Stallion Spotlight #4 - WHISPERWOOD

For my fourth article, I have come to the Stud Farm of Whisperwood, located in the stunning bluegrass country known as Kentucky! I am in Lexington to be precise and this time, rather than focus on one stallion, I have persuaded Ronda to let me “interview” all 6 of her studs!!

Hi Ronda – thanks for the invite. Can you tell me a little bit more about this operation? Good morning yourself Nancy and welcome to my humble little farm (wink!). Here at Whisperwood we have over 1,000 acres of green grass of which around 800 acres are rolling hills and fenced pastures. There are 10 separate 10 acre stud paddocks with plenty of open space between the Paddocks that are located behind the Stud barn. The Stud Barn has space for 10 horses, although currently we are just holding 6. We also have a 20 Stall Racing String Barn All of the stalls have a run out back so they can stretch their legs a bit without having enough room to do any damage. We currently have 18 of the stalls occupied. We also have vet rooms, hot walkers and all the necessary requirements to ensure that all the horses here have access 24/7 to top of the range facilities without having to rely on outside help.

Wow, sounds impressive. Shall we get ourselves over to the studs now? MMM, Lets start Ronda if we may with SWALEAWAY. Good choice Nancy, and as you can see, he is our gentle giant, standing at 17.2hh! His is the first stall in the Stud Barn and his feelings get hurt VERY easily. He is by Swale (a son of the great Seattle Slew by a Danzig mare, Versailles Treaty). You can’t miss his white face (and yes he is a white stallion!) begging you for a carrot or a peppermint. He is the first to hang his head over his stall door and whicker “good day” to you EVERY time you step into the barn. At feeding time he is a total gentleman and waits patiently his twice daily feeds. And he is such a gent that when he is groomed and or handled (mainly by me) we don’t even use a stud chain on him. He even goes into the breeding shed without a chain. He is a charmer too being a favourite with the ladies, always taking time to romance them first, the old romantic! And when the grandkids come over he is our ”pony” ride for the little ones and both my daughter Meghan and I take turns riding him over the trails surrounding our farm, although its usually Meghan than myself.

Moving on readers we come to the polar opposite in colour from Swaleaway, a coal black stallion standing at 16.3hh is in the next stall and goes by the name of DISCAY. We haven’t seen much of him around Ronda, any reasons? Yes Nancy, he has spent the last 2 years in training as a Eventer after not getting any more takers as a breeding stallion. When our homebred colt (that we had sold) Diascay’s Shadow became a Graded MSW in his 2yr season (this season), we decided to repurchase him to expand the farm. We are eagerly awaiting the upcoming breeding season as we plan to breed a full sibling to Diascay’s Shadow. Whilst he has been training for Eventing, I have been riding him in local Events where he has been cleaning up! It’s been such a blast riding a jumper again that we’ve added a cross country course and a Indoor Riding Arena to the farm. Either myself or my Daughter have been riding him almost daily. He’s a bit more pushy in the barn when it comes to feeding time than Swaleaway and has been known to take a nip out of his handlers if he thinks they aren’t feeding fast enough! And the farrier lives in mortal fear of him! So careful with those fingers Nancy!

Talking of danger, whose the little toughie at the end of this row? Haha, that’s WINNING LAD Nancy. Even though he only stands 15.2hh Lad is the roughest of our studs to handle. He gets his temperament from his dam (Winning Colors) he has been a challenge to handle from the day he arrived, being bred by Snowbank Farm. He’d just as soon take a chuck from you as look at you. The grooms carry a crop whenever he’s turned out for the simple fact they value their hide. It’s a shame but that’s the way he has to be handled. He’s the only stallion to have a run off of his stall that leads to his paddock. After turnout, the grooms work in pairs to get him back in. The first groom goes and opens the back stall door (then hides behind it!), whilst the other rattles the feed bucket and dives out the stall (I should by shares in the best stall chain manufacturer!) because he comes charging in, then the guys work together to get the stall doors closed.

I think we should move swiftly on whilst we all have our fingers intact, whose the stunner at the top end of this barn? You mean SUNDAY DANCER Nancy? Well he is our other “giant” and like Swaleaway who you met earlier, is also very well mannered. Even though he is not quite as friendly as Swaleaway he comes close. A carbon image of his sire Sunday Silence (although Sunday Dancer is registered as a Dark Brown colt) and seems to be following in his shoes. I have a quick story for your readers too. A while back, Sunday Silence’s owners stopped by the farm and were so reminded of their own boy they gave Dancer his sire’s halter.I have to say a few tears welled up!

That’s a wonderful story Ronda – you must have been quite touched. Whats he like around the barn generally? At feeding time he quietly awaits his feed while his next door neighbour (Winning Lad) raises a ruckus. The grooms draw straws to see who gets first pick of the horses to exercise, all the studs are ridden daily, and Dancer is always their first pick.He wil do anything (literally!) for peppermints. They are his favourite treat. When my son is home on leave, Dancer is the horse he always chooses to ride being he’s so good under saddle, especially Western. Dancer is always hangs his head over the stall door when he hears Daniel entering the barn.

Sounds like you have a great mix of horses in the barn – everything so far from gentle giants to mini terrors! Whose next? I think we should have a look at one of the newer studs in the farm, Nancy, namely RAMPAGE. He is of average height, being 16h and a son of Alydar and only added to our stud barn last season. However his first yearlings are looking pretty good. I have to admit that “Ram” is the snob of the barn. He’s very aloof towards the other horses but generally behaves himself with the grooms, as long as they are firm with him. Under saddle he needs a rider that isn’t afraid of him and know how to ride. He pretty much stands off and waits for you to leave his feed in the same manner a King looks at his servants, but so far we are pleased with his progeny.

Ronda, last but by no means least, who is in stall 6? This handsome chappy Nancy – this is Spleunker. He stands 17.2 and thinks he owns the barn. He has a very regal attitude towards everything he does but he’s not snobby about it. And yes you guessed it, another one who absolutely LOVES peppermint and is so very gentle when he takes it off the palm of your hand. He’s a gentleman under saddle and will go along very nicely as long as you know how to ride. At feeding time he will nicker and paw when he sees you coming but as soon as you open his door he stands quietly until you leave. I wish there were more like him too.


How much are your stallions standing for, I would imagine there is one there for every budget! Yes, you are right Nancy. They stand for the following fees (all live foal) – Rampage $5,000, Spelunker $10,000, Sunday Dancer $10,000, Swaleaway $25,000 and Winning Lad at $25,000. As Discay has only just returned to us, we are still unsure as to what fee to charge but if any of your readers are interested in using him, just tell them to email me and we can discuss it.

I am sure that at those prices there will be a few takers. How many foals did they each sire last year? In total there were 15 foals sired by my stallions, and all but 2 by our own mares. Three were sired by Swaleaway, two by Winning Lad, Sunday Dancer sired three, the same number as sired by Rampage. Spelunker was the leading sire here in figures, getting 4 mares.

With such a mix and range of talent in the barn, are there any particular types of mares that you would recommend sending to each stallion, or are they good for all types? And also why type of foals do you expect them to sire. No Nancy, if I had the luxury of being particular with the mares I would probably recommend the following:

Swaleaway - the mare should be sound to start with and preferably milers. The horse himself was very good between 1m- 1m 1/16th. However he was plagued throughout his racing careerwith injuries and soreness and in more than one race he ran on heart alone. Well from his first crop of 2 he has a MSW winning G1 G2 and G3 levels. Whilst his other 3yr runner broke his maiden a couple weeks ago making him a SpW. His second crop of 4 he got a another MSW and 2 of his other 2 2yrs are placed if I remember right..…

Discay – he isn’t fussy! Disacay’s Shadow’s dam was a sprinter so it will be interesting to see how he stretches out, as the AR shows him as a distance horse so time will tell. So far his offspring has won at both G2 and G3 levels.

Winning Lad – so far when crossed with mares by Octagonal he’s produced a Graded MSW, a Graded MSW with a Mr Prospector mare, and a SW by a Risen Star mare. So variety is the spice of his life. He is matching Discay with his runners, having winners at both G2 and G3.

Sunday Dancer – as he was a sprinter we have crossed him on mares that like to go the distance and hope that they can get in excess of 1m. Time will tell what his runners will be like but we would be hopeful of at least a G2 if not G1.

Rampage - right now anything that can run! As last season was his first crop it will be a couple of years before were sure what to send him to but I wouldn’t discourage any particular type or distance. I suppose I am being greedy in again thinking that he will sire horses that can run at the highest levels but you have to dream in this game!

And finally Spelunker, there were 4 foals bred last year, and just one of them from outside sources. Pretty sure he can mix it with most mares but only time will tell again!


If you had to compare your stallions to real life stallions, who would it be and why? They can be living or dead. I am glad you asked that one Nancy, as having read your previous articles I am ready for you! I would say that Swaleaway is most like Seattle Slew, from all accounts he was another gentleman that was as kind as could be with a heart of gold. Discay is reminiscent of Seabiscuit, who was also ridden in retirement by his owner all over his ranch. I think its good for the mental well being of the horse to get out and about. And as for Winning Lad he is just like Hastings – a devil to train and breed and I think he reincarniated himself in Lad (just my luck!). No surprise that Sunday Dancer immediately makes one think of Sunday Silence, both looks and temperament and “Dancer” seems to have followed in Pop’s shoes. Rampage, mmm a bit trickier as he is a thinker but I would probably say Fair Play as he had two styles of running – when he wanted to he could but he didn’t always think you were worth his time or effort! I hate to compare any horse to Secretariat but that’s who Spelunker reminds me of. “Big Red” was very fast in his time and is well mannered at the farm but KNOWS how good he was and will remind you if you seem to forget, traits that Spelunker has in bucket loads!

And the future of Whisperwood Stud? Where you see the farm going in say 5 – 10 yrs? Hopefully to the top of the pile!!! No seriously, we have worked hard to get what we consider a good solid base of stallions covering all pockets, surfaces etc so I would be surprised if there were much selling or buying in of others. We also want to try to race the best stock but as the readers will know, working that out is worthy of a Masters Degree!

Ok well that pretty much finishes my visit and I have to say thanks to both you Ronda and your lovely children, especially Meghan for showing me around the farm. You certainly have your work cut out to keep 6 stallions busy and run a profitable racing stable!

Until next time folks – Thanks for reading!

Did you know? 10 furlongs

• 1:55.66! For those that haven't been around as long, that's the World Record for 10 furlongs on dirt set by Revenge in the 2003 Hollywood Gold Cup.
• Just to put that number in a little bit of perspective, Spanish Midnight finished second in that race. It was the 19th fastest time ever, 1:58.76, and he finished 19 lengths back! The second fastest time ever is Pegasus Song's 1:57.79, which is about 13 lengths slower. This year's winning time of the Kentucky Derby, 2:00.59, is about 30 lengths slower. It's just an amazing performance that will never be equaled...guaranteed.
• Thunder Arctic holds the turf record of 1:57.93. Even though it isn't unreachable (there are 6 other times within a half second of it), it's still been on the books since 2004.
• 10 furlongs has been attempted 780 times on dirt and 1,018 on the turf.
• It should come as no surprise to anyone (though with the number of entries these races always get, maybe I shouldn't assume) that the slowest times ever are from 2YO's. Except for VERY, VERY rare exceptions, they just aren't ready for these type of distances. On dirt, a 2YO colt by the name of Evidente, ran the slowest 10 furlongs of 2:12.32 in 2007. Another 2YO colt, Vivencial, holds the "record" with a 2:14.11 in 2008.
• Some more fun with perspective. On dirt, Thunder Arctic ran 2:12.25...for 11 furlongs. Just think about that, Evidente could have started a furlong in front of Thunder Arctic...and lost! For turf though, it's a little more amazing. The top 60 times for 11 furlongs are all better than Vivencial's time!
• To make the top-100 on dirt, you need to run 1:59.87 (Dansilver - 2005). On turf, 2:00.16 is the magic number (Blushing Approval - 2007 and Precious Elegance - 2008).
• On dirt, there are 21 horses that appear in the top-100 multiple times. Eight of the multiple-timers have 2 top-100'2: Braveheart, Broken Dream, Dancing Delaware, Dansilver (not too shabby, when 10 furlongs really wasn't his thing), Enlightenment (8th and 11th!), Perfect Bell, She's A Prize (probably a surprising name to most), and Troll Tower. Two horses appear three times: Hideaway and War Machine. The four-timers is a nice looking group: Isca's Revenge, King Midas (not bad for a horse that only raced 13 times in his career!), Revenge, Spanish Midnight, and Take A Gander. Two horses appear five times: Congenial (done in three separate years) and Thunder Arctic (the only five times he tried 10 on the dirt to boot!). There's one horse each with 6 and 7 appearances: Precious Elegance and Madam De Francais respectively. Appearing an incredible 9 times is Lazy Loper. What's even more amazing though, is that's not the best! Pegasus Song makes the list 10 times!
• 25 horses make the top-100 multiple times on the turf. Ten horses make the list twice: Flow Diagram, Imogen White, Jenny's My Gal, Memcay, Scenic Sheba (the only two times she's tried it, you're welcome Foxie!) , Secret Talent, Sir Empire, Sobriety, Spiritual (one of her two was a race in which she finished LAST of 6, talk about a loaded field!), and Troll Tower. The three time horses: April Carrot (she's come a long way, actually has the slowest time ever for 8.5 on the turf!), Fine Memories, Pegasus Song, Pefect Bell, Precious Elegance, Princess Royale, Smart Money, and Thunder Arctic (I was actually surprised to see him with only three, then I went and checked...it's out of only four tries, and the other one sits at 103.) Three horses with 4 appearances: Alytrain, Broken Dream, and Lazy Loper. She's A Prize has 5 of the top-100, and only two of them are from wins! There's a three-way tie at the top with 7 appearances: A Bus (oh yeah, those are the only 7 times he tried it!), Missmelodramatic, and Tranquil Scene.
• Thirteen horses appear on both lists. Lazy Loper (9 dirt and 4 turf) and Pegasus Song (10 dirt and 3 turf) lead the way with 13 each. Precious Elegance (6 dirt and 3 turf) is next with 9. A Bus (1 dirt and 7 turf) and Thunder Arctic (5 dirt and 3 turf) are tied with 8. She's A Prize (2 dirt and 5 turf) has 7. Broken Dream (2 dirt and 4 turf) has 6. Perfect Bell (2 dirt and 3 turf) has 5. Troll Tower (2 dirt and 2 turf) has 4. Three horses are tied with 3: Dancing Delaware (2 dirt and 1 turf), Memcay (1 dirt and 2 turf), and Sobriety (1 dirt and 2 turf). Hold That Train is the only one to do it just once on each surface.
• The most likely track to see a top-100 time on the dirt has been Churchill Downs with 17. Following right behind are Hollywood Park and Nad Al Sheba with 16 each. On the turf, it's Hollywood Park with 25 and Arlington International with 23.
• The most likely race to produce a top-100 time for dirt is the Hollywood Gold Cup with 16. On turf, it's the Arlington Million with 23.
• The fastest times per surface rating obviously start with Revenge's WR of 1:55.66 on a "fast" track. The best on "good" is War Machine's 2:00.08 (116th best). The best on "heavy" is New Millenium's 2:01.93 (352nd best). The best on "muddy" is also New Millenium's 2:04.35 (619th best). The best on "sloppy" is False Demon's 2:02.84 (478th best). The best on "slow" is Thunder Arctic's 1:59.38 (59th best).
• On the turf side of things, Thunder Arctic's WR of 1:57.93 was set on "firm". The best on "firm to good" is Perfect Bell's 1:58.62 (11th best). The best on "good" is A Bus at 2:00.01 (79th best). The best on "hard" is Alytrain's 1:58.00 (2nd best). The best on "soft" is Poker Run's 2:02.27 (439th best). The best for "yielding" is A Bus again with a 2:00.13 (98th best).
• Three horses sit in the top-100 lists with times achieved when they were 6YO's: Blushing Approval, Congenial, and Sir Empire.
• The horses that broke from the furthest outside post position and run a top-100 time both did it for the same stable. Case Closed broke from the 19 hole on dirt and ran the 74th best time. On turf, it was Dancing Delaware coming from post 15 to run the 44th best time.
• Case Closed is also the only horse to make one of the lists in an ungraded race.
• The breakdown per grade level on dirt is: G1 - 90, G2 - 8, G3 - 1, and ungraded - 1. On turf: G1 - 86, G2 - 13, and G3 - 2. I know that equals 101...there's a tie for the 100th spot.
• The breakdown per year for dirt is: 2003 - 7, 2004 - 12, 2005 - 6, 2006 - 11, 2007 - 23, 2008 - 25, and 2009 - 16. On turf: 2004 - 5, 2005 - 9, 2006 - 13, 2007 - 24, 2008 - 28, and 2009 - 22.

Stallion Spotlight #3 - ENSIGN DAY

Welcome back to the third installment of the Stallion Spotlight Series, and this week sees me cross the border from the good ol’ US of A to their neighbours, Canada and in particular the well respected farm of Eureka Racing Stables, run by Lise H.

As I drove up from Winnipeg International Airport, I could see why so many fine horses have been raised and nutured at this farm, which is predominately prairie land but surrounded by rich and fertile agricultural land stretching for as far as an eye can see (and here they can see a long long way!)

On arriving at the farm, I was met by Lise and she quickly showed me around the racing set up (very nice!) and then proceed to take me over to the stud farm operation. Here I was privileged to met her flagship stud, ENSIGN DAY.

Good morning Lise and thank you for inviting me over. Can you give me and our readers a few details as to the breeding of Ensign Day. Hi Nancy and welcome. Well you couldn’t really ask for a more stunning pedigree than this boys, his sire was the European Champion Daylami who also won a Breeders Cup Turf and his dam is the undefeated champion Personal Ensign, whose record of 13 from 13 including a Breeders Cup is pretty stunning. Whilst their son didn’t manage quite a stellar career, he did win 9 from 25 and nearly $2mill.

Wow that’s some impressive breeding! Does all that blue blood make him a bit of a superstar in the barn? You mean does he act like a diva, no far from it Nancy! Ensign Day is the consummate professional around the farm. Each morning he is taken out for a jog around the property. We tried turning him out to pasture, but he is much happier when he feels like he is in use. He shares his stall and pasture with a dwarf goat, Billy. They say the more intelligent the horse is the quicker they get bored, and he is definitely like that. Ensign Day may only be small in size, just managing to get over 15hh (at 15.1 hh!) and he is incredibly laid back. He loves to be taken out for visitors to the farm and you would think he is an old gelding the way he stands to be petted, and he does like to be spoilt with carrots, so watch your fingers!

I am sure I couldn’t mistake him for an old gelding! With his background, he must be commanding a sizeable stud fee? No not all. In fact this year we reducing his fee to get more outside mares and this year can be got for only $15,000, but as a special incentive to new players, as in those who started the game this season, he will be free.

That’s a very generous offer Lise, I am sure many new players will be ringing up to take advantage! Was this decision reached because of lack of outside support? Partly Nancy. In total since he retired to stud in 2005, he has sired 17 foals and all but 5 of them I have bred personally. So I thought it was time to spread his genes around a bit more.

Good thinking Lise and is there any particular type of mare you would recommend to be sent to Ensign Day? To be honest no. When he ran he was primarily a turf miler, but he has thrown distance foals out of sprinter mares.... and sprinter foals out of distance mares. So I'm not quite sure how reliable it is to choose even the most well suited mares. To go strictly by the books though I think breeding a turf distance mare or any surface miler would probably be best suited.


And what levels have his offspring managed to run to? I am very proud to say Nancy that Ensign Day has already sired G1 & G2 winners. Out of 11 racing age foals his progeny’s earnings are (if my calculations are correct!) just shy of $4million combined, with race records overall of 98-15-14-10, which works out roughly to them being in the money 40% of the time, although if his late maturing 2yr olds were a little faster that would be a lot higher! Whilst he hasn't sired a $10 million dollar superstar, his progeny are the type that are lesser known but still picking up paychecks, which is really all you can ask of any racehorse, just to be earning their keep.

Very true Lise very true. Now for a tricky question - if you had to compare your stallion to a real life stallion, who would it be and why? You sneak Nancy, I thought that you were going to be kind to me! MMMM, give me a moment. OK, I think I would compare him best to War Chant. Although War Chant didn't race in what could be called an extended career, he proved himself to be a competitor on the track when it counted and one of his best qualities is his fight down the stretch. Qualities which Ensign Day has and seems to have passed onto his offspring.


And finally, before I have to leave this wonderful place, what do you see the future of your stallion to be?. As one of the first horses to retire to stud in the game, he has a head start on some more lofty achievers but I plan to continue on the Ensign Day lines for as long as possible. He now has 5 crops “on the ground” (Ensign Day was one of my original horses in the game in 2002!) He won't be going to another farm anytime soon!

Lise, may I again say thank you for letting me come in and have a good nose around your set up, which is highly impressive! I hope that Ensign Day get a good if not full book this season and I look forward to watching his offspring on the track.

Until next time readers!

Stallion Spotlight #2 - CONFRONTATION

Hello, and welcome back to our series on Player Owned Stallions. After a wonderful visit to the well established Spartan Racing Stables, we move on to one of the newer studs in the game, Sunset Ranch which was set up only last season.

Lets talk quickly to the Stud Owner, Jamie Calloway.
Thanks for letting me come here today Jamie and firstly can I say what a lovely place you have here, can you describe it at little to our readers? Sure, and hi to everyone! Sunset Ranch is based out of Panama City Florida, and I may be biased but I believe it has the world’s most beautiful beaches. I am very proud to say that this year we have expanded to a 10 stall ranch and now stand one stallion, along with our first broodmare, and also our first homebred colt who is thriving. The racing arm of the stables has four courageous racers hitting the tracks and showing some nice returns. We are a small ranch a total of 500 acres, we have two 100 acre pastures, 100 acres of undeveloped swamp land, another hundred acres for growing our own hay and 100 acres devoted to growing tobacco (anything to keep a healthy profit margin!). We are about 20 miles north of the gulf where the mixture of dark swamp land soil and sand are ideal for growing any crop and raising the next Eclipse winner (crosses fingers!). So come for a visit and reveal in God’s most beautiful pictures that are the Florida Sunsets.

Sounds very impressive Jamie, and the name of your stallion: Confrontation is a stunning 17hh bay stallion by Showdown x Sky Beauty (Blushing Groom) and one of the tallest horses I have ever seen!!

And in general what is he like, as a personality? Good question Nancy! “Confy” as he is known in the barn, still keeps to his racing routine by getting up early in the morning, most times before dawn and running about a mile everyday around his large pasture. He is the first to be fed, and pity the poor stable hand who forgets this, and has to eat before all the other horses start moving around, his feed consisting of a light grain mixture and a couple of licks on the salt rock. Most of the other horses on ranch the look up to Confy as a general. As the sun starts to go down you can always find Confy standing on a hill next to the house looking over the ranch, just like a field general would do watching out over his platoon and being 17hh tall, his silhouette as the sun sets just leaves me breathless some days. Despite last season being his first stud season, he was a total gentleman in the breeding shed too, eager without being forceful and I am sure he would love to see more mares this year!

How much is his fee for this year?: A very reasonable $2,000 which we feel is a fair price for an unproven stallion who earned just under the magical $1million dollars on the track and hopefully will appeal to the smaller stables.

How many mares did he cover last season? Sadly, Confy only covered one mare last season, she was a Sunset Ranch mare and we had our first homebred (The Don) and of course we are delighted with him!

Jamie, if you had to recommend a type of mare for your stallion, what would it be? Well Confrontation could run on turf or dirt, but his best form would be classed as "sprinter" so the broodmare would need to be the same, ie about 5F to 7F, and either turf or dirt but we wouldn’t expect him to sire many runners capable of getting further than a mile. Although we would love to be proven wrong!

Being realistic, considering the level of the horse on the track and the mares he is more likely to attract, what kind of foals do you think would be the result of sending the most suitable mare(s) to your stallion? We are still waiting to see how The Don but from the looks of his AR he also will be a good, fast sprinter. I think what you could look forward to would be a very good G2 sprinter, possibly a G1 win here or there, but almost definitely a steady and reliable runner to keep pay checks coming in to sustain your farm.

Again Jamie that’s a very realistic and honest assesement of the breeding game. For a bit of fun, if you had to compare your stallion to a real life stallion, who would it be and why? HAHA and there I was Nancy thinking this interview was easy! Well after much deliberation I like the look of “Lost in the Fog” who was once named the fastest horse in the world, I think Confy and Lost in the Fog had similar traits with racing and personality (they were both fighters).

Well, that pretty much concludes the interview but as a final question, what do you see the future of your stallion to be – staying with you and establishing your stud as a good supplier of horses, or maybe just standing him for a few seasons to see what type he throws. As this is only our second season at stud, we will definitely be keeping Confrontation in our stable whether he throws great foals or not, he has been a staple to our ranch and will either celebrate in our victories or go down in a blaze of glory with us. But hopefully he will be start of greater things to come and who knows, in a few years you may see a son or daughter of his winning the Breeders Cup Sprint!

There you have it folks - from the lofty heights in yesterdays article on a well established Stud to todays interview with a beginner, trying to establish himself and his horse in the ranks. As soon as the Visa stamp is dry, i will report to you again from my next (secret) location!

Stallion Spotlight No 1 - VAMPIRICAL

As the breeding season is fast approaching, I have been visiting some of the stallions that stand in the game and this has taken me all over the world and I have seen some of the best horseflesh the game has to offer (not to say some of the owners arent worth a second glance too!).

To start this weekly article, I have chosen my visit to Spartan Racing Stables, owned by Ryan Okerstrom and home to Vampirical.

So Ryan, tell me about your farm and what made you build here - Well Nancy, SPR began with a dream, a plan and 100 acres of undeveloped land in 2004. Today it incorporates approximately 1,000 acres in six divisions, four of which are devoted to mares and foals, one to yearlings and one is home to the world class stallion, Vampirical. The Spartan Racing Stables Stallion division was built in 2006 and the first stallion to stand there is the subject stallion, Vampirical. Spartan Racing Stables has discussed acquiring the KRF Stallions: Revenge, Congenial and Supreme Court. This is still in the works for 2010.

Very interesting Ryan. Is there anything else that makes SPR stand out from the rest of the pack? Very definately yes, as from the beginning, we have taken the unusual approach of limiting the farm's stallion population and establishing a niche for the farm as a boutique, where "Quality is Never Second Guessed." Our philosophy for stallions is to provide a special place for a stallion -- a place that limits its equine population in order to ensure personal management and promotion of each stallion. For instance, every morning, our stallion enjoys exercise with a morning gallop. It takes more time and expense, but what it does for their health and happiness is invaluable.

Lets talk more about your stud, Vampirical. For example, his breeding and stud fee? In a nutshell Vampircal is by Dancing Phantom by Rejuvenate (Ils de Bourbon). He stands for $40,000 LFG

And the horse himself, can you describe him to our readers - does he have any quirks etc that we may not know about? Funny you should ask Nancy, yes! He is a dark brown or dark bay stallion that stands 17.0 HH. See picture at http://www.freewebs.com/spartanracingstables/stallions.htm . He has a bit of an attitude in the morning. He wants to be fed first, before any other horse on the farm. He has been known to remove his water buckets and toss them in his stall when he gets ignored. He has to have a jolly ball in his stall to play with because he gets very frustrated when people don't pay attention to him. He will pick up his jolly ball and squash it against his chest. I think he likes the sound it makes. He is a well mannered horse in the breeding shed. He always asks the mare before mounting and, although he has a tendency to grab the mare by the back of the neck and/or ears, he does so gently. When turned out, Vampirical always patrols the exterior of his pasture to ensure that no other horse has been inside. He's very particular about making sure his territory is in tact. He then will typically gallop across the middle of the pasture to stretch out before settling down and grazing for hours at a time.

Sounds like a bit of a character then! If you had to choose the type of mare that would suit Vampirical best. Obviously, any stallion owner's goal is to attract the highest quality mares available. I don't know that it makes a difference in PF as Retribution's dam never won a race and he's a 3 time TR holder and has earned over $2M already. Vampirical's first crop can be viewed at http://www.freewebs.com/spartanracingstables/stallions.htm. He covered 11 mares last season which isnt bad for a 1st season.

If you had to recommend a specific type of mare for him, what would it be? (ie dirt miler, turf distance etc).From the looks of the 11 foal ARs I don’t think this is going to matter much. He has thrown foals that favour sprints, miles, classics and distance races. Has thrown foals that prefer hard dirt, soft dirt, hard turf and/or soft turf. When you talk about versatility – you must talk about Vampirical. Vampirical's AR suggested that he could handle both surfaces and his past performances proved it (turf record is obvious, but he also was 5^th in the Belmont as a 3yo and set a TR at Santa Anita as a 3yo across the dirt). His range was 10F-16F with 12F as his best distance. His stamina was never in question so he can bring that facet to any mare owner looking to stretch out a foal.

Is there a horse that ran in the Real World (apparently there is life away from PF?!), who would you say he is most like? This is really a tough question. The 1st horse that comes to mind is High Chaparral (IRE) based on his ability to win at the 12F distance. I would also consider a horse like Sakhee who proved to be versatile on both surfaces with his 2nd in the BC Classic and his stamina from 10F-12F on turf.

And finally, where do you see your stud and farm's future? The original plan was to merge with KRF Stables and have one farm for stallions and mares and one farm for racing crop. I don’t think we are going to go that route right now, so Vampirical will be staying at Spartan Racing Stables. As for the rest of my team, I will most likely sell Stardom ($1,599,550 44-5-7-7) at the end of the season and the other older horses will all return to racing next season before I make a decision on their status. With that said, Vampirical will remain the lone stallion standing at Spartan Racing Stables for at least this season and next.

Thank you Ryan - your hospitality and kindness in showing me around this beautiful farm and allowing me to see Vampirical myself is most appreciated. I hope our readers enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it!