Copper Bullet Enters Stud With Unique Breeding Program

The Dec. 13 retirement of graded stakes winner Copper Bullet  to stud duty at Darby Dan Farm is introducing a unique approach to launching a stallion's career.

Owner Ron Winchell teamed with Dr. David Lambert's Equine Analysis Systems to establish qualifications for mares to be considered for Copper Bullet's first book. If a mare meets all three requirements identified by Lambert, the mare owner will receive a complimentary season to Copper Bullet, and Winchell will pay the mare owner $5,000 when the mare is pronounced in foal at 45 days.

Lambert identified Tapit  as an exceptional horse during the 2002 Keeneland September Yearling Sale following an evaluation involving cardiac ultrasound, genetic testing, and biomechanics analysis. Lambert's evaluation actually pegged Tapit as the strongest prospect at the sale, so Ron Winchell and his father, Verne, went to $625,000 to buy him. Tapit went on to become a grade 1 winner and has been North America's leading sire three times. 

For Copper Bullet's prospective mates, they must first meet qualifications based on age, race record, family, and production. Mares who pass the first qualifications will have their pedigrees and conformation photos sent to Lambert's team for analysis. The photos will be uploaded into Equine Analysis Systems' "FotoSelect" program, which uses an algorithm to process biomechanical measurements of the mares.

"There are many reasons, based on physiology, anatomy, and genetics, that a horse has the potential to become an elite stallion," Lambert said. "Just like Tapit, Copper Bullet is such a horse. We have a panel of scientific tests, and he passes them all. If now we can also scientifically select his mares, then his future chances become extraordinary."

Copper Bullet , a 4-year-old son of More Than Ready , was a graded stakes-winning juvenile who was graded stakes-placed at 2 and 4. 

Campaigned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing and trained by Steve Asmussen, Copper Bullet broke his maiden in his second start by eight lengths in gate-to-wire fashion at Churchill Downs. He went right into graded stakes company in his next start, finishing second in the Bashford Manor Stakes (G3). He took his speed to Saratoga Race Course, where he won the Saratoga Special Stakes Presented by Coors Light (G2) by four lengths.

Copper Bullet went on to defeat grade 1-placed graded stakes winner Wild Shot and stakes-placed Honorable Treasure at 3 in an $82,000 allowance race in which he earned a 110 Equibase Speed Rating and then finished second, a neck behind Coal Front , in the Razorback Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn Park at 4. He was retired with a 3-3-0 record out of nine starts and earnings of $339,345.

"This horse checked all the boxes that Mr. Winchell uses in evaluating horses to purchase," said Darby Dan Farm's stallion director, Ryan Norton. "He believes in this horse and his analytics so much that he is willing to spend his money to prove how much he believes in this horse and the science. We are excited to be at the forefront of such a forward-thinking model for how to breed horses."

By top international sire More Than Ready, who has sired 199 black-type winners worldwide, Copper Bullet is out of the winning Unbridled's Song mare Allegory and descends from a family that includes French highweights and group 1 winners Loup Sauvage and Loup Solitaire. Copper Bullet was bred in Kentucky by Dell Ridge Farm and bought by Winchell for $200,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September sale.

Copper Bullet is available for inspection at Darby Dan.