NEWS
Grade 1 winner Host to stand in Australia
Posted: Monday, December 03, 2007 11:25 AM
HOST (CHI)
Bill Denver/Equi-Photo
Host (Chi), a champion two-year-old in Chile and Grade 1 winner in the United States, has been purchased by a syndicate that will stand him in Australia in 2008.
Stud plans are not finalized for the seven-year-old Hussonet horse out of stakes winner Colonna Traiana (Chi), by Roy. Byron Rogers is managing the syndicate.
Host won five of his six starts in Chile, including the 2003 Dos Mil Guineas (Chi-G1) on dirt.
Purchased as a three-year-old by Eugene Melnyk, Host collected four stakes wins on turf in the U.S. for trainer Todd Pletcher, including an upset triumph in the 2005 Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (G1) at Keeneland Race Course. He finished fifth in this year’s NetJets Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) at Monmouth Park.
“He was one of the coolest horses I have ever had to train,” Pletcher said. “He is pretty much push-button. He has that explosive turn of foot.”
Host’s sire, Hussonet, stands at Arrowfield Stud in Australia.
“Having been part of the team that relocated his sire to Australia, I am naturally delighted to also be part of [Hussonet’s] best son to retire to stud,” Rogers said.
Bred by Haras De Pirque, Host won nine of 26 career starts and earned $1,076,408.
