Street Sense, this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner and the previous year's 2-year-old male champion, will enter stud for $75,000 at Sheikh Mohammed's Darley near Lexington. The fee is the highest for a Derby winner since the $100,000 for 2004 victor Smarty Jones .
A son of Darley stallion Street Cry, out of the Dixieland Band mare Bedazzle, Street Sense closed out his career with fourth-place finish in the Oct. 27 Breeders' Cup Classic - Powered by Dodge (gr. I), He retired with earnings of $4,383,200.
Hard Spun, second to Street Sense in the Run for the Roses and runner-up to Curlin in the Classic, will begin his stallion career at Darley for $50,000. Hard Spun (Danzig--Turkish Tryst, by Turkoman) retired with $2,673,470 in earnings.
Darley also announced the retirement of grade I winner Discreet Cat. The 4-year-old son of Forestry out of the grade I-winning Private Account mare Pretty Discreet will stand for $30,000. Discreet Cat finished third in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and retired with six wins in nine starts and earnings of $1,694,180.
Street Cry, the overwhelming second-crop leader by progeny earnings, will stand for $100,000, up from $50,000 in 2007. The son of Machiavellian out of the Troy mare Helen Street also is the sire of 2007 grade I-winning 2-year-old Cry and Catch Me.
Smarty Jones' sire, Elusive Quality , will stand at Darley for $75,000, down from $100,000 in 2007. Elusive Quality (Gone West--Touch of Greatness, by Hero's Honor) was represented in the Breeders' Cup by Filly & Mare Sprint winner Maryfield.
Darley will keep the fee of Cherokee Run, sire of Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) winner War Pass, at the same $40,000 that he stood for in 2007. Cherokee Run is by Runaway Groom out of the Silver Saber mare Cherokee Dame.
John Ferguson, Sheikh Mohammed's bloodstock adviser, said, "Sheikh Mohammed's long term aim is to stand the best stallions in the world, and he's acutely aware that great sires emerge from a flourishing breeding industry.The Darley prices are pitched at a level which gives breeders with quality mares an excellent chance to produce quality horses from reasonable fees."
Following are the fees for all Darley stallions:
Street Cry $100,000
Bernardini $100,000
Elusive Quality $75,000
Street Sense $75,000
Hard Spun $50,000
Cherokee Run $40,000
Henny Hughes $40,000
Discreet Cat $30,000
Consolidator $20,000
Quiet American $20,000
Rockport Harbor $20,000
E Dubai $15,000
Holy Bull $15,000
Kafwain $10,000
Offlee Wild $10,000
Songster $10,000