NEWS
Pioneerof the Nile to stand at Vinery
Posted: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 7:44 PM
PIONEEROF THE NILE
Benoit & Associates photo
by Pete Denk
Pioneerof the Nile, one of only two males from his crop to win multiple Grade 1 races around two turns, will stand the 2010 breeding season at Dr. Tom Simon’s Vinery in Lexington as property of a syndicate.
The three-year-old Empire Maker colt won the CashCall Futurity (G1) to close out his two-year-old season and brought a four-race win streak, including victory in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), into the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) where he finished second to Mine That Bird.
Bred and raced by Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables, Pioneerof the Nile won on turf and two types of synthetic surfaces and placed in a Grade 1 race on dirt. He won five of ten starts and earned $1,634,200.
“Pioneerof the Nile is a horse we have admired for a long time,” said Vinery General Man¬ager Tom Ludt. “We wholeheartedly believe in the horse and intend to support him with our racing program. We love his race record, pedigree, and physical.”
Zayat, who entered Pioneerof the Nile in the 2007 Keeneland September yearling sale and bought him back for $290,000, was equally excited about the partnership with Vinery.
“Pioneerof the Nile is not just our first homebred Grade 1 winner, but he is also our first homebred to race,” Zayat said. “We have retained a 50% interest in him and we plan to support him in all ways that we can. Pioneerof the Nile is the only colt of his generation [so far] to win a Grade 1 at age two and three. He was a dream horse to own and campaign.”
Pioneerof the Nile is by 2003 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Empire Maker and out of the stakes-winning Lord At War (Arg) mare Star of Goshen.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) was going to be Pioneerof the Nile’s main objective in the second half of the year, but he suffered a soft tissue injury in his left front leg during a workout at Santa Anita Park.
Trainer Bob Baffert said he did not think Pioneerof the Nile reached his full potential on the track, while jockey Garrett Gomez called him the best three-year-old he ever rode.
A stud fee will be announced later this year.
Pete Denk is sales editor of Thoroughbred Times
