Off the strength of siring a classic winner and seven other black-type wins to date, Hill 'n' Dale Farms announced a stud fee increase for Maclean's Music to $25,000.
The son of Distorted Humor currently ranks fourth among the top second-crop sires by progeny earnings for 2017, with his chief earner title belonging to this year's Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Cloud Computing. Maclean's Music is co-ranked in third on the second-crop sire list by number of black-type wins with Dialed In , who also has eight so far.
New to the Hill 'n' Dale roster is Kitten's Joy , the current leading turf sire and second-leading sire by earnings on the BloodHorse general sire list. He recently relocated from Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Ramsey Farm after Hill 'n' Dale bought a 50% interest in the son of El Prado. He is standing for a previously announced fee of $60,000.
"We are so excited to add the elite sire Kitten's Joy to our roster," said John Sikura, owner of Hill 'n' Dale. "He is the perennial champion turf sire in North America and is quickly making his presence felt as a horse of international importance. We are also particularly pleased with Maclean's Music, who is fast fulfilling the expectations that we and Stonestreet had for this horse. The sire of Preakness winner Cloud Computing in his first crop is a harbinger of what we see on the horizon for this special stallion."
The 2018 stud fee for two-time Horse of the Year Curlin will remain unchanged at $150,000.
While most of the stallions on Hill 'n' Dales roster have not had their fees changed, New Year's Day has been bumped to $5,000 from $3,500 for 2017. The son of Street Cry is among the top 10 leading first-crop sires through Oct. 17 by earnings. He has nine winners out of 24 starters, and Day Raider is his lone black-type runner to date.
Hill 'n' Dale also previously announced an increase for Violence . The grade 1-winning son of Medaglia d'Oro —Violent Beauty, by Gone West, entered stud at $15,000 and stood at that price for 2017. Year to date, his first runners have earned a combined $749,646 and included three black-type stakes winners. Violence is the co-leading freshman sire with Animal Kingdom by number of black-type winners, through Oct. 17, and is the second-ranked sire by total progeny earnings behind Overanalyze .
| Hill 'n' Dale Farms 2018 Fees: | ||
| Stallion |
2018 Fee
|
2017 Fee
|
| Atreides | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Bayern | $15,000 | $15,000 |
| Curlin | $150,000 | $150,000 |
| Flashback | $5,000* | $7,500 |
| Flintshire | $20,000 | $20,000 |
| Kantharos | $15,000 | $15,000 |
| Kitten's Joy | $60,000 | $100,000 |
| Maclean's Music | $25,000 | $8,500 |
| Midnight Lute | $15,000 | $20,000 |
| New Year's Day | $5,000 | $3,500 |
| Secret Circle | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Stormy Atlantic | $15,000 | $15,000 |
| Violence | $25,000 | $15,000 |
* Fee is $7,500 if paid out of sale proceeds
