Since getting involved in thoroughbred racing as an owner in the early 90’s, I’ve always been curious about the breeding side of thoroughbred racing. Each year, a handful of successful male thoroughbred racehorses are retired to begin their “next career” as stallions. Some replicate their racing success as a stallion and some do not. It’s a high risk, high reward proposition.
In the Fall of 2019, Bill Farish’s Lanes End Farm in Lexington, Kentucky decided to buy a 50% interest in Game Winner from Gary and Mary West, the owners of Game Winner. At the time of the purchase, the plan was to race Game Winner through 2020 and retire him to become a stallion beginning with the 2021 breeding season (March 2021). Bill Farish was interviewed by Thoroughbred Daily New which you can read here.
Unfortunately, Game Winner’s trainer (Bob Baffert) was not able to get him back to the races in 2020 and he was “officially” retired. For those of you who are long time subscribers to racingandtasting.com, you may remember Game Winner was one of my two selections (the other selection being Country House who won the Kentucky Derby) to win the Kentucky Derby in 2019. If you need proof, you can read my post titled, “Kentucky Derby #145”!
Going into the Kentucky Derby in 2019, Game Winner was a three time Grade 1 Winner (Del Mar Futurity, American Pharoah, Breeders Cup Juvenile). He finished fifth in the Derby after racing extremely wide almost the entire race. When he retired, Game Winner’s earnings were $2,027,500 which is impressive.
Click here for Game Winner profile on Lane’s End
At the Breeders Cup in 2019 at Santa Anita, I had a chance to talk to Bill Farish about his decision to stand Game Winner as a stallion at Lanes End and my interest in “putting my toe in the water” associated with thoroughbred breeding. Woodford Racing bought one of the shares in Game Winner when he was syndicated by Lanes End Farm. As a share owner, we (Woodford Racing) are able to breed one mare a year to Game Winner, in addition to participating in his financial success as a sire. Game Winner will begin his “second career” next week at Lanes End and has been well received by breeders. Between March 1 and June 30 of 2021, he will be bred to 140 mares at a fee of $30,000 per mare.
Click here for Blood Horse article on Kentucky’s new 2021 stallions (page 3)
Click here for Blood Horse Stallion Page on Game Winner
Time will tell if Game Winner can produce offspring as successful as he was on the track. The odds of that happening certainly improve if you have more Game Winner sired horses racing. Having 140 mares (which is a full book) in Year 1 alone is a great start. His first yearlings will make their way to the Yearling Sales in 2022 and to the track in 2023.
Stay tuned!