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Grade 2 Winner Shancelot Retired To Buck Pond Farm

A history-making sprinter when winning the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes with a 121 Beyer Speed Figure – the highest Beyer by a 3-year-old sprinter in history – Shancelot has been retired to Buck Pond Farm, Crawford Farms Racing announced Jan. 11. He will stand for a fee of $7,500 in 2021.

“We're excited to stand Shancelot in Kentucky where we recently purchased a farm close by,” said Al Crawford of Crawford Farms Racing. “We feel his incredible speed will attract a lot of breeders and we are very actively purchasing mares at the Keeneland January Sale to support him ourselves.”

Shancelot showed speed from the start when winning his first three races by a combined 19 lengths. In his six starts, Shancelot never finished worse than third and registered four career triple digit Beyer Speed Figures against the best horses in the sprint division. His record-breaking 121 Beyer Speed Figure is bested only by Arrogate in the 2015 Travers at ten furlongs (122) and Holy Bull in the 1994 Met Mile at eight furlongs (122) by 3-year-old colts.

Breaking his maiden over Grade 1 winner Bodexpress in his debut at Gulfstream Park, Shancelot romped to a 6 1/4-length victory in his second start before stepping up to stakes company that summer. The colt made history in his next start in the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes with a 12 1/2 length victory to burst onto the sprinting scene with the aforementioned 121 Beyer Speed Figure.

That Beyer proved to be better than any other top sprinter that year, including champion sprinter Mitole ($15,000 stud fee), whose career best Beyer Speed Figure of 112 came in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Mitole's fellow Eclipse sprint male finalists World of Trouble ($15,000 stud fee) and Imperial Hint registered career dirt race bests of 109 and 114 respectively.

Following his Amsterdam romp, Shancelot ran exclusively in Grade 1 company from then on, coming just a head away from a Grade 1 victory in the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes next out behind Mind Control.

Shipping to the West Coast for the first time, Shancelot ran a game second in the G1 Santa Anita Sprint Handicap. Racing in his traditional spot on the lead, he was collared near the wire by multiple Grade 1 winner Omaha Beach ($35,000 stud fee) to lose by a just head.

Shancelot ended his career with a determined second in the Breeders' Cup Sprint to eventual Eclipse champion Mitole. Shancalot broke into triple digit Beyer Speed Figures for the fourth time in the race with a 110. A winner of half his starts, Shancelot retires with $624,300 in earnings.

“He is an absolutely gorgeous horse,” said trainer Steve Asmussen, “He had limitless ability. He was mentally talented with a great disposition. I am looking forward to seeing his offspring.”

By champion 2-year-old colt Shanghai Bobby, Shancelot is one of four stakes horses for the stakes-winning mare True Kiss. That mare is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Silver Max and a three-quarter sister to Grade 1 winner and successful sire Yes It's True.

“Shancelot could be a breed-changer with his speed. He was brilliantly fast, and comes from a fast family with a lot of class. He showed that class when competing among an incredibly strong division of sprinters,” added Buck Pond Farm's Doug Arnold.

Currently located at Fair Grounds with trainer Steve Asmussen, Shancelot is expected to ship to Kentucky soon and will be available for inspection at Buck Pond Farm upon his arrival.

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First Foal Is A Colt For Grade 1 Winner Yoshida

WinStar Farm's Yoshida, a Grade 1 winner on dirt and turf, sired his first reported foal when a colt was born at WinStar on Saturday night, Jan. 9. Bred by Anastasie Astrid Christiansen-Croy, the bay colt, who arrived at 10:58 p.m., is out of the Monsun mare Gravata and hails from a family replete with black type.

“We're thrilled to welcome the first Yoshida foal here at WinStar Farm on behalf of our client Ms. Christiansen-Croy,” said Liam O'Rourke, WinStar's director of bloodstock services. “Yoshida has repatriated the Sunday Silence line to America and these foals represent the next generation of that world-class sire. Yoshida was an elite and versatile racehorse and will be strongly supported again in his second year at stud in 2021.”

A son of Heart's Cry, one of the leading sires in Japan by dual classic winner and influential sire Sunday Silence, Yoshida earned $2,505,770 in a sensational racing career for WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and Head of Plains Partners. Trained by Bill Mott, Yoshida was a versatile four-time stakes winner on dirt and turf. He competed on three different continents and recorded five triple-digit Beyers over both surfaces—108, 106, 105, 103, and 102.

Yoshida won the $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga in his first career start on dirt, defeating five Grade 1 winners. That same year at four in 2018, he defeated eight graded stakes winners, including three Grade 1 winners, in the $500,000 G1 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs. He also won the 2017 G3 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont and was named a TDN Rising Star in a stylish maiden-breaking win at Keeneland in his 3-year-old bow.

Bred in Japan by Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm, Yoshida is the second foal produced from Hilda's Passion, who captured the 2011 G1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga before selling for $1.2 million at that year's Fasig-Tipton November sale.

Yoshida bred 148 mares in his first book in 2020 and he will stand the upcoming breeding season for $15,000 S&N.

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Liver Failure Claims International Sire Zoffany At Age 13

The 13-year-old Coolmore Stud resident Zoffany was euthanized today, owing to liver failure.

“Zoffany was a great servant and he'll be a big loss,” said Coolmore's David O'Loughlin.

The son of Dansili, bred by Croom House Stud, won the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes as a juvenile and ran a career best when runner-up to Frankel, beaten just three-quarters of a length, in the G1 St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

His first crop conceived at €7,500 included three juvenile group/stakes winners at Royal Ascot; namely Waterloo Bridge in the G2 Norfolk Stakes, Illuminate in the G3 Albany Stakes, and Washington DC in the listed Windsor Castle Stakes. This initial crop also included G1 Gran Premio del Jockey Club winner and G1 St Leger Stakes runner-up Ventura Storm.

Off the back of this early success, Zoffany attracted several high-quality books of mares which resulted in him siring some top-notch performers. In 2019 his daughter Albigna, owned and bred by the Niarchos Family, proved herself one of the best fillies in Europe when winning the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac.

In the latest season Zoffany was sire of three group-winning juveniles in the shape of G1 National Stakes winner Thunder Moon, G3 Naas Juvenile Sprint Stakes winner and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf runner-up Mother Earth and G3 Marble Hill Stakes winner Minaun. Zoffany's 2020 yearlings sold for up 580,000 guineas, led by a filly bred by James Cloney of Cn Farm and purchased by MV Magnier from consignors Highclere Stud.

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Champion Lemon Drop Kid Pensioned From Stud Duty At Lane’s End

Lane's End Farm announced today that leading perennial sire Lemon Drop Kid has been pensioned from stallion duties, and will remain at Lane's End Farm to enjoy the rest of his retirement.

Lemon Drop Kid is responsible for siring 96 black-type winners and 101 graded stakes horses, including Grade 1 winners Beach Patrol, Romantic Vision, Richard's Kid and Lemons Forever. Currently he is number 11 on the cumulative list of leading active sires in North America, with total combined progeny earnings of over $96,000,000.

Lemon Drop Kid is also quickly establishing himself as a proven source of Grade 1 talent as a broodmare sire with the likes of Forever Unbridled, Finest City, Tamarkuz and Bar of Gold.

“Lemon Drop Kid has been a Lane's End stalwart for 20 years,” said Lane's End's Bill Farish. “We are very fortunate to be associated with a horse like him. We want to thank the syndicate members and breeders who have supported him for the past two decades. His legacy will live on through his sons and daughters across the globe.”

A son of champion Kingmambo, Lemon Drop Kid is out of the Seattle Slew mare Charming Lassie, who is a three-quarter sister to Champion A.P. Indy. Lemon Drop Kid is a half-sibling to graded winners Brulay and Statue of Liberty, and hails from the family of G1 winners Gay Mecene, Wolfhound, Summer Squall, Duke of Marmalade (Ire), Ruler of the World (Ire), and Court Vision. He was crowned champion older horse in 2000 and won five Grade 1 races including the Belmont Stakes.

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