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity in 2014 and the...

Calumet Farm has three new additions to their 2022 stallion roster in Grade I winners Channel Cat (English Channel) and True Timber (Mineshaft), as well as MGSW Hence (Street Boss). The news was originally reported by the Blood-Horse. A Calumet homebred, Channel Cat won this year's GI Man o' War S. and has a lifetime record of 30-6-4-5 with earnings of $1,456,022. He will stand for $7,500. A $170,000 KEENOV buy, True Timber captured last year's GI Cigar Mile. With a record of 29-5-5-9 and earnings of $1,215,150, he will...

The 2022 Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Irish Stallion Trail, which includes over 25 participating farms, will last from Jan. 14-15, 2022 and registration for the event is now open. Free to attend, visitors are asked to register for which studs they intend to visit via the ITM website. Due to high demand, it is mandatory to register for a specific date and time slot in order to visit Coolmore Stud. Please note that the dates and format of the Irish Stallion Trail may change due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In...

Following his emphatic triumph in the 2021 GI Breeders' Classic, champion Knicks Go (Paynter -Kosmo's Buddy, by Outflanker) enjoyed a brief interlude from training as he spent about a week at Taylor Made Farm, where he will soon begin his stud career, before he returned to the Brad Cox barn at Churchill Downs. The colorbearer for the Korea Racing Authority cemented his status as the top older dirt male in the country with his gate-to-wire Classic victory. Now, the favorite for Horse of the Year honors is preparing for one...

NEWMARKET, UK--There's still some important business to be done in the sale ring but the Sunday between the foal sale and the mare sale at Tattersalls always has something of an end-of-term feel to it as breeders tour the local studs to view stallions and sample a range of hot sausage rolls. First stop on a mini tour for the TDN team, which sadly did not include all the studs, was to Lanwades to see an impeccable quartet. One of the most enjoyable features of Kisten Rausing's traditional December open...

Hang on a minute. Weren't the seven fat years supposed to be followed by seven lean years? The way the market has gone in 2021, we have barely had seven lean minutes. Nothing, certainly, approaching the kind of reset required, logically and historically, for the cyclical functioning of capitalism. The prospect of some such "correction" had been the only latent comfort, cold as it was, for a bloodstock market confronted by the global economic shock of the pandemic. Because a decade of almost relentless growth wasn't even ending due to...

Pleasant Acres Stallions in Florida has announced their 2022 stud fees. The roster is headed by hard-knocking MGSW & MGISP Gunnevera (Dialed In), who will stand for $6,000. Graded winners Bucchero (Kantharos), Leinster (Majestic Warrior) and Breaking Lucky (Lookin at Lucky), as well as MGISP Neolithic (Harlan's Holiday) are next, each at $5,000. The rest of the roster: Amira's Prince (Teofilo {Ire}), Bellavia (Honor Code), Curlin's Honor (Curlin), Gone Astray (Dixie Union), Handsome Mike (Scat Daddy), Long On Value (Value Plus), No Never No More (Scat Daddy) and Sweetontheladies (Twirling Candy)...

The Weatherbys Return of Mares, through Oct. 20, was published on Thursday. A total of 12,920 live foals were registered so far in The General Stud Book. In 2020 the number was 12,778 and in 2019 13,443 were registered. Of the 12,920 foals, 4,282 (+1%) are registered with the GB suffix and 8,638 (+1%) in Ireland. In 2020 those numbers were 4,236 (GB) and 8,542 (Ire), while two years ago the number of registered foals stood at 4,655 (GB) and 8,788 (Ire). Currently there are 22,720 broodmares at stud, an...