Rancho San Miguel to Stand Grade 1 Winner Eight Rings

Eight Rings, a grade 1-winning son of Empire Maker whose first foals are yearlings, has relocated within California to stand at Rancho San Miguel. The 8-year-old stallion's 2026 fee is $6,000, with a live foal guarantee. Sold for $520,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Eight Rings wasted no time emerging on the 2-year-old racing scene in 2019 for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert when he parlayed a 6 1/4-length career debut win at 5 1/2 furlongs in Del Mar maiden special weight company into a six-length victory in Santa Anita Park's $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at 1 1/16 miles. The precocious colt went on to place in four additional graded stakes on Southern California dirt over the following three years, topped by a close runner-up finish in Del Mar's 2021 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at six furlongs. From 14 lifetime starts, he earned $474,451. In California Eight Rings' first foals have been highly regarded as yearlings of 2025, providing their sire with the highest median sales results among all the state's active stallions this year. During the 2025 Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings Sale, four of his offspring sold for gross receipts of $140,000, yielding an average price of $35,000 and median of $37,500; led by a $60,000 colt. Eight Rings stood the 2025 season for $6,000 at Harris Farms. Earlier this year Harris Farms announced it would be discontinuing the vast majority of its Thoroughbred operations. That announcement followed the July 3 death of John Harris. "Eight Rings is truly the Adonis of stallions—a remarkable physical specimen without a single conformation flaw," said Adrian Gonzalez, president of Checkmate Thoroughbreds and managing partner of the Eight Rings Partnership. "His exceptional quality is now clearly reflected in his offspring, and we were handsomely rewarded in the sales ring with his first yearlings. I've been thoroughly impressed with his foals, and all of our California-based mares will be booked to him in 2026." Produced by Purely Hot, a graded stakes-winning daughter of Pure Prize, Eight Rings represents the same Empire Maker-Storm Cat pedigree cross as 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2016 champion 2-year-old male Classic Empire. "We are honored and excited to have such an outstanding stallion prospect," said Rancho San Miguel owner Tom Clark. "We believe he has huge potential to be a leading sire in California."