Multiple graded stakes winner and Grade 1-placed Sacred Life (FR) has been retired from racing and will stand the upcoming breeding season at Buck Pond Farm, it was announced today. The accomplished and well-traveled French-bred son of Siyouni (FR) will stand the 2023 season for $2,000 S&N.
A fixture in the top turf races since his arrival in the U.S., Sacred Life won the 2022 Grade 3 Monmouth Stakes, the 2021 G3 Knickerbocker Stakes, and burst on the scene at two in his native France with a victory in the 2017 G3 Prix Thomas Bryon Stakes at Saint Cloud. In addition to his graded stakes success, Sacred Life overwhelmed his opposition in the Oceanport Stakes at Monmouth in 2020, defeating graded stakes winners Synchrony, Hawkish, Eons, and Thread of Blue, and in his final career start in August, he finished third behind Grade 1 winners and millionaires Santin and Smooth Like Strait in the in the $1 million G1 Arlington Million, run in 2022 at Churchill Downs.
“We are very excited to have Sacred Life standing at Buck Pond for the 2023 breeding season,” said Doug Arnold Jr. “With 27 starts under his belt, Sacred Life proved to be an iron horse miler who was good at two and even better as he progressed.
“Turf racing has established a foothold in the United States and predominantly turf sires have seen increased popularity in the sales ring,” he continued. “With precocity and grit on the track, a fashionable pedigree, and an affordable stud fee, we believe Sacred Life will prove interesting to a wide array of breeders around the country.”
In the 1 1/8-mile Monmouth Stakes, Sacred Life settled in mid-pack early. He overcame a controlled pace over a course that had been favorable to frontrunners and with a quick turn of foot advanced on the pacesetters three-wide around the far turn. He tore past rivals in the stretch to post a 1 ¼-length victory, covering the distance in 1:47.70 and earning a 111 Timeform rating in a resounding performance.
In the Knickerbocker, Sacred Life once again closed with a rush to defeat a competitive group in the 1 1/8-mile test at Belmont Park. Allowed to settle early, he was roused at the quarter-pole and rallied strongly in the final furlong to beat multiple graded stakes winner Field Pass and Graded stakes winner Temple in 1:47.27 with a 109 Timeform.
Prior to his U.S. success, Sacred Left proved his precocity at two in France, impressively winning the Prix Thomas Bryon S. at Saint Cloud with a 113+ Timeform rating. Campaigned in the U.S. by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael Caruso and trained by Chad Brown, Sacred Life retires having won eight of 27 lifetime starts. He also placed in 11 others en route to amassing career earnings of $920,768.
The only son of two-time leading French sire and Grade 1 winner Siyouni in the U.S., Sacred Life is the first foal out of the Montjeu (IRE) mare Knyazhna (IRE), who subsequently produced French Group-placed Khagan (IRE). Sacred Life's second dam is a half-sister to Group 1 stakes winner Rule of Law.
Sacred Life will stand with a Black-Type Bonus incentive, where breeders will receive $1,000 for breeding a black-type performing mare to Sacred Life; $1,000 for a black-type-producing mare; or $2,000 if the mare is both.
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