All Equine All The Time

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...

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...

When Square Eddie (Smart Strike) retired to a California farm, it’s doubtful many people imagined the success he’d find in a relatively short period of time. Starting his career in England, Square Eddie made a big impression in his first U.S. start when he won the Grade 1 Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity. He followed that up with a second place finish in the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile behind Midshipman (Unbridled’s Song) and placed in two spring 3-year-old races the following year before injuries caused him to go off form.  2008 BREEDERS' FUTURITY   V i deo courtesy of NT R AHorse Racing   Square Eddie was first retired in February 2010 with a suspensory injury and initially stood for a private fee at Vessels Stallion Farm with owner Paul Reddam committing to breed his own mares to the stallion. That first year, Square Eddie covered 34 mares with 33 of them getting in foal with all 33 giving birth to live foals for a 97 percent strike rate. But later...