Frank Stronach's Adena Springs has consistently been among North America's leading breeder, taking home eight Eclipse Awards as outstanding breeder, leading the breeders' earnings category for 10 consecutive years, and being the breeder of five Eclipse Award champions.
During the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, with Hidden Brook as agent, Adena is selling off nearly 90 mares and weanlings as part of a reduction of its bloodstock holdings.
One of Adena's offerings, the 5-year-old mare Hot Cash (Hip 293), lit up the bid board during the Nov. 10 second session when purchased by Woodford Thoroughbreds for $575,000. A daughter of Ghostzapper, the grade 3-placed mare is out of the grade 1 winner Collect the Cash and is a full sister to grade 1 winner and sire Stately Victor. Stately Victor won the 2010 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and then contested the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum Brands (G1), finishing eighth over a sloppy track. Stately Victor also won the Ontario Derby in Canada and his multiple stakes placings included a third in the TVG Pacific Classic (G1).
Hot Cash, sold in foal to Curlin , is also a half sister to multiple stakes-placed Smart Penny and to stakes-placed Money My Honey, the dam of stakes-placed Esposito.
"She will be a good addition to the broodmare band," said Lincoln Collins, who signed the sale ticket. "(There are) no breeding plans yet; we will sit down and think about it. We knew she was going to be expensive, but you never quite know what that means. It is a better market than I think any of us thought it would be. The horse business is alive and well."
"She sold well," said Hidden Brook partner Dan Hall. "We are happy. She's a young mare who could run and she's in foal to the right horse."
Hall said Stronach decided to conduct the reduction as a way to cut back on the number of horses owned by Adena, which has also bred 21 winners of the Sovereign Awards presented to outstanding performers in Canada.
"It is just a major reduction; getting the numbers way down," Hall said. "It makes sense right now. We have close to 90, between mares and weanlings, all in this sale. There has been a lot of interest at the barn at all levels."
