Horse of the Year Ghostzapper will join the roster at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa for 2021 along with Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Mucho Macho Man and five-time grade 1 winner Point of Entry , it was announced Oct. 24.
The trio have stood at Adena Springs Kentucky for their entire stud careers. Ghostzapper, whose top runners this season include grade 1 winner Guarana and grade 2 winner Mystic Guide , entered stud there in 2006. Mucho Macho Man, the sire of grade 1 winners Mucho Unusual and Mucho Gusto, began his stallion career there in 2015. Point of Entry, the sire of multiple grade 3 winner Analyze It, joined the roster in 2014.
Ghostzapper's fee remains at $85,000 (live foal, stands and nurses) for the fourth consecutive year. Mucho Macho Man and Point of Entry will each stand for $7,500, also with a live foal, stands and nurses guarantee.
The trio will be housed at the farm's new stallion complex at John Sikura's recently renovated Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa outside of Paris, Ky.
"I have known John since he was a young man in Canada, and his rise as a preeminent horseman is something I respect very much," said Frank Stronach, the founder of Adena Springs and a multiple Eclipse Award-winning breeder. "Two of the sires we are relocating to his new facility represent the epitome of what we have looked to achieve with our racing and breeding operations. My focus has always been to win big races on big race days with horses whose performance and genetic prowess would give them a license to influence the breed."
Stronach called Ghostzapper, an Adena Springs homebred by Awesome Again out of the Relaunch mare Baby Zip, "the best horse we've bred to date," adding that the late trainer Bobby Frankel "called him the best horse he'd ever trained."
Ghostzapper has produced 11% black-type winners and 17% black-type horses and is the sire of 12 grade 1 winners and five champions.
"The power of his pedigree has made the performance of Ghostzapper's progeny predictable and outstanding," Stronach said. "By virtually every metric, he has proven to be a standout as a sire. His percent stakes winners rank him among the elite stallions in the breed, and he has a higher 'A Runner' index than Into Mischief , Candy Ride , and Quality Road ."
Stronach also highlighted Mucho Macho Man, a son of Adena sire Macho Uno bred in Florida by John Rio and Carole Rio out of the Ponche mare Ponche de Leona.
"Mucho Macho Man is another Breeders' Cup winner who is by a Breeders' Cup winner that we bred and raced," Stronach said. "His two grade 1 winners in 2020 prove his ability to sire the type of runner that we are all looking to campaign."
Stronach went on to praise Sikura's work with Xalapa, which was renovated under the owner's watchful eye. For the past 18 months, Sikura said about 10 years' worth of work has been done, including building eight new barns, a breeding shed, renovating the training barn to be a stallion barn, renovating 14 houses, adding landscaping, and building tens of miles of fence and adding roads and utilities. Sikura is not just restoring Xalapa; he is creating a world-class operation that exceeds what the farm was in its heyday.
"Anyone who has seen the work that John Sikura has done at his new facility at Xalapa will know that it was born from a respect for the land and a passion for excellence," Stronach said. "We are partners in this venture, and I have no doubt that the great legacy of Ghostzapper will be enhanced under his care."
Sikura added, "These three new additions to our roster for 2021 are significant. Ghostzapper has sired five champions and 12 grade 1 winners. He is a broodmare sire of huge importance, being the broodmare sire of Triple Crown winner Justify . He was a peerless racehorse whose breathtaking performances captured the imagination. We will support him with top mares, and we expect breeders will do the same. It is an honor to stand such a great sire.
"Point of Entry was a serious racehorse who comes from a deep Phipps family (a son of Dynaformer out of the Seeking the Gold mare Matlacha Pass), and the best is yet to come with him. Mucho Macho Man is a stallion that the more you study, the more you love. He is the sire of Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) winner Mucho Gusto as well as Mucho Unusual, winner of the Rodeo Drive Stakes (G1T) at Santa Anita Park."
