The horses of racing age took to the OBS track Monday, with the unraced 3-year-old Saint George (St Patrick's Day) (hip 262) earning the under-tack show's bullet when working three furlongs in :32 1/5. Out of Crowninshield (Aldebaran), the chestnut colt was bred by Brent and Crystal Fernung and is consigned by the Fernungs' Journeyman Bloodstock Services.

“I thought he was going to work awful good,” said Brent Fernung. “He pulled a stifle before the April sale last year–and we thought he would work good there, too–so we just gave him plenty of time and decided to bring him back here. He stepped up and did what he was supposed to do.”

Journeyman is usually active selling at the 2-year-old sales, but Fernung agreed having an outlet to sell horses of racing age in Ocala in January is a welcome addition to the calendar.

“Historically, what we've done is we breed homebreds and sell them at the 2-year-old sales,” Fernung said. “And once that last 2-year-old sale goes by, part of the by-product of that is that horses who can't make it to those sales for one reason or another, you've got to have somewhere to go with them. It used to be, before we started doing this here, I ended up having to race all of those horses. We did OK doing that, but it turns into a two-year process before you know it.”

Of interest around the sales grounds Monday, Fernung said, “I thought it was a reasonable number of people watching the breeze show. And we have some nice mares in this sale and they seem to be getting looked at pretty regular, too. It's not a real busy place, but it never is. It always helps if it gets really cold up north right before this sale.”

“I've been saying since the end of the 2-year-old season last year, if we can just remain flat and level–and I'm not just talking about OBS, I am talking about the Thoroughbred industry in whole–it's been strong now for several years, so if we just don't lose any ground, I'd be satisfied,” Fernung said of expectations for the market. “I think that is realistic. I haven't seen anything that suggests to me that it's going to take a big downturn yet.”

During the 2023 Winter sale, 380 horses grossed $6,346,200 for an average of $16,701 and a median of $9,500. A yearling colt by Tapit brought top price of $225,000 and was one of two to bring six figures at the auction.

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Uncle Chuck was determined to be suffering from untreatable lymphoma.

“We're devastated by this loss,” said Fernung. “He was a beautiful horse, and his first crop of foals are carbon copies of him. Beyond that, Uncle Chuck had a great demeanor and was a pleasure to work around. He will be missed.”

Uncle Chuck, a half-brother to Hill 'n' Dale sire Maclean's Music (Distorted Humor), as well as to GSWs Kentuckian (Tiznow) and Electric Forest (Curlin), won two of his three career starts, including the GIII Los Alamitos Derby. He joined the Journeyman roster for the 2022 season and has a first crop of 75 reported live foals. He was the property of a syndicate at the time of his death.

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An eleven-year-old son of Distorted Humor, Khozan was the leading 2-year-old sire in Florida when his first crop ran in 2019 and has continued to be the Sunshine State's leading general sire every year since.

Represented by 12 black-type runners this year, including GIII Delaware Oaks winner Foggy Night, Me and Mr. C, winner of the Kentucky Downs Preview S. and R Harper Rose, recent winner of the Susan's Girl S., Khozan's progeny has earned $5.1 million this year.

Journeyman's 2024 roster also includes GSW Uncle Chuck (Uncle Mo) whose first foals will be yearlings in 2024. His fee will remain at $6,500, while American Pharoah's full-brother and Irish multiple group stakes placed St Patrick's Day (Pioneerof the Nile), with his first-crop racing this year, will be set at $3,500. GISP Chance It (Currency Swap), whose first foals will be yearlings, will once again stand for $2,000.

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The post Florida Champ Chance It Represented by First Foal appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“When we built the original stallion farm in 2008, our goal was to accommodate a large contingent of stallions and hence a fifteen-stall stallion barn,” said Brent Fernung. “Over the years, we've changed our sights toward more quality, fewer numbers and no longer saw the need for the larger operation. We've owned the Reddick property since 2006 and previously utilized it as our foaling facility and to start breaking yearlings.”

The new Journeyman Stud will stand four stallions in 2023 led by Khozan (Distorted Humor), Florida's leading sire the last three years. He will stand the 2023 breeding season for $6,500. Khozan's leading earner this year is GIII Victory Ride S. winner Hot Peppers.

Journeyman is also home to GSW Uncle Chuck (Uncle Mo) who stood his first year at stud in 2022. A half-brother to Maclean's Music (Distorted Humor), Uncle Chuck's stud fee will be $6,500 in 2023.

St Patrick's Day (Pioneerof the Nile), a full brother to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, will stand for $3,500 in 2023 just as his first crop of 2-year-olds hit the track.

Rounding out the roster is MSW & GISP Chance It (Currency Swap) whose first foals will be born next year. His stud fee will be $2,000 in 2023.

The Fernungs will announce an upcoming date for their Open House in January to showcase the new facility.

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One could start listing off famous Kentucky-breds and run out of daylight before the list ended; such is the privilege of the Bluegrass state. However, Florida lays claim to its own slices of history, and most notably, perhaps, would be their impact not just on pedigrees but on track annuals as well. Horses like 'The Good Doctor', Dr. Fager; the unfortunately infamous Foolish Pleasure; Triple Crown hero Affirmed; 14-length Belmont winner Conquistador Cielo; the feisty Gate Dancer; sire of sires Fappiano, and his son Unbridled, without whom we have no Empire Maker, no Unbridled's Song, no Tapit; fan-favorite, Derby hero Silver Charm; big, grey Skip Away; and Afleet Alex, brought to his knees in the Preakness only to regain his footing and win by daylight. These are but a select few examples, which serve as a reminder of the long-ranging impact on Kentucky breeding programs.

A modern version of events is playing out now in part through Hot Peppers (Khozan), who looks to add her name to that illustrious collection of 'influencers', if you will. She's a testament to the dedication of breeders like Brent and Crystal Fernung, who together own and operate Journeyman Stallions. The former experienced great early success in the stallion management sphere; Congrats and Wildcat Heir both beginning their careers under his discerning eye. And that gaze shifted to Todd Pletcher's newest buzz horse Khozan (by Distorted Humor) in 2015, whose limitless potential was cut short by a training injury, but who showed enough promise early to warrant a shot as a sire.

“I like brilliance,” Brent Fernung said, cut and dry, in a phone interview Monday. “I don't care how pretty a horse is, how much pedigree he has; if he doesn't prove that he has that extraordinary talent, you're at a big disadvantage. [Khozan] showed brilliance in his first start.”

While there was the concession of there being a possibility of hidden abilities no one could quite bring out, Fernung admits it's usually an exception to the rule, and not the rule. In Khozan's case, he fell well into the model Journeyman Stallions looked for in a sire prospect. Running a monster 102 Beyer on debut, a seven furlong dash where he started from the 14 hole, and then demolishing an allowance field by almost 13 lengths at a mile, he'd set himself up as the early favorite for the Florida Derby off two career starts.

Brilliance check marked, the focus shifted to his pedigree, of which there was plenty. As a half-brother to the fabulous Royal Delta (Empire Maker), millionaire Delta Prince (Street Cry {Ire}), and GISW Crown Queen (Smart Strike), and with no less than six sires hailing from his female line, there was every reason to believe the potential was there. Complete with a $1 million price tag as a 2-year-old in training purchase by Al Shaqab Racing, Khozan was hard not to like.

“If he went on, and stayed sound until after the Florida Derby, and he's a Grade I-winner, with that pedigree and everything, it would have been hard to find him at Journeyman Stud. It would've made him too expensive for us.”

Since then, he's more than proven the early faith was well-placed. Khozan has been Florida's leading sire since 2020 and to date has 24 black-type horses from 170 starters. Better news are that his best, and largest crops, are set to arrive this coming spring, while many in his earlier seasons are still competing successfully as 5-year-olds.

When it came to Hot Peppers, the mating was done in the hopes that her dam might produce a foal with a bit more to her than the prior offspring.

“I was a little hesitant to breed A.P. Indy-line mares back to Khozan because it's a little close. He's out of an A.P. Indy mare,” recounts Fernung. “I had [the dam] here, bred her to different stallions, and was unsatisfied with the first couple foals she gave me. Or I wouldn't say unsatisfied, but they just weren't Hot Peppers.”

The mare, Friends Pro (Friend Lake), went to his rising star, and in turn produced a 'cookie cutter image of a female Khozan' with the most appealing qualities immediately visible. While not a large filly, Hot Peppers had a beautiful balance to her as a yearling, and a big, nice walk to match. Friends Pro was correct with a good size, but she lacked the aesthetic appeal her Khozan filly received from her sire, and it showed when the pair went through their respective rings. Friends Pro sold for $1,000 to Rebecca Cawvey at OBSWIN in 2020, but Hot Peppers garnered a kinder reception. As Fernung put it: “Nick De Meric bought her off me, and he buys nice horses, there's no question.”

That nice $40,000 OBS October yearling in 2020 would drop the hammer eight months later at OBS June as a 2-year-old in training, and head the way of Ronald Spatz for $16,000. While not entirely sure, the suspected reason for the low price, one which bestows many horses the title of 'the one that got away' and one every consigner knows: the veterinary findings. Despite the low interest at the training sale, it was hard not to be enthusiastic for a good friend.

“[Ronnie Spatz] called me after he got her because he was excited about her, and then called me after she broke her maiden by a pole. He did a good job of preparing the filly for the races.”

It was a long way back to second in Hot Peppers' maiden-breaking win | Ryan Thompson

The ability to resist the temptation to jump Hot Peppers immediately into stakes company is what Fernung believes helped develop her into the racehorse we see sauntering across our screens. Those same talents which ultimately attracted the attention of Michael Dubb, and resulted in her private purchase after the 14 1/4-length tour de force, are now paying fruitful dividends for her new owners.

After her troubled seventh in the Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies S., Hot Peppers moved to the barn of Rudy Rodriguez in New York and two months later looked like herself again, blitzing Belmont's Jersey Girl by almost seven lengths in a hand ride. She kicked on to a game score in the GIII Victory Ride in July and with that effort, stamped her ticket for the Spa, where the big girls came to strut their stuff.

And there she was, the Florida filly with a heart as big as her talent, at the head of the field in the GI Test S. at America's summer playground. She led until the final yards, where Chi Town Lady came from dead last to play spoiler, but the impression was made. The blue-collar filly from the Sunshine state had run an incredible race on track conditions she'd never experienced before, against a favorite on a four race win streak, and muscling her way through contact in the stretch.

And perhaps, she even had to fight a bit of that Saratoga curse, by proximity.

Hot Peppers' efforts will likely have consequences beyond her own sphere of influence. The doors will also open wider for Khozan and Journeyman Stud, who now have concrete proof that their stallion can throw runners on par with the best. Brilliance begets brilliance, and developing sires with those qualities is as entrenched in Ocala as it is in Lexington. If you're in need of a stallion, but don't have a bottomless budget, ask Florida for some pointers. They know a little something about breeding the giant, and the giant slayer.

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“We're excited to see Mr. Money's first foals,” said Brent Fernung of Journeyman Stud, which stands the 6-year-old stallion. “Mr. Money is a handsome horse and I fully expect that he'll pass that along to his foals. With his talent and pedigree, we're anticipating great things from Mr. Money's progeny.”

Campaigned by Allied Racing Stable and Spendthrift Farm and trained by Bret Calhoun, Mr. Money won the 2019 GIII Matt Winn S., GIII Pat Day Mile, GIII West Virginia Derby and GIII Indiana Derby and was second in that year's GI Pennsylvania Derby. He added the GIII Ack Ack S. to his resume in 2020.

Mr. Money will stand for $4,000 in 2022.

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In addition to its two new stallions Uncle Chuck (Uncle Mo–Forest Music, by Unbridled's Song) and Chance It (Currency Swap–Vagabon Diva, by Pleasantly Perfect), Journeyman Stud currently stands Khozan, Florida's leading sire in 2020 and 2021, as well as St Patrick's Day and Mr. Money. Fernung said he wasn't necessarily looking for a new stallion when he went to the Keeneland November Sale. But when, at the suggestion of friends Des Ryan and Ben Glass, he visited Uncle Chuck, he said he knew this was a stallion prospect that would appeal to Florida breeders.

Campaigned by Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, Uncle Chuck was $250,000 Keeneland September yearling and is a half-brother to successful Kentucky-based sire Maclean's Music. In his second start, Uncle Chuck won the GIII Los Alamitos Derby.

“In his first start, [Uncle Chuck] dominated a field of maidens winning by seven lengths, and it could have been 70 lengths. And he was obviously still green, [he] got about mid-stretch and switched to his left lead and kind of started gawking around and was still drawing off from them under what wasn't particularly perfect circumstances,” said Fernung. “Then of course, he followed that up with a four-length victory over Thousand Words in a Grade III running a mile and an eighth in his second start. So, I don't think there was any distance limitations to this horse at all.”

Brilliance on the track is just one of the pillars Fernung looks for in a successful stallion and he said Uncle Chuck checks all of his boxes.

“Forest Music was a very good race mare. First of all, she might have been the fastest daughter of Unbridled's Song to make it to the races,” said Fernung. “And as a broodmare, besides producing a top-quality stallion in Maclean's Music, she's produced two other graded stake winners besides Uncle Chuck. It's a great family. You can't beat it.

“When the opportunity arose to get Uncle Chuck, I looked his pedigree up. And he had this tremendous pedigree,” said Fernung. “But more importantly, he was a top racehorse that was brilliant in the few starts he was able to make. That's the trifecta, in my opinion.

“I don't want a stallion because of who his brother is. I don't want a stallion because of who his sire is. And I really don't want a stallion just based on his talent or ability. I want that combination, you know, by a world-class champion sire out of a spectacular broodmare and a solid racehorse.”

Fernung said Uncle Chuck's physical is another attribute adding to his appeal.

“Uncle Chuck physically is such an impressive horse,” said Fernung. “He's got plenty of bone. He's a big horse, probably 16.3. And he's just as correct as he can be. He's really an entire package physically. His ability, his pedigree, his sire, put together with that physicality is really an unusual combination of traits to get down here.”

Uncle Chuck has been well received already with more than 60 mares in his book and Fernung said the phone is still ringing. In addition to the local interest, Uncle Chuck's ownership group plans to bring a large group of mares to the freshman sire.

“It's an interesting story. I went and looked at Uncle Chuck on my own and the next day I got a call from Frank Taylor from Taylor Made and Frank says, 'I just been out here to look at this horse. Would you be interested in standing him down in Ocala?'” said Fernung. “Getting Taylor Made involved has always been fortunate for us. Of course, they were the ones who originally sent Wildcat Heir down to Journeyman.”

Chance It just before his Mucho Macho Man S. win| Ryan Thompson

Chance It, Journeyman's other new stallion, has been a fan favorite in Florida for his entire racing career. With lifetime earnings of $583,330, he was on the board in nine of 11 starts with six triple-digit Beyers. A multiple FTBOA Florida Sire S. winner at two and an additional black-type winner at three, he finished third in Saratoga's GI Forego S. at four.

“Chance It has great local appeal here in Ocala. He was Florida's horse,” said Fernung. “He was destined to go on and do some really great things, in my opinion. But then he injured himself. He came back, placed in a Grade I sprint stakes, had the potential to win one of them, but injury ended his career at that point.”

As to Fernung's formula for success, Chance It has more than just racing ability.

“Chance It's a big, strong correct horse,” said Fernung. “He's 16.2. You can see the reason he was so fast when you look through his hindquarters and his shoulder. He moves like a cat, just a very nice physical.”

Fernung said Chance It's ownership group, led by Mary Lightner with advice from her father, Mike, is as enthusiastic to bring mares and support the stallion in his new career as they did with his racing career.

“We've been friends with them for 30 years,” said Fernung. “The opportunity to own a stallion with them was one that we really embraced.”

Fernung said he believes Chance It has a great chance to succeed in Florida.

“Our entire industry down here has been developed through 2-year-old racing,” said Fernung. “I think Chance It has that kind of physicality to him that's going to get you early horses that can really run. I'm excited to have the opportunity to stand him.”

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The 4-year-old son of Uncle Mo is being syndicated by Journeyman Stud and Taylor Made Farm, following a career where he won two of three starts and earned $150,000. He broke his maiden on debut during his 3-year-old season, then won the G3 Los Alamitos Derby before making a final start in the G1 Travers Stakes.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Uncle Chuck is out of the Grade 2-winning Unbridled's Song mare Forest Music, making him a half-brother to fast-rising sire Maclean's Music.

Uncle Chuck will stand for an advertised fee of $6,500.

Read more at BloodHorse.

The post Grade 3 Winner Uncle Chuck Retired To Journeyman Stud In Florida appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Campaigned by Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman and trainer by Bob Baffert, the $250,000 KEESEP yearling is out of MGSW/MGISP Forest Music (Unbridled's Song), making him a half to successful Kentucky-based sire Maclean's Music (Distorted Humor) and GSWs Kentuckian (Tiznow) and Electric Forest (Curlin).

“I've seen Uncle Chuck referred to as brilliant by his connections, he was certainly that,” said Brent Fergnung. “Uncle Chuck is royally bred, an exceptional physical, and had unlimited potential as a racehorse. He is everything I look for in a stallion prospect. His abbreviated racing career, shortened by injury, is the only reason he isn't in Kentucky commanding a much larger fee.”

The handsome dark bay won his debut at Santa Anita by seven lengths. He has last seen finishing sixth as the second choice in the 2020 GI Runhappy Travers S.

“Uncle Chuck was special from day one,” Baffert said. “Assistant trainer Mike Marlow, who is a very good judge of talent, spoke about Uncle Chuck in the same terms as he did [Triple Crown winners] American Pharoah and Justify. Uncle Chuck had great athleticism and showed his sire's brilliance on the track. His potential was unlimited.”

Uncle Chuck is currently being syndicated by Journeyman and Taylor Made Farm.

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