Two new stallions, both debut winners as juveniles who went on to become Grade I winners, have joined the Lane's End roster for 2022. Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB} – Reunited, by Dixie Union) and Lexitonian (Speightstown – Riviera Romper, by Tapit) will stand for a fee of $10,000 in their first year at stud.
“Code of Honor and Lexitonian are sound, consistent young horses and they both give breeders a chance to breed to Grade I-winning sires with fair, introductory prices and super pedigrees,” Lane's End Farm's Bill Farish explained. “They've both had a lot of breeders come look at them and I think people have been really impressed. Lexitonian is more of a Speightstown-type horse. He's very strongly made and more of a sprinter type, whereas Code of Honor has a little more length to him that I think has surprised people.”
Farish discussed the book of mares that each stallion compiled for their first year and talked about the key factors that have encouraged breeders to support the new sires.
For Code of Honor in particular, Farish emphasized the wide variety of mares that he attracted.
“He got a very interesting cross section of mares,” he explained. “Being by Noble Mission but also a dirt horse, it really presents breeders with an interesting dilemma because you think, 'Do you breed him to a dirt mare or a turf mare?' We're kind of taking the approach that he can have success with both. [Physically] he has some of the finer qualities of Noble Mission, but with being so successful on the dirt, he has a little bit of a different look than most of Noble Mission's turf runners.”
Farish said that this fall, Lane's End purchased 18 mares at the Keeneland November Sale to send to Code of Honor.
“Again, it was kind of a cross section of mares,” he noted. “If you run some of them through a nicking software they don't come out so well because breeding an A.P. Indy mare to a Sadler's Wells-line stallion hasn't been tried very much yet, but we think with this horse and his affinity for dirt, it should have a good chance of working.”
A homebred for W.S. Farish and the son of GIII Thoroughbred Club of America S. winner Reunited (Dixie Union), Code of Honor trained under Shug McGaughey throughout his four-year career. A debut winner at two, the colt ran second in the GI Champagne S. despite stumbling at the start. Early in his sophomore season, he won the GII Fountain of Youth, finished third in the GI Florida Derby and then ran a runner-up effort in the GI Kentucky Derby. Over his sophomore summer, the chestnut reeled off consecutive scores in the GIII Dwyer S., GI Travers S. and GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S.
“He was a phenomenal racehorse and is one you dream about getting,” Farish said. “The Travers was a real thrill for Mom and Dad, obviously, and it's great for the farm to get him back here as a stallion prospect.”
Code of Honor remained in training at four and five, collecting victories in the GIII Westchester S. and GIII Philip H. Iselin S. while also placing in the GI Metropolitan H., GII Kelso H., GI Clark S. and GII Hagyard Fayette S. He retired with earnings of almost $3 million.
“He was a gutsy, gutsy racehorse and he had an amazingly-efficient stride,” Farish said. “He was a horse that brought it every day to his training and his races. I think that's something we'll see in his offspring. Any time we have a homebred come back here as a stallion, it's very exciting, but to have a homebred end up being a multiple Grade I winner and a Travers winner is the ultimate achievement.”
Lane's End's second new addition Lexitonian is a homebred for Calumet Farm.
“Lexitonian is a really exciting horse for us,” Farish said. “He's our first son of Speightstown. He exhibited amazing consistency throughout his career. Brad Kelley at Calumet has entrusted us to stand him and we're really excited to have him.”
Lexitonian gets his signature win in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga | Sarah Andrew
Another debut winner at two, Lexitonian won the GIII Chick Lang S. and Concern S. as a 3-year-old, also placing in the GII Phoenix S. at Keeneland. At four, the chestnut was second by a nose to Collusion Illusion (Twirling Candy) in the GI Bing Crosby S. Returning for his 5-year-old season, he was a close second in the GI Churchill Downs S. on the Kentucy Derby undercard and then scored his signature victory in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga.
“His race in the Vanderbilt really stands out as an incredible win,” Farish said. “You're there at Saratoga in a field of Grade I winners, including a champion in Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect), so it was a big, big day for him. To come out on top in that field was impressive and stamped him as a stallion prospect.”
Lexitonian was purchased in utero by Calumet for $310,000. The son of a winning Tapit mare, his second dam Swap Fliparoo (Exchange Rate) won the 2006 GI Test S.
“With Lexitonian being from the Gone West line as a son of Speightstown crossed with Tapit on the bottom side, it's that magic cross of the A.P. Indy line with the Mr. Prospector line,” Farish explained. “It's one of the things that really attracted us to him in the beginning and then for his granddam to be a Grade I winner really adds to it.”
In addition to the support the new stallion will receive from Lane's End, Farish noted that Calumet will be sending over 20 mares to Lexitonian in his first year.
“Lexitonian is getting a tremendous amount of support from Calumet, but he's also getting a tremendous amount of interest from breeders. Breeders love him physically. They're really impressed with him as an individual. He's a speedy, good-looking son of Speightstown and that's very appealing to the market.”
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