Following Sea to Stand at Rivard Stables in Manitoba

Recently retired multiple grade 1-placed, grade 2 winner Following Sea  will enter stud next year at Rivard Stables in Eli, Manitoba, near Winnipeg. The 5-year-old son of champion sprinter Runhappy   was purchased to stand in Western Canada by longtime Manitoba horseman Garry Naherniak from Spendthrift Farm. His stud fee will be announced in the near future.

Bred in Kentucky by Spendthrift Farm, Following Sea is out of the Speightstown   stakes winner Quick Flip . The colt started his racing career at 3 as a Spendthrift homebred with trainer Bob Baffert, getting his first win in his second start at Oaklawn Park in April 2021 when he completed six furlongs in 1:09.92. Transferred to Todd Pletcher, he followed that up with another win in early June at Belmont Park in his next start and was then sent to the Haskell Stakes (G1) where he finished second at the 1 1/8-mile distance.

Following Sea was shortened back up and finished third in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) going seven furlongs at Saratoga Race Course. He went on to win the Vosburgh Stakes (G2) at Belmont, running six furlongs in 1:09.20. A third in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar and a second in the the Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack closed out his 3-year-old campaign. He would make one start this year before being retired with a 3-2-4 record from nine starts and $855,620 in earnings.

"Following Sea is great-looking and an outstanding mover. He had tons of speed," said Pletcher.

Derek MacKenzie of Vinery Sales, who brokered the stallion sale with Matt Bowling, said Following Sea was tough on the racetrack and physically imposing.

"Following Sea was an explosive racehorse, specializing on dirt at six to eight furlongs," MacKenzie said. "His 3-year-old campaign was very impressive as he shipped back and forth across the U.S. a couple of times and ran well at numerous major tracks, winning the grade 2 Vosburgh and placing in multiple grade 1s. He was tough on the track and is an awesome physical specimen, being that he is both big and pretty.

"I remember inspecting the Spendthrift yearlings in the spring of 2019 and we at Vinery Sales ranked him number one as the best yearling physically we had seen that year," MacKenzie continued. "This is an incredible stallion prospect to stand in Manitoba, and I would expect mares to not only travel within Manitoba to him but for breeders to send mares from the other Western provinces and most likely some from Ontario and the U.S. as well."

Following Sea is a half brother to grade 3-placed winner Gimmick  (Into Mischief  ) and stakes-placed winner Inspeightof  (Orb). Quick Flip is a half sister to graded-placed stakes winner Qahira  (Cairo Prince  ) and stakes winner Stormin' Lyon (Storm Boot). The mare hails from the immediate family of grade 1 winner Mitterand, grade 2 winner and international sire French Deputy, and multiple grade 1-placed stakes winner Princess Mitterand.