Bloodstock | Horse Racing Free Tips

Gun Runner Season Raises $130,000 For Western Kentucky Tornado Recovery

The right to breed a mare to 2017 Horse of the Year and record-breaking freshman sire Gun Runner sold for $130,000 — all going to relief and recovery efforts from last month's tornado devastation in Western Kentucky — on Tuesday's opening day of Keeneland's January Horses of All Ages Sale.

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm, the partnership that campaigned Gun Runner, offered the 2022 breeding season to benefit tornado recovery efforts. It was auctioned as Tuesday night's last offering, with Keeneland forgoing its customary sales commission. The winning bidder was owner-breeder Bill Layni, who was not at Keeneland and was represented by an agent.

In addition, Three Chimneys and The Mint Gaming Hall at Kentucky Downs in Franklin are contributing an additional $50,000 apiece toward tornado recovery in the region. Ron Winchell, Kentucky Downs' co-owner and co-managing partner with Marc Falcone, and Three Chimneys vice chair Doug Cauthen said they would like to distribute the funds among multiple entities in Bowling Green and elsewhere in the region after identifying areas and urgent needs that might otherwise get neglected.

The Mint Gaming Hall opened a satellite historical horse racing facility in Bowling Green in late December at 2475 Scottsville Road. While The Mint Bowling Green sustained little damage, other areas in Warren County were decimated by the historic weather system that ripped a 200-mile swath of destruction through the state. Seventeen of at least 77 storm-related deaths in Kentucky were in Bowling Green.

“Our hearts ache for the thousands of people impacted by the most violent tornados in Kentucky's history and their horrific losses,” Winchell said. “We were blessed to have Gun Runner, a champion on the racetrack and now also in the breeding shed. Three Chimneys and I wanted our good fortune to help assist those whose worlds have been up-ended.

“Having a lot of team members in the Bowling Green area, we've heard a lot of first-hand stories about people who have lost loved ones or houses. It really hits home, the devastation and what people have lost, not only lives but their personal effects. It's changed a lot of people in that immediate area. There are so many unfathomable needs right now. ”

Gun Runner stands at Three Chimneys in Midway, Ky., with a $125,000 stud fee for 2022, payable if the mating produces a live foal that stands and nurses. The auctioned breeding did not include that guarantee, making the $130,000 price even more impressive.

With the North American breeding season starting in mid-February, Gun Runner already is completely booked. So Tuesday's auctioned breeding provided an opportunity to breed a mare this year to the wildly popular stallion.

Cauthen praised Keeneland for making the charity auction happen and promoting it on short notice.

“Everyone in Kentucky, at every level, wanted to do the right thing for folks that were hit by the disaster,” Cauthen said. “This, and another $50,000 from Kentucky Downs and $50,000 from Three Chimneys, will at least be a step in the right direction. The whole horse community has done a great job. The Torrealba family (Three Chimneys' owners) and Ron Winchell just wanted to do their part, and it was a good way to do it with the sale being here and with no more Gun Runner seasons around. That was a great price and it will go to a great cause.”

Gun Runner's 2-year-olds last year set a record for first-crop progeny earnings of $4,279,402; his six stakes-winning horses including Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine Echo Zulu and Saratoga's Grade 1 Hopeful winner Gunite, Del Mar's Grade 2 Best Pal winner Pappacap and Saratoga's Grade 2 Adirondack winner Wicked Halo.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Gun Runner raced three seasons from 2015-2017, adding victory in the 2018 Pegasus World Cup (G1) then worth $16 million, before retiring to Three Chimneys. The horse won 12 of 19 races for earnings of $15,988,500, including the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) in 2017. He finished third in the 2016 Kentucky Derby, but only improved throughout the rest of his career.

Tony Lacy, Keeneland's vice president for sales, called Gun Runner “an amazing stallion,” with bidders showing a lot of enthusiasm for the cause.

“I thought it was a wonderful gesture by Ron Winchell and Three Chimneys, going to an amazing cause,” Lacy said. “It's great for the industry to be able to give back to this endeavor. One hundred percent is going to the victims. We were just happy to facilitate the process.”

The post Gun Runner Season Raises $130,000 For Western Kentucky Tornado Recovery appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Bloodlines Presented By Caracaro: Under The Stars Further Solidifies A Proven Cross

Some things are too obvious to require heavy interpretation. The winner of the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes, Under the Stars, illustrates one of these. Three of the four stakes horses out of the Storm Cat mare Untouched Talent are by Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker (by Unbridled), Empire Maker's best stallion son, Pioneerof the Nile, and his son, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

Untouched Talent's three stakes horses just mentioned are Grade 1 winner Bodemeister (Empire Maker), who won the Arkansas Derby, then finished second in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness; Under the Stars (Pioneerof the Nile), winner of the G2 Santa Ynez on Jan. 8; and Himiko, a $1-million weanling by American Pharoah, who ran third in the Iowa Distaff last year as a 4-year-old.

From the evidence of three quality black-type performers by sires from Mr. Prospector's Fappiano line out of 11 foals, Untouched Talent matches well with the aptitude and physical quality of this line, perhaps with Mr. Prospector sires overall. The mare's fourth stakes horse is Fascinating, a daughter of Mr. Prospector's very successful son Smart Strike, who ran second in the G1 Del Mar Debutante and third in the G1 Chandelier.

In addition to the quality that Untouched Talent is sharing with her offspring, the mare had plenty of talent herself. She won two of her four starts, including the G3 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar, where she also placed second in the G1 Del Mar Debutante. Shipped across the country to Keeneland, Untouched Talent was second in the Alcibiades.

Untouched Talent is one of two stakes winners and several racers of ability from the A.P. Indy mare Parade Queen, winner of a pair of stakes at the Grade 3 level. She produced Grade 3 winner Untouched Talent; listed stakes winner King Gulch (Gulch); Top Billing (Curlin), third in the G2 Fountain of Youth; Kydd Gloves (Dubai Millennium), winner in two of three starts and dam of Grade 1 winner She's a Julie (Elusive Quality); and Obay (Kingmambo), who was a champion in Saudi Arabia.

Parade Queen was the only stakes winner from her dam, Spanish Parade, a stakes winner by English Derby winner Roberto. But Spanish Parade also foaled a full sister to Parade Queen, the A.P. Indy mare Post Parade, who produced four stakes winners, two here in the States and another pair in Japan.

From this material alone, this is clearly a very solid pedigree: wall to wall with quality sires, producers, and performers.

Generation after generation of the tabulated pedigree indicates that the genetic ancestry of excellence is proving out on the racecourse in athleticism and competitive ability. Ricked up like this in a five-cross or six-cross pedigree, we can see the volume of production and performance that results in true depth of family for a Thoroughbred.

Depth of family is the concept that superior racers are developed through repeated layerings of high-class sires onto dam lines of similar athleticism. The overarching principle is that if each generation has shown its ability to race effectively or produce stock that does, a breeder doesn't have to fill holes or compensate for weaknesses.

Under the Stars, for example, is by a sire of proven classic importance, and the succeeding sires include winners of the Belmont Stakes and English Derby, the American and the English Triple Crowns.

English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky is the sire of the Nijit, fourth dam of Under the Stars. On the racetrack, Nijit placed second in a couple of minor stakes and was third in the G2 Cotillion. Her full brother Beaudelaire did somewhat better, winning four of seven starts, including the G2 Prix Maurice de Gheest.

They are out of a mare named Bitty Girl, who showed herself one of the best juvenile fillies of 1973 in England, when she won the Queen Mary, Lowther, and Molecomb Stakes. Her successes helped to make her sire Habitat (Sir Gaylord) the leading freshman sire of 1973 in England, as well as the leading sire of juveniles overall. Habitat's son Habat was the highweighted colt of the crop; Bitty Girl was co-highweight among the fillies.

Sent to America and retired to stud, Bitty Girl was covered by Nijinsky and set this sequence of excellence in motion.

The post Bloodlines Presented By Caracaro: Under The Stars Further Solidifies A Proven Cross appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Zach Madden Taking Over As Sole Proprietor Of Buckland Sales Agency

Buckland Sales Agency, which has operated as a partnership between Ro Parra and Zach Madden, announced this week that Parra will be stepping back from his role with the consignment company and has handed the reins over to Madden as its sole proprietor.

The move comes the year after Parra consolidated his commercial breeding, boarding and stallion operations at Millennium Farms in Lexington, Ky., to focus more on his family and his own breeding and racing portfolio.

“Ro has been a tremendous business partner and mentor to me over the years and I am thankful to also call him a friend,” said Madden. “We all have a handful of people we come across in our lives who have a profound impact on our thinking and the lens through which we view the world. Ro is one of those people for me. His business acumen and guidance has been a huge asset.”

In 2015, Parra joined forces with Madden to launch Buckland Sales Agency with a focus on unparalleled horsemanship and customer service. Madden had previously worked at Three Chimneys Farm, working his way up from working hands-on in the barns raising foals and prepping yearlings to serve as the farm's director of client development.

“I am a big believer in Zach's skills and capabilities,” said Parra. “Zach has spent the past six years building the foundation of Buckland Sales, and it was my honor to support him in that. This transition is something we have planned for a long time, and I will continue to consign my own horses under the Buckland banner.”

Buckland presented its inaugural draft at the 2015 November Breeding Stock Sale. Since then, Buckland has consigned at all major North American yearling and breeding stock auctions with notable graduates such as graded stakes winners Biddy Duke and Chocolate Martini, as well as $1,000,000 Travers Stakes-G1 runner-up Caracaro, who is stood his first year at stud at Crestwood Farm in 2021. Madden also works on behalf of his clients as an agent for private and public purchases and offers bloodstock portfolio management and breeding consultation services.

“We have been measured about how to grow Buckland, focusing on quality over quantity. With Morgan [Kei] assisting our customers and staff, Gustavo [Calleja] and our team at the sales and now Lauren [Morgan] coming on this year as our director of bloodstock, I couldn't ask for a better, more capable team,” said Madden. “With a strong draft to present this week at Keeneland, I am excited about the future for sure.”

The post Zach Madden Taking Over As Sole Proprietor Of Buckland Sales Agency appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

First Foal Is A Colt For WinStar Farm’s Improbable

WinStar Farm's multiple Grade 1 winner Improbable, the 2020 Eclipse champion older male, sired his first reported foal when a colt was born at Bluewater Farm on Monday night, Jan. 10.

Bred by CHC Inc., the colt, who hails from a family replete with black-type, is out of the winning Into Mischief mare Dark Corner, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Perfect Alibi, winner of the 2019 Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes.

“We've been eagerly anticipating the Improbable foals since retiring him to stud in 2021,” said Liam O'Rourke, WinStar's Director of Bloodstock Services. “We're thrilled for our longtime partner CHC having his first foal. We look forward to welcoming many more foals out of quality mares like Dark Corner.”

Improbable, City Zip's only four-time Grade 1 winner, rattled off three consecutive Grade 1 victories in 2020, taking the G1 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita, the historic G1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, and the G1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. In the latter, he defeated champion Maximum Security by 4 1/2 lengths, recording a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 108.

Undefeated in three starts at two—a pair of them stakes—Improbable reported home a spectacular five-length winner over subsequent Grade 1 winner Mucho Gusto in the 2018 G1 Los Alamitos Futurity, getting the 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.18, the fastest time of the race in over a decade. A stakes winner each season from two to four, Improbable concluded his stellar career with a runner-up finish in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic in 2020, earning a 108 Beyer and a 2 Ragozin, the fastest of the field. All told, he won seven starts, six of them stakes, and bankrolled $2,729,520 for owners WinStar Farm, CHC Inc., and SF Racing.

From the immediate female family of Hard Spun, Improbable was booked full in 2021, having bred 177 mares in his initial season at stud. Improbable was the No. 1 Freshman Sire by 2021 CPI (Class Performance Index)—3.80 and number-two sire by CI (Comparable Index)—2.39 in the $25,000-$49,999 stud fee range. Represented in 2021 by first in-foal mares that sold for $550,000, $445,000, $420,000, etc., Improbable was the number-two freshman covering sire by average—$218,187.

Improbable is a complete outcross in his first four generations. His dam, Rare Event, is by A.P. Indy, while his second dam is a half-sister to Hard Spun. Improbable will stand the upcoming breeding season for $35,000 S&N.

The post First Foal Is A Colt For WinStar Farm’s Improbable appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post