Firenze Fire to Stud in Japan After Breeders' Cup

Nine-time graded stakes winner Firenze Fire  will start a stud career at Arrow Stud in Japan after he contests the Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), according to owner/breeder Ron Lombardi.

"I had offers from California, Kentucky, Florida, New York, and Maryland, and Japan was clearly the best offer," Lombardi said. "I consider it bittersweet to see him leave the country and had accumulated some broodmares for him myself, but all-in-all the deal was too good to turn down."

Retiring the 6-year-old son of Poseidon's Warrior  at the end of the year had not been the original plan when the horse made a winning 2021 debut in the Runhappy Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park in May.

"Honestly I really kept it open. This is one of his better years and he seems to be getting better with age, but I think 6 is a good time to retire," said Lombardi, who breeds and races as Mr. Amore Stable. "I did consider going to his 7th year, but you have to look at it from a business standpoint. I ran him this year because I believed his earnings could be greater than his stud fees.

"I signed the agreement and then had it on my computer to send for 45 minutes thinking about it before I pushed the button," he added. "I'm glad I did. He'll have a good home, out there with California Chrome   and Shanghai Bobby . I think he'll contribute a lot."

As part of the agreement, Lombardi retains three lifetime breeding rights that he said he will use at some point. Right now, though, he is more focused on a homebred 2-year-old full brother named Just Leo , who broke his maiden by 11 1/2 lengths July 25 at Monmouth Park and won his next start by 5 3/4 lengths in a Monmouth starter allowance Sept. 19. Trained by Kelly Breen, who has been the conditioner for Firenze Fire since early 2020, Just Leo is being aimed for the $60,000 Ocala Stud Juvenile Sprint, a stakes for Florida-bred juveniles Oct. 30 at Gulfstream Park.

Lombardi also has a yearling half brother by Speightstown   named Andiamo a Firenze and a full brother that is a weanling.

"We have some good horses in the pipeline, so we'll see where we go from here," Lombardi said.

Lombardi bred Firenze Fire out of a twice-placed Langfuhr daughter named My Every Wish, who he claimed for $16,000 to be a broodmare prospect. The mare's granddam With Every Wish is a stakes-placed daughter of Lear Fan and the dam of 2011 Broodmare of the Year Oatsee, who is the dam of Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Shackleford , Alabama Stakes (G1) winner Lady Joanne , and multiple grade 3 winner Baghdaria .

When it came time to breed My Every Wish, Lombardi focused on first-year sire and grade 1 sprinter Poseidon's Warrior, who entered stud in 2014 at Pleasant Acres Stallions near Ocala, Fla. Lombardi said a nicking report between the mare and the stallion was favorable and at $6,500 the price was right.

Firenze Fire became Poseidon's Warrior's first stakes winner and first graded winner when he captured the Sanford Stakes (G3) his second career start. He went on to win the Champagne Stakes (G1) two races later. Firenze Fire has to date won or placed in 18 graded stakes and earned more than $2.7 million.

"We gave it a shot and here we are. I wish I had a few more of them," Lombardi said of the Poseidon's Warrior offspring. The stallion was relocated to Darby Dan near Lexington for the 2019 breeding season and then sent to Equistar Training and Breeding Center in Pennsylvania for two years. A deal is pending for Poseidon's Warrior to be relocated again and should be finalized soon, according to agent Jamie LaMonica.

While Firenze Fire's speed alone makes him an attractive stallion prospect, Lombardi said the horse's ability to compete at the highest level for multiple years makes him even more valuable.

"He has never missed a day. He shows up every time," the owner said. "He has a lot of heart and a lot of grit. He is a competitor, which obviously showed up in the Forego where he savaged Yaupon  . He'll be missed for sure."

Within the sixteenth pole of the Aug. 28 Forego Stakes (G1), Firenze Fire bit several times at cheek piece of Yaupon's bridle as they battled toward the wire. Yaupon prevailed by a head.

"He went after him two times in four full strides," Breen said after the race. "He's a tough cookie. I have never seen him do anything like that before."

Lombardi said Firenze Fire was mere inches from adding two more grade 1 stakes to his résumé. Besides this year's Forego Stakes, he was a nose short in the 2019 Vosburgh Stakes (G1) to Imperial Hint  .

Firenze Fire gets another shot in the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar. He comes into the race with two wins, three seconds, and an unplaced finish all in graded stakes this year. In his last race, he was second in the Oct. 9 Vosburgh (G2) to Following Sea . Firenze Fire was third in last year's Sprint, just a neck behind C Z Rocket  who followed Whitmore .

"This Breeders' Cup will be a big one for me," Lombardi said.