Grade 1 winner and leading 3-year-old Eskendereya will stand his inaugural season at Taylor Made Stallions for a fee of $30,000 live foal, stands and nurses.
The powerful chestnut son of Giant’s Causeway took the racing public by storm in 2010, winning the Fountain of Youth (G2) and Wood Memorial (G1) in back-to-back performances that drew comparisons to some of the all-time greatest Derby prep wins. Owned by Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Eskendereya was retired earlier this year to Taylor Made Stallions in Nicholasville, KY.
“There are very few horses that showed the type of quality that Eskendereya did on the racetrack,” said Ben Taylor, Vice President of Taylor Made Stallions. “He was precocious at two and special at three, with a brilliant mix of speed and stamina. I don’t recall a more exciting 3-year-old that was built better for the classics than he was. On top of that, he’s a tremendous individual with a true sire’s pedigree, bred along the same lines as leading European sire Shamardal and very similar to champion sire Danehill. Further, Eskendereya traces directly back to champion sires Northern Dancer and Halo. All these factors will generate international appeal both in the breeding shed and in the sales ring.”
Said Jackson: “Eskendereya represents the highest of quality, and we feel that he presents a fantastic opportunity at $30,000. He was an elite racehorse – one who captured the imagination unlike any other 3-year-old this year. Physically, he’s as grand-looking as a Thoroughbred could be, and it all makes sense when you evaluate his tremendous pedigree. He embodies what is required of a top stallion prospect, and he’ll get the full support of Stonestreet.”
In the Fountain of Youth in February, Eskendereya burst onto the scene with a one-sided 8 1/2-length tour de force. His Wood Memorial next out was even better, as Eskendereya romped by 9 ¾ lengths with little encouragement from jockey John Velazquez. It marked one of the most breath-taking stretch runs of the season and instantly made him a substantial favorite for the Kentucky Derby.
Eskendereya earned a 109 Beyer from his Wood Memorial triumph in early April, which still stands as the fastest Beyer Speed Figure by a 3-year-old this year around two turns. His Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial scores came by a combined 18 ¼ lengths, and ran his dirt record improved to a perfect 4-for-4. At two, Eskendereya broke his maiden on the dirt in his second start by seven lengths in the Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont, and his combined margin of victory over that surface was 26 lengths with an average winning margin of over six lengths.
Eskendereya hails from the multiple Grade 1-producing Seattle Slew mare Aldebaran Light, and his female family links directly to some of the breed’s most important foundation mares and is also rich with industry-shaping sires. He possesses four key strains to the blue hen Almahmoud, who is Eskendereya’s sixth dam. The fourth dam is none other than Cosmah, who is also the dam of Kentucky Derby-producing sire Halo. Eskendereya’s first three damsires are industry giants Seattle Slew, Alydar and Northern Dancer, and he is bred on several similar crosses to Shamardal, Europe’s Leading Second-Crop Sire who is also by Giant’s Causeway.
