24 for 2025

There are two dozen new stallions at stud in Kentucky for this spring and they include 20 Grade 1 winners, 12 sons of leading US sires, and four new residents at Gainesway Farm

IIT’S NO SECRET that Kentucky is the heart of the breeding industry in the US.

No affront to Iowa or Idaho, but a stallion’s opportunities to make it big outside of Kentucky are limited. Places such as Florida and New York have excellent regional programmes, but there’s a reason any stallion who makes a significant national impact outside of Kentucky quickly gets snapped up for a move to the Bluegrass.

The upcoming 2025 breeding season is no exception.

However, with two dozen recently retired new stallions – all laden with quality – slated to enter stud in the Commonwealth, what makes one stand out over another?

So often it’s race record, but this incoming crop of freshmen is an accomplished bunch with some dazzling credentials. No fewer than 20 of the 24 won at the highest level, and they include two Preakness winners, a Belmont winner, and a Breeders’ Cup Mile winner.

This year, the direct conduits they offer to some of America’s leading sires – at a fraction of their fees – is one of the most attractive selling points of the incoming crop of stallions.

Of the 10 elite stallions who stand in the US for six-figure sums, who also have progeny old enough to enter stud themselves, eight are represented by a combined total of 12 sons who will stand their first year in Kentucky in 2025.

Additionally, the late, great Uncle Mo has two sons entering stud at significant Kentucky farms in 2025, obviously made more poignant by his unexpected death on December 19, which sent reverberations throughout the sport in America.

Other deceased influential sires sending what might be their last sons to stud in 2025 include Arrogate, Giant’s Causeway, More Than Ready and Speightstown.

We were more aggressive going into this year and when we saw something we liked, we pursued it, or if an opportunity arose, we were in a position to act quickly

The new group also boasts a number of lovely physicals, as evidenced by several of their own prices when sent through sales rings as youngsters.

One brought $2.3 million as an OBS two-year-old, another $2 million at the same auction house, and yet another $1.3 million as a Keeneland yearling.

Several others also came tantalizingly close to the seven-figure mark, while some saved their blossoming almost entirely for the racetrack.

There are a few homebreds sprinkled in as well.

Not dramatically separated by fees, with half of the 24 standing in the range of $20,000 to $40,000 and the other half standing for $17,500 or less, Kentucky’s first-year stallions of 2025 square up nicely in regards to race records, conformation, and fees. Clearly, separating this incoming crop comes down to sire lines.

Tapit Trice: the son of Tapit, winner of the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes and third in the Belmont Stakes (G1), has been given an opening fee of $20,000

The Gainesway four

Leading the charge this year by sheer number of new stallions in Kentucky is Gainesway Farm, which brings four new offerings to the market. Each is by one of America’s most influential sires.

“I can’t recall in my 20+ years in the business of [Gainesway] having four new stallions retired at the same time, but it has been a very exciting time for the farm,” said Ryan A. Norton, Gainesway’s stallion director.

“We have definitely been busy with breeders coming to inspect the stallions and then reviewing the mares submitted to try and get the best book possible for the four new stallions.”

Gainesway, of course, stands the inimitable Tapit and retired two of his sons, Tapit Trice and Charge It, to stand alongside the extraordinary veteran in 2025.

In addition, the 2024 Preakness winner Seize The Grey, a son of Arrogate, and multiple Grade 1 winner Muth, a son of Good Magic, will be introduced to Gainesway’s breeding shed.

“We bought the breeding rights in these stallions at different points during their racing careers and we knew the possibility was there for them all to be retired this year,” continued Norton. “After not being able to secure a new stallion last year, we were more aggressive going into this year and when we saw something we liked, we pursued it, or if an opportunity arose, we were in a position to act quickly.

“Antony Beck, Brian Graves, and our team along with our wonderful investors and shareholders were excited to go acquire the best stallion prospects available and I believe we got four of the best retired this year.”

Norton said all four young stallions are receiving quality mares in their initial books and he anticipates all will have full books as the breeding season gets underway.

Gainesway bred Tapit Trice, who will stand for $20,000. “We are excited to bring this Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes winner back to the farm and complete the circle,” said Norton.

The farm also works closely with Mandy Pope, for whom Charge It ($12,500) campaigned as a homebred.

“Standing Tapit we obviously have a soft spot for his sons,” continued Norton. “Like father, like son. [Tapit and Charge It] will have the same initial stud fee of $12,500; hopefully their careers mirror each other in more ways than one.”

Norton also pointed out that Seize The Grey ($30,000) is one of only two sons, both Classic winners, of the late Arrogate to stand in Kentucky.

Seize The Grey will join Arcangelo, who entered stud in 2024 at Lane’s End Farm and whose first foals are arriving now.

“It is exciting to be in position to hopefully have the heir apparent to Arrogate and realise the stud career that his father was meant to have,” mused Norton.

Muth: the dual Grade 1 winner is by Good Magic and was a $2 million Ocala March-sold two-year-old

Gainesway’s final new stallion Muth will stand for $35,000.

Interestingly, Hill ‘n’ Dale’s Good Magic, a mere youngster himself who just turned 10, sends three new stallion sons to Kentucky.

Muth will be joined by Belmont winner Dornoch (Spendthrift, $40,000) and additional Grade 1 winner Blazing Sevens (Darby Dan Farm, $12,500). His first major son, the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, stands at Airdrie Stud and has his first foals this year.

So what makes Muth stand out from the other Good Magic new sires?

“Muth is the only son of Good Magic at stud to be a Grade 1 winner at two and three,” said Norton. “Actually, he is the only stallion retired in the US this year to be a Grade 1 winner at two and three.

“Good Magic is one of the hottest stallion lines in America right now and we can offer breeders a multiple Grade 1 winner at what I believe to be a value.”

Good Magic is to date the best sire son of Curlin, although Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish and champion Elite Power are welcoming their much-anticipated first foals in 2025. With Curlin and Good Magic both standing for six figures, Gainesway’s Muth offers a fresh route to the in-demand sire line.

Grandson of Into MIschief to Ashford

Just as Muth is one of the first top grandsons of Curlin to be offered at stud, Domestic Product is the first top grandson of Into Mischief to enter stud in Kentucky.

Into Mischief, who needs no introduction, just wrapped up his sixth consecutive leading sires’ title.

Saratoga’s 2024 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes winner Domestic Product is a son of Coolmore America’s Practical Joke –the top sire son of Into Mischief – and will stand alongside his sire at Ashford Stud for $30,000.

“I think the greatest sort of compliment you can give to any farm or to any stallion is when you stand a son of theirs,” said Ashford’s Adrian Mansergh-Wallace.

“It just shows you truly believe in the sire line. The fact that we have supported Practical Joke so much in the last years and now to be standing one of his best sons, that’s not only gratifying for us but it shows how much we believe in Practical Joke.

“And Practical Joke is obviously a younger horse [at age 11] but one we really believe is going to be standing for well over $100,000 in the next couple of years.”

Mansergh-Wallace added that Domestic Product has been exceptionally popular with breeders.

Domestic Product: the H Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) winner joins his sire Practical Joke at Ashford, and hopes are high for the four-year-old

“He’s a beautiful horse and has lovely knees,” he enthuses. “He’s an exceptionally good-looking horse. He’s 16.2hh, has great balance, loads of quality, is a beautiful colour, he’s got a great presence about him and Chad Brown thought an awful lot of him.

“He rated Domestic Product exceptionally highly and would not have run him in the Kentucky Derby had he not felt that. Now he probably thought Domestic Product at the end was probably better over a shorter distance than the Classic distance, which is maybe true of most Into Mischiefs, but I think in terms of talent, Domestic Product was up there with some of the best horses of his generation.”

Mansergh-Wallace also believes that Domestic Product is a carbon copy of Practical Joke, who finished 2024 among the top 10 leading sires in the US.

“They’re similar size with a similar amount of strength. I’d say Domestic Product is probably a prettier horse.

“He’s as a good a looking horse as we’ve ever retired. This guy is stunning. He’s absolutely stunning.”

As a new breeding season beckons, it may be a long way from seeking the best books of mares to yields in the yearling arena and finally to results on the racetrack, but what a delight to have so many options from this crop of new stallions.

So many providing a direct route – and perhaps eventually one of value – to so many elite American sires it is an exciting time for Kentucky stud farms and breeders.