Classic winner Dornoch, a son of Good Magic who landed his second grade 1 in the July 20 Haskell Stakes (G1), had owned a spot on Spendthrift Farm's watch list of stallion prospects since last fall.
The full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage hit the radar of many stud farms when he landed the Remsen Stakes (G2) by a nose at Aqueduct Racetrack over highly regarded Sierra Leone.
"The stallion game is very competitive, so you are always looking for the right time to make an offer," said Ned Toffey, general manager at Spendthrift. "Dornoch was certainly one we were interested in from early on, but you want to be sure they carry on their form."
With trainer Danny Gargan, the colt raised hopes with a 1 3/4-length win in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and then forced some farms to hit the pause button with a fourth in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and 10th in the Kentucky Derby. He would silence doubters in the Belmont Stakes (G1), taking the American classic (run this year at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga Race Course) by half a length and defeating Derby winner Mystik Dan, Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Seize the Grey, and Derby runner-up Sierra Leone.
Spendthrift made an offer and secured Dornoch's breeding rights after the Belmont win.
"It is not that you can't stand a horse that does not have that grade 1 but, in general, you need it to be commercially viable," said Toffey. "We are excited to add another high-end, well-bred talented horse. I think he should be one of the most popular prospects because his combination of race record, conformation, and pedigree is strong. There are no weaknesses in him."
Dornoch is raced by West Paces Racing, R.A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Pine Racing Stables, and Two Eight Racing, which is the stable of former Major League Baseball all-star outfielder Jayson Werth. Connor Foley's Oracle Bloodstock, as agent, acquired the colt for $325,000 out of Runnymede Farm's consignment at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Dornoch is out of the Big Brown stakes winner Puca, who was also second in the Gazelle Stakes (G2). She has three foals to race that include a Kentucky Derby winner, Belmont winner, and multiple stakes-placed winner Gunning (Gun Runner ). These three stakes horses were all bred by Robert Clay's Grandview Equine and raised at Runnymede.
Grandview acquired Puca in foal to Gun Runner for $475,000 from Denali Stud's consignment at Fasig-Tipton's 2018 The November Sale, the boutique mixed sale in Lexington. The mare would be offered during last fall's Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, where John Stewart's Resolute Farm bought her for $2.9 million in foal to Good Magic. The mare produced a colt April 4 and also has a 2-year-old by McKinzie named Baeza that has not started but has been breezing at Santa Anita Park.
If Dornoch enters stud next year, he'll join Airdrie Stud's Mage as the first sire-sons by prominent third-crop sire Good Magic, who ranks second to Ashford Stud's Justify by progeny earnings but leads his sire class by number of grade 1 winners with two this year, as of July 22. Besides Dornoch, Good Magic is the sire of Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Muth.
Toffey said the farm has no qualms about standing the son of a proven sire who is only 9 years old.
"Good Magic will be a horse that people will continue to use. His stud fee was strong this year and I anticipate it goes up some next year because he is having such a good year," he said. "Dornoch is a little different than his sire, who is not overly big, in that he is a good-sized animal with a lot of leg and scope. Then we have Curlin looming in the sire line and that offers a lot of insurance."
Good Magic stood this year at Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa for $125,000.
One trait Toffey loves best about Dornoch is his competitive spirit. In both the Belmont and Haskell, he got headed in deep stretch by Mindframe and battled back for the win.
"There are plenty of horses out there that if no one goes with them, they get pretty brave. But what I love about this horse is that I believe he is talented enough to cruise on the front end kind of half-focused—he has that much talent—but when you go eyeball-to-eyeball with him, all of a sudden he gets focused and competitive. He is tough on the front end. We consider that a great plus. This is what we are looking for, a horse with that natural competitiveness and an overwhelming amount of talent. That makes him very appealing."
