Lord Nelson to Stand at Spendthrift

Three-time grade I winner Lord Nelson will stand at his owner B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm upon retirement, the farm announced Oct. 16.

The announcement did not include when the 4-year-old colt would be retired.

"This is one of the most exciting prospects we've ever brought to stud," said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift's general manager. "His pedigree represents one of the most productive sire crosses in American breeding. He's proven to be precocious, sound, and about as fast as they make horses, and breeders are going to love his looks."

Undefeated in 2016, Lord Nelson has dominated the top-tier of Southern California's sprint ranks for trainer Bob Baffert and is a leading contender for the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) Nov. 5 at Santa Anita Park. Lord Nelson rattled off three consecutive grade I wins, including a record-setting performance in the Bing Crosby Stakes (gr. I) at Del Mar, where he won by four lengths and ran six furlongs in 1:07.65. The final time eclipsed a stakes record that had stood at Del Mar since 1962.

Lord Nelson's current win streak also includes victories in the Triple Bend Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita, where he covered seven furlongs in 1:21.04, and the six-furlong Santa Anita Sprint Championship (gr. I), in which he circled three wide on the far turn en route to a decisive 2 1/2-length score in 1:08.80.

BALAN: Lord Nelson Strikes Again at Santa Anita

"He was always cut out to be a good horse," Baffert said. "I'm glad that he was given the opportunity to prove himself. To win the Breeders' Cup Sprint, you have to be doing really well—be at the top of your game. The Sprint is a difficult race to win, but if you have the right kind of horse you can do it, and so far, Lord Nelson looks like the right kind of horse. He likes the track and he hasn't lost this year. The impressive thing about him is he just keeps getting stronger."

A stakes winner at 2, 3, and 4, Lord Nelson has finished first or second in seven of eight sprint starts, six of them in graded events, while amassing earnings of $958,271 to date.

The Share the Upside fee for Lord Nelson will be $30,000 with a two-year commitment, and breeders will earn a lifetime breeding right beginning in 2019 after having two live foals and paying the stud fees. For breeders not interested in the Share the Upside program, Lord Nelson will be offered for $25,000 on a standard stands and nurses contract.

A son of leading sire of sires Pulpit, like North America's leading sire Tapit  , Lord Nelson is from his late sire's penultimate crop and is out of a female family replete with black type. His dam, African Jade, is out of Miss Linda, winner of the 2001 Spinster Stakes (gr. I).

A $340,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by John Fort, Lord Nelson was bred by Clearsky Farms. He was purchased privately by Spendthrift from Fort's Peachtree Stable following a third-place finish in the Malibu Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita in December.