No chance of him returning to the track next year but at least “Cowboy” Larry Jones will get to send him off:
Classic runner-up Hard Spun, who also will go to Darley [like Street Sense], first is stopping at Delaware Park so trainer Larry Jones’ barn can have a farewell party for him.
The (private) party will be Tuesday (10-30) and then leaving later that evening off to Darley at Jonabell Farm in Lexington and a career at stud.
Aw, thats nice. I hope we hear from Hard Spun again 
as a daddy of course.
His stud fee hasn’t been set yet, correct? Any guesses? I would imagine he’d definitely be in the $50K and up club, but I can’t see him making 6 figures. (Which SS will probably easily do being a juvenile champion and a derby winner)
It drives me nuts how all the 3 year olds get retired anymore, but I have to say, he’s one horse who truly earned it.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;2769610]
His stud fee hasn’t been set yet, correct? Any guesses? I would imagine he’d definitely be in the $50K and up club, but I can’t see him making 6 figures. (Which SS will probably easily do being a juvenile champion and a derby winner)
It drives me nuts how all the 3 year olds get retired anymore, but I have to say, he’s one horse who truly earned it. :)[/QUOTE]
I really can’t see how Street Sense would be more expensive as a stud than Hard Spun. Sure, he won two “big” races. but has been beaten by Hard Spun the last two time they’ve met. Hard Spun ran a MUCH better race in the Classic too.
I’d take a mare to Hard Spun if I had the chance! I just think he has more heart.
I agree. It is a bummer to retire when they are still babies, really.
I would also imagine that one of the major attracions with Hard Spun is he is one of the last of the Danzigs, who is a rekowned sire of sires, with worldwide appeal.
You can breed to Street Sense’s daddy for $50k, so I doubt he SS will be much more than that.
In the long run I’d bank on Hard Spun being the better sire.
[QUOTE=InVA;2769656]
I really can’t see how Street Sense would be more expensive as a stud than Hard Spun. Sure, he won two “big” races. but has been beaten by Hard Spun the last two time they’ve met. Hard Spun ran a MUCH better race in the Classic too.
I’d take a mare to Hard Spun if I had the chance! I just think he has more heart.
I agree. It is a bummer to retire when they are still babies, really.[/QUOTE]
This is my reasoning-- and by no means do I guarantee it’s “correct.” :lol:
Juvenile champions sell. Derby winners sell. He was an Eclipse award winning 2y/o. In theory, you could almost throw out the BCC for Street Sense on the excuses “he didn’t like the slop.” Plus he has 3 G1 wins to Hard Spun’s 1 G1 win, and a bigger bank roll to boot. Throw that in with a pedigree that I feel might be a little more appealing to top mare owners, and I think you have just cause for a 6 figure freshman stud fee.
Hard Spun, while he proved he is tough as nails and a dang fine race horse (my personal favorite in years), unfortunately wasn’t under the wire first when it really counted. Plus, and I might be totally off base on this, but I feel he kind of has a “broodmare” pedigree. While Danzig is very, very appealing, you are going to see A LOT of mares with his lines, which might somewhat limit his book. But then, this is my opinion, I’m not a bloodstock agent and am probably totally off base. 
Who would I breed to? Hard Spun, hands down. Who do I think’s offspring will have more success? I betcha Hard Spun as well. But then I’m a little biased if you can’t tell. 
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;2769685]
I would also imagine that one of the major attracions with Hard Spun is he is one of the last of the Danzigs, who is a rekowned sire of sires, with worldwide appeal.
You can breed to Street Sense’s daddy for $50k, so I doubt he SS will be much more than that.
In the long run I’d bank on Hard Spun being the better sire.[/QUOTE]
I’m not disagreeing, but…
You could breed to Elusive Quality for $50K when Smarty Jones entered stud, and look how much SJ’s stud fee was. And while SS definitely didn’t have Smarty’s almost perfect race record, SS has a lot more graded stakes wins and ran in some more impressive races on the whole.
Comments from jockey Mario Pino - as he closes in on win 6,000:
“Just the way [Hard Spun] finished up in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, even though he didn’t win, he ran an awesome race. I’m proud of him, the way he showed up and fought to the end. He actually showed up in all of his races, and he’s been just a fun horse to ride. Just to be on a horse like that is a great feeling.”
Pino guided Hard Spun to wins in the LeComte (G3), Lane’s End (G2), King’s Bishop (G1), and Kentucky Cup Classic (G2) Stakes, a race in which he turned the tables on Derby winner Street Sense. He also rode Hard Spun to a third-place finish in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and a runner-up finish in the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1).
“I had some great moments,” Pino said. “In the beginning, we were just testing him. It was a steppingstone at a time, and then he stepped up every time and just kept getting better. After the Triple Crown he started maturing, and winning the King’s Bishop was a big, big step to get him a Grade 1 win, because he deserves it.”
The runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic was a bittersweet moment for Pino, as Hard Spun will embark upon a second career as a stallion at Darley in Lexington. He concluded his career with seven wins, three seconds, and one third in 13 starts and $2,673,470 in purse earnings
“Every race I rode him in was just an awesome feeling. I tried to ride him with tons of confidence,” Pino said. “I never doubted him one inch, every time I was on him. I thought he could win every time, and he almost did. And when he didn’t win, he ran a winning race. He never faltered in any of his races. He was always fighting to the very end. That’s the sign of a champion.”
Street Sense - $75,000
Hard Spun - $50,000
Discreet Cat - $30,000
See the full articles here:
[QUOTE=Texarkana;2769690]
This is my reasoning-- and by no means do I guarantee it’s “correct.” :lol:
Who would I breed to? Hard Spun, hands down. Who do I think’s offspring will have more success? I betcha Hard Spun as well. But then I’m a little biased if you can’t tell. ;)[/QUOTE]
I’m biased too. He’s darling! In my dreams we geld him, turn him out for the winter, put him back in work in the spring and event him Beginning Novice when he’s 4 !
OK! OK! its just a dream OK?! haa!
[QUOTE=ravenclaw;2770579]
Street Sense - $75,000
Hard Spun - $50,000
Discreet Cat - $30,000
See the full articles here:
http://breeding.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=41755
http://breeding.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=41758[/QUOTE]
My favorite line from that article:
“The Darley prices are pitched at a level which gives breeders with quality mares an excellent chance to produce quality horses from reasonable fees.”
I want to live in a world where stud fees $10K to $100K are “reasonable” to me! :lol:
The party is over …
Delaware Online 10-30 “Delaware Park says goodbye to Hard Spun”
excerpts
Tears were flowing as owner Rick Porter, trainer Larry Jones, jockey Mario Pino, barn staff and friends said goodbye to Kentucky Derby and Breeders Cup Classic runnerup Hard Spun at Delaware Park this morning.
Porter tried unsuccessfully to get an extension in the contract so Hard Spun could race again in 2008 as a 4-year-old.
A crowd of about 25 gathered outside the Jones barn for a 90 minute Hard Spun celebration before today’s live card began. Jones and groom Corey York brought Hard Spun out of his stall for about 20 minutes for those who wanted to take photos and feed the 3-year-old son of Danzig sweet potatoe cuts and peppermints.
Jones, who was also his main exercise rider, became quite emotional as he addressed the Porter family, his staff and friends at the sendoff party. Hard Spun won seven of 13 career starts with three seconds, a third and two fourth place finishes. He broke his maiden at DelPark in the fall of 2006.
“First of all I want to thank God for sending me such a magical horse,” said Jones, as he fought back tears. "I tell you one thing, ask any of the people with the horses who tried to run with him early in a race what they think of Hard Spun. He’d kill you, whoever hooked up with him early finished last or close to it. Look what happened to Lawyer Ron, a very good horse, in the Classic. I’ve been around a lot of horses in my lifetime, but nothing close to one like Hard Spun. I want to thank Mr. Porter for giving my wife and I a chance to work with a great horse like this.
“Thanks to Mario (Pino) who did as good a job riding him as anyone could have asked,” said Jones. “I want to thank Corey (York), his groom. He worked very hard with the horse and Hard Spun made him into a Grade I groom. To my buddy Hard Spun I would say ‘go forth, be fruitful and multiply.’”
How funny these prices come out right after we start speculating the 2 new studs.
I guess I was suprised at the 2 prices, but I have no friggan clue how they establish them. I would’ve though a Danzig colt as good as Hard Spun could’ve been up there with Street Sense, but I am also at the same time suprised at how high SS is. On the other hand (don’t hate me), I think SS is far better than Smarty Jones and I think will be down the line (hope nobody makes me eat my words in 10 years) he will be a better stud. I still don’t get Smarty’s fee. But, obviously a lot of people do.
I hope they (SS and HS) both do extremely well!
In regards to Porter trying to get an extension-why didn’t he think of this before??? And why wouldn’t Darley and company want to run him-couldn’t they agree on something? I am sure it is more complicated than that.
And does this mean Any Given Saturday did not have a breeding only clause since nothing was announced on him? Of the 3, maybe he has more to prove??? What do you guys think?
I think that Hard Spun has a good chance to be a super stallion. I hate to see him go to the shed, he was so much fun to watch. That said, it will be fun to see his babies run. He was a fantastic runner, left the gate running and finished the race running. Good family too.
Looking at how much Lawyer Ron’s value has increased this year, you could say that there is an economic case to keep those good three year olds in training - those that were just under the highest echelon.
[QUOTE=miss_critic;2773613]
Hard Spun TOTALLY got shafted here:
http://www.ntra.com/content.aspx?type=pr&id=28995[/QUOTE]
Totally shafted!
If it’s any consolation to him, I’ve seen better paintings…
An interesting point, though. If Hard Spun would have held off Curlin and won, do you think he would have become the favorite for 3 y/o male and/or HOY? Obviously, I think so… but it’s already been established that I’m pretty biased.
Agreed. Not that she lacks talent although I’m sure where the “acclaimed” aspect comes from. Susan’s website here
My late maternal grandfather (1903 - 1988) was a Danish-born artist exhibited in several shows, winning a few exhibits, written up in several papers, and those works held outside of my family in museums and private collections are somewhat rather coveted. Still I’d never used the trite description of ‘acclaimed’ …
Had Hard Spun won the BCC it would have been an exceeingly difficult vote to cast for Curlin as even 3-yr old of the year at that point. When you dance in so many dances and travel to so many tracks and fail to finish off the board, it has to account for something. Alas all of that is moot now.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;2773665]
If it’s any consolation to him, I’ve seen better paintings…
.[/QUOTE]
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
Had Hard Spun won the race, you think a quick do-over of Any Given Saturday (seeing as he was at the "hot dog stand ) would’ve occured?
No matter what, he should’ve been on that poster.
Yeah, it’s not the best painting I’ve ever seen. Curlin looks kinda like a lizard. They showed the woman painting it on one of the Breeder’s Cup shows (I think on the Friday show). So maybe she had to paint it really fast.
Flashback to Oct 2007
I just thought I’d bump this up in case anyone forgot about how classy trainer Larry Jones, et al were last year with Hard Spun. How many horses in 2007 can you think of who were retired with a party given by a trainer shedding a tear for the joy a year provided?
Some who know nothing of either man or frankly anything about the horses have foolishly suggested with Jones and Porter it is all about the greed. That’s utter b.s!
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