Bill Farish Talks About Lane’s End’s New Big Three

[Wandering Eyes]

Lane’s End Farm will welcome three new arrivals in 2019, fresh off performances at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships Saturday at Churchill Downs. Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) took down the grandest prize of them all, capturing the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic to complete a memorable 2019 campaign that saw him win five overall Grade I events, while City of Light (Quality Road) added his third top-level success with an authoritative score in the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. The pair will be joined by West Coast (Flatter), champion 3-year-old colt of 2017, on the storied farm’s stallion roster. As Lane’s End welcomed West Coast and Accelerate to the farm Sunday afternoon, Bill Farish sat down with the TDN to discuss future plans for all three stallions.

TDN: Lane’s End will have three new stallions retiring next year, all of which ran Saturday. You had Accelerate and City of Light both win. What does that mean for them? Does that significantly enhance their reputations heading into next breeding season?

BF: Yes, absolutely. The Breeders’ Cup is such a big part of the calendar now. It’s such a huge advantage when a horse retires, goes right to stud off a win at the Breeders’ Cup. We’ve had them where it didn’t work out quite that way also, and they still get off to a great start at stud.

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TDN: We understand Accelerate may point towards the GI Pegasus World Cup. Can you tell us about what the plans might be for him? Along the same lines, how exciting is it to stand a horse of his caliber fresh off a win in the Classic?

BF: Accelerate is going to go back in training. He’s going to just be here for a few days, and then head back. He’s pointing for the Pegasus…Accelerate really was very interesting to us because he’s a grandson of Smart Strike. We started talking to the Hronis Family near the beginning of the year. The horse just had such a phenomenal year, winning five Grade Is, and really doing things that no older horse has really ever done. To win those five and run such a spectacular race in between, he really is a very exciting prospect.

TDN: What are your plans for City of Light?

BF: The plan right now is for him to go back to California [Sunday]. Then they’re going to set up a plan for him with the Pegasus probably being his last race.

TDN: City of Light is a son of your current best stallion–is that something you guys specifically looking for? As a good son of Quality Road, you’re essentially backing him as a sire of sires, as well.

BF: Absolutely. We were ecstatic to get a top son of Quality Road. He’s certainly the best that he’s produced so far. We’re very, very happy to have him…He cost over $700,000 as a yearling–a great looking horse. I mean, he’s a really phenomenal looking horse. I think breeders will fall in love with him. Unfortunately, they’ll have to wait to see him, or head down to Gulfstream and watch the Pegasus, but he’s doing great, and obviously ran a tremendous race in the Dirt Mile to get his third Grade I win.

TDN: What was your impression of West Coast getting off the van Sunday? Have you already received interest from breeders?

BF: I just saw him Saturday in the paddock. He looked very similar, but he looks great. We’re thrilled to get him here. Now that he is officially retired, it’s great to have him at the farm…Obviously just to be a 3-year-old champion and be out of a champion, [2000 champion juvenile filly] Caressing (Honour and Glory), he represents a very exciting sire line to us–the A.P. Indy sire line. We can’t wait to get him going. The interest in him already has been phenomenal. He’s got 50 mares already, and we don’t have an advertised fee. We’re very excited about him, and we think when breeders come and see him, they will be equally as excited.

TDN: Lane’s End has obviously developed an incredible reputation for making young sires. Is there anything that you do in terms of their book composition or anything else, to try and give them that good start right from the beginning?

BF: In the beginning, we try to give them a broad look at different sire lines and different crosses that could work. We don’t pretend to think that we have all the answers. You never know what a stallion’s going to be best at, even though you think you have a pretty good idea. City Zip is a great example of that. Everybody thought he’d produce dirt sprinters, and he got a large number of turf 1 1/16-mile-type horses. We try to give them a good breadth of different sirelines, and see what they do the best with.

TDN: Will these horses be syndicated? Are there shares available in them?

BF: They have all been syndicated, so there are no shares left in any of them. Luckily, the interest was very high in all three of them. We’re excited about the group of breeders that we have involved in all three.

 

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