Ride On Curlin to Florida's Pleasant Acres

Farm owners Joe and Helen Barbazon May 31 announced the addition of classic-placed Ride On Curlin to the roster at Pleasant Acres Stallions in Morriston, Fla., for the 2017 breeding season. The stud fee is to be announced. 

"It has been my goal since opening a stallion station in 2014 to bring new bloodlines to Florida," Joe Barbazon said in a release. "Ride On Curlin fits our program by being the first son of Curlin   to come to our state and is out of a brilliant female family. I look forward to diversifying my broodmare band to complement this fine young stallion."

Bred in Kentucky by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and Louise Ireland, campaigned by Daniel J. Dougherty, and now property of a syndicate, the 2011 bay son of Curlin has earned $795,175 in his 22 career starts. In his second career start as a 2-year-old, he ran 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03 to set a track record at Ellis Park in Kentucky.

Curlin, a son of leading sire Smart Strike, was North America's leading money winner when he retired with earnings of $10,501,800. He received Horse of the Year honors in 2007 and 2008, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.

Curlin, as a stallion, was recently flattered when his son Exaggerator defeated 2015 champion 2-year-old male Nyquist to capture the 2016 Preakness Stakes (gr. I). Ride On Curlin's dam, Magical Ride, was a graded stakes-placed daughter of Storm Cat.  

Trained by William Gowan, Ride On Curlin came out strong in late 2013 when he finished third in the Champagne Stakes (gr. I), and then finished third again in the Street Sense Stakes before winning an entry-level allowance sprint to begin the 2014 season. 

In 2014 he placed third in the Southwest Stakes (gr. III) and third in the Rebel Stakes (gr. II) before placing second in the Arkansas Derby (gr. I). In the 2014 Preakness, Ride On Curlin finished second to California Chrome  —the world's highest earning racehorse.

"Ride on Curlin is a stunning individual," Pleasant Acres director of bloodstock Michelle Hemingway said. "Being a track record-setter in July of his 2-yr-old campaign will make him very attractive to Florida breeders. In my mind, Curlin looks to be an up-and-coming sire of sires, and we are so pleased to have the first son of Curlin to stand in Florida right here at Pleasant Acres Stallions."