Idol, winner of the 2021 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) for trainer Richard Baltas and a full brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Nest, has been retired and will stand the upcoming breeding season at Taylor Made Stallions, the farm announced on Friday. The son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin out of the stakes-winning A.P. Indy mare Marion Ravenwood was a $375,000 Keeneland September Sale graduate and he retires having hit the board in six of eight starts for owner Calvin Nguyen.
Idol will stand the 2023 season for $10,000 S&N as a Repole Stable/Taylor Made Stallions Venture.
“Idol fits the profile of what we are looking for,” said Taylor Made's Ben Taylor. “He's by a world-class sire and out of a world-class producer. He's got the looks and he's a G1 talent. It's the same ingredients Not This Time possessed when he arrived at Taylor Made.”
In his biggest victory in the historic Santa Anita Handicap (G1), Idol defeated a contentious field that included Grade 1 winners Maxfield—who was previously unbeaten—and Express Train, as well as graded stakes winners Independence Hall and Tizamagician. With Joel Rosario aboard, Idol traveled five-wide around the far turn, collared the leaders in the stretch following a powerful rally and won by a half-length, recording a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 102.
It didn't take long for Idol to announce his arrival on the scene. He broke his maiden in his second career start at three, winning a seven-furlong maiden special weight event in 1:22 flat at Churchill Downs, running a 94 Beyer. Next up, he set a Churchill Downs track record in just his third lifetime start, winning a 1 3/16-mile allowance race by 5 ¾ lengths in 1:55.97 and earning a 98 Beyer.
Bred in Kentucky by Leonard Riggio's My Meadowview LLC, Idol hails from a strong and active family replete with black-type. His full sister Nest has banked more than $1.8 million thus far in her sensational racing career and on Sunday she crushed her opposition by 9 ¾ lengths in the Beldame Stakes (G2) to add to her already impressive resume. In addition to her facile win in the Beldame, Nest has captured the Alabama Stakes (G1), the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), and the Ashland Stakes (G1). She also finished second to males in the Belmont Stakes (G1) and was runner-up in this year's Kentucky Oaks (G1). Idol's 2-year-old half-brother, Lost Ark, won his first two career starts, including the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park in August by 7 ½ lengths.
Nest is co-owned by Repole Stables.
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