Share This: War of Will peeks out from his stable at Keeneland before shipping to New York for the Belmont Stakes.
Bring on the Belmont Stakes! It has been a Triple Crown series full of surprises and I expect there will be plenty of twists for the ten who compete in “The Test of the Champion.” Who will that champion be? We shall soon see. For the time being, here’s the brief on the Belmont.
Share This: The 145th Kentucky Derby will race at Churchill Downs on March 4, 2019.
Prepare yourselves! Kentucky Derby is coming. Saturday, May 4th, we will celebrate the longest continually held sport in America. There is a lot to know before you witness the “Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports”. Reference this post for the 145th Run For The Roses.
Share This: Lawn jockeys decorated with the winners of previous stakes decorate Keeneland.
It’s been exactly one week since things really heated up at Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, KY. The October meet opened Friday, October 5th and served up some hot temperatures and hotter stakes races. Fall Stars Weekend delivered 10 stakes races. Since then they have held another stakes as well. What has sire power meant to Keeneland’s racetrack so far and who may we expect to win this weekend’s stakes?
Share This: Free Drop Billy romps early in the Blue Grass Stakes.
What a long strange trip it’s been, this Road to the Kentucky Derby. Thinking back to last September, how many times have we changed our minds, or might there be a few who had an inkling from foaling season? I’ve had an fascinating but indecisive path myself however, I have finally come to some determinations. This is what I know about the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby and I would love to share it with you.
Saratoga Springs is serving up a sweet stakes on Saturday! The 137th running of the Alabama Stakes posts at 5:40 P.M. EDT tonight and with a competitive field of 9 stakes winners there will be some surprises.
The Bluegrass State is getting a big dose of some much needed rain today. It was not the best weather for touring but I had a great visit to Claiborne Farm, nonetheless.
Claiborne Farm was established in Paris, KY in 1910 by Arthur B. Hancock. Over a century later it is still operated by the Hancock’s. Seth Walker Hancock, Jr. is the 4th generation Hancock horseman and manager. The farm sprawls across 3,000 acres. The pamphlet, provided at the tour, states Claiborne has had 22 Racing’s Hall of Fame horses, 63 Champions, 17 Horses of the Year, 22 Kentucky Derby winners, 19 Preakness Stakes winners, 22 Belmont Stakes winners, and 29 Breeders’ Cup winners. It also pointed out that half of all Triple Crown winning horses have been sired by their stallions.
Though it has 50 barns my hour long tour just featured a few of those. The first stallion I was introduced to was Orb. Orb is only 6 years old. He won the Kentucky Derby in 2013. He was sired by Malibu Moon and his dam is Lady Liberty. Orb’s 1st crop were foaled in 2015. Kevin, the tour guide, held Orb still so I could pet him. Kevin lives on the farm. His father and grandfather both worked there too. He has an abundance of detailed information on the stallions.
Flatter came out of his stall for a visit. He was foaled in 1999 and Claiborne was his breeder. His sire was A.P Indy and his dam was Praise by Mr. Prospector. Mr. Prospector is buried in 1 of the 3 horse cemeteries on the property. Flatter is the sire of multiple graded stakes winners including Upstart.
Lea is adorable and loves to savor his peppermints. He packs them in his gums and sips water to enjoy the flavor. Lea is a multiple graded stakes winner and is 7 years old. He is the progeny of First Samurai and Greenery. This is his first year at stud.
Blame by Arch and Liable is 10 years old. In 2010 Blame won the Breeders’ Cup Classic and an Eclipse Award for Champion Older Horse. His breeder was Claiborne. He has sired multiple graded stakes winners since 2011.
War Front is the most expensive stud on the farm. The son of Danzig and StarryDreamer was born in 2002 and won multiple graded stakes. He retired to stud in 2007. Air Force Blue and Hit It A Bomb are some of his 2015 champion offspring. I gave a big hug and he stuck his tongue out! As Twitter’s famous Woodbine Racetrack barn cat, Gator Kitten (@Gatorkitten) would say, he is “to sassys”!
The tour concluded with a visit to one of the cemeteries. Secretariat is one of the most well know Thoroughbreds buried there. He was purchased in 1972 to stand at Claiborne Farm. His stall is currently empty. It is waiting for a pretty special stud to come along.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Claiborne Farm. I hope you like the stallion pictures. Tours are available 7 days a week for most days of the year. To arrange your own visit go to Claiborne Farm . Thanks for reading my story. Check back soon for more Thoroughbred news and adventures.
What a sweet week I had. I was able to go to Keeneland 4 times for the January Horses of All Ages Sale. It was a moving experience as always.
This sale featured hip numbers 1 thru 1796. Of these, 1,040 Thoroughbreds sold versus 948 for this same sale last year. I arrived the day prior to the sale and the grounds were bustling with horsemen, prospective buyers and of course, the horses we love so much. The sale ran from Monday 1/11 thru Friday 1/15/16. The 5 day session was a full day longer than the previous year. On opening day, the auction began with hip 3 after the first 2 horses, and several more were “out” for various reasons. Hip 3, seen above in the Keeneland sales pavilion, is Captive Melody. She was consigned by an agent for Claiborne Farm. At a price of $70,000 she didn’t really get sold. She is listed as “RNA”, reserve not attained. This was the case with several of the horses at the auction. Captive Melody is 13 years old. She was sired by Unbridled’s Song and she did race. Her earnings are over $117,000 and she is pregnant with Malibu Moon’s foal. I find her to be very pretty.
Many horses did fetch a good price. Hip 259 was Summer Solo. She is a 5 year old daughter of Arch, in foal by Ghostzapper. She was consigned by Denali Stud for the dispersal of Sarah J. Leigh’s estate. She was purchased by Payson Stud, Inc. Her half-sister, hip 260, is Summer Sweet. Sired by More Than Ready, this 2 year old filly was also sold by Denali to Payson. These beauties were sale toppers at $700,000 and $550,000 respectively.
Virginia Kraft Payson bought the above Arch filly, hip 230, from Denali as well. She fetched $450,000. Payson was this sale’s top buyer. In all, the sale grossed over $35 million dollars. It made $158,000 more than the 2015 January sale and should be considered a success.
The crowd released audible coos when hip 76, Grenobloise, entered with her 5 day old baby. What a doll! I heard from Taylor Made Sales Agency, the leading consignor with 92 horses sold, that several babies were born in the Keeneland stalls during the sale. Grenobloise and her baby were also RNA. They were consigned by Buckland Sales.
I couldn’t attend on Tuesday but on Wednesday I saw 4 of the top 5 sale prices for that session. Seen above are hip 828, a filly by More Than Ready for $95,000, hip 917, ReadyFor Romance for $240,000, hip 927, Rock Me Mama for $90,000 and 945, a colt sired by Shanghai Bobby for $105,000.
Prom Time, hip 1271 and a colt by Super Saver, 1314, were the two top prices on Thursday. Each can be seen above. Eaton Sales consigned Prom Time. She was sold to Warrendale Sales. The colt was consigned by Hidden Brook and sold to Calumet Farm.
The best thing about Thursday is that it was the first time I was warm enough to roam the grounds freely. I saw some nice short yearlings and some stallions too. That is one of the pleasures of this sale. It is such a mixed bag. This sale offers horses that have raced, that will race, great broodmare prospects, stallions, you name it! Not only are they all ages but they are all kinds of pretty too. I likes the grays, especially the ones that almost look white. See some of the lovelies below.
I didn’t make it out yesterday but I see that it closed strong and the final horse was hip 1795, a gray or roan colt sired by Uncle Mo. Consigned by Brandywine Farm, this little guy sold to Eico Ventures for $80,000, the top price of the day.
I will have to wait until September 12th thru 24th to see the next Keeneland sale. It will feature yearlings. Fortunately, Fasig-Tipton has a Winter Mixed sale in Lexington February 8-9th. Perhaps, I can venture out then. Stay warm my friends and keep watching for my next post.
