Ruis Racing announced Nov. 14 that Saburo and War Envoy will enter stud for 2018 at Tom and Debi Stull's Tommy Town Thoroughbreds near Santa Ynez, Calif. They will be the first sons of leading sires Medaglia d'Oro and War Front , respectively, to stand in the Golden State.
Saburo will stand for $3,500, while War Envoy's stud fee has been set at $5,000.
Medaglia d'Oro's son Saburo was purchased by Ruis at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds-in-training sale for $600,000, which was the second-highest price for a colt at the auction. He is out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Kid Majic, who hails from the family of Eclipse champion Proud Spell. Kid Majic is also the dam of Miss Mischief, a multiple stakes winner of nearly $523,000.
"I purchased Saburo because I loved the way he moved and because I love the family, which is still very active," Mick Ruis said. "His dam has a Bernardini and a nice Tapit in the pipeline. A little further back is the 2-year-old stakes winner Dak Attack, who is undefeated and should be on the (Kentucky) Derby trail next spring."
War Envoy, by War Front, emerged from his debut victory in April of his 2-year-old season to become one of Europe's leading juveniles in 2014. He placed in a trio of group events before shipping to Santa Anita Park for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T), where he was beaten just four lengths as the favorite after a brutal trip. The colt continued to show his toughness and versatility throughout three subsequent seasons, racing at 15 different tracks, in five countries, and on dirt and turf. He earned nearly $500,000.
"I have so much admiration for War Envoy. He always tried but didn't always have the best of luck," Ruis said. "He's another with a good family—his third dam is Winning Colors—and his full brother just sold for $750,000 to Cheveley Park Stud at Keeneland September. We plan to support both War Envoy and Saburo with a good numbers of our own mares. In fact, we're looking to buy some mares as we speak."
"California breeders have been clamoring for access to these two sire lines and they sure won't be disappointed when they see Saburo and War Envoy," added Tom Stull. "We're ecstatic to be partnering with the Ruis family on these two promising stallions."