Tag: Bloodstock

Qualifying Alberta stallion owners have now shared in $65,000 in stallion owner's breeding awards for the 2022 season. The leading Alberta stallions by eligible progeny earnings for Alberta-bred Thoroughbreds have now been announced and the top five are Cape Canaveral, Gayego, Iliad, Imperialism, and Mank.

Cape Canaveral is at the top of the list with Alberta bred runners earning $393,092 last season. The graded stakes-winning son of Mr. Prospector was one of the leading sires in Canada with total progeny earnings of over $17.7 million. The leading Alberta-bred horse for Cape Canaveral in 2022 was Mudinator with earnings of $68,600 and a record of 6-2-2-1, bred by Ed Keryliuk. Other Cape Canaveral earners last season included Pearl of Knowledge, Wedge Pond, Sassy Cinderella, Sugar Moon, Oscar the Gulch, Graceful Spirit and Our Dandy's Boy.

The Gilded Time son, Gayego, took second spot with total Alberta bred progeny earnings of $246,892. His top earner last season was the Bar None Ranches homebred Go Mama who finished the season with a record of 11-4-3-2 and earnings of $43,070. Gayego also sired Freedom of the City Stakes winner Monopolize in addition to Silverfoot, Lookout Taylor, Fran from Peru, Count On It and Doc Ross.

Eligible Iliad progeny with a total of $231,640 placed the Ghostzapper son third on the list of top stallions in Alberta last season. Above and Beyond was the leading runner for Iliad with a win in the Alberta Sires Stakes Derby and placings in the Beaufort Stakes and Western Canada Handicap. The Duggan farms bred gelding earned $54,870 and finished his three year old season with a record of 8-1-2-1. Other eligible Iliad runners last season include Lilbitspicy, Lilzapper, Fastestgirlintown and Shakeitformegirl.

Plum Blue helped to put Imperialism fourth on the leading Alberta stallion list with total progeny earnings for the Langfuhr son of $222,607. The Winfield Stock Farm bred mare was multiple stakes placed and had total season earnings of $67,150 with a record of 8-1-4-2. Imperialism runners that were also eligible included Kiss Me Hello, Shakinofftherust, Imperial Dash and Steamin Demon.

Mank rounded out the top five leading Alberta sires by eligible earnings with $197,629 in earnings last season for his eligible runners. The Mank filly Dance Shoes was a multiple stakes winner in 2022 with wins in the black type Shirley Vargo Handicap, the RedTail Landing Handicap, the Alberta Fall Classic Handicap and the R.K. Red Smith Handicap. Bred by James McFadyen, Dance Shoes finished the season with earnings of $163,618 and a record of 11-6-1-2. Other Mank runners included Common Knowledge, Bling It On Home, Park West and Phantom Power.

The Horse Racing Alberta's Stallion Owner's Breeding Awards for 2022 totaled $65,000 and are distributed through the Thoroughbred Breed Improvement Program. Checks have now been mailed out to qualifying recipients of the program with eligibly to the program based on the following criteria:

“Stallion bonus will be paid proportionately to stallion owners whose stallions have eligible Alberta Thoroughbred progeny with earnings of $10,000 or greater during the calendar year. Stallions must have stood in the province of Alberta for the entire calendar year of conception for each year's crop to be eligible.”

Please note that it is a requirement that recipients of the Breed Improvement Program – Thoroughbred Breeders' Bonus be members in good standing of the C.T.H.S. (Full or Associate Member designation) in order to receive the Breeders' Bonus.

The post Cape Canaveral Leads Alberta’s Stallion Award Earners In 2022 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Kip Elser announced today that his Kirkwood Stables, which since the late 1970s has been a preeminent conditioner of young Thoroughbreds with a leadership position in the North American and international 2-year-old sales markets, is shifting its focus toward public and private bloodstock purchases, evaluations and racing stable management.

Under the re-positioned business strategy, Kirkwood and Elser will transition to a consulting and advisory service role for his clients, with a particular focus on selecting young pinhooking and racing prospects, as well as horses of racing age.

“I've never been afraid to try doing things a bit differently,” said Elser. “That approach has allowed me to develop a keen ability to identify gaps in the market. I'm looking forward to the upcoming 2-year-old sales. I believe my years of experience selling will give me a leg up on the buying side. There is more information available than ever before to evaluate horses' potential and performance. The key is knowing how to weigh and evaluate that information to your advantage. I try to blend the art and the science with practical knowledge and common sense.”

Elser's Kirkwood Stables has long been a familiar name in the global juvenile Thoroughbred training and sales segment of the industry. For more than 40 years, Kirkwood's offerings have brought top bids at Calder, Barretts, Fasig-Tipton, and Keeneland, as well as overseas at Tattersalls in the U.K., New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Race Sale, and the Cape Thoroughbred Sales in South Africa. Graduates of Kirkwood  include multiple classic winners, Breeders' Cup champions, and Eclipse Award recipients, as well as stakes and graded stakes winners in the U.S. and abroad.

“Already this year we've made purchases on behalf of our clients on both sides of the globe, purchasing a lovely racing filly here in the U. S. at the Keeneland January Sale and a precocious young colt at the Cape Racing Sales Premier Yearling Sale in South Africa,” said Elser. “By taking a step back from training and consigning and expanding Kirkwood's menu of services in a few different directions, I will have the opportunity to leverage my depth of knowledge for my customers in new, and what I think will be successful ways.”

Throughout his career, Elser's forward-thinking approach has earned Kirkwood Stables a reputation as a trailblazer in an industry built upon tradition. Kirkwood has long created unique opportunities for clients by exploiting equine investment opportunities worldwide. It was the first major 2-year-old consignor to present drafts to the European market at Tattersalls and has acquired pinhook prospects at leading venues such as the Cape Premier Yearling Sale, Magic Millions sales in Australia, the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale and Arqana in France. More recently, Elser made widely positive headlines stateside by offering several 2-year-old “gallop only” consignments at Fasig-Tipton's Gulfstream Sale from 2018 through 2021, opting to showcase the horses at a strong gallop rather than the more taxing traditional approach of an eighth or quarter mile breeze in the presale under tack shoow.

While Kirkwood's consignment shingle will not hang at this year's 2-year-olds in training auctions, Elser will be there in a new capacity. He will be evaluating and shopping for racing prospects for his clients as he launches this new chapter in his career.

The post Kirkwood Stables Shifts Focus, Renamed Kirkwood Equine Advisory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Grade 1 winner Cistron sired his first reported foal, a filly out of the Acclamation mare Patriot Missile, born Jan. 30 at Harris Farms.

A fourth generation Harris Farms homebred, she is the first foal from her dam, a half-sister to the Grade 3-placed stakes winner Super Patriot ($371,554).

The second dam, Patriot C H, is a half-sister to the Harris homebred Grade 3 winner Lucky J. H. ($632,065). This is the family of numerous Grade 1 stars including City of Light, Cacoethes and Fabulous Notion.

A stakes-placed winner at two, Cistron won Oaklawn Park 's Northern Spur Stakes at three and graded stakes victories on both dirt and turf at five and six in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes, G2 Kona Gold Stakes and G3 San Simeon Stakes while earning $768,719 for owner Hronis Racing.

Cistron is one of four graded winners from the first crop of the multiple War Front Grade 1 winner The Factor. He stands his second season at Harris Farms for $3,500 Live Foal.

The post First Foal Is A Filly For California Stallion Cistron appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Ontario Racing's Thoroughbred Improvement Program (TIP) has announced the recipients of the $200,000 distributed to breeders through its Ontario Sired Reward of Excellence Program.

The Ontario Sired Reward of Excellence Program annually awards $50,000 to the breeders of the three highest worldwide earners in four categories, 2-year-old males, 2-year-old females, 3-year-old males, and 3-year-old females.

First-place receives $25,000, second-place $15,000, and third-place $10,000. USD and CAD earnings are considered at par for this award.

Three-year-old gelding Sir For Sure was the top earning Ontario Sired runner in 2022. The son of retired Adena Springs stallion Sligo Bay (IRE) won the Breeders' Stakes and was third in the Queen's Plate on route to earning over $450,000.

Bred by Rene and Darlene Hunderup's Norse Ridge Farm and campaigned under their Heste Sport silks, Sir For Sure was the first Canadian Triple Crown pres. by OLG winner for the couple, who also have a successful Quarter Horse breeding and racing operation.

“Nobody expects to win these races, but we all hope to do so,” said Rene Hunderup. “That's what the game is all about and it's part of the excitement of being in this business.”

Sir For Sure's overall mark was 3-0-1 from six starts. He won the Plate Trial, and broke his maiden at Gulfstream Park in February. Right from the time he was a weanling, Hunderup knew the horse could become something special.

“When we bred his dam to Sligo Bay (IRE), it just appeared to be a very good nick,” said Hunderup. “When he was a weanling, he had quite a presence. When he was a yearling he had an absolute presence, and that was how the name came around because he was so stately and classy in the way he was standing and walking around in the paddock.”

In his search for the next Sir For Sure, Hunderup is continuing to support the Ontario Sired program. He has eight Ontario Sired yearlings on the farm, eight Ontario Sired foals expected in 2023, and will breed all 10 of his mares to Adena Springs stallions for 2024 foals.

“We are so appreciative of the Ontario Sired Program,” said Hunderup. “It keeps us in the breeding business, and encourages us to continuously improve our breeding program.”

Strega earned top honors in the 3-year-old filly category, making seven starts, and only finishing off the board twice. Bred by leading Kentucky outfit WinStar Farm the Silent Name (JPN) filly won the Ashbridges Bay and was runner-up in the Bison City Stakes.

“Ontario is a great racing jurisdiction,” said Liam O'Rourke, Director of Bloodstock Services with WinStar Farm. “It's a long meet with a lot of options with the two turf courses, and the tapeta. There is lots of racing and really good horsemen, so that's a big attraction for us.”

O'Rourke, an Ontario native, was working at Adena Springs when Silent Name (JPN) began standing in Ontario. So, when the opportunity arose to purchase Strega's dam Set to Dance, O'Rourke jumped at it.

“The package was there; a great family, a Distorted Humor mare in-foal to Silent Name (JPN), and we were able to buy her for a pretty reasonable price,” said O'Rourke. “It was a big-time opportunity to buy a mare with a lot of the elements we look for.”

Two-year-old Silent Name (JPN) colt Phillip My Dear was the top freshman male, banking over $400,000 and inserting himself into the 2023 King's Plate discussion with his Cup and Saucer victory. Bred by Adena Springs he was also a hard fought third in the Coronation Futurity, and finished on the board in the Grade 1 Pattison Summer Stakes, a win-and-you're in Breeders' Cup race.

The final divisional champion was 2-year-old filly Anam Cara. Bred by Michael C. Byrne, Anam Cara is by Colebrook Farms stallion Frac Daddy. She made six starts in 2022, winning the $200,000 Muskoka and earning two more on the board finishes against stakes company.

In total, 12 different breeders received awards, across the four categories.

Leading Ontario Sire Silent Name (JPN) led the way with five top-three finishers, while Souper Speedy had two. Reload, Frac Daddy, Society's Chairman, Sligo Bay (IRE), and Big Screen had one each.

The full list of Ontario Sired Reward of Excellence Program recipients is available here.

The post Classic Winner Sir For Sure Tops Ontario Sired Reward Of Excellence Program appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post