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Keeneland Names Cormac Breathnach As Director Of Sales Operations

Keeneland today named prominent bloodstock consultant Cormac Breathnach, Ph.D., as its new Director of Sales Operations.

Breathnach brings a distinctive set of skills and more than 20 years of horse industry experience to Keeneland, combining bloodstock and pedigree knowledge, practical sales expertise and a doctorate in veterinary science from the Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky.

“We are excited to have Cormac join the Keeneland sales team as the Director of Sales Operations,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “I have long admired his professionalism, knowledge and integrity, which is second to none, and have had the pleasure of watching him develop in the industry and gain the respect of a broad range of professionals. His skill set, personality and strong work ethic will help evolve Keeneland sales for the future. In addition, his background in research and animal welfare is a valuable asset as we continue to strive to set higher standards for the industry.”

Breathnach succeeds Geoffrey Russell, who announced his retirement in April following 25 years with Keeneland. Russell will remain in a consulting role with Keeneland through 2021.

“Geoffrey very generously has been helping us through the transition process to make it as seamless as possible,” Lacy said. “I can never thank him enough for his commitment to Keeneland even in his first stages of retirement. I know Cormac will integrate into this role smoothly with Geoffrey's guidance.”

Since 2017, Breathnach has served as Director of Stallion Nominations at Airdrie Stud, which stands such exciting young stallions as Cairo Prince, Collected and Complexity. For nearly eight years prior to his position at Airdrie, he was Stallion Seasons and Matings Consultant at Adena Springs, where he represented Breeders' Cup Classic winners and leading sires Ghostzapper and Awesome Again. Breathnach also founded Galway Bloodstock, a consultancy that has provided a range of services including auction representation, racehorse management and matings analysis.

A native of Galway, Ireland, Breathnach studied biotechnology at National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). Following a summer research internship at Alltech in Lexington, he returned to Central Kentucky to earn a Ph.D. in Veterinary Science from the Gluck Equine Research Center in 2001. He completed two post-doctoral studies, first at the veterinary school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2001-2003 before returning to the Gluck Center from 2004-2007. There he was the inaugural recipient of the Paul Mellon Postdoctoral Scholarship.

“It is a great honor to be named Director of Sales Operations at Keeneland,” Breathnach said. “Keeneland is a world-renowned cornerstone of the Thoroughbred industry, and to participate in its progressive mission under (Keeneland President and CEO) Shannon Arvin, Tony Lacy and the talented team already in place is a privilege.

“I have spent the last 12 years working with breeders, consignors and buyers on behalf of two of the preeminent stud farms in the Bluegrass, and I am excited to carry those relationships through to this new role with Keeneland,” Breathnach said. “I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given along the way, particularly to Bret Jones and his family for four successful years at Airdrie Stud.”

“Cormac has been such a tremendous contributor to Airdrie Stud, and I know I speak for our entire team when I say how much we will miss him,” Airdrie Stud Vice President Bret Jones said. “Keeneland and our breeding and racing community at large are gaining an advocate of the absolute highest ability and character. He is one of the truly wonderful people in our industry. I am very happy for Cormac to ascend to this important position and will always be grateful for the great friendship we've developed these last four years.”

Breathnach is on the board of both the Gluck Foundation, where he is the first graduate of the Gluck Equine Research Center to serve in that capacity, and the Secretariat Center. He is a past board member of the Iroquois Hunt Club.

Breathnach and his wife, Catherine, along with their daughter, Anna (9), reside in Lexington.

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PR Back Ring OBS Spring Sale: Gun Runner Joined The Seven-Figure Juvenile Club – What’s Next?

CLICK HERE TO READ THE OBS SPRING EDITION OF THE PR BACK RING

The latest edition of the PR Back Ring is now online, ahead of the OBS Spring 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale.

The PR Back Ring is the Paulick Report's new bloodstock newsletter, released ahead of every major North American Thoroughbred auction. Seeking to expand beyond the usual pdf presentation, the Back Ring offers a dynamic experience for bloodstock content, heavy on visual elements and statistics to appeal to readers on all platforms, especially mobile devices.

Here is what's inside the OBS Spring issue…

CLICK HERE TO READ THE OBS SPRING EDITION OF THE PR BACK RING

Gun Runner became the 21st stallion since 2000 with a seven-figure juvenile in his first crop earlier this auction season. Joe Nevills examines the first 20 stallions to join the club, and how they performed in the short-term and long-term to see whether high-level auction success in a first crop leads to success on the racetrack.
Stallion Spotlight Presented by Kentucky Equine Research: Airdrie Stud's Cormac Breathnach on American Freedom
Lesson Horses Presented By John Deere Equine Discount Program: Erin O'Keefe Of BTE Stables On Exposure
Ask Your Veterinarian Presented By Kentucky Performance Products: Equine Chiropractic Therapy
Pennsylvania Leaderboard Presented By Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association: Fire's Finale Led Juvenile Incentive Earners In 2020
The Stat Presented By Pleasant Acres Stallions: Leading Florida Sires By :10-Flat And Faster Breeze Show Times, 2015-2021
American Graded Stakes Standings Presented By Muirfield Insurance: Godolphin Leads A Tight Race Among Breeders
First-Crop Sire Watch Presented By Neolithic: OBS Spring Sale 2021

CLICK HERE TO READ THE OBS SPRING EDITION OF THE PR BACK RING

The post PR Back Ring OBS Spring Sale: Gun Runner Joined The Seven-Figure Juvenile Club – What’s Next? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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American Freedom Gets First Winner at Keeneland

3rd-Keeneland, $60,000, Msw, 4-2, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, :52.01, ft, 1 1/2 lengths.
AMERICAN BOUND (f, 2, American Freedom–Grace Abounds, by Stormy Atlantic) provided a further push for her first-crop sire (by Pulpit), becoming the Airdrie inmate's first winner Friday at Keeneland. The victory came just two days after another daughter of American Freedom sold for $550,000 at Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream to go with three six-figure sellers at OBS March. Let go at 12-1 while breaking from the rail, American Bound broke on top and edged away around the turn with Wesley Ward-trained favorite Magniloquent (American Pharoah) in hot pursuit. American Bound stiff-armed that foe in upper stretch despite struggling with her leads, and had built up enough of an advantage to hold off Bode by You (Munnings) by 1 1/2 lengths at the wire, stopping the clock in :52.01-:0.14 faster than the other division of juvenile fillies in race one. The winner's dam, from the family of MGSW Souvenir Copy (Mr. Prospector), is also represented by a Daredevil filly of 2020. Sales history: $20,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $15,000 Ylg '20 OBSWIN. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $36,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Terry Hutto; B-Sandra Sexton & Silver Fern Farm (KY); T-Joe Sharp.

The post American Freedom Gets First Winner at Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Complexity Hype Carries on to Stud Career

“He was one of those horses that there was a buzz about before he ever stepped foot on a racetrack,” Airdrie Stud's Bret Jones said of their new addition, Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Complexity (Maclean's Music–Goldfield, Yes It's True).

A Stonestreet-bred half-brother to a Breeders' Cup runner-up and a $375,000 KEESEP yearling purchase by Mike Ryan, Complexity was the talk of the Saratoga backstretch in the summer of his juvenile season. Horseplayers anticipated the Chad Brown pupil's unveiling after a stretch of speedy breezes, including a five-furlong move in 1:00 2/5 work Aug. 26, but they had to wait until closing day at the Spa for the colt to reach the starting gate.

Sent off as the heavy favorite, the bay took the lead early over a salty maiden field that included eventual graded winner Harvey Wallbanger (Congrats) and dual stakes winner King for a Day (Uncle Mo). He coasted home to win by over four lengths, becoming the third 'Rising Star' of the 2018 Saratoga meet for Klaravich Stables and Chad Brown.

Complexity returned to the starting gate again as the favorite in the GI Champagne S. at Belmont and didn't disappoint as he passed the wire three lengths ahead of Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}).

“Honestly, we would put the Champagne up against any race there is when you're talking about what can make a potential stallion,” Jones said. “He went in 1:34 and change. You look at the honor roll of Champagne winners, it's incredible. It shows what a precocious horse you are and can do it going a mile, which I think is a great indicator of talent.”

The colt failed to fire in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and was sidelined until the summer of his 3-year-old season due to a quarter crack. But he eventually bounced back with a 7 1/4-length win over older horses in November of his sophomore year, earning a three on the Ragozin sheets.

As a 4-year-old last year, he returned to the winner's circle in an allowance at Belmont, besting Win Win Win (Hat Trick {Jpn}), and then got caught by the same rival in the final strides of the GI Forego S.

In his next start, he bested MGISW Code of Honor in the one-mile GII Kelso H.

“He beats an exceptionally-talented horse in Code of Honor and really does it the right way, wins it going away,” Jones noted. “He does it in 1:33 and change. There aren't many exceptional 2-year-olds that can come back and be a top 4-year-old, but that's what this horse did. He ran one of the highest Beyers of any horse last year, running a 110.”

After a fourth-place finish in the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Complexity took up stud duty at Airdrie.

“I'm very grateful that we got the opportunity to stay on this horse because everybody who watched the Champagne, I think, was very interested in him as a stallion,” Jones said. “We're very, very grateful to Chad [Brown] and Seth Klarman for giving us the chance. We just always thought he was special and we're going to try hard to make sure he's a special name in this business for a long time.”

Jones said many breeders have been sold on the new stallion prospect upon seeing him in person.

“One of the obvious attractions of Complexity is just how beautiful of a horse he is,” he said. “That's very evident in the price tag and the purchaser. We'd put Mike Ryan's eye above just about anybody who has every looked at a horse. So that was very attractive commercially. $375,000 was the highest price of any Maclean's Music of that crop and he looks every bit the part.”

He continued, “When you combine that with the race record, you have not only what we think is a very commercial sire, we actually have a stallion prospect that we think can get fast horses, which at the end of the day is a lot more important than anything else.”

Complexity joins fellow Klaravich Stables Grade I winner Cloud Computing–who stands at Spendthrift Farm–as the first two sons of Maclean's Music at stud. The Hill 'n' Dale sire entered stud in 2013 with a $6,500 stud fee and has quietly made his way up the general sire's list to earn a nearly quadrupled fee.

“You have to love the start he's gotten off to,” Jones said of Maclean's Music. “He's really making his own way from a humble stud fee to really one of the more exciting young stallions in the industry. So to have a really talented son of his is certainly something that attracted us to him.”

Complexity is out of the three-time stakes-producing mare Goldfield (Yes It's True) and is a half-brother to Stonestreet homebred Valadorna (Curlin), who was runner up in the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and winner of the 2018 GIII Doubledogdare S. at Keeneland.

“It's really brilliance on brilliance,” Jones said of the pedigree. “And with a Stonestreet family, we know the kind of quality they have. It's the type of talent, both top and bottom, that makes you feel really good about putting him in the barn.”

Jones added that with his breeding, Complexity is an easy match for many mares.

“He really goes so well with so many of the important sire lines that you'd like to get as a young stallion,” he said. “He crosses beautifully with A.P. Indy, Storm Cat and so many of the Deputy Minister horses. So he's a very easy horse to breed and we're doing what we really think is important and that's giving him every chance by supporting him.”

Jones reported that 24 Airdrie mares are slated to visit the new addition including Grade I producers Don't Trick Her (Mazel Trick) and Kittery Point (Include), as well as two-time champion producer Ms. Cornstalk (Indian Charlie).

Complexity kicks off his stud career at Airdrie fully booked off a $12,500 initial fee.

“Everything is in place to have a very successful horse,” Jones said. “He's been exceptionally popular. He was booked full almost immediately. He's got every opportunity and I think we've got him priced to where he'll still get those mares in the next couples years. Then after that, it's up to him.”

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