All Equine All The Time

A notable import to the stallion ranks this year is Millennium Farm’s freshman sire Hakassan, a top racehorse in Chile. A champion in his home country he was the winner of five of his seven starts. Showing his versatility, the 7-year-old won Group 1 races in the country from eight to 11 furlongs with a Group 3 win at 7 ½ furlongs and another victory at 6 ½ furlongs just for good measure.  Hakassan’s score in three Group 1s at Hipodromo Chile not only won him champion 3-year-old honors, but also added a Triple Crown victory to his resume. That crowning achievement caught the attention of Green Hills Farm owner Leo Liaskos who imported him to the United States in 2013. Hakassan never raced in the United States and was retired to Millennium Farm in late January to enter his first season at stud.  While his race record was an attraction for the farm, his conformation and pedigree sealed the deal.  “He’s a very attractive horse and obviously from the Seattle Slew and...

Congrats A well-bred Grade 2 winner by mega-sire A.P. Indy, Congrats was well received when he retired to Cloverleaf Farms in Florida in 2007. Standing for a stud fee of $12,500, Congrats covered 172 mares that year with 107 live foals, setting him up for success when his first foals hit the track in 2010. Congrats had 61 2-year-olds run that first year and had 25 winners including three graded stakes winners and 12 other stakes horses. His results were good enough to top the First-Crop Sire list over a generation that included the high profile Bernardini (A.P. Indy) and future top sire War Front (Danzig). It was the first time since Valid Expectations led the First-Crop Sires list in 2001 that a stallion standing outside of Kentucky during his first season at stud led the list. Congrats had moved to Vinery Farm’s Florida division in 2008 after Cloverleaf Farms closed at the end of 2007, which made a move to Kentucky after his first 2-year-olds’ success easier. He was transferr...

Conveyance Residing at the historic Buck Pond Farm in Versailles, Ky., Conveyance joins the new stallion ranks this year at 9 years old.  Sold to Legends Racing at the Keeneland September Yearling sale for $240,000 in 2008, Conveyance debuted on Halloween day in 2009 for trainer Bob Baffert. He won that first race by 1 ½ lengths, starting a four race win streak that included victories in the Grade 3 San Rafael Stakes and Grade 3 Southwest Stakes to put him on the Kentucky Derby trail. A second place finish in the Grade 3 Sunland Derby solidified his spot in the 2010 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, where he finished 15th. Conveyance took the rest of that year off and resurfaced the following March in Dubai for a new trainer. Finishing second in the Group 3 Mahab Al Shimaal Sponsored by Emirates Airline, he only ran once more in 2011 with an off-the-board result in the Group 2 Godolphin Mile. Both Racing Post and Equibase have a three-year gap in Conveyance’s...

Munnings When Coolmore’s Demi O’Byrne paid $1.7-million for Munnings as an early 2-year-old, expectation were high for the chestnut son of Speightstown. After winning three graded stakes races and finishing on the board in six others, Munnings retired to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud for $12,500 (approx. €11,523/£8,792) in 2011. That crop produced 109 live foals with 53 of those making it to the track as 2-year-olds. Twenty-seven of those first 2-year-olds went to the winner’s circle with three stakes winners and one graded stakes winner in 2014, allowing Munnings to finish fourth by earnings behind Quality Road (Elusive Quality) on the Leading First-Crop Sires list.  Munnings also finished second behind fellow Ashford Stud Lookin at Lucky (Smart Strike) by winners and stakes winners (Super Saver (Maria’s Mon) tied with Lookin at Lucky at the top of the stakes winners list). But with 108 runners representing the stallion in 2015, the odds swung in his favor. Munnings had...

Tale of the Cat in 2014 A Grade 2 winner at seven furlongs and Grade 1 placed at nine furlongs, Tale of the Cat (Storm Cat) was more than useful as a racehorse. His successful racing career turned out to be a foreshadowing of his stud career when he joined the stallion ranks in 1999, retiring to Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky for $25,000.  By a top sire in Storm Cat and from a strong female family that includes champion Johannesburg (Hennessy) (out of Tale of the Cat’s half-sister) and Pulpit (A.P. Indy), Tale of the Cat has constantly ranked in the top 30 on the General Sires list since graduating from the crop-specific lists (where he was ranked in the top five on the first, second and third crop sires lists). While never a leading General Sire, Tale of the Cat is more often than not seen in the top 15 with his best ranking on that list being a seventh. The stallion has also done well enough with his 2-year-olds to lead the Two-Year-Old Sires list in 2003 and to rank seco...

City Zip at Lane's End in 2014 Retiring in late 2001 as a 3-year-old after winning nine of his 23 starts, including the 2000 Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes, City Zip was the first notable racehorse out of stakes winner Baby Zip. That mare would go on to produce two more graded stakes winners in addition to being the second dam of three others. The third foal out of Baby Zip, City Zip retired to Contemporary Stakes in New York as only the fourth horse to sweep the Hopeful, Saratoga Special and Sanford. The stallion would start his career at a modest stud fee of $7,500. City Zip held his own during his few years in New York, breeding a combined 305 mares between 2002 and 2004 with Grade 1 winner Bustin Stones, Grade 2 winner With a City and multiple Grade 3 winner Get Serious leading the 13 stakes winners produced from those crops. But the best was yet to come when his younger half-brother Ghostzapper burst onto the scene in 2004, winning Horse of the Year honors and convincing Lane...