Combatant, winner of the 2020 Santa Anita Handicap, joins the stallion roster at Rockridge Stud in Hudson for the 2022 season. Benoit Photo.
Combatant, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in 2020, has been retired and will stand his first season in 2022 at Rockridge Stud in Hudson. The 6-year-old son of Scat Daddy out of the Boundary mare Border Dispute is currently being syndicated and will stand for $7,500 LFSN.
“A Grade 1-winning son of Scat Daddy is a great complement to the New York stallion market and a perfect fit for our program,” said Rockridge’s Lere Visagie.
The Hronis Racing-owned Combatant was sold to Brian Levings of Levings Racing to stand at Rockridge in a deal brokered by Matt Bowling of Bowling Bloodstock, Colt Pike and David Ingordo.
Combatant will remain in Kentucky through the end of the Keeneland September yearling sale for inspection by breeders interested in the New York breeding program. For more information on shares, contact Erin Robinson (859) 421-7531 (NY) or Colt Pike (817) 597-5233 (KY).
“I’ve had fun on the racing side and decided to dip a toe in the stallion market,” Levings said. “New York has a strong program and has shown that stallions from the Empire State can have a bright future.”
Bred by Paget Bloodstock and originally sold as a yearling for $320,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September sale, Combatant broke his maiden in his second start and finished second in the Remington Springboard Mile Stakes to end his 2-year-old season. He placed in back-to-back stakes at Oaklawn Park and finished fourth in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby to earn a spot in the Kentucky Derby field. Combatant later placed in two stakes as a 3-year-old and then sold as a racing and stallion prospect at the 2019 Keeneland November sale.
Combatant competed exclusively in stakes company for trainer John Sadler after being purchased by Hronis Racing, winning the 2020 Big Cap over a field that included Midcourt, Endorsed and Hofburg, after a third in the Grade 2 San Pasqual to open his 4-year-old campaign. He also placed in two other graded stakes that season before retiring with a record of 4-5-6 in 30 starts and earnings of $1,062,915.
