Lane's End

Naohiro Sakakuchi's Demian (c, 2, Flightline--Mira Alta, by Curlin) was produced by the visiting Damian Lane with a bit less than a furlong to race and quickened up nicely to become the first winner from the much-anticipated initial crop of his freshman sire (by Tapit) in Saturday's sixth race for unraced 2-year-olds going 1400 meters on the turf at Tokyo Racecourse. Favored at odds-on in ante-post wagering, the $1.7-million Keeneland September acquisition was ultimately away as the 19-10 second pick, but jumped only fairly and raced near the back of...

Connect (Curlin--Bullville Belle, Holy Bull), winner of the GI Cigar Mile, has been sold to Seyda Ercan Stable and will stand in Turkey in 2027, Lane's End confirmed on Monday. The 13-year-old stallion has been based at Lane's End since his retirement in 2018. According to the Turkish publication Yaris Dergisi, which first reported the sale, the deal was brokered by bloodstock agent Murat Sancal. During his stud career, his progeny have won 37 stakes and just under $31 million in progeny earnings. One the racetrack, Connect earned over $1.3...

GI Preakness Stakes winner Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map) has been sold to ESPOIR USA, Inc. for an undisclosed amount, according to a report by the Daily Racing Form's David Grening. Previously owned by Al Golds's Gold Square LLC, the two-time Grade I winner will remain with trainer Chad Summers who told Grening, "Very appreciative of everything that Al did to get us to this point. It's going to feel awkward putting different blinkers and different silks on him, but Napoleon's still Napoleon and we're excited to make him champion 3-year-old...

1st-AQU, $80k, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 1:10p.m. ET Hailing from a branch of the female line which yielded 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' MGISW Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), Okefenokee (Maxfield) will be unveiled in the Aqueduct opener for trainer Tom Morley. Sharing a name with an ecologically rich swampland that spans Georgia and Florida, as well as being a beloved stomping ground for a certain Adams family, the $375,000 Keeneland September purchase enters this debut with a healthy worktab over the training track at Belmont Park. In...

With the first major 2-year-old sale, OBS March, now in the books, and the next round, the OBS April sale, right around the corner, it's time for some predictions. We asked the experts who their pick is for leading freshman sire and also asked them for a "sleeper pick," or a stallion that will perform beyond expectations. Here's what they had to say: NELSON ARROYO Top Pick: Life is Good, WinStar Farm, $60,000 This is one of the best years we've ever had when it comes to the freshman sire...

Raging Torrent (by Maximus Mischief), new to the Lane's End roster for 2026, has his first mare confirmed in foal, according to a press release from the stallion operation on Wednesday. Owned by V. Gail Ray and Ramspring Farm, the covered mare is She'srunninghappy (Runhappy), who produced her second foal--a filly by Timberlake--Jan. 14. Out of an extended female family which includes GSW He Loves Me (Not For Love), the current 7-year-old is a half-sister to Canadian GSW Easy Time (Not This Time) and MSW Softly Lit (Latent Heat). As...

Godolphin homebred and 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Knightsbridge (h, 5, Nyquist--Tyburn Brook, by Bernardini) made his 1-5 odds look like a bargain versus four overmatched rivals in Saturday's GIII Gulfstream Park Mile S. He chased in second beneath Junior Alvarado, took over with ease on the far turn and opened daylight in the stretch to win in style by 11 1/4 lengths. Steal Sunshine (Constitution) was second. Flying Liam (Liam's Map) was third. "I think he's the best miler in the country right now," Alvarado said. "It was...

The intuitive platform Stallion Match might be based in Australia but their expertise and client list don't emanate from a single national boundary. The site is a dedicated global resource where breeders anywhere can hypothetically mate their mares for free with any stallion on the planet. Matthew Ennis is the managing director and he says that Stallion Match is all about providing fast and practical decision-making support. "Stallion Match was born out of G1 Goldmine," Ennis said. "For more than a decade, we've provided a service where farms can promote...

More Than Looks (More Than Ready--Ladies' Privilege, by Harlan's Holiday), winner of the 2024 GI Breeders' Cup Mile, was represented by his first three foals Saturday, when a colt and a filly arrived in Kentucky and a second colt was born in Florida. Multiple stakes-winning and multiple graded stakes-placed Eden Prairie (Mizzen Mast) produced a colt, bred by Sampson Racing Stables, at Chesapeake Farm in Kentucky. "We couldn't be more pleased with this colt. He's a strong, good-looking individual," said Chesapeake Farm's Collier Mathes. "The dam's success with More Than...

Group 1 Saudi Cup hero Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) is represented by his first foal, a colt out of Oriole (Medaglia d'Oro), who hit the ground at Shawhan Place Monday, it was announced via press release. The new arrival, bred by the farm who raised the stallion, is out of a daughter of multiple stakes winner Free as a Bird (Hard Spun), herself a half-sister to SW Let Me Entertain U (Nobiz Like Shobiz) and to the dam of full-siblings SW Dancing Magic (Good Magic) and SP Thunder Chuck. Oriole is...

"Doing matings with my clients is very much a team thing," says Headley Bell, whose Nicoma Bloodstock has been helping clients mate their mares since 1979. "My role is to try to assist in fulfilling dreams." Nicoma got off to a quick start with mating success, and the hits just keep on coming: in late December, George Strawbridge was first and third in the GI American Oaks with Ambaya (Ghostzapper), who was closely followed by Will Then (War Of Will) in third. Previous successes include two Arc de Triomphe winners...

The air is getting thinner now, as we explore those stallions standing between $30,000 and $59,999, but this penultimate instalment of our series does open access to genuine elite quality. Several in this range have a proven ability to sire horses who go on, in turn, to take a lucrative place at stud; and a number, within that group, have reached a stage in their careers where their fees have been cut temptingly within reach. Take MACLEAN'S MUSIC. Doubling his fee to $50,000 for 2022--after two sons contested the finish...