Last year’s Kentucky Derby winner to take up stud career at Lexington farm
The winner of the most controversial Kentucky Derby in recent memory is set to begin a new phase of his career.
Country House, who won the 2019 Run for the Roses after Maximum Security was disqualified for interference, will stand at stud at Darby Dan Farm in Lexington. The announcement was made Friday via Darby Dan Farm’s official Facebook page.
At 65-1, Country House had the second longest odds of any Kentucky Derby winner behind Donerail, who won the 1913 race with odds of 91-1. Country House, who was sired by 2010 Preakness Stakes winner Lookin At Lucky, earned more than $2 million in his career.
“Country House is an absolutely gorgeous horse that was just coming into his own when he ran in the Kentucky Derby,” trainer Bill Mott said. “We always felt the best was yet to come.”
Country House was ruled out of the 2019 Preakness because of a virus, marking the first time since 1996 a Kentucky Derby winner did not run the second leg of the Triple Crown. He went on to develop several ailments and was admitted to Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital two months after his Derby win because of an infection in his leg. He recovered fully, but he did not race again.
“We are excited to stand Country House and to provide breeders the opportunity to breed to a Kentucky Derby winner,” Ryan Norton, stallion director at Darby Dan Farm, said in the Facebook announcement. “There is a lot to like about Country House, hailing from the influential Smart Strike sire line, and we encourage breeders to come out to the farm and see him.”
The Darby Dan Farm stallion roster also includes Bee Jersey, Copper Bullet, Dialed In, Flameaway, Klimt, Sky Kingdom, Tale of Ekati, Tale of Verve and Tapiture.
