Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
DORTMUND PART OF A MARYLAND RESURGENCE
Kentucky traditionally sees the most stallions enter its ranks each breeding season, but the migration of prospects from the racetrack to regional farms can fluctuate depending on the health of each state’s program.
Breeders and buyers at auction have taken notice of the Maryland-bred program’s growth in recent years, helped by The Stronach Group’s investment in Laurel Park and a lucrative incentive program for owners and breeders of Maryland-breds who race in the state. With the death of stalwart Not For Love, Maryland will have plenty of new contenders for the position of new cornerstone sire.
Maryland’s stallion roster will see at least eight new members during the upcoming breeding season, led by multiple Grade 1 winner Dortmund, who will debut at Bonita Farm in Darlington for an advertised fee of $7,500. The 5-year-old son of Big Brown won 8 of 16 starts for earnings of $1,987,505, highlighted by wins in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity and Santa Anita Derby and a third in the 2015 Kentucky Derby.
“We’ve got a lot going on in Maryland right now,” said J. William Boniface of Bonita Farm. “The breeder and owner bonuses are escalating, and the purse structure is escalating. We’re excited to have a stallion of his caliber start in Maryland. Maryland’s ready for him.”
Dortmund is one of three stallions slated to debut at Bonita Farm in 2018, joining Alliance and Kobe’s Back. Alliance, an unraced 3-year-old Harlan’s Holiday colt and half-brother to champion Tepin and Grade 2 winner Vyjack, will stand for $4,000. Kobe’s Back, a multiple Grade 2-winning son of Flatter, will be advertised at $3,000.
Elsewhere in the state, Grade 2 winner Madefromlucky, a son of Lookin At Lucky, will stand at Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City for $5,000. Holy Boss, a Grade 2-winning son of Street Boss, will debut at Anchor & Hope Farm in Port Deposit.
Divining Rod, a Grade 3-winning, classic-placed Tapit horse, will stand at Country Life Farm in Bel Air for $5,000. He will stand for the partnership of Roy and Gretchen Jackson, who raced him, as well as Country Life Farm and Kentuckybased Gainesway.
Blofeld, a Grade 2 winner by Quality Road, will stand at Murmur Farm in Darlington for $4,000, while Editorial, a winning half-brother to champion Uncle Mo by War Front, will reside at Roland Farm in Chesapeake City for $3,500.
Florida
A pair of Grade 1-winning stallions will stand their first season at Ocala Stud in Ocala for $5,000 – Noble Bird, a son of Birdstone, and Greenpointcrusader, a son of Bernardini.
Mylute, a classic-placed runner by Midnight Lute, will stand at GoldMark Farm in Ocala, while Gentlemen’s Bet, a Grade 1-placed stakes winner by Half Ours, debuts at Journeyman Stud for $3,000. Grade 3 winner Ocean Knight, by Curlin, will stand at Get Away Farm in Lowell for $4,000.
California
The biggest splash in California’s new stallion ranks came from Shaman Ghost,
a Grade 1 winner who also took the 2015 Queen’s Plate. The son of Ghostzapper will spearhead a campaign by owner Frank Stronach to expand his interests in the state, where he owns Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields. A farm was still to be determined for Shaman Ghost, but he was announced at a fee of $10,000.
Multiple Grade 2 winner Danzing Candy will take the first stride toward proving Twirling Candy as a sire of sires when he debuts at Rancho San Miguel in San Miguel for $5,000.
Tommy Town Thoroughbreds in Santa Ynez will have three new stallions on its 2018 roster – Stanford, a Grade 2-winning son of Malibu Moon who will stand for $5,000; War Envoy, a Group 2-placed War Front horse advertised at $5,000; and Saburo, a half-brother to Canadian champion Miss Mischief by Medaglia d’Oro who will stand for $3,000.
Straight Fire, a multiple Grade 1-placed Dominus colt, will stand at Legacy Ranch in Clements, while Grade 2 winner Texas Ryano, by Curlin, will enter stud at Ballena Vista Farm in Ramona. Both will stand for $3,500.
New York
The partnership of Stonestreet Stables and Sequel Stallions in Hudson, N.Y., will stand Union Jackson during the upcoming season for $5,000. The Curlin horse is a Grade 3-placed multiple stakes winner.
Market Rally, an Unbridled’s Song colt who won the Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas, will take up residence at Irish Hill Century Farm in Stillwater for an advertised fee of $3,000.
Canada
Colebrook Farms Stallion Station in Uxbridge, Ontario, will debut a pair of stallions for the upcoming season. Passion for Action, a Grade 2-winning Speightstown horse, will stand for $3,000 Canadian for the upcoming season, while Perfect Timber, a Grade 1-placed Perfect Soul horse, will be advertised at $2,500.
Arpista, a winning son of Quality Road, will stand at Horsepower Farm in Shelburne, Ontario, for $3,500.
Standing elsewhere
After a Grade 3-winning career, the Tapit horse Iron Fist retired to Whispering Oaks Farm in Carencro, La., where he is advertised at $6,500.
West Virginia’s stallion ranks will add Aldrin, a winning half-brother to leading sire Tapit by Malibu Moon, who stands at O’Sullivan Farms in Charles Town, W.Va., for $4,000.
In the Midwest, General a Rod, a Grade 1-placed Roman Ruler horse, retired to Hidden Springs Farm in Palmyra, Ind., where he will stand for $3,500, while Grade 2 winner Airoforce, by Colonel John, will stand at Swifty Farms in Seymour, Ind., for $2,500. Kiss the Ghost, an unraced Ghostzapper colt, debuts at Poplar Creek Horse Center in Bethel, Ohio, for $1,500.
The Southwest’s new stallions include Proceed, a stakes-winning Desert God horse who will stand at A & A Ranch in Anthony, N.M., for $3,500. The Candy Ride son Eagle, a Grade 3 winner, will enter stud at Valor Farm in Pilot Point, Texas, for $5,000. Madd Exchange, a winning Exchange Rate horse, will stand at Whitley Ranch and Racing in Texas for $1,000.
Pontiff, a winning half-brother to Pulpit by Giant’s Causeway, stands at El Dorado
Farms in Enumclaw, Wash., for $2,500.
International
Japan’s stallion roster will include a trio of names familiar to followers of U.S. racing. Chief among them is Drefong, the 2016 Eclipse Award winner as champion sprinter, who will stand at Shadai Stallion Station. The son of Gio Ponti’s career highlight came when he won the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita to clinch his award.
Grade 1 winner American Patriot, a son of War Front, was purchased by Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum’s Darley operation and will enter stud at its Japanese base. The enigmatic Lani will debut at Arrow Stud after an ontrack career in which the Tapit colt was a Group 3 winner in the United Arab Emirates and classicplaced in the United States.
In Ireland, Coolmore Stud will start two sons of their cornerstone sire Galileo – Churchill, winner of both the Irish and English 2000 Guineas, and 2016 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Highland Reel. Coolmore’s Irish base also will debut Caravaggio, a multiple Group 1-winning Scat Daddy horse.
Elsewhere in Ireland, El Kabeir, a Grade 2 winner also by Scat Daddy, will stand at Yeomanstown Stud.