Maryland Partnership to Stand Cupid at Atlanta Hall

Grade 1 winner and top 12 third-crop sire Cupid has been sold to Sugar Mill Stables in Maryland and will stand in partnership with Atlanta Hall Farm near Monkton. Cupid becomes the first sire on the roster of Atlanta Hall's new and developing stallion operation. "I like his profile for the Mid-Atlantic," said Garrett Murray, a lifelong horseman who runs Atlanta Hall Farm with his wife and trainer Elizabeth Voss Murray, the daughter of the late Hall of Fame trainer Tom Voss. "He was brilliant as a racehorse, is a brilliant physical, and he is doing it with his runners. He has a lot of soldiers on the ground, and he is getting versatile horses, which is important for a regional sire." Cupid will stand next year for $8,000 with a stands and nurses guarantee. Bred in Kentucky by JKG Thoroughbreds, Cupid made an early impression as a $900,000 yearling at the 2014 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where Coolmore Stud's M.V. Magnier signed the ticket. The colt was sold by VanMeter Sales. Longtime partners Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith raced Cupid with trainer Bob Baffert and celebrated wins in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (G1), West Virginia Derby (G2), Indiana Derby (G2), and Rebel Stakes (G2). The son of Tapit retired with a 6-1-0 record from 13 starts and earned $1,701,873. Cupid entered stud at Ashford Stud and finished in the top five of his sire class during its freshman year in 2021. To date, he has sired 110 winners and seven black-type winners, which include four graded stakes winners and a champion. His top performers include 2021 Canadian champion 2-year-old male God of Love, this year's Summer Stakes (G1T) winner Carson's Run, 2022 Santa Anita Oaks (G2) winner Desert Dawn, and this year's West Virginia Governor's Stakes (G3) winner Duke of Love. The Summer Stakes is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T), so Carson's Run has earned an automatic and free entry into the Breeders' Cup race. The colt is trained by Christophe Clement for owners West Point Thoroughbreds and Steven Bouchey. Cupid's runners have earned nearly $9 million to date and average $51,035 per starter. Out of the graded-placed winner Pretty 'n Smart (Beau Genius), Cupid hails from a live family. The stallion is a half brother multiple grade 3 winner and graded stakes producer Heart Ashley (Lion Heart) and to grade 3 winner Ashley's Kitty (Tale of the Cat). Pretty 'n Smart is also the great-granddam of V V's Dream (Mitole), who won this year's Pocahontas Stakes (G3) and was recently second in the Alcibiades Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, and multiple grade 2 winner Kathleen O. (Upstart). Atlanta Hall Farm will have an open house for breeders 12-4 p.m. Oct. 15. Anyone interested in attending the open house should contact Murray at Atlantahall@gmail.com.