“She's a leggy, correct filly with plenty of quality, and we are ecstatic with her as the first foal out of Wasabi's first stakes winner,” said George Adams of Housatonic Bloodstock. “We'll be breeding multiple mares back to Nashville this year.”

The brilliantly fast Nashville won his maiden by 11 1/2 lengths at first asking at Saratoga, covering 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.48 and followed up with an equally dominating allowance win at Keeneland before winning the 2020 Perryville S. in 1:07.89, a time significantly faster against the clock than that of the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint (1:08.61). He also won a Fair Grounds allowance in 1:08.61 in 2022, the fastest time at the six-furlong distance in over two years.

“We are thrilled to receive the first live foal report for Nashville,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm. “He was extremely well received in his first season at stud in 2023 and he will be very busy again in 2024. With the recent loss of our beloved Speightstown, news of Nashville's first foal has brought plenty of smiles around WinStar.”

Having bred 204 mares in his first year at stud in 2023 and with his in-foal mares fetching up to $850,000, Nashville is standing the upcoming breeding season at a fee of $15,000 S & N.

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Wasabi has been focused on upgrading the quality of the foals that it's breeding over the last few years, and to that end will be using some higher-end stallions in 2024 than what we've bred to in the past.

A stallion that we'll be patronizing heavily this year is Maclean's Music.  He's about to jump from a crop of 2023 2-year-olds numbering 41 and conceived off of a $20,000 stud fee (out of which he already has nine winners, three of whom have also picked up black-type), to a crop of 2024 2-year-olds numbering around 182 and conceived off of a $25,000 stud fee, which will be followed by two more triple-digit crops conceived off of $50,000 stud fees.

His 2024 2-year-olds include 113 that sold at yearling sales this year for an average of $118,636 (up over last year's average of $100,857 for 21 sold), including individuals that brought $625k, $500k, $460k, $400k, $350k, $310k, $300k (x4), etc. Purchasers of Maclean's Music yearlings in 2023 include the likes of the “Avengers” group, Stonestreet, Klaravich, WinStar, Rigney Racing, Cherie DeVaux's Belladonna group and Mike Ryan.

Wasabi will be sending four young mares to Maclean's Music, including their first stakes winner Why Not Tonight (as a daughter of Tapiture, her foal will be bred on one of Maclean's Music's most successful crosses, that with A.P. Indy-line mares), as well as Floral Hall (half to three black-type winners, one of which is the granddam of '23 GISW Wet Paint) and American Thriller (by American Pharoah from a deep Michael Tabor family), who are both Unbridled-line mares, and the Juddmonte-bred Kitten's Joy filly Paw Prints.

   A year ago, Wasabi purchased a Gun Runner filly named Gun Slingin with the hopes that her full-brother Disarm could make some noise on the Triple Crown trail this year.  After a solid fourth in the Kentucky Derby, he won the GIII Matt Winn S. and finished second in the GI Travers S., and will hopefully make plenty of noise in 2024 when Gun Slingin will visit Authentic.  He's another that had a great sales year in 2023, with an excellent average and individuals purchased by some of the top connections in the industry, and we'll be shocked if he's not at the top of the Freshman Sire List at this time next year. He's a gorgeous individual who will suit her physically, and he was a heck of a racehorse by the best stallion in the country. There's really nothing not to like about him.

One of the incoming stallions of 2024 that we were very impressed by–both as an individual and his race record– was Gunite, and Wasabi will be sending their newly acquired Justify filly Itgetsgreaterlater to him after she delivers a Practical Joke foal this January.

We also believe very strongly in the chances of Up to the Mark to become an important stallion. Despite his success as a turf horse, Up to the Mark has an undeniably dirt pedigree, being a son of leading sire Not This Time out of a mare by leading sire Ghostzapper, who is herself a full-sister to a dirt sprint stakes winner, the pair of them, in turn, out of the wickedly fast GI Test S. winner Capote Belle. Given that he himself was a winner at six furlongs on dirt at Saratoga in his debut before eventually scoring top-level wins on turf at eight furlongs, nine furlongs and 10 furlongs, plus an excellent placing against the highest company at 12 furlongs, Up to the Mark possessed a dazzling amount of versatility in addition to his obvious quality and turn of foot. We think he has every shot to make it, and the package he brings to stud makes him strong value at his first-year $25,000 fee.

Wasabi will be sending four mares to Up to the Mark, including a pair of well-bred maiden mares in Calling All Angels (Ire) (a Dark Angel half to a Group 2 winner by Lope de Vega) and Saucily (a Curlin filly bred by Stonestreet from the family of Uncaptured and Interstatedaydream), as well as the Juddmonte-bred Tapit filly Prosperity (a half to Fulsome) and the Godolphin-bred Desert Rendezvous (a half to GISW Better Lucky and to the dam of Grade III winner Prevalence).

Other stallions that will see multiple Wasabi mares in 2024 include Nashville, who should have a great shot to make it as a wickedly fast and gorgeous son of the sire-of-sires Speightstown, and the promising young Maryland sire Blofeld, who continues to put up excellent statistics from small crops of modest mares in a state-bred program that is solid, but without the hugely inflated purses of some of the neighboring states.

   Editor's note: As breeding season approaches, the TDN is asking breeders where they are sending their mares in 2024. To participate in the series, email suefinley@thetdn.com or katiepetrunyak@thetdn.com.

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IMPERIAL GUN (c, 2, Gun Runner–Take a Memo, by Empire Maker) made an emboldened move through traffic from the back of the pack to wind up fourth when debuted over course at a mile Dec. 9. Away cleaner for his second start, the 4-1 shot sat off the pace only briefly around the first turn before cruising up under his own power to hit the front as the half went in :47.83. Easily the best into the lane, Imperial Gun increased his advantage when driven out to a 5 3/4-length victory over Linebacker (Bolt d'Oro). Out of a daughter of GSW/MGISP Memorette, Imperial Gun has a yearling half-sister by Bolt d'Oro and a weanling half-brother by Justify. His dam is pregnant to Nashville for 2024. Sales History: $375,000 Ylg '22 KEEJAN. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $74,750. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

O-HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud; B-Adrian Regan & Fergus Galvin (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.

#2 Imperial Gun wins easy in R5 to break his maiden under @jrosariojockey for trainer Steve Asmussen!

#TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/axeD5XdsT3

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) December 31, 2023

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On debut 2yo #5 CONDON CANDY ($24.34) was impressive running away from the field in race 6 at Ellis Park. The son of Unified was ridden by @decky_cann and is trained by Brendan Walsh.

Watch more on @FanDuelTV and wager at https://t.co/nBYFHiPrdh. pic.twitter.com/Pwv7sagp7n

— TVG (@TVG) July 31, 2023

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Four-time Grade I winner Life Is Good has multiple mares confirmed in foal, including graded winner Tiz Breathtaking (Tiznow) and Tapas (Tapit), an unraced mare acquired for $1.3 million by CHC Inc. at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton sale.

Nashville also has multiple mares scanned in foal. Undefeated in his first three starts, Nashville set a new track record of 1:07.89 for six furlongs in winning the Perryville S. at Keeneland on Breeders' Cup Day in 2020.

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WHY NOT TONIGHT (5, Tapiture—Pay the Lady, by Not For Love), to be bred to Nashville

This filly became Wasabi's first stakes winner last year when she won the All Brandy Stakes at Laurel, and she also won an allowance for them after they claimed her at Monmouth. Originally a $57,000 yearling, she has good size and is well-made, and we're sending her to one of the more exciting freshman stallions in this year's crop in Nashville. A wickedly fast sprinter, he's a gorgeous specimen, and the cross is a good one. Plus, she's a half to a stakes horse of last year by Great Notion, from the same Gone West sire-line.

GUN SLINGIN (4, Gun Runner—Easy Tap, by Tapit), to be bred to Liam's Map

Wasabi really upped its game at the Keeneland November Sale, buying five mares for a total of $247,000, and this one was the most expensive at $77,000. A maiden mare, she's a full-sister to the TDN `Rising Star' of last summer Disarm (Gun Runner). We wanted to send her to a proven horse, and she gets that in Liam's Map, who should still have some upside as his best-bred crop comes to the races this year. This mating results in loads of line-breeding to some great Tartan Farm names like Fappiano, In Reality, Dr. Fager, Aspidistra and Rough n Tumble.

AMERICAN THRILLER (4, American Pharoah—Thrilled, by Uncle Mo), to be bred to Candy Ride (Arg)

Another purchase from Keeneland November who will be bred for the first time in 2023, she is another for whom we tried to find a proven stallion to fit. Physically, she's a great, big filly, so should match nicely with Candy Ride. And he has done very well with the Empire Maker sire line from which this filly hails. Her family can also show some versatility on the track, and Candy Ride should play into that, as well.

MAD GRACE (8, English Channel—Floating Island, by A. P. Indy), to be bred to Aloha West

This was a hard-knocking, versatile racemare that Wasabi claimed and who will be bred for the first time in 2023. She has a lot of page, and there are turf horses and dirt horses, sprinters and routers on it. We're sending her to Aloha West, a first-year stallion that is going to get every chance from the folks at Mill Ridge. He was exclusively a dirt sprinter himself, but his pedigree contains the same type of versatility that Mad Grace showed, and we won't be shocked if he gets horses that run longer than he did, and on turf. He's a beautifully balanced horse, very nicely-made, and we're excited to have a share in him and send a couple of mares to him.

FLORAL HALL (4, Bodemeister—Painted Lady, by Broad Brush) to be bred to Greatest Honour

Another Keeneland November purchase, this one carrying her first foal by Frosted, she goes to another first-year stallion that we are very high on in Greatest Honour. Physically, he's an incredible specimen, and we think the turn of foot he showed to win those Derby preps for Shug McGaughey over a surface and configuration that should not have suited his style means he's got a huge shot and offers a lot of value where Spendthrift priced him. This mare's family has had plenty of success with Pulpit-line stallions, and a few by Street Cry, who happens to be Greatest Honour's broodmare sire. So we like this pairing a lot.

WILD FOR LOVE (13, Not for Love—Sticky, by Concern) to be bred to Tapiture

One of Wasabi's first broodmares, Wild for Love delivered her first foal for us in the form of stakes winner Local Motive by the Maryland stallion Divining Rod, a son of Tapit. She has a two-year-old filly of '23 by Maximus Mischief that brought $160,000 as a yearling in 2022, but since then we've gone back to that Tapit/Pulpit line with her–she's in foal to Tacitus currently, and we will send her to Tapiture this spring. Tapiture gets such a high proportion of runners and winners, and plenty of stakes horses, too–and his numbers with Not For Love mares are pretty incredible (4-for-4 winners to runners, two stakes winners plus another black-type placed). We hope we get another Maryland-bred runner to earn us breeder bonuses for years just like Local Motive.

WOWWHATABRAT (11, Louis Quatorize—Kim the Brat, by Smart Strike) to be bred to Blofeld

This mare was a warrior, running 74 times over eight years and earning over $300,000. She was stakes-placed at two and four, and comes from the family of New Money Honey, Any Given Saturday, and a good horse named Second of June. After slipping last year, she is carrying her first foal by Jimmy Creed and looks like she'll be our first mare to foal this year. We are going to breed her back locally to Blofeld—the numbers he has put up are pretty amazing, with his first 14 foals to race all having won, and now he's sitting at 29 winners from 37 runners (out of just 50 foals). He had the winners of both Maryland Million two-year-old races in 2022. He has a couple of decent winners out of a full-sister to Wowwhatabrat, and this mating doubles up on Broodmare of the Year Misty Morn, and adds two more crosses of her dam, Grey Flight. Too far back to count as the Rasmussen Factor, but hopefully still effective.

Interested in sharing your own mating plans? Email garyking@thetdn.com.

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“This is a spectacular list of seasons,” said Mike McMahon president of TCA. “It's going to be one of the most exciting auctions we have ever held.”

Bidders or their authorized agents may bid on select seasons by attending the event in-person or they may email ehalliwell@tca.org to register to bid online or by phone. Non-season items including a John Deere ZTrak mower, an eighth pole from Keeneland Race Course, a meet and greet with Flightline, a condo in St. Thomas, and week-long stay at a Florida beach house will also be offered in the live auction.

Additionally, an online silent auction of non-season items including halters worn by Tapit, Gun Runner, and Jack Christopher, a Florida Derby package, artwork, unique experiences, and more will be offered. A list of silent auction items is available here.

Maggi Moss will be honored with the Allaire du Pont Leadership Award and Second Stride will be honored with the Ellen and Herb Moelis Industry Service Award for their dedication to Thoroughbred aftercare.

The auction is generously sponsored by Mt. Brilliant, Bourbon Lane Stable Retirement Fund, Limestone Bank, Coolmore America, Equine Medical Associates, Top Line Sales, Equine Medical of Ocala, L.V. Harkness & Co., BloodHorse, Paulick Report, Daily Racing Form, and Thoroughbred Daily News.

For further information regarding the 33rd annual TCA Stallion Season Auction including please visit the TCA website or call (859) 276-4989.

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The Allaire du Pont Leadership Award is presented annually to an organization or individual whose philanthropic endeavors are consistent with TCA's mission. Past award winners include Jen Roytz, LNJ Foxwoods, and Dan Rosenberg, just to name a few. From Des Moines, Iowa, Maggi Moss is a successful Thoroughbred owner, attorney, and staunch advocate for equine welfare. After over two decades in the show horse world Moss turned her attention to Thoroughbred racehorses. In 2006, she became the first woman in America since 1945 to be named leading owner in the U.S. for races won. Moss has been leading owner at multiple tracks, and she continues to work as an advocate for the importance of Thoroughbred aftercare.

The Ellen and Herb Moelis Industry Service Award is presented annually to an organization that works to uphold TCA's mission. Past award winners include the Our Mims Retirement Haven, TAKE2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program, Retired Racehorse Project, Old Friends, and New York Race Track Chaplaincy. Founded in 2005, Second Stride is a Thoroughbred aftercare organization located in Prospect, Kentucky. Second Stride works to safely and responsibly retrain and rehome Thoroughbreds.

As for the Stallion Season Auction, it opens with the online bidding  of stallion seasons at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, January 4 and continues through 4:30 p.m. EST on Friday, January 6. Nearly 200 seasons will be available on www.Equiring.com with a full list available, here.

Most will sell during the online auction; however, select seasons to Constitution, Flightline, Good Magic, Maxfield (with 2024 breed back), Nashville (with 2024 breed back), Not This Time, Nyquist (with 2024 breed back), Olympiad, and Quality Road will be sold at the 'Tis the Seasons Celebration on Sunday, January 8. Bidders or their authorized agents may bid on select seasons by attending the event in-person or they may email ehalliwell@tca.org to register to bid online. Tickets can be purchased, here.

An online silent auction of non-season items including halters worn by Tapit, Gun Runner, Jack Christopher and more will be offered.  A list of silent auction items is available here. More items will be added. The auction is sponsored by Mt. Brilliant, Bourbon Lane Stable Retirement Fund, Limestone Bank, Coolmore America, Equine Medical Associates, Top Line Sales, Equine Medical of Ocala, L.V. Harkness & Co., The Thoroughbred Daily News, BloodHorse, Paulick Report, Daily Racing Form.

For further information regarding the 33rd annual TCA Stallion Season Auction including please visit www.tca.org or call (859) 276-4989.

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Tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' off his impressive 11 1/2 length debut romp at Saratoga in September of 2020, the $460,000 KEESEP buy followed suit with a dominant Keeneland allowance win a month later, good for a 103 Beyer Speed Figure.

Nashville may not have won the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, but he was the fastest sprint winner on the card. After sizzling through fractions of :21.54 for the opening quarter and :43.87 for the half-mile, Nashville sailed home the easiest of winners. Geared down in the late stages, he crossed the wire 3 1/2 lengths ahead of his nearest pursuer in the new track-record time of 1:07.89, earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure. Nashville's final clocking proved nearly a second faster than subsequent Eclipse Champion Sprinter Whitmore's time (1:08.61) in winning the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint later that same day.

This season, Nashville continued his winning ways with a 4/34-length, wire-to-wire victory at Fair Grounds in March, covering six furlongs in 1:08.61, the fastest sprint race of the entire Fair Grounds meet and the fastest time at that distance in more than two years.

“Nashville is the fastest horse we have ever had at WinStar,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO and racing manager of WinStar. “He is a freak of nature. Three times he went :43 and change; he led through the first quarter in every start and led after a half in all but one start. The brilliance he showed will give him a big chance at stud. Speightstown is always a plus, already having six sons to sire Grade I winners.”

By champion sprinter Speightstown, Nashville is out Veronique, a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Almond Roca (Speightstown) and graded stakes-placed Calistoga (Speightstown), who was purchased by James Delahooke for $800,000 in foal to Collected at Keeneland November in 2020 just days after Nashville's powerhouse performance in the Perryville. He hails from the direct female family of GI Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, GI Santa Anita Derby winner Tiago, and graded stakes winner and Grade I-placed Stanwyck. Nashville was bred in Kentucky by Breffini Farm and purchased from the Lane's End consignment.

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Hollis lowered the 5 ½-furlong mark in Friday's eighth race at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs, Ark., rolling to a 4 ½-length victory under perennial local riding champion Ricardo Santana Jr. Racing over a fast track, Hollis stopped the clock in 1:02.17 to eclipse the previous record of 1:02.60 – a time converted from fifths of a second – set by Sis Pleasure Fager in a Feb. 15, 1984, allowance race for fillies and mares.

Friday's race, a conditioned allowance for 3-year-olds and up, marked the return of 1-5 favorite Nashville, who finished second in his first start in almost a year after setting the six-furlong track record on the Breeders' Cup undercard at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., in November 2020.

Nashville was no match for Hollis ($11.20), who tracked the front-runner from the start on the outside before seizing control in the upper stretch. Hollis, under 120 pounds, broke the record with a strong southerly breeze pushing temperatures into the mid-70s, unseasonably warm for early December. He received a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 109, which equals the fourth-highest figure in the country this year in races up to a mile on the main track, according to Daily Racing Form.

“Hollis is a very special horse in our barn,” John Ortiz, the 6-year-old gelding's trainer, said Friday night. “He's got a personality like no other. We call him, 'The Scrapper.' We call him, 'The Boxer.' He wants to be in a fight. He'll take the fight to his competition. That's what my instructions were to Ricardo. When he's comfortable and you see Nashville take a breather, that's when you go up and join him. I know Ricardo was pumped. He said to me, 'Don't worry Johnny, we still had a lot left in the tank.' Good news.”

Santana, an eight-time Oaklawn riding champion, had ridden Nashville in his previous three starts, including the $125,000 Perryville Stakes for 3-year-olds when he set Keeneland's six-furlong track record (1:07.89) after sailing through a :21.54 opening quarter and :43.87 half-mile. Friday's splits were :21.81, :44.99, and :56.13 for 5 furlongs.

“It was pretty much what I thought would happen – seeing Nashville up in the front and us stalking him from the outside,” Ortiz said. “Just where we were, the fractions were perfect for Hollis. Sitting just off that pace was the best thing. To be honest with you, when you run Hollis, you're always in for an exciting race. You see in his record, he's dead-heated, he's won by a nose, he's lost by a nose and he's missing a nostril. It's always fun to win these races because he's really never disappointed us. We knew we were sending a horse that was 300 percent ready.”

Ortiz trains Hollis for William Simon (WSS Racing) and Brent and Sharilyn Gasaway (4 G Racing). On behalf of the Arkansas owners, Ortiz claimed the son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense for $40,000 May 25, 2020, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Hollis is a half-brother to Grade 1-raced Lady Lilly, a daughter of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist who finished fifth in the $200,000 Martha Washington Stakes for 3-year-old fillies last season at Oaklawn.

Hollis has proven to be a home-run claim, bankrolling $334,553 in 15 starts for his new connections and winning stakes races on dirt and turf. He was gelded shortly after being claimed. Hollis had previously sold for $200,000 and $120,000 at public auction.

“The pedigree was part of it,” Ortiz said of the claim. “I was the only one in on the horse. He was a pretty decent sprinter and we like sprinters. He was still intact and once we took the weight off, he really leaned out, literally, and became a much more focused horse to do what he likes to do, which is run really fast.”

Ortiz said Hollis will be considered for upcoming stakes races at Oaklawn, along with Mucho, another hard-knocking older stakes-winning sprinter he trains for Simon and the Gasaways (husband and wife). Owing to a Christmas gathering with family, Ortiz said he watched Friday's race from his Lexington, Ky., home.

Hollis' ninth victory in 22 career starts bumped his earnings to $420,333. He was also an allowance winner at 5 ½ furlongs last April at Oaklawn, covering the distance in 1:03.65 over a fast track.

Nashville was making his first start since being beaten for the first time in the $300,000 G1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds Dec. 26, 2020, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and co-owners WinStar Farm and China Horse Club.

Nashville had a small ankle chip removed following the Malibu and suffered a minor physical setback last summer, said Elliott Walden, who is WinStar's president/CEO and racing manager. Nashville was making his fifth career start Friday. He won his first three starts by a combined 24 ¾ front-running lengths.

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