WinStar Farm

2nd-Belmont The Big A, $80,000, (S), Msw, 10-24, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:16.77, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. PANTHERIAN (c, 2, Vekoma--Big Thrill, by Big Drama) and Wamo (Yaupon) went at each other for most of this New York-bred maiden, and the Stewards ultimately had to step in to reverse the running order. After a shoe repair in the paddock, Wamo brushed with the off side stall at the jump but recovered well enough to place himself right in the middle of a duel for the lead. Pantherian traveled from four off...

Edited Press Release Cogburn (Not This Time--In a Jif, by Saintly Look) has had a successful start to his stud career, achieving excellent fertility results during his first season at WinStar Farm. The enthusiasm and demand for him internationally was also outstanding, however, while in Australia, fertility results were lower than his domestic performance and the decision was made to cut short Cogburn's visit to Australia. Cogburn had a busy book in Kentucky, getting 143 mares in foal, however his early results in Australia indicated a decline that warrants further...

Grade I winner Mullikin (Violence--Tulira's Star, by Congrats), slated to make his final career start in this year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar, will stand the 2026 breeding season at WinStar Farm, the operation announced Tuesday. A stud fee will be announced after the Breeders' Cup. Mullikin will participate in WinStar's Dream Big Program, which offers breeders the opportunity to earn a lifetime breeding right. "Mullikin has competed at the highest level for the last two years and is a gorgeous looking horse from a world-class sire line...

Dan Blacker was a long way from Santa Anita when he watched the 2003 Breeders' Cup, but the day would have a profound effect on the trajectory of his career. That year Richard Mandella captured four of the eight championship races, capped off by Pleasantly Perfect's Classic victory at 14-1 odds. "Still to this day, I think it's probably the greatest Breeders' Cup achievement of all time," Blacker said. It was a feat that would go down in racing's history books, but for Blacker, it sparked a question: what would...

Modest to a fault, breeder and former chairman of the Breeders' Cup Fred Hertrich likes to talk about how lucky he has been. "I've been very fortunate, very lucky," he said. He also said, "If you're not lucky, things won't fall your way in this business." Perhaps. But there's a lot more to it than that. Luck is not the reason Hertrich became the youngest Ford dealer in the United States, forming Frederick Ford Mercury in Seaford, Delaware. Today, he is the President of the Hertrich Family of Automobile Dealerships,...

Edited Press Release Constitution (Tapit--Baffled, by Distorted Humor) will once again lead the WinStar stallion roster when he stands the 2026 season for $110,000 S&N, while Life is Good (Into Mischief--Beach Walk, by Distorted Humor)'s fee for next year has been set at $60,000. WinStar's 2026 stallion roster, which was released Sunday evening, will also include recently retired multiple Grade I winner Patch Adams (Into Mischief--Well Humored, by Distorted Humor), who will stand his initial season at stud for $30,000 S&N; and Straight No Chaser (Speightster--Margarita Friday, by Johannesburg), last...

Trainer Will Walden has come a long way in a short period of time. Training only since 2022, through Tuesday, he had 35 wins on the year from 141 starters for a win rate of 25%. His stable's earnings stood at $3.384 million. It's been a good year, in part because of a very good day. Walden won his first Grade I race last Saturday at Keeneland when the New York-bred Rhetorical (Not This Time) won the GI Coolmore Turf Mile. It was an important step for a trainer who...

Due to an injury sustained in training, WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s dual Grade I winner Patch Adams (Into Mischief--Well Humored, by Distorted Humor) will not be competing in the Breeders' Cup as planned and has been retired to WinStar Farm for the 2026 breeding season. A stud fee will be announced later. "Patch Adams had a straightforward lateral condylar fracture in his right hind that went back together extremely well, and he can race or breed without any notice of the fracture in 2026," said Dr. Larry Bramlage of...

WinStar Farm's David Hanley has been named 2025 Ted Bates Farm Manager of the Year by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club (KTFMC). The award honors individuals 'who exemplify excellence in farm management and service to the community." Appointed to the role of farm manager at WinStar in 2013, Hanley has played a key role in the farm's acquisition of new fewer than 11 Grade I winners who have amassed a total of 23 elite-level victories, including Justify, Life Is Good, Improbable, Mullikin and Patch Adams. "I am honored and...

Riding a three-race win streak, Stellify went to the front a few jumps into the GIII Light & Wonder Ladies Marathon Invitational at Kentucky Downs and held the advantage all the way to an easy score. Sent off the 2-1 choice, the 4-year-old led No Mo Candy (Uncle Mo) fractions of :26.10, :49.57 and 1:13 for three quarters. In control turning passing the three-eighths pole, the $140,000 KEESEP yearling purchase spurted clear in the lane and despite the best effort of closing Miwa (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) late, the favorite finished...

'TDN Rising Star' Patch Adams (Into Mischief) made it two straight top-level victories sprinting at the Spa with a game performance in Saturday's GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. The rail-drawn, 5-2 favorite secured a fantastic pocket trip on the inside in third beneath Luis Saez behind the two-for-two 'Rising Star' Midland Money (Shancelot) and 'Rising Star' Captain Cook (Practical Joke) through an opening quarter in :22.38. Back a spot into fourth through a half mile in :44.52, Patch Adams shot through an opening along the fence as they straightened...

Freely Held, after earning a runner-up finish at odds of 28-1 on debut at Parx, became freshman sire Independence Hall's first winner here. A distant second to long-gone Flying Hawaiian (Maximus Mischief) in that July 21 contest, he broke on top Friday from his outside post in this second attempt at graduation. Rounding the far turn after an opening quarter in :22.54, even-money favorite Black Volt (Cairo Prince) moved up inside to get on even terms with Freely Held. As they hit the top of the stretch, the son of...