2006 News:
10/7/06 - Homebred SW WANDERIN BOY, h. 5, Seeking the Gold - Vid Kid, by Pleasant Colony led most of the way and then ended up second to Bernardini in the JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP S. (G1) at Belmont Park. He added $150,000 to his coffer.
9/17/06 -Front-running Wanderin Boy dominates in Brooklyn
Courtesy of the Thoroughbred Times Today
Arthur Hancock III’s homebred Wanderin Boy took the lead at the
start of the 11⁄8-mile Brooklyn Breeders’ Cup Handicap (G2) at Belmont Park on Saturday and never surrendered his advantage, opening a clear lead in the stretch and holding off a late bid by Awesome Twist to post a 1 1⁄2-length victory.
Wanderin Boy passed the six-furlong marker
in 1:10.37 before completing one mile in 1:35.08. Entering the stretch, jockey Javier Castellano asked the chestnut to pick up the tempo and they opened up a 41⁄2-length advantage.
The win was the third in a graded stakes for Wanderin Boy. He won
the Ben Ali Stakes (G3) in April at Keeneland Race Course and won
last year’s Mineshaft Handicap (G3) at Fair Grounds.
4/27/06 - Homebred WANDERIN BOY, h. 5, Seeking the Gold - Vid Kid, by Pleasant Colony won the BEN ALI S. (G3)
Keeneland Race. WANDERIN BOY, sent off as the
heavy favorite zipped gate-to-wire en route to a 51⁄4-length win.
This is his second winning start in 2006. He won an allowance race at 11⁄16 miles over the Keeneland track three weeks earlier by a dominating ten lengths. The two races were his first starts at Keeneland since winning his maiden debut as a three-year-old, giving him a perfect three-for-three record at the Lexington track.
Lifetime: Lifetime: 9-5-2-1, $264,009
| First Smarty Jones foal born at Stone Farm |
| The first reported foal by 2004 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Smarty Jones was born early Tuesday morning at Arthur Hancock's Stone Farm. |
| The foal, a filly out of the winning Danzig mare Shoppingwithbetty, was born shortly after midnight at the Paris, Kentucky, farm. The mare is owned by Hancock and Tom Tatham of Oak Cliff Stables, the same team that bred and raised 1989 Horse of the Year Sunday Silence.
"We're very excited about the foal," Hancock said. "A lot of work goes into bringing a foal into the world, and it's nice to have a healthy filly."
2/3/06 - Homebred multiple graded SW OWSLEY foaled a WAR CHANT colt. |
2005 News:
Quest to stand at Stone Farm in 2006
Arthur Hancock’s and Gerald Healy’s
homebred Grade 2 winner Quest has been retired and
will stand in 2006 at Hancock’s Stone Farm
in Paris, Kentucky.
The six-year-old son of Seeking the Gold recorded
six wins in 23 career starts, including the 2003
Clark Handicap (G2) at Churchill Downs in which
he was awarded the victory after finishing a nose
behind first-place winner Evening Attire, who was
disqualified for bumping him in the stretch. Prior
to that, he finished second behind eventual Horse
of the Year Mineshaft in that season’s edition
of the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Belmont Park.
As a three-year-old the previous year, Quest finished
second to Medaglia d’Oro in the Jim Dandy
Stakes (G2) but was placed last of nine for interference.
Quest lowered the Gulfstream Park mark for 7½
furlongs when he captured the Lure Stakes in 1:29
on January 15, his only win in two starts this season.
He amassed a lifetime bankroll of $768,012.
"Quest is the whole package, he could sprint,
he could go long, and he does everything with class,"
said trainer Nick Zito.
Quest is out of the Spectacular Bid mare Starlore,
a stakes-placed winner and half sister to Grade
3-placed stakes winner Point Spread.
Hancock said he expects Quest to follow the success
at stud of other sons of Seeking the Gold.
"It is too late in the season to launch his
career as a stallion this year, but we will look
forward to 2006," said Hancock. "Quest
is one of the finest looking horses I’ve ever
seen," he said.
Homebred PINPOINT by Peaks and Valley's
takes the Sir Barton at Belmont.
Courtesy
of the Thoroughbred Times
As an owner, Arthur Hancock III has collected two
wins in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and single victories
in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and Breeders’
Cup Classic (G1). The Belmont Stakes (G1) is a glaring
omission from Hancock’s win list that he hopes
to address on Saturday with homebred Sir Barton
Stakes winner Pinpoint.
Hancock and partner Leone Peters finished second
in the 1982 Belmont with Kentucky Derby winner Gato
Del Sol. Hancock also finished second in 1989 with
Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Sunday Silence,
third in ’94 with Kentucky Derby runner-up
Strodes Creek, and eighth in ’99 with Kentucky
Derby and Preakness runner-up Menifee.
“We’ve been knocking on the door in
this race, and we’re knocking again,”
Hancock said on Thursday. “We’re 20-to-1
this time, and we should be, I guess. But sometimes
a fresh horse and a horse that can go the distance
can make the difference.’’ After Pinpoint
finished last in his debut on February 12 at Gulfstream
Park, trainer Nick Zito added blinkers to the colt’s
equipment, and he has responded with three consecutive
wins, including a victory by three-quarters of a
length in the Sir Barton on the Preakness undercard
on May 21 at Pimlico Race Course. “We’re
hopeful he fits well in there,” Hancock said.
“We don’t know much about him, but we’re
going to find out.”
Zito and Hancock first became acquainted in the
late 1960s when Hancock was working as a groom for
trainer Eddie Neloy. Quest, the first horse Zito
trained for Hancock, won the 2003 Clark Handicap
(G2) at Churchill Downs. This year, they have combined
for stakes wins with Pinpoint, Burnish, and Wanderin
Boy. “Nick is a hard worker and we get along
great,” Hancock said. “This would a
great race to win together.” Hancock is not
totally foreign to success in the Belmont. He bred
Risen Star, who won the Belmont by 14 3/4 lengths
in 1988.
—Jeff Lowe Record of horses owned by Arthur
Hancock III in Belmont Stakes
1981 Tap Shoes - 6th 8.30-to-1
1982 Gato Del Sol - 2nd 6.40-to-1
1989 Sunday Silence - 2nd 9-to-10*
1994 Strodes Creek - 3rd 1.30-to-1*
1999 Menifee 8th - 2.60-to-1
*favorite
Hancock owned Tap Shoes and Gato Del Sol in partnership
with
Leone Peters
Pinpoint works toward Belmont Stakes
HOMEBRED Pinpoint, winner of the Sir Barton
Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on the Preakness Stakes
(G1) undercard, turned in a seven-furlong workout
on Thursday morning at Saratoga Race Course’s
Oklahoma Training Track in preparation for a start
in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 11. Trainer Nick
Zito, still sporting his Racing Hall of Fame smile
two days after it was announced he would be inducted
later this year, timed the threeyear- old son of
Peaks and Valleys in 1:15 for six furlongs and 1:28
for seven furlongs under regular exercise rider
Maxine Correa. Zito took a similar training approach
to the Belmont Stakes with Birdstone last year,
but the recently elected Hall of Fame trainer was
short of completely committing to the start. “It’s
basically the same way we trained Birdstone, but
it’s a different horse, a different type of
horse,” Zito said. “Birdstone ran as
a two-year-old, won the Champagne [Stakes (G1)],
but you never know. This is a fresh horse, won his
last three, so, right now it looks pretty good.
We will see what happens the next couple of days.”
Birdstone won the Belmont Stakes after training
at Saratoga between the Kentucky Derby (G1) and
Belmont. Zito also used the Sir Barton as a prep
for 2004 Belmont Stakes third-place finisher Royal
Assault.
2004 News:
5/10 - Homebred multiple graded SW OWSLEY has been bred to Pulpit. Her dam Insipid has been
bred to Wagon Limit.
To 4/25 - Menifee has 10 winners and 4 stakes horses
from his first crop. His first 2 year old of 2004
won at Keeneland.
To 4/25 - Wagon Limit has 10 winners and 2 stakes
horses from his first crop including G1 SW SILVER
WAGON
4/25- Stone Farm bred multiple stakes winning DUBLINO m. 5, Lear Fan—Tuscoga, by
Theatrical (Ire) ran third in the Wilshire (G3).
11/6
- BLESS, Full sister to FUSAICHI PEGASUS consigned by Stone
Farm tops Keeneland November Sale selling for $4 million.
Godolphin
Racing’s E Dubai, purchased from Stone Farm as a yearling for $350,000,
will retire following his four year-old campaign and will stand the 2003 breeding
season at Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Jonabell Farm in Lexington.
Winner of this year’s Suburban Handicap (G2) and last year’s Dwyer
Stakes (G2), the son of Mr. Prospector out of the stakes-winning Lord At War
(Arg) mare Words of War was withdrawn from consideration for a start in the
Woodward Stakes (G1) at Belmont due to a bruised hoof and is now pointed to
the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) on September 28. As a three-year-old last year,
E Dubai won the Dwyer and finished second in the Peter Pan Stakes (G2); the
Travers Stakes (G1) behind 2001 Horse of the Year Point Given; and the Super
Derby (G1) at Louisiana Downs.
DUBLINO
(Lear Fan out of Stone Farm's Tuscoga by Theatrical [Ire]) may have lost to
Megahertz (GB) via disqualification in the American Invitational Oaks in early
July, but she got even on 8/24 in the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks (G1). DUBLINO,
trained by Laura de Seroux won by just a nose, but her number one position
was official this time. She earned not only the win but the Grade 1 credit
and more than doubled her earnings with the winner's share, now standing at
$304,011 from 4-2-2-0 career starts. Jockey Kent Desormeaux was back in the
irons for the nine-furlong firm turf event. DUBLINO
is owned by Geringer, Klein, Liberty Road Stables, et al.
Gene Klein’s son Michael and grandson Adam assure their silks will continue
to be seen well into the 21st century. Michael, 55, and Adam, 23, were two
of the most excited members of a large entourage in the winner’s circle
on August 24. 
3-year-old,
LABAMTA BABE, handily upset the early Derby favorite, Siphonic, in
the $150,000 Santa Catalina S.-G2 at Santa Anita on January 19. Labamta Babe
cruised under the wire 5 1/2 lengths better than the rest of the field, earning
a 104 Beyer Speed Figure. The 3-year-old colt was bred in Kentucky by Stone
Farm's Arthur Hancock III and Oak Cliff Stable. 