Valiant Minister

Third at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in February in the G3 Saudi Derby behind Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) and Book'em Danno (Bucchero), who have each distinguished themselves on the world stage since that day, Bentornato (c, 3, Valiant Minister--Her Special Way, by Put It Back) took advantage of his own moment to shine Saturday in the GII Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx. The Florida-bred and Leon King Stable Corp. colorbearer captured his first graded stakes after a string of black-type wins in Florida last year while also keeping his...

Saturday's session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training included a son of Lord Nelson (hip 809) who put up the fastest quarter-mile time of the day. Consigned by Omar Ramirez Bloodstock, the colt worked in :20.4 and is the second foal out of Kodiak's Dancer, a half-sister to SP Baby Gray (Precise End). He'll make his third trip through the sales ring next week, having RNA'd at both KEENOV as a weanling for $9,500 and again as a yearling for $8,500 at FTKOCT last...

Two sons of Candy Ride (Arg)--Gun Runner and Twirling Candy--were represented by three 2-year-old Grade l winners over the weekend, and do you know one thing they had in common? Each was produced by a Storm Cat-line mare. This affinity for the Storm Cat line was also an important feature of Candy Ride's own success, and breeders appear to be copying that formula with his sons. It's not surprising; it's something that usually happens when a stallion is successful with the females of another sire line, and this type of...

5th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 3:21 p.m. ET Split divisions of juvenile filly sprinters get the Saratoga baby race season underway on opening day Thursday, with this latter half appearing to be clearly the saltier spot on paper. Heads turned when a filly by thus-far unheralded freshman sire Valiant Minister hammered for $360,000--120 times the Bridlewood Farm resident's stud fee--at OBS April, but one viewing of OUTFOXED's breeze-show effort quickly explains why. The dark bay barreled through a powerful :20 4/5 quarter-mile work, sparking a bidding war that...

Last week, I stopped by John and Leslie Malone's 2,200-acre Bridlewood Farm in Ocala before attending the OBS June sale and got a good look at an intriguing freshman sire who'd topped the June sale six years earlier at a then-record price of $680,000. By Candy Ride (Arg) from the unraced Deputy Minister mare Spooky Minister, Valiant Minister was bred by John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale and had breezed a bullet eighth in :9 4/5 for consignor Eddie Woods. He was purchased on the advice of Donato Lanni by Charles...

A colt from the first crop of Florida stallion Valiant Minister was one of two to breeze a bullet quarter mile in :20 3/5 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale under-tack show Friday. Hip 996 will attempt to follow in the hoofprints of his Bridlewood-based sire, who topped OBS's 2015 June sale after a bullet work, selling to Charles Chu of Baoma Corp. For $680,000 after breezing an eighth in :9 4/5. "I remember Valiant Minister when he sold here," said SGV Thoroughbreds' Steve Venosa, who consigns Hip...

Baoma Corp released its stud fees for its roster of stallions--Chitu (Henny Hughes--Sea Gift, by A.P. Indy), Valiant Minister (Candy Ride {Arg}--Spooky Minister, by Deputy Minister) and Tunwoo (Medaglia d'Oro--Sea Gift, by A.P. Indy) for the 2021 season.  The stallions are residents of Bridlewood Farm in Ocala, Florida. Undefeated at two and a graded winner at three, Chitu retired with four wins from seven starts and earnings of $597,800. At stud, the sophomore stallion currently ranks third in the Florida sire earnings. The 9-year-old's fee has been reduced to $3,500...

After our exhaustive survey of Bluegrass stallions, good manners demand at least a browse through the alternatives available elsewhere in North America. But this must be a very different exercise, and a pretty unsatisfactory one too. The Kentucky market is entirely coherent, with hundreds of stallions clustered within a few miles of each other at fees to suit all budgets. Regional stallions, in contrast, serve regional mares. If you're in Ohio, you're not going to van a mare down to Too Much Bling (Rubiano). If you're in Texas, equally, you...