All Equine All The Time

Highland Reel With a top class group of racehorses going to stud around Europe in 2018, it’s no wonder breeders are looking forward to seeing what this foaling season brings.  From Ireland to France, we look at 10 stallions who are catching the eye – and the imagination – this foaling season. Aclaim – The busiest new flat sire in England in 2018 was Aclaim (Acclamation) with 160 mares covered. The winner of the Group 1 Qatar Prix de la Foret, Acclaim’s dam  is a half-sister to Group 1 Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Again (Danehill Dancer) with their dam a half-sister to champion Montjeu (Sadler’s Wells). His sire has sons such as Dark Angel and Equiano proving he can have success as a sire-of-sires, boding well for the 6-year-old’s future. Aclaim stands for £9,500 at the National Stud in England this year. Almanzor – One of the most successful horses to retire in 2018 was Almanzor (Wootton Basset), Europe’s Cartier Champion 3-Year-Old Colt. Winning three of ...

Foaling season is here and with it brings the excitement of seeing what last year’s freshman stallions have sired.  Last year’s crop had many interesting horses from Arrogate and Gun Runner to regional stallions like Divining Rod and Union Jackson. Unfortunately in the interest of space I couldn’t include all of the major stallions with first foals who stuck out to me, but here are 10 both in Kentucky and in regional markets whose foals I am interested in seeing this year. Arrogate – One of the two most eagerly anticipated retirees last year, Champion 3-Year-Old Arrogate (Unbridled’s Song) won seven of his 11 starts including the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, Travers, and Dubai World Cup. Arrogate was limited to 145 mares but they were some of the best mares in the industry with the stallion breeding over 25 outside Group 1 winners or producers, according to Juddmonte Farm , and some of Juddmonte Farm’s best U.S. mares including Sightseek (Distant View), Rising Tornado (S...

Justify Last year was a year to remember for United States racing with an undefeated Triple Crown winner in Justify (Scat Daddy) and the future looking bright with talented 2-year-olds taking part in some of the 113 Grade 1 flat races taking place in North America.  Today we look to see who found the most success at the level as a racehorse, as a sire, and in the sales ring. By The Numbers – In 2018, 85 different horses won 113 Grade 1 races. Thirty seven of those were fillies or mares, 11 geldings, and 37 colts or entires. Twelve of those entire males have already been announced to be retiring for the 2019 breeding season and already have an advertised stud fee. The average fee to breed to those horses is $32,333 with Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy) the most expensive of those at $150,000 and Long On Value (Value Plus) least expensive at $2,500.  Seven 2018 Grade 1 winning mares went through the ring in November for an average of $2,033,333 for the six w...