English classic winner Mister Baileys, who stood first at Vinery in Kentucky before being purchased to stand in Europe, has been found to now be infertile, The Racing Post reported.
The stallion will move from Chris Harper's Whitsbury Manor Stud and spend his retirment at the home of Paul Venner, head of Baileys Horse Feeds, after which he was named and raced for trainer Mark Johnston.
Mister Baileys nearly died from grass sickness two years ago, when the deadly disease claimed Dubai Millennium. Mister Baileys, who was to have stood that year at the National Stud, was claimed by his insurers.
He was purchased by Vinery, where he sired 163 foals during the 1996 to 2000 seasons.
He was purchased by Kern Lillingston Associates and Warrender Associates in 2000 for a syndicate headed by Whitsbury Manor. There were 51 foals born in his first European crop in 2002, and 38 in the current crop, but stud manager Charlie Oakshott told The Racing Post much work went into attaining those figures.
"The mares had to be covered within 12 hours of ovulation," he said. "So we were covering around the clock. We were able to get 86% of his mares in foal that way during his first two seasons.
"But this season not one mare was confirmed in foal. We stopped covering the first week in April, after 35 in a row scanned empty. We had the testing done and the labs found an increase in abnormal sperm and a decrease in their longevity. The combination of those two things was just too much."
Mister Baileys, circa 1995.
