Denali Stud

It was only a few days ago, on April 21 to be exact, that a horse racing at Thistledown sustained a slab fracture during morning training. That didn't mean that he had to be euthanized, but it could have. With many lower-level horses, when a career-ending injury occurs, the owner is often faced with a difficult decision, to either pay for surgery or have the horse put down. But thanks to a recently launched initiative, the HISA Equine Recovery Foundation (HERF), there is another option. The owner can turn the...

In the age of social media, I realize that I'm writing this at my own peril. And I'm probably once again spitting in the wind. However, I feel like someone needs to speak up on a few things concerning our latest self-inflicted crisis regarding our lack of unity and dysfunction as an industry. To say that as an industry we continue to be "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" is an understatement. We have been that way for the 40-plus years I've been involved in horse racing. Hence, the reason...

Caitlin Courtney has been named the new Director of Sales at Denali Stud after eleven years working with St George Sales and Brookstone Farm. She succeeds Elizabeth Snellings who held the position for three years. "We are thrilled to have Caitlin join the team at Denali," said Conrad Bandoroff. "She has extensive sales and industry experience, and we're looking forward to her bringing this skillset to Denali and our clients." A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Courtney has grown up around the Thoroughbred industry and started working for St George Sales...

On the surface, hiring people who have battled substance abuse issues, some of whom have criminal records, might not seem like a good idea. But Elliott Walden, the president and CEO of racing operations for WinStar Farm, felt otherwise. His family had dealt with these issues for years. His son, Will, now a successful trainer who is sober, had dealt with addiction for years before turning his life around thanks to the Stable Recovery program, which was co-founded by Taylor Made's Frank Taylor and Christian Countzler. Stable Recovery helps addicts...

$3.7-Million Lush Lips Tops Book 1 by Jessica Martini, Christina Bossinakis, & Alan Carasso LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale blitzed through its opening session Tuesday with 17 offerings--including a pair of weanlings--selling for $1 million or more and figures up dramatically from the auction's Book 1 session in 2024. "It was a really strong day," said Keeneland President Shannon Arvin. "The broodmare market was very, very strong. We had 15 who brought $1 million or more, seven of those brought $2 million or more. The weanling...

A weanling colt by Gun Runner brought $2.2 million from Donato Lanni on behalf of Zedan Racing at Keeneland November Tuesday. He is a half-brother to GSW Ides of March (Ire) (Wootton Bassett). Hip 146, consigned by Denali Stud, Agent XXIV, was produced by GI Frizette S. heroine Nickname (Scat Daddy). He was bred by Three Chimneys Farm, LLC and Brookdale Racing. Record broken again! Hip 146, a weanling colt by Gun Runner out of Nickname, brings $2.2 million from the @DenaliStud consignment. pic.twitter.com/oP7HPjrbq5 — Keeneland Sales (@keenelandsales) November 4,...

Following a busy week in racing, Keeneland picks up the mantle with its marquee bloodstock auction of the season, the November Breeding Stock Sale. Last week's Keeneland Championship Sale at Del Mar was highlighted by the $3-million final price paid by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa for a share in hot Taylor Made stallion Not This Time. This week, the attention is directed squarely on broodmares and weanlings, and Keeneland has catalogued over 3,086 spanning eight days of selling. Among the headliners in this year's catalog are GI Derby City...

Super Simple (Super Saver), the dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine Super Corredora (Gun Runner), has been supplemented to Book 1 of the Keeneland November sale and will go through the ring Tuesday as part of the opening day, the auction house announced Sunday afternoon. The dam is catalogued as HIP 225, and will be consigned by Denali Stud as agent for Woodford Thoroughbreds. She will be offered in foal to Gunite (Gun Runner). Super Simple is a half-sister to SW Simple Surprise (Cowboy Cal)--herself dam of the...

There are few hotter commodities in racing right now than offspring by Three Chimneys sire Gun Runner and Justify, who stands at Ashford Stud. Denali Stud intends to ride both of those waves this fall with a pair of graded-stakes winning mares by the two Horses of the Year. Leading the way on Monday, Nov. 3 at the Fasig-Tipton's November Sale is Gun Song (Gun Runner), who is being presented as a racing or broodmare prospect. Offered as Hip 101, the chestnut is a daughter of GSW and GISP Nicole...

LEXINGTON, KY -- The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale powered through its opening session in Lexington Monday, with figures up significantly from its record-setting 2024 renewal. "It was a great start to the October Yearling Sale in Kentucky," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said at the close of business Monday. "All of the statistical categories produced significant increases and we saw a continuation of the trends that we've seen from July carried through August, carried through September and now in October. There was tremendous demand at more levels than we've seen...

The sixth installment in the 2025 OwnerView webinar series was held Aug. 12 and covered buying horses at sales and on digital platforms, according to a press release on Thursday from the series. Guests included Leif Aaron, director of digital sales, Fasig-Tipton; Conrad Bandoroff, vice president of Denali Stud; Cormac Breathnach, director of sales operations, Keeneland; and Jon Green, owner of D.J. Stable LLC. Hosted by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and presented by Bessemer Trust, Keeneland, and Stoll Keenon Ogden, the panel was sponsored...

What is the common denominator between the last three runnings of the second jewel of the U.S. Triple Crown and Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga Select Yearling Sale? When Journalism (Curlin) crossed the wire first in the GI Preakness Stakes last May, it marked the third consecutive year that a yearling sold at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga venue brought home the blanket of Black-Eyed Susans. Beginning in 2023, National Treasure (Quality Road), a $500,000 Saratoga buy, won for trainer Bob Baffert and a partnership consisting of SF Racing, Starlight, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Jay Schoenfarber,...