Grade 1 winner Greenpointcrusader, who captured the Champagne Stakes (G1) at 2, has been retired to stud and will stand his first season in 2018 at Ocala Stud in Central Florida, where he is now available for inspection. A fee will be announced at a later date.
"Greenpointcrusader was one of the best 2-year-olds of his crop, as evidenced by fast wins against Saratoga maiden company and then the grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont," said Ocala Stud's J. Michael O'Farrell. "His 94 Beyer Speed Figure in the Champagne was as fast as Uncle Mo , and it's one of the fastest in the last decade from what is a marquee race for 2-year-olds.
"Greenpointcrusader has a tremendous stallion pedigree, with two of his brothers currently standing stud in Kentucky, and he's the only grade 1-winning 2-year-old out of his highly accomplished dam. There's a lot to like about this horse, and we believe breeders will really like him when they see him."
The son of Bernardini is out of the blue hen mare Ava Knowsthecode (Cryptoclearance), who has produced four other graded stakes winners—grade 1 winner and freshman sire Justin Phillip , who won the 2013 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) and placed in four other grade 1s; grade 2 winner Keyed Entry, and grade 3 winners Successful Mission and Algorithms , who is a second-crop sire this year.
Bred by Oakbrook Farm in Kentucky, Greenpointcrusader was among Bernardini's top-priced yearlings of 2014. He sold to agent J.J. Crupi for $575,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale and raced for owners St. Elias Stables, MeB Stables, and Brooklyn Boyz Stables. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the colt broke his maiden at Saratoga Race Course before taking the Champagne by 4 1/2 lengths in 1:36.25 and earning a 106 Equibase Speed Figure.
At 3, Greenpointcrusader was runner-up in the Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park. He retires with a 3-2-0 record out of nine starts and earnings of $473,300.
"Anthony Bonomo and I are big believers in Greenpointcrusader's future as a sire, and love his pedigree, look, and racing form," said co-owner Vinnie Viola of St. Elias Stables. "He ran extremely well as a 2-year-old and finished first or second in four of his first five races before injuries derailed his racing career. We intend to support him with a number of our own high-quality broodmares."
