NEWS
Ride the Rails, sire of Candy Ride,
succumbs to colic
Posted: Monday, August 30, 2010 6:59 PM
by Michael Burns
South American stallion Ride the Rails, the sire of Grade/Group 1 winner and prominent young sire Candy Ride (Arg), died following a severe case of colic on August 12 at Fernando Fossemale’s Haras Don Julio near Montevideo, Uruguay, where he had stood since 2005. He was 19.
Imported to Argentina in 1995 by Alejandro and Julio Menditeguy for their Haras Abolengo in association with other Argentine breeders, the Cryptoclearance horse became a renowned sire in South America after producing unbeaten multiple Group 1 winner Candy Ride, one of Argentina’s greatest Thoroughbreds.
Candy Ride won the 2002 Joaquin S. De Anchorena (Arg-G1) (South America’s top race for milers on the turf) before capturing the 2003 Carlos Pellegrini Award as Argentina’s champion miler.
Candy Ride was a graded stakes winner on both turf and dirt, including the 2003 Pacific Classic Stakes (G1), in which he set a Del Mar track record by covering 1 ¼ miles in 1:59.11. He retired to Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms following the 2003 racing season and currently stands at William S. Farish’s Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky.
Candy Ride’s success in U.S. racing prompted Ride the Rails return to stand one season in North America, in 2004 at Pegasus Ranch in California, before he returned to Argentina.
In addition to Candy Ride, Ride the Rails sired several top-class South American horses, including Good Report, winner of South America’s multinational Gran Premio Asociacion Latinoamericana de Jockey Clubes e Hipodromos (Arg-G1); and Inca Noble, Argentina’s 2007 champion two-year-old filly.
From 12 crops of racing age, Ride the Rails has sired 23 stakes winners. His progeny have earned $8,349,356 through August 29.
Ride the Rails also has been successful as a broodmare sire. His daughters have produced Interaction (Arg), Horse of the Year and winner of the Gran Premio Internacional Carlos Pellegrini (Arg-G1) last year in Argentina; champion miler Maruco Plus; and this year’s Estrellas Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies winners Paulinho and Coordenada.
Campaigned by J. R. Murrell Jr., Ride the Rails won four races and placed six times from 14 career starts during three seasons, earning $255,096. He won the 1993 Foolish Pleasure Breeders’ Cup Stakes at two and was second to Holy Bull in the 1994 Florida Derby (G1).
Michael Burns is a South America-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent
