Tag: Bloodstock

Blue Diamond Stud is delighted to announce the purchase of Stonereath Farm in Kentucky.

Situated just outside Paris, Ky., the 252-acre farm possesses a rich history, notably as the former home of blue hen Best In Show while it was under the ownership of Darrell and Lindy Brown.

More recently, it was owned by Dr. Christoph Berglar and run with great success under the Narola banner by his son Peter. The current triple Grade 1 winner Taiba is one of the many good horses to come off the land in that time.

In all, Stonereath possesses 60 stalls in four barns, 24 paddocks and a yearling show ring area among its many amenities.

The purchase of Stonereath Farm underlines the intention of the stud to compete on the world stage. It will act as a hub for the stud's growing North American operation, notably its increasing broodmare band.

Blue Diamond Stud enjoyed North American success earlier in the year when homebred Wonderful Justice (Justify x I'm Wonderful) won the Black Gold Stakes at Fair Grounds in his second start. He is currently in training with Brad Cox alongside the Grade 2-placed Free Look, a daughter of Tapit purchased at the Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale.

Imad Al Sagar said: “We are excited to add Stonereath Farm to the Blue Diamond Stud portfolio. With such a long history of producing such good racehorses, I am confident that it will be a valuable complement to our European division while allowing us great opportunity to diversify.

“We look forward to growing our presence in the U.S. and yielding the advantages of everything that Kentucky and its differing bloodlines has to offer.”

Blue Diamond Stud Chief Executive Officer Ted Voute, who previously played a key role in the successful launch of Clearsky Farm in Kentucky, added: “Imad Alsagar has incredible foresight and energy to invest in a vein of land in Bourbon county that is a proven source of Kentucky Derby winners.

“Stonereath Farm has not been over-horsed in recent times and is in pristine condition. I am excited for the future combining some of Blue Diamond's already illustrious bloodlines with this fertile land. Imad has infectious, overwhelming enthusiasm driving every one that works with him to produce Thoroughbreds to perform either at the sales or on the racetrack at the top level.”

Blue Diamond is lucky enough to inherit an accomplished team of stud staff from its time under the ownership of Narola led by Walter Nathaniel Lobato and office manager Donna Callaway.

Blue Diamond Stud has long held a strong presence in Britain with two Newmarket-based properties. Blue Diamond Stud South is home to the mares and foals and overseen by broodmare manager Andrew Rawlin. Blue Diamond North primarily acts as the yearling division and is overseen by yearling manager Gerry Meehan.

Blue Diamond Stud celebrated its first homebred Group 1 winner in 2017 when Decorated Knight won the Irish Champion Stakes, Tattersalls Gold Cup and Jebel Hatta. Currently, it is represented at the highest level by Imad Alsagar's brilliant homebred Nashwa, last year's Prix de Diane and Nassau Stakes heroine who recently won the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket in emphatic style.

The post Blue Diamond Stud Purchases Kentucky’s Stonereath Farm appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The most lucrative seven days in American racing overlap the most important yearling sale in the world, with the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs staged 170 miles from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Now Keeneland is offering a way to be at both venues on the same day. The Keeneland Association has arranged for charter flights between Lexington, Ky., and Kentucky Downs to accommodate owners, trainers and others who are working the renowned yearling sale but also have horses running at Kentucky Downs.

The 40-minute flights go between Lexington's Blue Grass Airport and the Portland (Tenn.) Municipal Airport seven miles from Kentucky Downs. The roundtrip flights are Thursday Sept. 7, Saturday Sept. 9, Sunday Sept. 10 and Wednesday Sept. 13 — the last four days of the Kentucky Downs meet. The Keeneland yearling sale begins Monday Sept. 11.

Kentucky Downs opens Thursday Aug. 31, running Saturday Sept. 2 and Sunday Sept. 3 of Labor Day weekend.

The flights depart at noon Eastern from the Triton Airways at the Blue Grass Airport, located at 4170 Aviator Road (not the main terminal), directly across U.S. 60/Versailles Road from Keeneland. The plane lands in Portland Municipal Airport, also known as Douglas Hunter Field. The return flights will leave about 7 p.m. Central/8 p.m. Eastern.

“Keeneland is pleased to offer this service to anyone who is attending the September sale and wants to go racing on a particular day without five hours of driving,” said Tony Lacy, Keeneland's Vice President of Sales. “There are a lot horses participating at Kentucky Downs that have not only domestic owners but international as well. With such a diverse group of people in town for the sale, it's wonderful for them to be able to go enjoy a very unique, very competitive, extremely rich meet for the few days that they are in Kentucky. It's important that we showcase the quality of Kentucky racing as the circuit gets stronger.”

The aircraft will be a King Air B200 with two pilots, WiFi and eight seats. Those seeking a spot should email charter@tritonairways.com the following information: Number of seats requested, full legal names, birthdate and body weight for each passenger and luggage weights, credit-card information as well as noting any allergies and drink and snack preferences.

The cost for each seat is $625 per roundtrip, payable at the time of booking. Seats are nonrefundable unless they can be filled by another person.

Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' Executive Vice President for Racing, said the Keeneland charter is another facet to the strengthening bond between the two companies. Kentucky Downs is staging a pair of $250,000 allowance races on opening day restricted to 2-year-olds who went through the sales ring at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Keeneland also is a minority partner with Kentucky Downs' ownership in the new Cumberland Run harness track that opens in Corbin in October and The Mint Gaming Hall Cumberland, its sister historical horse racing and entertainment facility in Williamsburg in southeastern Kentucky.

“It will be nice to be able to get more owners who are in Lexington for the sales to come to Franklin to see their horses run,” Nicholson said. “We appreciate Keeneland facilitating this.”

The post Keeneland Sets Up Round-Trip Charter Flights To Kentucky Downs During September Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The catalog for the 2023 Wanamaker's August Sale is now open for viewing at wanamakers.com. The auction presents 28 individual offerings and heavily features yearlings and broodmares in-foal to exciting, young stallions. Those come in addition to horses of racing age, open broodmares, broodmare prospects, and a weanling.

Bidding will open Thursday, Aug. 31 at 8 a.m. ET, with the first listing set to close at 5 p.m. Subsequent listings will close in three-minute increments. Detailed information on the buying process can be found at wanamakers.com/buy.

Highlights of the catalog include:

– Roaming, an 11-year-old broodmare being offered in-foal to Daredevil. A daughter of Quality Road, she is the producer of two winners from three starters.

– Marriage, a 7-year-old broodmare currently in-foal to the red-hot freshman stallion, Flameaway. She is a half-sister to the multiple graded stakes placed runner, For Greater Glory.

– Mahdia, an 8-year-old broodmare being offered open for the 2024 breeding season. She is by Astrology, damsire of top sophomore colt, Arabian Knight, and comes from a very strong immediate family.

– Hall Monitor, a yearling colt by Karakontie (JPN). He comes from the immediate family of the stakes winning, graded stakes placed mare, Miss Chatelaine.

– A Maryland-bred yearling filly by Liam's Map. She is well related to multiple Grade 3 winner and multiple graded stakes winning producer, Broken Dreams.

For more information on those being offered in the 2023 Wanamaker's August Sale, see wanamakers.com. Prospective buyers may browse the website to view pedigrees, pictures, and videos of each hip offered. In-person inspections may be scheduled by contacting sellers with the information provided in the catalogue.

The post Wanamaker’s 2023 August Sale Catalog Now Online appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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