North Dakota, a Grade 3-winning half-brother to top commercial sire War Front, will begin his stud career at Haras Gales in Uruguay, the South American publication Turf Diario reports.
The 7-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro retired with four wins in 14 starts, earning $182,325 as a homebred for Joseph Allen. He was trained by Shug McGaughey.
North Dakota was a late developer, earning his first two career victories as a 4-year-old on the turf at Tampa Bay Downs. Later that season, he picked up a 1 1/8-mile allowance optional claiming win on the grass at Colonial Downs, and he finished the season with a wide-running half-length score in the Grade 3 Red Smith Stakes at Aqueduct.
North Dakota is out of the Grade 1-placed stakes-winning Rubiano mare Starry Dreamer, whose most notable offspring is War Front, a Grade 2 winner who has become the cornerstone of the Claiborne Farm stallion roster and one of North America's most proven commercial sires.
He is also a half-brother to Ecclesiastic, a Grade 2 winner who earned Uruguay's leading sire title seven times.
Other foals of note out of Starry Dreamer include Grade 2 winner and multiple stakes producer Teammate, Grade 2-placed stakes winner Riviera Cocktail, and Grade 2-placed Jay Gatsby.
North Dakota will stand as property of Haras Don Bebe and Haras Cuatro Cabezas.
Nicole Ruggeri trained the winners of both stakes races at Bally's Arapahoe Park in Colorado on Sunday, June 25. There were also two moments that weekend involving her off the track that are worth celebrating for how the racehorse and sporthorse worlds can come together for the well-being of the horse. One moment was supporting a horse that she used to train who is now in a new career; the other was acquiring a horse so that she could train it for a new career.
What happened is about Arabian racehorses, but the same ideas and events could apply to Thoroughbreds as well.
On the day before RB Texas Hold Em would dominate the Emirates Breeders VIP Stakes by 10 1/2 lengths and Colorado-bred AA Sweet Victory would capture the Emirates Breeders VIP Distaff in her home state, Ruggeri went to the Round Top Horse Trials in Castle Rock, Colo., to cheer on a horse she used to train that is now competing in the equestrian sport of eventing. I had invited Nicole to see AA Two Face and me attempt our first USEA-recognized event at the Beginner Novice level of 2'7”.
Ruggeri was the first to train AA Two Face on the track during the grey gelding's first season as a 3-year-old in 2021. Although he didn't show much talent on the track, AA Two Face made an impression in the barn.
“He was just an angel,” the trainer said. “He never did anything wrong. We kind of always knew he wasn't going to be fast. That would have been a great 'husband horse' is how we always thought of him. I was like, 'Andre, this is the best-behaved horse,'” referring to her husband, Andre Ruggeri.
AA Two Face, whose name comes from how his blaze makes him resemble DC Comics' Harvey Dent character Two-Face, brought the same lovable demeanor from the track to our Super G Sporthorses farm. “Dos,” as we call him in the barn, became a quick learner in the sport of eventing that features the three phases of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping.
Then, we decided to combine his horse shows with races. My wife, Ashley Horowitz, a sporthorse trainer her entire adult life, got her racehorse trainer's license for the first racehorse we've ever campaigned.
So, after AA Two Face and I finished cross-country at the Round Top Horse Trials last Saturday, Jody Carraway, another racehorse trainer that came to the show to cheer on Dos and me, snapped a picture that includes me on the horse next to Dos's two race trainers.
After AA Two Face and I finished cross-country at Round Top, we got a photo with his two race trainers, Nicole Ruggeri and Ashley Horowitz. Thank you to Nicole and her team for giving him such a great foundation at the track, which now translates to his success as an eventer. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/EcG03XvoYy
“It was very rewarding, and I was so happy to see him,” Ruggeri said. “It almost made me want to cry because he was so bright-eyed and jumped with ease, and it's nice to see he has a good life.”
It was a beautiful moment that brought together the race trainer that gave the horse his foundation on the track and the sporthorse trainer that gave the horse his foundation off the track. Bringing these worlds together even more, it was the sporthorse trainer who got her racing license to bring AA Two Face back to the track, and then the day after the show Ashley would be the trainer for two horses in the Emirates Breeders stakes races at Arapahoe. One of those horses, RB Rathowayne, shares the same sire as AA Two Face — Rathowan — another intersection between the racehorse and sporthorse worlds. Our plan is to event RB Rathowayne after he finishes racing.
The author and AA Two Face in a photo taken by the horse's first trainer at the track
AA Two Face and I were one of just six pairs out of 21 total entries at the Beginner Novice level at Round Top to jump clear with zero penalties in cross-country and show jumping. We finished sixth in our division on a score of 39.4, just 0.3 points away from qualifying for the United States Eventing Association's (USEA) Area IX Championships. Dos was the youngest (5 years old) and smallest (15.1 hh) horse in his division.
Then, the next day, back in Arapahoe's stable area after saddling two stakes winners, Nicole made plans to help a racehorse that may be ready for a new career. Wikispeedia, one of Ashley's trainees in the races at Arapahoe, pulled up before the finish line of the Emirates Breeders VIP Distaff. Thankfully, there were no signs of injury or bleeding, and by the next day, the 4-year-old bay filly was back to her normal self. We suspect she tied up during the race. Wikispeedia's owners said they are ready for the horse to find a new career to which she may be more suited, and that's where Nicole stepped up ready to buy her because she's started transitioning Arabian racehorses to the sport of endurance.
Nicole Ruggeri with RB Texas Hold Em and jockey Travis Wales after winning the Emirates Breeders VIP Stakes
Whether it's racing or endurance, Ruggeri assesses where a horse is best suited, and that's something from which other trainers can learn. Then, when those horses are in new careers after racing, it makes such a positive impact for trainers like Ruggeri to stay involved in their racehorses' lives.
So, for Nicole to be associated with horses that won stakes race trophies and a horse show ribbon and plan to buy a new horse to be part of that horse's future transition to a new career, that's a weekend worth celebrating, and I hope more trainers will get to experience the same.
Announcing horse races inspired Jonathan Horowitz to become an advocate for off-track Thoroughbreds and Arabians, as well as to learn to event on horses he used to announce at the track. He also serves as Acting Director for the Arabian Jockey Club and runs the Super G Sporthorses eventing barn with his wife, Ashley. He can be reached on Facebook and Twitter at @jjhorowitz.
The Nassau Stakes is one of five graded stakes races July 1 on an action-packed card at Woodbine that also features the Grade 2, $200,000 Highlander Stakes and a pair of races that serve as local steppingstones to the King’s Plate and the Woodbine Oaks.
The inaugural Fasig-Tipton Midlantic June 2-Year-Olds in Training sale was held Wednesday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Md.
Bloodstock agent Steven W. Young went to $500,000 to secure the sale topper, a filly by Kantharos (Hip 47), from the consignment of Crane Thoroughbred Services, agent (video).
The chestnut filly breezed a quarter in :20 4/5 seconds during Tuesday's under tack show. Hip 47 is the second foal out of the Distorted Humor mare La Titina, a daughter of multiple Grade 1 winner Ask the Moon and a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Belgrano and graded stakes placed Sundaysatthebeach.
The top five prices of the session also included:
– A filly by Arrogate (Hip 78), sold for $225,000 to Hillwood Stables from the consignment of Cary Frommer, agent. The New York-bred filly is a half-sister to two winners, including stakes placed Harmon (Cairo Prince), out of Summer Shade, a winning Stephen Got Even half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Hot Summer. Hip 78 worked an eighth in :10 3/5.
– A filly by Arrogate (Hip 9), sold for $150,000 to John Guarnere from the consignment of Tom McCrocklin, agent. The gray or roan filly is a half-sister to four winners, including champion 2-year-old filly and graded stakes producer Ria Antonia (Rockport Harbor) and graded stakes placed stakes winner Cross the Line (Line of David). Hip 9 worked an eighth in 10 3/5.
– A colt by Liam's Map (Hip 32), sold for $100,000 to Muir Hut LLC from the consignment of Tom McCrocklin, agent. The Florida-bred colt is out of the graded stakes winning Flashy Bull mare Flashy American, from the immediate family of multiple graded stakes winner I'm Already Sexy. Hip 32 worked an eighth in :10 1/5.
– A filly by Flatter (Hip 86), sold for $95,000 to Jewel Box Racing, Marette Farrell, agent, from the consignment of Crane Thoroughbred Services, agent. The chestnut filly is out of the stakes winning Smart Strike mare Valued Strike, from the immediate family of Group 1 winner Lighthouse. Hip 86 worked an eighth in :10-flat.
In total, 57 horses sold for $2,509,000. The average was $44,018 and the median was $27,000. Full results are available online.
