Rockridge Sets 2019 Fees, Mourns Loss of Soaring Empire

An inoperable eye condition forced Rockridge Stud in New York to euthanize its third-crop sire and graded stakes winner Soaring Empire in mid-November.

The extraordinarily well-bred 11-year-old son of Empire Maker  and half brother to grade 1-placed, multiple graded stakes winner Hungry Island had already lost sight in one eye a couple of years ago and recently became essentially blind in what was his good eye.

"The market is very tough in New York, and he didn't breed a ton of mares, but he always had good foals and a lot of people liked him and supported him," said Lere Visagie, owner/manager of Rockridge, which is near Hudson, N.Y. "He was a very easy horse to work with."

Bred in Kentucky by Emory Hamilton, Soaring Empire was bought by basketball coach Rick Pitino's Ol Memorial Stable as a yearling for $190,000 at the 2008 Keeneland September Yearling Sale out of the Middlebrook Farm consignment. The colt broke his maiden at first asking at 2 and was third in the Iroquois Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs in his second start. He was first or second in four graded stakes, getting his best performance in the Hal's Hope Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park in 2011. Soaring Empire retired with a 5-3-2 record out of 16 starts and earned $386,393.

Soaring Empire entered stud at Vinery New York at Sugar Maple in 2013 and was then relocated to Rockridge, where he stood since 2014. The stallion is the third-leading third-crop sire in New York and is ranked 14th among all state sires this year. His top runner of 2018 is multiple stakes-placed Reason to Soar, who has earned $110,675 from three wins out of four starts this year and has career earnings to date of nearly $159,000.

As Rockridge said goodbye to one Mr. Prospector-line sire, it welcomed another to its roster with grade 1-placed, grade 2 winner Frank Conversation , a son of Quality Road . Campaigned by Reddam Racing and trained by Doug O'Neill, Frank Conversation won the Twilight Derby (G2T) and the El Camino Real Derby (G3) and was third in the Hollywood Derby (G1T). He raced from 2 to 5 and was retired with a 4-2-4 record out of 19 starts and $520,965 in earnings.

"Quality Road is a young sire line that is very hot right now," Visagie said. "He is a horse that will match up with a lot of mares in New York because it is not a Storm Cat line, and there is so much of that in New York. 

"The New York market is tough because it is regional, but at the same time it is switching to where you cannot look at it as a regional market," Visagie continued. "You have to get horses in here that are commercial across the board. The preferred sale shows you the New York sires need to change. In general, the quality of horses bred in New York has changed. It is not an easy program to stand stallions and has changed quite a bit even from three years ago."

Breeders interested in Frank Conversation have the option of earning a lifetime breeding right to the stallion by registering with Rockridge's Share the Upside program. The Share the Upside price is $6,500. For breeders interested in a regular season, Frank Conversation is standing for $5,000.

Rockridge's full roster and fees for 2019 are as follows:

* Share the Update fee, $6,500