Bluegrass Cat, New York’s leading sire by winners and earnings since moving New York in 2012, will relocate from Rockridge Stud to Donald L. and Karen Cohn’s Ballena Vista Farm in Ramona, CA for the 2015 breeding season. Ballena Vista Farm acquired the Grade 1 winner in conjunction with WinStar Farm.
As a racehorse, Bluegrass Cat earned over $1.7 million for his owner-breeder WinStar Farm. He was a multiple Grade 2 stakes winner at two and the winner of the Grade 1 Haskell at three and placed second in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes before retiring to stud at WinStar Farm in 2007.
With first-crop earnings of $1.4 million in 2010, Bluegrass Cat ranked second among North America’s freshman sires ahead of Bernardini and War Front, and was the number two second-crop sire of 2011 with over $3.4 million in earnings. His progeny earnings topped $4.7 million in 2012 and surpassed $5.4 million in 2013.
Currently Bluegrass Cat has progeny earnings of $4.4 million with five stakes winners in 2014 including this summer’s W. L. Proctor Memorial winner Story to Tell ($118,850) and additional stakes-winning juveniles in Canada and Maryland. His five crops to race have produced six graded winners, 22 stakes winners and 55 stakes horses. On the horizon Bluegrass Cat has 100 plus current two-year-olds, and well over 200 foals from his next three crops.
A foal of 2003, Bluegrass Cat is by Storm Cat out of A. P. Indy’s multiple graded stakes producer She’s a Winner, a full sister to the dam of WinStar’s Kentucky Derby winner and freshman sire Super Saver, the leading first-year sire in the nation.
Bluegrass Cat will complete his southern hemisphere season at Norman Fox’s Haras Lacala in Uruguay before moving to Ballena Vista Farm. His 2015 fee will be initially set at $6,500.
Fortunately the New York Bred Program will continue. There are still alot of great NY Stallions staying such as Frost Giant !!!!!