Spendthrift Sells Victor's Cry, Wilburn

Spendthrift Farm confirmed the sale and relocation of second-crop sires Victor's Cry   and Wilburn   from its stallion station near Lexington.

Grade I winner Victor’s Cry, a son of Street Cry—Short Time (Clever Trick), has been sold to Holden Farm near Greenfield, Ind.

Wilburn, a grade II winner and the first son of Bernardini   to retire to stud, has been sold and will be relocated to Dr. Robert Zoellner’s Rockin’ Z Ranch near Beggs, Okla. He is out of the grade III winner Moonlight Sonata (Carson City).

Both stallions were acquired by Spendthrift in 2011 and have been part of the farm’s “Share the Upside” breeding incentive program. Breeders who participated in this program, which provides an opportunity for breeders to earn a lifetime breeding right for supporting a stallion during his first couple of years at stud, will retain their breeding rights for both stallions, according to Ned Toffey, general manager of Spendthrift.

“We were exactly at the right place, at the right time, and had money to do it,” said farm owner Arv Holden, of Victor's Cry who arrived at his farm in mid-July. “A horse as fast as he was at 6 1/2 furlongs, a mile, and a 1 1/16 miles fits in the wheelhouse for most breeders. I think he is as a good as has stood in Indiana.”

Victor's Cry set a track record breaking his maiden, going 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.82 over Del Mar's Polytrack. His best season was in 2010 when he won the Shoemaker Mile Stakes (gr. IT) in a swift 1:32.88.

“We have a lot in the pedigrees of our mares that are going to cross well with him,” Holden said of his 50-head broodmare band.

Victor’s Cry entered stud in 2012 at Park Stud in Ontario, where he stood until this year when Spendthrift consolidated its stallions in Lexington. The son of Street Cry currently ranks 27th among second-crop sires with 13 winners and $415,879 in progeny earnings. He will stand next year for $10,000.

Wilburn is ranked 16th on the leading second-crop sire list with 34 winners and $855,878 in progeny earnings through Aug. 1. He stood for $3,500 in 2016 at Spendthrift. Rockin’ Z Ranch could not be reached for comment about the purchase.

Toffey said selling Victor’s Cry and Wilburn was part of Spendthrift’s standard practice of continuously evaluating and upgrading its bloodstock.

“As our program suggests, we are looking for high-end horses,” he said. “We want them to do what Into Mischief   has done and what Temple City   is doing.”

Toffey did note that Victor’s Cry faced higher obstacles than many sires in Ontario because of the turmoil associated with the sudden shutdown of the slots-at-racetracks program.

“He is a very good-looking horse; he just couldn’t get the numbers and that made things very difficult,” he said.