Multiple graded stakes winner Mr. Freeze has been retired to stud at Raimonde Farms Ltd. in Wooster, Ohio.
Owned by Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister and trained by Dale Romans, the 7-year-old son of To Honor and Serve retired with a 6-4-2 record in nineteen starts, earning $1,595,600 over his career. Romans was thrilled to find a good fit for the stallion.
“He was a gifted horse with a great mind,” he said. “He ran with the best and we couldn't be happier about this opportunity.”
Mr. Freeze retires to Ohio as a result of a deal brokered by Paul Devine of Devine Line Stables, an advocate for the Ohio Thoroughbred breeding industry.
“I was looking for a talented, durable runner with a tremendous female family,” Devine said. “Mr. Freeze certainly fit those requirements. Not only did Mr. Freeze win almost $1.6 million dollars on the track, but he is also a beautiful horse, and I think Ohio breeders will be very pleased when they see him.”
As he prepares the stallion for the 2023 breeding season, Raimonde Farms' Brian Raimonde is hopeful about his prospects.
“I'm always looking for quality additions to my stallion roster, and given his success on the dirt, Mr. Freeze fits perfectly into Ohio's program,” Raimonde said. “It's rare to find a stallion prospect that maintained his form so long into his career, winning graded stakes at ages three, four, and five.”
Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners executive director Mike Annechino echoed that sentiment.
“The OTBO is excited to welcome Mr. Freeze to an outstanding group of stallions already resident in Ohio,” Annechino said. “The state's stallions anchor the Ohio accredited program, which offers 14 dedicated stakes (worth over $1 million) strictly for horses sired by Ohio stallions and born in the state. Ohio-accredited horses can also run in the 29 Ohio-bred stakes with purses in excess of $2.9 million. “
Mr. Freeze broke his maiden on first asking at age three at Keeneland and won his next allowance race at Churchill Downs before a runner-up performance in the Iowa Derby in only his third start in the summer of 2018. His first stakes win came a month later in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby that August.
From there, the colt collected graded stakes wins in the 2019 G3 Ack Ack at Churchill Downs, the 2020 G2 Gulfstream Park Mile and the 2020 G2 Fayette Stakes at Keeneland. Also notable, Mr. Freeze finished in the money with a second in the 2020 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes and a third in the 2020 G2 Oaklawn Handicap.
Bred in Kentucky by Siena Farms LLC, Mr Freeze is out of the Tabasco Cat mare Heavenly Cat.
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