In a major development for the Canadian breeding industry, Frank Stronach is set to unveil his state-of-the-art stallion and breeding complex at his Adena Springs North in Aurora, Ontario, and introduce an impressive roster of stallions.
The 500-acre farm, located north of Toronto, is offering a public viewing of the complex and the stallions on Saturday, Oct. 30 with the first stallion viewing beginning at 2:30 p.m.
“We are bringing Kentucky-quality stallions to Canada,” said Dermot Carty, director of sales for Adena Springs. “By far, in the last 35 years, this is one of the most progressive moves for Canadian racing,”
North Light, the only Epsom Derby winner at stud in North America, will stand in Canada in 2011.
A son of Danehill whose first stakes winner was the Woodbine stakes winner Bodua, North Light is the sire of Group 1 St. Leger winner Arctic Cosmos and recent Grade 3 stakes winner Go Forth North. His first crop are 3-year-olds of 2010.
Adena Springs shut down its Florida stallion operation in Williston last year and moved six of its stallions from there to Gardiner Farms in Caledon East, Ontario, last fall while its stallion barn was under construction.
Those six – Alphabet Soup, Milwaukee Brew, Olmodavor, Giant Gizmo, Silent Name, and Sligo Bay– were bred to mares at Gardiner, which has been renamed Paradox Farm, this past spring but are now headed different directions.
Remaining in Canada to stand at Adena Springs North are Milwaukee Brew, Giant Gizmo, and Sligo Bay. They will be joined by Wilko, Singing Saint, Showing Up, and Mast Track.
Purses at Woodbine in Toronto have increased tremendously since slot machines were introduced at the track in 2000. Adena Springs announced last week that it would also be moving five of its stallions to McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in New York in advance of a slots casino opening at Aqueduct racetrack in Queens, N.Y., next spring.
Adena Springs North, formerly called Beechwood Farms, was started by Stronach almost 40 years ago and was his first farm property.
Today, the facility operates as a breeding farm, a training center, and a retirement and rehabilitation center for former racehorses. The farm, which is adjacent to the headquarters of Stronach’s business, Magna International, has a half-mile indoor training track, a one-mile outdoor dirt track and a seven-furlong turf course.
The stallion complex, designed by Stronach himself after visiting many farms around the world, has 12 stallion stalls, a lab, facilities for broodmares to board, and a large breeding shed.
“Nothing has ever been built of this magnitude in Canada,” said Carty. “The point is, the Ontario racing jurisdiction is very strong and we want to upgrade our Canadian-breds and Ontario sired horses and help other breeders to do that too.”
Milwaukee Brew, by Wild Again, is currently battling Bold Executive for leading sire in Canada by progeny earnings, while Sligo Bay, a son of Sadler’s Wells, is among the top six sires in Canada.
Giant Gizmo, a multiple graded stakes winner by Giant’s Causeway, stood his first season in 2010.
The 2004 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Wilko, by Awesome Again, will have his first runners next year.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Showing Up, by Stragetic Mission, will be standing his third season at stud in 2011 and the unbeaten Singing Saint, by El Prado, will be standing his second year at stud.
New to the stallion ranks is Hollywood Gold Cup winner Mast Track, by Mizzen Mast, who was bought by Stronach from the estate of the late Bobby Frankel earlier this year.
Carty said the stallion operation at Adena will continually be in flux.
“We’re going to rotate horses on a regular basis,” said Carty. “We want to continually add new blood to attempt to keep mares in Canada to be bred and bring other mare owners up here.”
