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Gainesway’s Raging Bull Hits the Mark for Breeders

It can be a daunting task, bringing a horse untried on dirt to a stallion barn in Kentucky. But Gainesway Farm has nothing but confidence in their new addition, believing Raging Bull (FR) (Dark Angel {Ire} -Rosa Bonheur, by Mr. Greeley) has a unique combination of characteristics that will prove irresistible to American breeders.

“We're very excited to have Raging Bull,” said Gainesway Farm's Sean Tugel. “Gainesway was really established on bringing turf milers over here from Europe, so we're kind of going back to our roots. Turf racing in America continues to grow in stature and Raging Bull was an extremely talented horse, making 22 starts including 15 Grade Is. His sire, Dark Angel, is respected worldwide as a great source of speed and precocity, so I think he fits the mold of a successful stallion.”

Raging Bull has only been at Gainesway for a few weeks now, having shipped in from Del Mar after the GI Breeders' Cup Mile, but Tugel said breeders have been thrilled by what they've seen with the strapping bay.

“From the initial viewings by the breeders, they're really excited when he comes out,” Tugel said. “Physically, he's a big, strong horse. He's got a lot of leg under him and he has bone and substance. I think he's the kind of horse that you can really imagine getting dirt horses as well as turf horses and that's what really separates him apart from previous turf horses who have stood in America, that size and stature that he presents.”

Machmer Hall's Carrie Brogden was impressed after her first visit with Raging Bull.

“I was kind of surprised because you don't expect to have a turf horse that is so big and grand,” she explained. “He had size and presence and was dappled from head to toe. He was sound as a bell and charged up and down the lane when we saw him. He has size and scope, much more like an American horse than a European horse. I understand why he's here. He's big and beautiful and anyone who sees him is going to realize that.”

Owner Peter Brant and Raging Bull make their way to the winner's circle for the GI Hollywood Derby | Benoit

Archie St. George shared a similar first impression.

“Raging Bull is a lovely horse,” he said. “He looks unbelievable. Turf racing has become very well-received over here and he has a lot of quality, presence and strength, so I would imagine that he's what the breeders want.”

The six-year-old's sire, Dark Angel, is a resident of Yeomanstown Stud and currently sits atop this year's European Leading Sires of 2-Year-Olds list.

“Dark Angel has established his credentials worldwide as a sire of sires,” Tugel noted. “He's been so successful everywhere else in the world but we haven't gotten a really top-notch son of his here in America yet. Certainly this is the first one. He's a great influencer of speed and with the miler/sprinter types, so I think bringing that to America is a great advantage for every American breeder.”

Bred in France by Dayton Investments Limited, Raging Bull is the third foal out of the stakes-placed Mr. Greeley mare Rosa Bonheur and is the grandson of Rolly Polly (Ire) (Mukaddamah), an Italian highweight at two who later claimed a pair of graded stakes in California for Bobby Frankel.

“On the female side, Mr. Greeley stood here at Gainesway so it's dear to our hearts, but it also gives us a lot of hope that he can be a cross-surface stallion and it gives it a little bit of an American feel as well,” Tugel explained. “Breeders can easily relate to the Mr. Prospector line. Raging Bull is a great outcross to all American stallion lines and he's a horse that will fit a lot of people's breeding programs in America.”

Campaigned by Peter Brant, Raging Bull was a debut winner as a 3-year-old at Keeneland's 2018 spring meet. That summer, the Chad Brown trainee claimed consecutive victories at Saratoga in the GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. and the GIII Saranac S. He stepped up to Grade I company in the Hollywood Derby and rallied from the back of the field to win by half a length.

As an older horse, Raging Bull won the GI Shoemaker Mile S. at four and the GI Maker's Mark Mile S. at five, scoring a 106 Beyer Speed Figure in his final career victory.

“The Maker's Mark Mile this year was an excellent race and really showed his determination,” Tugel said. “He weaved in and out of horses and had really good speed. To show up in the spring and beat a very talented field in front of all the breeders really put the cap on his career.”

The top-class performer retired with earnings of over $1.7 million after winning or placing in 12 graded contests over his three-year career, including a runner-up effort to MGISW Got Stormy (Get Stormy) in the 2019 Fourstardave H. as well as a second-place performance against Ivar (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}) in the 2020 GI Shadwell Turf Mile S.

Raging Bull all alone in the GI Shoemaker Mile S. | Benoit

“It's incredible when a horse can maintain that Grade I level over multiple seasons,” Tugel said. “To have that competitive will and to keep showing up every single time and line up in 15 Grade I races, it takes a lot of heart and a lot of soundness. He showed up and tried every single time. He had seven triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures. He's a horse that has that will, determination and soundness, and that's usually what separates the good ones.”

Tugel said when Gainesway was approached by owner Peter Brant about the possibility of standing Raging Bull upon his retirement, the farm jumped at the opportunity.

“He was on a lot of farms' lists and we were following him for a long time. Milers make great stallions and he was a consistent miler throughout his career. Soundness is something that we need in our breed and is also something that he brings, having made 22 career starts over multiple seasons.”

Raging Bull will stand for a fee of $10,000 in 2022.

“He's already been extremely well-received,” Tugel said. “People love him when he comes out of the barn. He's one of those horses that grabs your imagination. The fact that he ran in the Breeders Cup and then shipped right in and looks as good as he does, that's why he ran 22 times and was able to hold up to it. The same class that he showed on the racetrack, he's shown already here at Gainesway.”

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AAEP Publishes Contagious Equine Metritis Guidelines

Comprehensive guidelines to assist veterinarians with identification, diagnosis and control of Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM), a non-systemic venereal disease of equines that causes short-term infertility in mares and rare abortion, are now available on the AAEP's website.

Six outbreaks of CEM have occurred in the U.S. in the past 15 years, including a significant outbreak in 2008 to 2010 in which over 1,000 exposed horses in 48 states were required to be tested, resulting in 23 contaminated stallions and five infected mares ultimately identified and treated.

“Outbreaks in the U.S. have demonstrated the risk of incursions and the need for surveillance in the active breeding population to identify cases early and limit disease spread,” said guidelines co-author Dr. Abby Sage, Richmond staff veterinarian for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “Several of these outbreaks also demonstrated significant stallion-to-stallion spread of Taylor equigenitalis via fomites and inadequate biosecurity during semen collection and stallion handling.”

Dr. Sage and co-author Dr. Peter Timoney, the Frederick Van Lennep Chair in Equine Veterinary Science at the University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine Research Center, advise equine practitioners and stallion owners/managers to follow stringent biosecurity protocols when collecting and handling stallions and consider implementation of annual testing of active breeding stallions prior to breeding season as ongoing assurance of disease freedom.

CEM is an internationally reportable disease. When the carrier status of a stallion or infection of a mare is suspected, practitioners should contact their state and/or federal animal health official, who will provide current collection and response procedures for suspect cases.

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The CEM Guidelines were reviewed and approved by the AAEP's Infectious Disease Committee and board of directors. View the guidelines or save them to your mobile device for future reference here.

Besides CEM, AAEP guidelines for 22 additional equine infectious diseases are available here.

Taking Stock: The Kingmans in America

Juddmonte's European-based Kingman (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) is one of the best young stallions in the world. Through four crops of racing age, Kingman is represented to date by 42 black-type winners, 22 of them group or graded winners, four at the highest level. Moreover, he sires black-type winners at a rate of 9% from foals. In these days of big books, that's an excellent ratio. For comparison, Juddmonte's outstanding sire Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) gets 10% black-type winners from foals, while Frankel's legendary sire got 11%.

Kingman is keeping heady company, and he caught the attention of some American owners early, most notably from Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stable and Peter Brant. Chad Brown trains for both owners and is behind a number of Kingmans that have won or placed in graded races over the last three weeks, reminding us once again that Kingman is that rare European stallion with a particularly sharp record over American turf tracks.

On Saturday, Klaravich's 3-year-old colt Public Sector (GB) (Kingman {GB}) won the Gll Hill Prince S. at nine furlongs over the inner turf course at Belmont–his third consecutive graded score, following wins in the Glll Saranac S. over a mile and a sixteenth on the inner turf at Saratoga and the Gll National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. over a mile on the same course. Altogether, Public Sector has won five of nine starts with three second-place finishes and has earned almost $600,000.

The weekend before, Klaravich's 3-year-old filly Technical Analysis (Ire) was second to runaway winner Shantisara (Ire) (Coulsty {Ire})–also trained by Brown–in the Gl Queen Elizabeth ll Challenge Cup S. Presented by Dixiana at Keeneland over nine furlongs on turf. Prior to the Queen Elizabeth, Technical Analysis had won the Gll Lake Placid S. over a mile and a sixteenth on the inner turf course at Saratoga and the Glll Lake George S. at a mile on the same course. Technical Analysis has a record of four wins from seven starts with two placings and has earned almost $400,000.

The weekend before that, Peter Brant's 5-year-old Serve the King (GB), a member of Kingman's first crop, was second to the Brown-trained Rockemperor (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) in the Gl Joe Hirsch Turf Classic over 12 furlongs on turf at Belmont. A listed winner, Serve the King has won four of 10 starts with three placings and earned almost $300,000, and it looks as if he's on the verge of landing a graded race sometime soon.

Brown also trains Klaravich's 4-year-old Kingman gelding Domestic Spending (GB), the best of them all. Most recently he was second as the heavy favorite in the Gl Mr. D. over 10 furlongs on turf at Arlington in August, but before that had won three consecutive Grade l races on grass: the Hollywood Derby over nine furlongs at Del Mar; the nine-furlong Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill; and the 10-furlong Resorts World Casino Manhattan S. over the inner course at Belmont. All told, Domestic Spending has won six of eight starts and earned $1.4 million.

Brown also trained the stakes winner and Grade lll-placed She's Got You (GB) (Kingman {GB}), a 5-year-old homebred mare for John and Tanya Gunther, plus several other stakes-placed, allowance, and maiden Kingman winners, mostly for Klaravich and Brant, who sourced these horses mostly from the Tattersalls October yearling sale's Book 1.

Brown obviously knows how to prepare the Kingmans for U.S. racing, as they fall into his wheelhouse as a master of turf horses, but that they succeed regularly here under American training conditions and on harder surfaces than in Europe is a testament to their adaptability–no small feat. One other thing about them: they consistently exhibit acceleration and “try,” always fighting to the finish, and those are the precious attributes that make a world-class sire.

The Kingmans tend to excel from a mile to a mile and a quarter both in Europe and the U.S., and this season the stallion is represented in Europe by the outstanding 4-year-old miler Palace Pier (GB), who'd won three consecutive Group 1 races before going down by a neck to Baaeed (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth ll S. at Ascot Oct. 16. Palace Pier is a winner of nine races from 11 starts and has earned the equivalent of $2.4 million. He'll enter stud next year at Darley.

Kingman, a son of Invincible Spirit (Ire) and very much a Danzig-line horse by type and aptitude, was himself an outstanding miler for Khalid Abdullah, winning seven of eight starts. His lone loss, as the 6/4 favorite in the G1 2000 Guineas, was a shocker when he was nipped in the dying stages of the race by 40-1 Night of Thunder (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), but he went on to win four consecutive Group 1 races after that: the Irish 2000 Guineas, the St. James's Palace (from Night of Thunder); the Sussex; and the Prix Jacques le Marois.

He entered stud at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor in 2015 as the highest-rated horse of 2014 on Timeform and covered mares in his first year at a fee of £55,000. This year, it was £150,000. There's nothing like success to bolster demand, and Kingman was a hit off the bat with a first-crop Classic-winning miler, Persian King (Ire), who served his first mares this year at Haras d'Etreham in France.

Klaravich

Kingman's first yearlings were offered at auction in 2017, and that year Klaravich purchased one colt by the stallion for the equivalent of $167,290 among the six yearlings the stable took home from Tattersalls October Book 1 for a total of $1.8 million.

The stars of that group were Grade l winners Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and Digital Age (Ire) (Invincible Spirit) and listed winner Value Proposition (GB) (Dansili {GB}), but the Kingman colt Good Governance (GB), a $167,290 purchase, was talented if not sound. He'd won his first start by a nose at three in a maiden special at Saratoga and was then thrown into stakes company in his next start, the Glll Saranac at Saratoga. Good Governance made a fight of it, finishing second by a neck, but he wasn't seen again until the following year. At four, he won an allowance at Belmont on his season debut, then ran third in the Gll Bernard Baruch before going on the shelf again. He's made one start this year, a fourth-place finish in an Aqueduct AOC in April, and hasn't raced since, but his early class, plus the top-level race the stable won with Digital Age, a horse by Kingman's sire, no doubt made the stable return to the well the following year.

In 2018 at the same venue, Klaravich bought 10 yearlings for $2.9 million by such sires as Lope de Vega, Sea the Stars (Ire), Dansili, Gleneagles (Ire) and Australia (GB), but the best of the lot and the only Grade l winner among the group was Kingman's Domestic Spending, a $413,973 buy. The only other Kingman from this group, the colt Principled Stand (GB), a $288,701 purchase, is a winner of two of three starts and looks like he's got a future.

In 2019 at Tattersalls October Book 1, Klaravich bought 15 yearlings for $3.8 million, and included among this group that featured colts and fillies by such as Lope de Vega, Shamardal, Invincible Spirit, and Dubawi were four Kingmans. Two of them are the aforementioned Grade ll winners Technical Analysis, who cost $258,109, and Public Sector, a $217,822 buy, and they are the only black-type winners from this group so far.

With this type of record with Kingman, it's only a matter of time before other American owners start copying the Klaravich formula, and why not?

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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Lord Nelson Euthanized

Spendthrift Farm's MGISW Lord Nelson (Pulpit–African Jade by Seeking the Gold) was euthanized Thursday after a long battle with laminitis. He was 9-years-old.

“Upon consulting with a veterinarian team consisting of Dr. Scott Morrisson, Dr. Jim Morehead, and Dr. Caleb Harms and our stallion manager Wayne Howard, it was determined that the only humane course of action we had was to euthanize Lord Nelson following his latest difficult battle with laminitis,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift's general manager. “It's pretty well chronicled his long fight with the disease. After several encouraging years, it unfortunately caught up with him and we couldn't allow him to suffer after we had run out of medical options.”

He continued, “It is a very sad day at Spendthrift. Lord Nelson was an unbelievably courageous horse and I think he'll always be remembered by the entire team at Spendthrift and anyone who ever got to be around him. Just a very special animal and we will miss him.”

Lord Nelson won seven of his 13 starts for trainer Bob Baffert and Spendthrift, earning $958,271. The flashy chestnut closed his career with a trio of Grade I victories in the Triple Bend S., Bing Crosby S. and Santa Anita Sprint Championship S. in 2016. He was forced to miss that year's Breeders' Cup and the 2017 breeding season with a leg infection became laminitis. Lord Nelson's oldest foals are 2-year-olds and he currently has three winners.

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