Gainesway Farm

The breeding community lost a friend and asset last week. Annette Covault died Friday, Dec. 13, from complications of ill health that she had dealt with for several years. As the booking secretary for Claiborne Farm first and then Gainesway Farm over several decades, Covault, known to her familiars as "Netto," provided common sense and good humor to breeders and farm managers working through the prickly process of getting mares booked to stallions in a timely manner. The stallion veterinarian at Gainesway from 2008 to 2019, Rocky Mason, DVM, noted...

The Indiana Thoroughbred Alliance (ITA) is celebrating its Fifth Annual Stallions & Services Auction--beginning Dec. 18--by partnering with platform BidXSell, the organization said in a press release on Friday. The auction focuses on uniting the Midwest horse racing community through the funding of scholarships, educational programs and the promotion of the industry. Featuring over 50 stallion seasons from Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, the event goes live on BidXSell's site at 8:00 a.m. (all times eastern) Dec. 18 and concludes at 4:00 p.m. Dec. 20. The catalogue review is set to...

The old patriarch can't have failed to notice all the activity around the Gainesway stallion barn, with four new lads settling in and another relatively recent arrival meanwhile leading a desperate race for the freshman laurels. At nearly 23, in contrast, Tapit's own book is being prudently managed and he was confined to 79 mares last spring. Yet this remains not only the neighborhood boss, but also the most venerable stallion in the land. True, the gray's status as America's most productive stallion is inexorably menaced by Into Mischief, who's...

Four new sires have joined Gainesway's stallion barn for 2025, bringing their roster up to 12 members. Tapit still reigns supreme at the Paris, Kentucky farm and the leading sire's stud fee will hold steady at $185,000 next year. McKinzie, whose first crop of 2-year-olds include Grade I winners Chancer McPatrick and Scottish Lassie, is in a tight battle for leading first-crop sire and his fee has increased from $30,000 to $75,000. Also in 2025, Raging Bull, a son of Dark Angel (Ire), will be represented by his first 2-year-olds...

4th-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 7:26 p.m. ET. Well-bred MISCHIEVOUS TIME (Not This Time) makes his first start for trainer Steve Asmussen. The Whisper Hill homebred is from unraced dam Daisy Mason (Orientate), who Mandy Pope and Gainesway acquired for $475,000 during the Keeneland November Sale while Mischievous Time was in-utero. This dam is herself out of Broodmare of the Year Leslie's Lady (Tricky Creek) who prolifically produced all-conquering sire Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday), current sire Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) and the multiple Eclipse winning Beholder (Henny Hughes). Also set for...

Whatever Next? It's as big a question for the throwback gelding of that name as for his sire, both standing at an exciting crossroads in their respective careers. Next's domination of a niche division of the American Turf is now such that he may now try to adapt to a more competitive, mainstream discipline at the Breeders' Cup. But whether this switch concerns distance or surface, in the Classic or Turf respectively, nobody should be surprised if the gray proves equal to the challenge. For his sire Not This Time...

You know how the quote reads directly from the handicapper's Bible, "Behold the pale horse with controlling speed." Heeding that warning arrives once again on Sunday. Halfway through the three-day holiday weekend of Thoroughbred racing, Saratoga and Del Mar card graded races. The Spa's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes, the penultimate 'Win and You're In' pass to the Breeders' Cup Classic, sets the tone with a myriad of intriguing storylines woven into this fleece as a half dozen entries will try to catch that aforementioned 'pale horse' Arthur's Ride...

Rider Emily Ellingwood straightened Night Beacon (Spun to Run) for her stretch run, then banked the young filly for the gallop out. All the while she allowed her mount--who moved like a western pleasure horse--to feel the ground beneath her during what was becoming a regular workout late in 2023. But it wasn't a nicely-groomed all-weather surface the pair were traveling over. No, the terrain was undulating and severe. Among the flora was fauna which included snakes and coyotes. There's no renovation break amid the rock and earth here. True,...

This season's GI Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey (Arrogate--Smart Shopping, by Smart Strike) will stand at Gainesway near Lexington after he retires, said officials at Gainesway, who acquired his stallion rights, in a release Wednesday afternoon. "We are excited to add Seize the Grey to our stallion roster, " said Gainesway's general manager Brian Graves. "Arrogate was cut out to be a top sire and we are excited to have one his best sons stand at Gainesway. His speed and good looks should prove to be very popular with...

While Ashford young gun Justify was busy making waves over the pond this weekend, it was Gainesway's time-tested sire royalty who quietly added to his legacy on American shores. No matter how you slice it, one stallion in North America--and only one--leads all active lifetime sires by every major category, be it earnings, black-type winners, graded winners, Grade I winners, and even lifetime starters and winners. Unmatched among living active sires, Tapit hasn't had bigger crops than the other stallions on the list (he ranks third among the top 10...

GISW Olympiad (Speightstown) has his first foal--a filly--who arrived Jan. 18, Gainesway Farm said in a Thursday release. Out of the mare, Sophie Sophie (Unbridled's Song), a half-sister to GISW and millionaire Seattle Smooth (Quiet American), the filly was bred by Dr. Oscar Benavides and born at his Montesacro Farm. "I am very happy with my filly," said Dr. Benavides. "She looks racy and has great conformation as we expected being by Olympiad." Olympiad, a five-time graded stakes winner, posted eight wins in 13 career starts for earnings of $3,027,560...

In a movement spearheaded by Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gary Barber, a group of 36 prominent horsemen have joined together in support of the fight against antisemitism. The horsemen have pledged a donation of a portion of their  Breeders' Cup earnings to the organization Stand Up to Jewish Hate. "Together, we support the fight against Jewish hate and antisemitism and stand with Israel's mission to eliminate all forms of terrorism," a statement from the group read. "In a united effort, we are committed to donating a portion...