Grade 1 winner and second-crop sire Higher Power has been acquired by and relocated to Ohio's R.C. Cline Thoroughbred Farm. He will stand next year for $2,000 with a live foal guarantee.
Higher Power raced from 2 to 5 and earned nearly $1.6 million while capturing 2019 Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) and placing in three other grade 1 stakes that included a second in the 2020 Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) and thirds in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and 2019 Awesome Again Stakes (G1). He will be the only grade 1 winner standing in Ohio.
By Medaglia d'Oro , Higher Power is out of the grade 2 placed stakes stakes winner Alternate (Seattle Slew) making him a half brother to multiple grade 2 winner Alternation (Distorted Humor) and graded-placed stakes winner Interrupted (Broken Vow). Alternate is a half sister to 1995 Canadian Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old colt Peaks and Valleys.
"He brings a whole lot of credentials to the state and should help the accredited program a lot," said R.C. Cline, who has operated a farm near Orient, southwest of Columbus, for 35 years. "He looks like a Medaglia d'Oro colt the way he's built—nice and stocky. What I really like about him is that he seems to have a really good mind, good temperament. I've got a couple of babies of his that I train, they're pretty sensible and I believe he passes that on."
