Ocala stud has set 2023 stud fees for its roster of 10 stallions for the upcoming breeding season, led by Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby winner Roadster who will stand his initial season at stud for $7,500 S&N. Also new to the roster for 2023 is Grade 1 winner Gretzky the Great, who will stand for $3,000 S&N.
Roadster, a near-millionaire son of perennial leading sire Quality Road, was an impressive winner of the $1 million Santa Anita Derby in 2019. In a determined effort, he defeated stablemate Game Winner—the previous year's Eclipse Award-winning champion 2-year-old male—with a sustained stretch rally after circling rivals three-wide on the far turn.
In addition to his Santa Anita Derby victory, Roadster finished second in the G1 Malibu Stakes to Omaha Beach, second in the G2 San Carlos Stakes, and was runner-up to Grade 1 winner Mucho Gusto in the G3 Affirmed Stakes. Roadster is produced from the stakes-winning and stakes-producing Silver Ghost mare Ghost Dancing and is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner and Keeneland track-record setter Ascend. Roadster was sold by his breeder—Arthur Hancock III's Stone Farm—at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $525,000.
Gretzky the Great, a son of champion and Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, was a Grade 1 winner at two. Campaigned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gary Barber and trained by Mark Casse, Gretzky the Great made an auspicious graded stakes debut with a scintillating score in Woodbine's $300,000 G1 Summer Stakes at one mile on the turf. Prior to the Summer Stakes win he annexed the Soaring Free Stakes in his stakes debut.
The following season at three, Gretzky the Great flashed his customary early foot to win the $150,000 Greenwood Stakes at Woodbine for his third career stakes victory. Gretzky the Great is out of the stakes-placed Bernardini mare Peal Turn and hails from the family of graded stakes winners Saint Anddan, Love Theway Youare, and Luftikus. He was a $295,000 acquisition at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale in 2019.
Awesome Slew, Florida's No. 1-ranked first crop sire, will once again stand for $4,000 S&N. Awesome Slew's first 2-year-olds came out running this year and are topped by undefeated Awesome Strong, who became just the tenth horse in history to sweep the colts and geldings division of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series, winning the In Reality Stakes, the Affirmed Stakes, and the Dr. Fager Stakes. A $500,000 purchase by CSLR Racing Partners at the F-T Digital Sale earlier this year, Awesome Strong is currently targeting the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland for trainer Jorge Delgado and is already an earner of $458,000.
In addition to their success on the racetrack, the progeny of Awesome Slew have also proved popular in the auction ring. He has been represented by first 2-year-olds up to $400,000, $220,000, etc., and second-crop yearlings of up to $150,000 this year.
Seeking the Soul, a Charles Fipke homebred, will stand for $5,000 S&N. He welcomed first foals in 2022 and will be represented by first yearlings in 2023. Seeking the Soul enjoyed an illustrious racing career, winning the 2017 G1 Clark Handicap, the 2018 G3 Ack Ack Stakes (G3), and the 2019 G2 Stephen Foster Stakes. All told, he won or placed in eight graded stakes, including runner-up finishes in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes, banking more than $3.4 million.
Win Win Win, like Seeking the Soul, saw his first foals hit the ground in 2022 and will stand the upcoming breeding season for $5,000 S&N. Win Win Win captured the G1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga in 2020, defeating four Grade 1 winners and set a new track record at three, winning the seven-furlong Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in 1:20.89, running a 2 on the Ragozin Sheets. He hails from a deep Live Oak family and is a descendant of the influential Halo sire line. He stands as the property of a partnership between Live Oak Stud, Airdrie Stud, and Ocala Stud.
Stud fees for Adios Charlie, Jess's Dream, and Noble Bird will be $3,000 S&N, and Dak Attack and Battalion Runner will stand for $2,500 S&N.
| Stallion | S&N Fee |
| Adios Charlie | $3,000 |
| Awesome Slew | $4,000 |
| Jess's Dream | $3,000 |
| Noble Bird | $3,000 |
| Seeking the Soul | $5,000 |
| Dak Attack | $2,500 |
| Battalion Runner | $2,500 |
| Win Win Win | $5,000 |
| Roadster-NEW | $7,500 |
| Gretzky the Great-NEW | $3,000 |
The post Ocala Stud Announces 2023 Stallion Roster And Fees appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
