Pope McLean’s Crestwood Farm is introducing a new breeders’ incentive plan that offers a different spin on plans allowing breeding fees to be paid out of sale proceeds.
Called “Breed Risk Free,” the Crestwood plan allows a breeder to waive the entire cost of a breeding fee if the resulting foal does not meet certain thresholds at auction. In the case of a foal offered as a yearling, a breeder would only pay the breeding fee if the foal brings a fall-of-hammer price of $20,000 plus the contact breeding fee or more. For example, if a mare was bred on a $5,000 fee, then the breeder would pay the breeding fee if the fall-of-the hammer price is $25,000 or more. If the final price is less, then the breeding fee is waived.
“This unique program is straightforward and offers an extremely robust incentive to breeders,” said Robert Keck with Crestwood Farm, located in Lexington, Ky. “We’ve had an enthusiastic initial response and look forward to discussing the program in more detail with breeders.”
“Breed Risk Free” will be available to approved mares.
Crestwood has six stallions on its roster for the 2019 season: Get Stormy, a co-fifth-ranked third-crop sire of 2018 by number of black-type winners; first-year sire The Player; second-year sire Tu Brutus; third-year sires Firing Line and Texas Red; and freshman sire Jack Milton.
Owner-breeder John Gunther, and daughter Tanya Gunther have retired their homebred STAGE RAIDER (2018) (Pioneerofthe Nile – Stage Magic by Ghostzapper) to Pope McLean’s Crestwood Farm in Lexington, Kentucky for the 2025 breeding season. STAGE RAIDER is half-brother to 2018 Triple Crown winner, and leading sire JUSTIFY the#1 third crop sire; already the sire of over 30+ stakes winners; headed by two Champions, including G1 winners CITY OF TROY, OPERA SINGER, and RAMATUELLE.
“My dad and I really believe in this horse, and we are excited to start him on his new stallion career. Being a half-brother to international sire sensation JUSTIFY, a great physical, combined with the brilliance he showed early in his career, gives him a license to be a high-class sire. The genetics are there for greatness, considering PIONEEROF THE NILE sired a Triple Crown winner, and his dam STAGE MAGIC produced a Triple Crown winner who is now an elite sire!” said Tanya Gunther
STAGE RAIDER was a TDN rising star breaking his maiden in his 2nd start at Keeneland by an astonishing 10-3/4 lengths. Showing versatility on dirt from 7-9 furlongs, he posted 5-triple digit speed figures, winning the R.A. Cowboy Jones Stakes at 1-mile, and was 2nd in the 1-mile Ack Ack G3. A winner in top company at Saratoga, Belmont, and Keeneland, he won or placed in 8 of his 18 starts amassing earnings of $423,370.
“It is an honor to partner with the Gunthers on STAGE RAIDER. They have an incredibly impressive resume as the breeders of Grade-1 winners, including the likes of JUSTIFY, FIRST SAMURAI, MO TOWN, TAMARKUZ, VINO ROSSO, STAY THIRSTY and WITHOUT PAROLE. We believe that working together, STAGE RAIDER has a tremendous chance to be a top sire!” said Pope McLean Jr. of Crestwood Farm.
STAGE RAIDER will stand for $6,500 Live Foal (Payable Stands and Nurse), and a limited lifetime breeding right program will be available. He will be available for inspection starting in November. Please contact Crestwood Farm at 859-252-3770.
Nakatomi (Firing Line – Applelicious by Flatter) has been a consistent performer in Graded Stakes company since his two-year-old year, and broke through winning the G1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga. Nakatomi has successfully competed at the highest level, finishing third in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and the Dubai Golden Shaheen. The six time winner from 18 starts, has finished in the top three in 14 races and accumulated $1,153,776.
Nakatomi was foaled, raised and sold by Crestwood Farm, and bred by Arnold Zetcher, LLC and Crestwood Farm. The G1 win by Nakatomi marks the third G1 winner bred, foaled, raised and sold by Crestwood Farm in the past five years, also including Got Stormy and Bowies Hero.
Caracaro was represent by his first TDN RISING STAR when Casalu (Caracaro – Key d’Oro by, Medaglia d’Oro) was much the best on debut, winning a maiden special weight at Del Mar by 5 1/2 lengths. Casalu, bred by LLP Performance Horses, LLC, was a $775,000 OBS April 2 Year Old, purchased by Three Amigos out of the Global Thoroughbreds consignment. Trained by Bob Baffert, for the ownership group of Michael E. Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, Casalu broke alertly and took herself to the lead setting fractions of :22 4/5, :45 4/5 and stopped the clock at :58 flat for 5 Furlongs, while drawing off to a dominating victory.
The OBS April Day 1 Sale topper was a filly by Caracaro out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare, Key d’Oro and was puchased by Three Amigos, for $7750,000 from the Global Thoroughbred Consignment. The Thoroughbred Daily News reported Agent Donato Lanni purhcased the filly on behalf of Three Amigos, and will be trained by Bob Baffert.
Caracaro was also well represented in the OBS March Sale with eight (8) 2 Year-Olds going to the ring and eight (8) sold. Three of the eight 2 Year-Olds sold during the March OBS Sale by Caracaro sold for six-figures, led by a $220,000 colt out of Femmen’fortune (Giant’s Causeway), purchased by Taproot Bloodstock, agent.
Crestwood Farm will host their annual Stallion Open House for breeders on Monday, January 8 through Wednesday, January 10 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM. The Crestwood stallion barn is located at 3758 Spurr Road in Lexington, KY.
Breeders are encouraged to register in person for the 2024 Free Season Raffle for each stallion. If you are unable to attend, please feel free to call the Crestwood office at 859-252-3700 to schedule a stallion inspection appointment.
Heart to Heart was represented by his first 2 Year-Old winner, Ham Sandwich (Heart to Heart – Voodoo Lounge, by Pleasant Tap) on Saturday (July 15, 2023) at Ellis Park. Ham Sandwich, bred by Laura McKinney and trained by Ken McPeek, raced on the inside and moved up to challenge the leaders along the far turn and drew away powerfully to win by 7 1/2 lengths. Ham Sandwich completed the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:18 over a sloppy track.
HIP 383 colt Gun Runner – Perfect Flute and HIP 574 colt Quality Road – Celibataire
Two Yearlings from the Pope McLean (Crestwood Farm) consignment sell for $1,050,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Crestwood Farm is one of five sales consignments to sell multiple million dollar yearlings and one of four sales consignments to sell multiple million dollar yearlings on the same day during the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The two million dollar yearlings were both foaled and raised at Crestwood Farm.
SF/Starlight/Madaket Strike Early The powerhouse colt partnership led by SF Bloodstock, Starlight and Madaket Stables made their presence felt early in Wednesday’s Book 2 opener, going to $1.05 million for a colt by young sire standout Gun Runner (Hip 383). The bay was consigned by Pope McLean’s Crestwood Farm on behalf of breeder Ann Fostock.
“He is a beautiful horse raised by really wonderful people,” said SF’s Tom Ryan. “Gun Runner is a sensation. There is no other way to describe him. He has five Grade I winners from his first 120 runners. It is an amazing feat. Bob loved this horse. Donato loved this horse. John Moynihan is part of this horse. Everybody that saw him [liked him]. It was a consensus vote. We are happy to land him.”
Out of Perfect Flute (Pleasantly Perfect), Hip 383 hails from a deep Juddmonte family. His second dam is MGISW and Kentucky Oaks-winning millionaire Flute (Seattle Slew), who is the dam of MGSW & MGISP Filimbi (Mizzen Mast). This is also the female family of GISW Weep No More (Mineshaft) and GSW Current (Curlin).
“He was a special horse,” said Crestwood’s Marc McLean. “He’s a horse we thought could break through and it happened. It was a nice surprise. He was bred by a client, he was foaled and raised at our farm. He has always been a standout. He has such good scope and size and that’s what made him special. We got lucky and got him in the right spot. We were pretty busy this morning; buyers kept coming back, which is a good thing. He was early in the session, which made us nervous, but I believe everybody had done their homework. Hopefully he was one of the standouts on the day, but you don’t know until you get here.”
The SF/Starlight/Madaket team sparked fireworks late in the session, securing a son of Into Mischief (Hip 740) for the same $1.05 million.
“We love Into Mischief. We’ve bought seven of them now [at KEESEP],” Ryan said. “How could you not love Into Mischief? He is out of a very good race mare and is by a very good sire. He is a horse Bob Baffert loved immediately, so we are happy to own him.”
Source: TDN 9/15/22 Christie DeBernardis
Million-Dollar Score for Hancock
Rowland Hancock, who has been breeding Thoroughbreds for over four decades, had his first seven-figure sale when Tom Ryan signed the ticket at $1.05 million on a colt by Quality Road (hip 574) on behalf of the SF/Starlight/Madaket partnership. The dark bay colt is out of Celibataire (Broken Vow), a full-sister to graded winner Interactif and dam of stakes winner Stillwater Cove (Quality Road). Hancock purchased the mare, in foal to Union Rags, for $180,000 at the 2018 Keeneland January sale.
“I had seen her yearling the year before and I fell in love with the yearling,” Hancock said of the mare’s appeal. “Anybody that could produce something that beautiful, I wanted to own.”
Of his first million-dollar yearling, who was consigned by Crestwood Farm, Hancock said, “This colt was something. He is one of the most balanced, classy horses I’ve ever seen. I’ve bred some fairly good horses, but he was just special. You always read about these classy horses who want to walk and never get mad, keep their demeanor. He exemplified that. He loved to walk. He loved to get out.”
Celibataire’s first foal for Hancock was a $100,000 Keeneland September yearling in 2019. He retained the mare’s Gun Runner filly, Cause Celebre, who ran at Kentucky Downs just after her half-brother lit up the board at Keeneland. Celibataire’s 2-yearold daughter of Justify sold for $215,000 at the 2020 FasigTipton November sale. The mare was bred to Mendelssohn this year.
Hancock has eight mares in his broodmare band.
“I’ve been doing this for 47 years,” he said of his breeding operation. “This is the culmination of doing it for a long time.”
Hip 383 was the second seven-figure purchase of Wednesday’s session for the SF/Starlight/Madaket partnership, which struck early in the day to acquire a Gun Runner colt, also consigned by the McLean family’s Crestwood Farm, for $1.05 million
“We love Quality Road, he’s a great, proven stallion,” Ryan said of the purchase. “It’s a very nice family. He’s a half to a stakes winning filly. He’s a very straightforward colt.”
Of the colt’s final price tag, Ryan said, “The market is very strong, it’s carried through from Book 1 to Book 2 very nicely. But he’s a big, strong Quality Road colt who was well-raised and with a proper pedigree. It’s not that surprising.”
Enjoying the dual $1.05-million sales, Marc McLean said, “It’s been a great day; unbelievable really.”
He added of the Quality Road colt, “He was not a huge colt, but just a beautiful mover. We wouldn’t dream he would go that high. It was a good job by the sales team. Both of these were for clients and were raised and foaled at our farm. It is rewarding.”
Get Stormy, a leading sire at Crestwood Farm died unexpectedly on March 6, at the age of 16 from what is believed to be a cardiac event. Get Stormy, a son of Stormy Atlantic, bred and owned by Mary A. Sullivan, raced under the name Sullimar Stables. Get Stormy, trained by Tom Bush had a long successful campaign which included 7 Graded Stakes wins. Racing until the age of 6, Get Stormy was a three-time Grade 1 Winner, winning the Marker’s Mark Mile (G1), Woodford Reserve Turf Classic S. (G1), Gulfstream Park Turf H. (G1). From 31 career starts, he compiled a record of 11-5-4 and earned $1,606,812.
“Get Stormy was an amazing racehorse, and came to us with all the credentials and a tremendous following. He was such a great physical, and was a pleasure to be around. He was poised to become a top sire, as his best bred crops have yet to race. We are sorry and shocked; he is a great loss to our farm and Storm Cat’s legacy” said Pope McLean of Crestwood Farm.
Get Stormy was popular his first year at stud when he arrived at Crestwood Farm, breeding 120 mares in his first season. Get Stormy’s first crop included Graded Stakes Winner FIFTY FIVE, a 9 time stakes winner, earning $1,088,288 and was named NY Champion Three Year Old Filly in 2017 and NY Champion Turf Female in 2019. Also from Get Stormy’s first crop, was Multiple Graded Stakes Winner, STORM THEHILL.
Get Stormy’s most prolific runner, the Multiple Grade 1 Winning filly, GOT STORMY with earnings of $2,468,403. She won the Fourstardave (G1) in 2019 and again in 2021. In GOT STORMY’s initial win of the Fourstardave (G1), she set a new course record completing 1 Mile in 1:32, while defeating males at Saratoga Race Course. In December of 2019, GOT STORMY won her second Grade 1 stake in the Matriarch S. (G1) at Del Mar.
As of March 5, 2022, Get Stormy is the sire of 229 starters, 123 winners, 6 Graded Stakes Winners GOT STORMY(G1), FIFTYFIVE(G3), GET SMOKIN(G2), STORM THE HILL(G3), GO NONI GO(G3), GETMOTHERAROSE(G3) and a total of 11 black-type winners and total progeny earnings of $12,188,748.
CARACARO was represented by his first foal on January 14, 2022, out of the mare Real Ruffian (Ghostzapper), at Dr. Gilberto Lopez’s farm in Ocala, FL. Real Ruffian is a stakes producer out of the multiple stakes winner No Foul Play, and a ½ sister to Graded Stakes Winner Temporary Saint.
CARACARO is by Uncle Mo, out of the War Front mare Peace Time. CARACARO is the only stallion in Kentucky out of a War Front mare. CARACARO’S second dam is G2 Winner Santa Catarina, who was 2nd in the Kentucky Oaks.
