First Foals Arrive For King For A Day, Lookin At Lee

Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions welcomed the first foals for young stallions King for a Day and Lookin At Lee last month in New York.

King for a Day, set to stand his second season for $5,000, was represented by his first foal when the Elusive Charlie mare Leoness delivered a filly at Irish Hill Century Farm in Stillwater, N.Y. Bred by Steve Sinatra, the filly is the second foal out of Leoness, who also produced a Maryland-bred colt by Desert Party bred by Sinatra Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding LLC in 2020.

King for a Day, the only horse to beat eventual champion 3-year-old male Maximum Security to the wire in 2019, won three of seven starts and earned $260,550 for owner and breeder Stephen P. Brunetti's Red Oak Stable and Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

The 5-year-old son of Uncle Mo out of the unraced French Deputy mare Ubetwereven won the Sir Barton Stakes on the Preakness Day undercard at Pimlico Race Course in his sophomore debut before topping Maximum Security in the $150,000 TVG.com Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Multiple stakes winner and 2017 Kentucky Derby runner-up Lookin At Lee, set to stand his second season for $4,000, was represented by his first foal when the Dixie Union mare Rose Sayer produced a colt at breeder Hank Freebern's Rocky Top Acres in Hudson Falls, N.Y.

The newborn colt is a half-brother to a New York-bred yearling filly by Frank Conversation also bred by Henry Freebern, Lance Freebern and Tim Hurlock and the unraced 3-year-old New York-bred Honorable Dillon filly Mo Don't Lie bred by Henry Freebern and Lance Freebern. She is also the dam of four other foals who made it to the races.

Lookin At Lee, a 7-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky out of the Grade 3-placed Langfuhr mare Capilano, compiled a record of 4-6-5 from 35 starts and earned $1,343,188 during his career with Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and owners L and N Racing LLC.

In addition to his Derby effort, Lookin At Lee was a stakes winner and Grade 1-placed runner at 2, finished fourth in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes and was multiple graded stakes-placed at three and a stakes winner at four.

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Irish Hill And Dutchess Views Stallions Reveals 2022 Roster, Including Newcomer Waiting

Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions LLC announced 2022 stud fees for the New York stallions they will manage in 2022.

An addition to the roster is the exciting new stallion, Waiting, by American Pharoah out of Wait No More. Wait No More was a $1.575-million Saratoga Yearling Sales topper by Medaglia d'Oro. Waiting's second dam is 3-year-old North American Champion Wait a While.

As of this release, two stallions on the roster with current runners are ranked among the top five active stallions in New York.

Big Brown is ranked number two among all sires in the state based on earnings and is the leading sire by number of winners. War Dancer is the fifth-ranked sire among all active sires and the leading second crop sire.

King for a Day, a multiple stakes winning graded stakes placed son of sire of sires Uncle Mo, will stand his second season at the Saratoga area farm after covering 73 mares in his first season. Lookin at Lee, a multiple Grade 1 placed millionaire, the 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum Brands runner-up and son of Lookin at Lucky will return for his second year at stud.

Rounding out the roster are leading New York third-crop sire, Majestic City, and Weekend Hideaway, who will have his first runners hit the track in 2022.

The 2022 stud fees will be:

War Dancer – $7,500 LFSN
King for a Day – $5,000 LFSN
Big Brown – $5,000 LFSN
Lookin at Lee – $4,000 LFSN
Waiting (NEW) – $4,000 LFSN
Majestic City – $2,500 LFSN
Weekend Hideaway – $2,500 LFSN

Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions LLC will continue to work closely with breeders by offering incentives for qualifying mares and multiple mare discounts across the entire roster.

Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions LLC will once again be holding an in-person stallion show this year on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. Please follow on Facebook (@IrishHillandDutchessViewsStallionsLLC) and Twitter (@IHDVStallions) for further details. The farm will be holding the annual stallion show raffle for a free season to each stallion as well as offering special stallion show pricing.

The stallions are available for inspection by potential breeders on request.

The post Irish Hill And Dutchess Views Stallions Reveals 2022 Roster, Including Newcomer Waiting appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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NY Favorites, Top Sire Lines, Head to Empire State

The New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund's incentive and rewards program continues to drive new interest and investment in New York stallions, particularly those whose pedigrees fit the race conditions and surfaces of the New York Racing Association (NYRA). Sons of champions and horses that were popular and successful in New York are debuting at stud and coming with significant mare bookings generated in part by the buyers' market at the breeding stock sales during the past three months.

Rick Burke's Irish Hill Century Farm, established by his ancestors in 1883, is located in Stillwater. In partnership with Michael Lischin and Anya Sheckley's Dutchess Views Farm, Irish Hill will stand six stallions in 2021 including New York's leading sire, Big Brown (Boundary), and New York's leading sire of 2-year-olds, War Dancer (War Front).

New to stud in 2021 and new to the roster at Irish Hill are King for a Day (Uncle Mo) and Lookin At Lee (Lookin At Lucky).

“King for a Day arrived in late December, and that was a big day for us and for breeders in New York,” said Irish Hill Century Farm stallion manager Bill Leak. “Being a son of Uncle Mo, who currently has three of the top four 2-year-old sires in the country, is definitely a big plus. He's going to provide a lot of good opportunities for New York breeders.”

King for a Day is owned by Red Oak Stable and was trained by Todd Pletcher. Earning $260,550 in seven starts, King for a Day had three wins, a second and a third. He beat Maximum Security (New Year's Day) in the Pegasus S. at Monmouth Park but ran into traffic in the GI Haskell S. four weeks later, finishing fifth. High-cruising speed is a term that has been used to describe the running style of King for a Day and that of his sire, Uncle Mo.

“With King for a Day, it's that high-cruising speed that stands out. That is what King for a Day really exceled at,” said Leak. “When you watch him race and you watch him go head-to-head with Maximum Security, that's what they do. They go out there and they just try to keep a high speed the first half of the race and slow down the least. King for a Day was the much better horse that day. He beat Maximum Security by a length.

“Uncle Mos have done really well at getting out there early with early speed in dirt races and carrying it through the finish. I think that's something at which he's going to do well, bringing that into the program in New York.”

King for a Day's dam, Ubetwereven (French Deputy), has consistently produced winners for Red Oak Stable.

“King for a Day was bred and raced by Red Oak Stable,” said Leak. “They owned the mare, and she's produced three stakes winners for them. They've got a very deep family history of breeding horses in Florida, Kentucky and now in New York. They're very committed to this stallion, making sure that he gets the right horses to start off properly as a young stallion.”

In fact, Ubetwereven was featured by TDN in June, 2019 and coined 'the gift that keeps on giving.' Rick Sacco, Red Oak's racing and operations manager, told TDN, “I bought the mare privately for Mr. Brunetti about 15 years ago off of Irv Cowan in Kentucky. We were looking to upgrade and Mr. Cowan was looking to cut back and sell some mares. I just loved her physically and loved French Deputy. She is a mare with a lot of bone, good conformation and just looked the part.

“King for a Day is her third stakes winner. We've had Ima Jersey Girl and Feel That Fire, who is the dam of Mind Control, a multiple graded stakes winner of over $1 million. King for a Day is her first stakes winner since we moved our mares to Kentucky.”

Ubetwereven has produced seven winners from nine foals of racing age. Three of those winners have captured black-type events. She'll be bred back to Uncle Mo this year.

“King for a Day's conformation, I think, is very similar to Uncle Mo. He stands over a lot of ground. He's got a lot of leg, a little bit of a shorter back–something that we've been seeing lately, that has been proven to show that high-cruising speed ability,” said Leak.

“We've been fortunate and lucky enough to have had our hands on a few Uncle Mos,” said Sacco. “And King for a Day is definitely one of the big, good-looking ones.”

Leak reports that King for a Day has been very well received by New York breeders.

“They see an opportunity here for him to bring things to their mares that maybe they haven't seen before, or they have seen before and were able to capitalize on,” said Leak. “He's a total outcross through his first four lines. So, there are opportunities for breeders to breed all sorts of mares to him. Uncle Mo and his sons have been very successful with multiple different lines of breeding.”

Continued Sacco: “Red Oak will be supporting King for a Day with at least 12 mares as of today and that number could rise to 15. Some have been recently retired from the track, a couple are from our Kentucky division, some are recently purchased and we will be attending the upcoming February Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Sale.”

Sacco added, “Red Oak looks forward to participating in every facet of the lucrative New York-bred program. There is benefit in owning a stallion in New York and receiving stallion awards, breeders' awards and rich New York-bred restricted race and stakes programs offered to owners.”

Lookin At Lee was second in the 2017 Kentucky Derby | Coady

Also new to Irish Hill and Dutchess Views is Lookin At Lee. The 2017 GI Kentucky Derby runner-up (from post one at odds of 33-1) to Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) earned $1,343,188 for L and N Racing, a four-way partnership composed of Lee, Andy and Michael Levinson, and Don Nelson. The winner of the Ellis Park Juvenile S. at two and the Downs At Albuquerque H. at age five–trained throughout his career by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen–was fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

In the first leg of the Triple Crown, Lookin At Lee beat Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile), to whom he was runner up twice as a 2-year-old, as well as Battle of Midway (Smart Strike), Tapwrit (Tapit), Girvin (Tale of Ekati), Practical Joke (Into Mischief) and others in that talented field.

“It was so exciting and special,” said Lee Levinson. “Since Risen Star [Secretariat, in 1988], no horse that started in the Kentucky Derby from post position one before Lookin At Lee had finished in the top three.”

The Levinsons bought Lookin At Lee as a yearling for $70,000 at the first horse sale they ever attended.

“He was in Book 1 at Keeneland,” said Levinson. “We liked the way he looked and we liked that his family on both sides has proven winners. We would have paid more.”

As for what Lookin At Lee brings as a young sire, Levinson said his soundness and health while being consistently competitive at that level of racing throughout his career stands out most dramatically. His pedigree on both sides is a close second.

“After the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, he went on and competed in exclusively graded stakes for his 3-year-old campaign, racing in eight graded stakes over five months,” said Leak. “He's a very durable horse, and I think that's one thing he brings to the New York program–durability–as well as a high performance level.”

“The New York breeders' program is one of the better ones,” said Levinson. “And with a horse like him who stayed so healthy, ran in all three Triple Crown races and had no leg issues through these long campaigns, we thought he could really make a name for himself in New York.”

Lookin At Lee was bred in Kentucky by Ray Hanson and is out of a Langfuhr mare, Langara Lass. His sire, Classic-winning Lookin At Lucky, is also the sire of five-time Grade I winner Accelerate and Kentucky Derby winner Country House, who are both at stud.

“It took 23 years of Mr. Hanson breeding this family and refining it to get to this point where he got Lookin At Lee,” said Leak. “Not only did he get Lookin At Lee, but he also got his half-brother, Blended Citizen [Proud Citizen], who's a multiple Grade III stakes winner, and also his half-sister Battlefield Angel [Proud Citizen], who produced Manny Wah [Will Take Charge], who ran in the Breeders' Cup Sprint this year.”

Manny Wah won the Duncan F. Kenner S. his first time out in 2021, bringing his lifetime earnings to $501,888.

“Lookin At Lee's conformation is very classic. Durability is what you see when you see him,” said Leak. “He stands up straight. He's got good feet, good bones. He's got a great shoulder, a nice back, and a good motor to go with it.”

At Irish Hill, breeders are showing interest in Lookin At Lee and the Levinsons have sent a number of mares to the farm.

“We're expecting a lot of good support for Lookin At Lee,” said Leak. “The Levinsons bought mares in the breeding stock sales this season that are here and that are going to be foaling and bred back to Lookin At Lee. We've also gotten good support from the local breeders already committing mares to Lookin At Lee.”

As for the 7-year-old's adjustment to life on the farm, he appears calm and confident.

“Lookin At Lee is really easy to be around. He's got a great personality,” said Leak. “He's a very smart horse who is willing to be a participant in whatever it is you want him to do.”

Added Asmussen: “He's a lovely horse. He's a talented, sound horse that will be a good addition to the New York breeding program.”

The post NY Favorites, Top Sire Lines, Head to Empire State appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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King For A Day Retired To Irish Hill And Dutchess Views Stallions In New York For 2021

King for a Day (2016, Uncle Mo o/o Ubetwereven by, French Deputy), the only horse to beat 2019 champion 3-year-old male Maximum Security to the wire at three, was officially retired from racing as announced by Red Oak Farm's vice president and general manager, Rick Sacco.

King for A Day will be starting his stud career in 2021 under the management of Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions LLC in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. He will stand for $6,000 LFSN.

Stephen P. Brunetti's, Red Oak Stable campaigned the talented son of Uncle Mo and will remain actively involved in his stallion career including sending several quality mares to him.

King for a Day broke his maiden in his second start as a 2-year-old in a highly competitive Belmont Park, maiden special weight which contained the likes of future Triple Crown standout and graded stakes winner Tacitus. From there, it was on to a career in stakes company.

King for a Day would make his 3-year-old debut a winning one in the Sir Barton Stakes on the Preakness undercard. While drawing off to win the Sir Barton by 2 1/2 lengths, King for a Day would just miss the Pimlico track record for a mile and a sixteenth. Less than a month later, in his next start, King for a Day would press Maximum Security through a half-mile, then back off briefly before putting in a brilliant, sustained effort to defeat the future 3-year-old champion by a length in the TVG.com Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Todd Pletcher, who trained both King for a Day and his sire Uncle Mo, was quick to compare the two.

“King for a Day displayed big talent from day one,” the trainer said. “He not only strongly resembles his sire Uncle Mo but, he had a great mind to go with the talent. King had a high cruising speed just like his sire.

“[King for a Day] was precocious to win at two in a tough maiden special weight race at Belmont Park over Tacitus and others,” Pletcher continued. “His win over Maximum Security at three in the Pegasus elevated him to another level, and there is no doubt in my mind that this horse had the ability to win Grade 1 races.”

Uncle Mo is emerging as a true “stallion maker.” He is the sire of three of the top four leading freshman sires of 2020: Nyquist, Laoban and Outwork. King for a Day also comes from a strong female family which includes the black type-winning mare Feel That Fire who is the dam of multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire, Mind Control.

The post King For A Day Retired To Irish Hill And Dutchess Views Stallions In New York For 2021 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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