Eight Rings, a Grade 1 winner at two, will stand the 2023 breeding season at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds in Santa Ynez, Calif., for a fee of $7,500, it was announced by Adrian Gonzalez's Checkmate Thoroughbreds, which manages the owning partnership.
Trained by Bob Baffert, the son of Empire Maker won the Grade 1 American Pharaoh Stakes at Santa Anita by six lengths from Grade 1 winner American Theorem, Breeders Cup Juvenile winner Storm The Court, and G1 Del Mar Futurity winner Nucky.
On debut as a 2-year-old at Del Mar, Eight Rings' brilliant performance earned him a TDN Rising Star dominating the 5 1/2-furlong maiden race by 6 1/4 lengths clear over future G1 Santa Anita Handicap winner Express Train and Shooters Shoot (second in the G2 Triple Bend Stakes).
Eight Rings was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm and sold for $520,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Eight Rings is out of G3 Whimsical Stakes winner and G2 Masters Stakes-placed Purely Hot by Pure Prize. Bred on the same Empire Maker/Storm Cat cross as Eclipse champion and Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh and Eclipse champion Classic Empire.
Adrian Gonzalez of Checkmate Thoroughbreds said, “Eight Rings is a sensational stallion prospect for California breeders. He was an exceptionally precocious Grade 1-winning 2-year-old on the dirt at Santa Anita. He's beautifully bred and even more impressive physically. He's robust and powerful and exudes class. It is a rare opportunity to launch a stallion with this genetic makeup that is a Grade 1 winner at two in California. I am thrilled to present him.”
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