Walker Hancock

Claiborne Farm and Lane's End Farm have committed to a co-sponsorship of the Former Broodmare division at the 2024 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) announced Tuesday. First run as a pilot program in 2023, the Former Broodmare division is now an official competition avenue at the Thoroughbred Makeover, welcoming recently-retired broodmares to compete alongside the traditional retiring racehorse division in all 10 offered disciplines. Broodmares will be pinned and recognized separately, and compete for a separate pot of $10,000...

Jacob West will join the Claiborne Farm team in October as the Stallion Seasons & Bloodstock Manager, the organization said in a release Wednesday. West, a Kentucky native, graduated from UK with a degree in Economics. He began his career in the Thoroughbred industry at the ground level, first serving as a groom in Taylor Made Farm's broodmare division. From there, he ascended to barn foreman, divisional yearling manager, and then Buyer Account Manager. During his tenure at Taylor Made, West managed all aspects of his clients' investment portfolios, including...

In our walk of life, nothing succeeds like succession. As with any other form of agriculture, a horse farm is not just a business but a legacy sometimes shaped by several generations of rain-or-shine toil and kitchen-table lore. The balance sheet may happen to be in the black, or in the red--but that's just a moment in time. How does one put a price on the decades of patient nurture that have gone into land and bloodlines? Yet there's never any guarantee about the next generation, whether in terms of...

'TDN Rising Star' Annapolis (War Front--My Miss Sophia, by Unbridled's Song), winner of the 2022 GI Coolmore Turf Mile S. in a stakes-record time of 1:33.29 at Keeneland, has been retired from racing and will enter stud at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., for the 2024 breeding season. A graded stakes winner at two and three in the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, Annapolis earned over $1.5 million as a homebred for Bass Racing. Annapolis was produced by My Miss Sophia, winner of the GII Gazelle S....

The Consignors and Commercial Breeders Association (CBA), whose 300-strong membership accounts for over 80% of the annual auction revenue in North America, elected new officers and board members at a recent meeting, the organization said in a release Wednesday evening. The CBA's 15-member Board features eight members from the top 20 consignors and seven members from other consignors and commercial breeders. Each year, a portion of the Board completes their term and new members fill the positions. Joining the board for 2024 will be Lakota Gibson (Gainesway), Jill Gordon (Highgate...

Turfway Park Racing & Gaming and Claiborne Farm have teamed up to present a three-race series which will reward top-three-finishing fillies and mares a future stallion credit when they retire from racing. Dubbed the "Make Your Mare" series, the top three finishers of the Dec. 2 Holiday Inaugural S., Dec. 9 My Charmer S., and Jan. 13 Likely Exchange S. will all receive "Claiborne Credit" on a $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 scale to be applied to future stallion fees. "We're very excited to partner with Claiborne Farm for this series...

The Consignors and Commercial Breeders Association (CBA) has named new officers and board members for 2023, including the move of Claiborne Farm's Walker Hancock from vice president to president. Rob Tribbett of Watercress Farm will serve as vice president, while Stone Farm's Lynn Hancock has been named treasurer and outgoing president Allaire Ryan will continue to serve the organization as past president. "The CBA is very appreciative of Allaire's work and progress she made during her time as president," said the new president. "She took the CBA to a new...

Claiborne Farm will be the title sponsor of the Former Broodmare division in its first year at the 2023 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, the Retired Racehorse Project announced Tuesday. First announced in November of this year, the Former Broodmare division will welcome recently retired broodmares to compete alongside traditional retiring racehorses in all 10 offered disciplines, with broodmares pinned and recognized separately and competing for a separate pot of $10,000 in prize money. "Claiborne is pleased to be the title sponsor of the...

LEXINGTON, KY - With some 75 horses still to go through the ring, the 2022 Fasig-Tipton October Yearlings Sale overtook its record gross set just last year and, by the close of business Thursday, 1,100 yearlings had grossed $55,426,500. The 2021 gross was $52,607,500 for 1,153 yearlings sold. Also surpassing records set last year were the average of $50,388 and the median of $25,000. The previous marks were $45,627 and $22,000, respectively. "Another remarkable sale concluded tonight," said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. "You are always thrilled when you set records...

Following the passing of world-renowned international stallion More Than Ready this summer, four of his sons now stand in Kentucky in the hopes of carrying the torch for their accomplished sire. Among them, Catholic Boy holds the distinction of earning Grade I victories on two surfaces. After collecting six graded wins over his three-year racing campaign, Catholic Boy launched his stud career at Claiborne Farm in 2020. The farm's Walker Hancock said that the $2.1 million earner, who is out a daughter of productive broodmare sire Bernardini, has all the...

Barbara Banke (Stonestreet Farms), Walker Hancock (Claiborne Farm), Gray Lyster (Ashview Farm), and Elliott Walden (WinStar Farm) were each elected by the Breeders' Cup Members to serve a four-year term on Breeders' Cup's Board of Directors, Breeders' Cup announced Thursday. Banke, Hancock, and Walden were re-elected as Directors. Lyster, who was elected a Breeders' Cup Member in 2020, has been involved in the equine industry for his entire life. His family operates Ashview Farm. Lyster is a breeder, owner, farm operator, and consignor. He co-bred Breeders' Cup Champion Runhappy, and...

In the first episode of the TDN's new video series 'Catching Up with Katie,' host Katie Petrunyak sat down with the University of Kentucky's starting quarterback Will Levis and Claiborne Farm's Walker Hancock at Wallace Station Deli and Bakery outside of Lexington to discuss the N.I.L. (Name, Image, and Likeness) deal between Levis and Claiborne stallion War of Will (War Front). The partnership was announced early last month and is the first of its kind for any collegiate student-athlete with a Thoroughbred syndicate. [Elite_video_player id="2" html5videos_hd="https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/709670997/rendition/540p/file.mp4?loc=external&signature=d99ce348f7d43f5e6c9f920d0521574d659d3e2254c9e2161218981a2d67dabc" html5videos_videoThumbnails_jpg="" html5videos_title="Catching Up with...