Last fall, most horses bred by Frank Stronach in his name or that of Stronach Stables were changed to have the breeder listed as Adena Springs. Stronach, a leading owner and breeder, owns Adena Springs Farm near Versailles, Ky., as well as farms by the same name near Ocala, Fla., and Ontario, Canada.
The change pushed Adena Springs to second on the year-end list of leading breeders with $9,929,737, behind Harry T. Mangurian Jr., who bred the earners of $10,757,845 in 2000. The list, compiled by The Jockey Club Information Systems, is for North American-based horses only.
Two Eclipse Award finalists were among the large group of horses whose breeding lines were changed. Juvenile colt Macho Uno originally was listed as bred by Stronach Stables, while turf mare Perfect Sting was listed as bred by Stronach.
Stronach is a finalist for both Eclipse Award winning owner and breeder. The winners will be announced Jan. 30 in New Orleans, La. This is the first year leading breeder was chosen by all voters of the three sponsoring organizations rather than a committee comprised of two members each from the Daily Racing Form, the National Turf Writers Association, and racing secretaries and Equibase chartcallers voting through the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
Dan Hall, manager of the Kentucky Adena Springs Farm, said the move was done to try and achieve uniformity in horses bred by Stronach. "In the weekly (breeder's) totals, we weren't showing up," Hall said. "For various reasons, we had registered them different ways. We went through a process to get them under one name, so all the earnings would appear.
"It was a huge process, especially for the horses we don't own any more."
Hall said beginning with 2001 crop, all foals will be registered as bred by Adena Springs.
Said Jockey Club registrar Buddy Bishop: "We allow people, if they've made a mistake, to correct it. He (Stronach) has sent me affidavits that are signed and notarized that the breeder of these horses should have been Adena Springs."
The Jockey Club fee for making such a change is $50 per horse. Bishop said more than 150 horses were involved.
Bishop said he only allowed Stronach to change the breeding lines back to a certain foaling year. So, on the list of leading breeders, Stronach is in 46th place, with 99 starters earning $1,582,971.
Mangurian not only tops the list, but his Mockingbird Farm ranks 14th, with $2,929,644. Adding Mangurian and Mockingbird together would result in earnings of $13,687,489, while adding Adena Springs and Stronach together would produce earnings of $11,512,708.
