Violence Retired as Commercial Stallion

Violence, a grade 1 winner and sire of versatile graded stakes winners worldwide, has been retired from commercial stallion duty at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa and will transition to a new role as a private stallion at Newtown Anner Stud. The 16-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro had been struggling recently with fertility issues and could no longer meet the demands required of a viable commercial sire, according to John Sikura, president and founder of Hill 'n' Dale. "His semen quality and fertility has been substantially reduced, so we had to be careful about how many times we bred him and the results were not what is required of a commercial stallion in Kentucky," he said. "We tried everything in the world, brought in the experts, and we got to a point where we could not be fair to our customers and our shareholders. He is a wonderful horse, and it is very disappointing." Steve Marshall, who raced Violence in the name of his Black Rock Stables, and bloodstock agent Hanzly Albina put together a proposal to purchase Violence from his syndicate. The stallion will be sent to Maurice and Samantha Regan's Newtown Anner Stud and occupy the stallion barn there. "He is essentially retired as a commercial stallion, but we have an agreement where we may breed some of our mares to him," Albina said. "Maybe not. We'll have to see how it goes. "As a commercial stallion, you have the pressure of selling seasons and people committed and lining up their mares with set times. It can be very difficult," he continued. "But if we have mares set aside for him and we can wait until everything is right and not having to breed him multiple times a day, then there is flexibility. We hope to have some of his babies at auction or raise them, but if it doesn't happen it's OK. All the outcomes are good. He has done so much for everyone already, but we want to give him a little longer to be stallion. It is more of a passion project." Hill 'n' Dale and Albina have had a long association with the stallion. As a partner in the Sallusto & Albina agency, Albina bought Violence as a yearling for $600,000 for Black Rock Stables during the 2011 Keeneland September Yearling Sale out of Hill 'n' Dale's consignment. Dell Ridge Farm bred the colt out of its homebred winner Violent Beauty, a granddaughter of champion Sky Beauty. Violence became an undefeated, multiple graded stakes winner at 2 when he won the 2012 CashCall Futurity (G1) and Nashua Stakes (G2) with trainer Todd Pletcher. At 3, he ran second to subsequent Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Orb in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and then had to be retired because of a sesamoid fracture. Success also came early for Violence as a stallion. He was the co-leading freshman sire of 2017 by number of stakes winners with four and the leading freshman sire by number of winners with 32. He led his class in 2018 as a second-crop sire by progeny earnings ($5,259,783), winners (82), stakes winners (eight), and black-type performers (19). To date, he has sired 57 career black-type winners worldwide that include 22 graded/group winners. His top performers are led by four-time grade 1 winner Forte, who was 2022 champion 2-year-old male after winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), Breeders' Futurity (G1), and Hopeful Stakes (G1). At 3, Forte won the Florida Derby (G1) and ran second in the Belmont Stakes (G1). Forte's performances in 2023 elevated Violence into the top 12 on the general leading sires list. Other elite performers by Violence include grade 1 winners Dr. Schivel, Mullikin, No Parole, and Volatile. All these grade 1 winners are active commercial stallions. Violence shuttled for four seasons to Argentina and sired multiple stakes winners, including Fiel Amigo, who is Argentina's 2021 champion 2-year-old male and a multiple group 1 winner. Collectively, Violence's progeny have earned more than $69.1 million so far. He has been represented by five stakes winners this year including grade 3 winner Obliteration, who is entered in the Oct. 17 Perryville Stakes (G3) at Keeneland; Al Shindagha Sprint (G3) winner Drew's Gold; and Outlaw Kid, Playful, and Violence and Peace.