In surprisingly early fashion, Indigo Morning Stables (the breeding division of Stride Of Perfection) have announced six months in advance who will be having their final breeding season in Year Twenty and who will be joining the stud roster for the first time. With a twinkle in her eye, Amber Black claimed it was so that people could schedule (or reschedule!) far in advance to include these boys in their plans.

Amber has announced that three studs will have their final stud seasons in Year Twenty - Worldbreaker, With A Snap, and Foolish Lad.

Multiple award winner Worldbreaker (Y12 Best Older Horse + 3 Encouragement Awards) is very well known as both a sire and a racehorse. By BHoF inductee Grand Silence and out of the legendary HoF and BHoF inductee mare Wild Flower, Worldbreaker is one of your shots to get up close and personal with the esteemed Wild Flower female line. On top of this blue blooded pedigree, Worldbreaker capped off his career with a victory in the Breeders Cup Turf and has been an excellent stud to boost. Worldbreaker is the sire of G1 World Dominion, Breeders Stakes winner Altercation, multiple HoTY winner and G1 performer Shatter, G1 Duchess Stakes among many other HoTY accolades Peacebreaker, the incredibly good looking likely candidate for the Turf Distance series War of the Worlds, and quiet improver City of Ruins. With fellow son of Grand Silence in Silent Fury already at stud and his son Altercation going to stud next year, it's time for this boy to be pensioned. He will be available for one booking.

With A Snap is the last among SOPS's original create racers to be retiring from stud and is one of the foremost sprinting foundation lines in the barn. The winner of Year Five's Breeders Cup Sprint has proven to be an incredibly versatile sire, producing G1 Hall of Fame sprinter/miler Lynara's Kingdom, G1 dirt distaff champion Restricted Access, G1 Red Wine Sprint and Speedway Stakes winner Silent Snap, G1 Shining Stakes and Starshine Sprint winner Rough Diamond, juvenile 2x HoTY winner Cathmora (at 7F and 8F), and other juvenile 2x HoTy winner Scripture (at 10F). The flexibility and prodigal ability of this sireline is unquestionable. He will be available for one booking next year.

The last upcoming pensioner is Foolish Lad. He has an incredibly unique pedigree, being the only son of Karls Nickel in the game and one of the few direct sources of the incredibly prodigious and famous BHoF Foolish Entity line. The G1 winner of the Kentucky Open, Belmont Turf Classic, and Breeders Cup Turf is yet another example of SOPS's powerful lines in the turf world. Foolish Lad is the sire of G1 AJC Sires Produce Stakes, Royal Heroine Green Mile, World Colt Cup, and Dubai World Marathon winner Call of the Wild, G1 Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Cotillion Stakes, and Virginia Derby winner Scintilla, G1 Belmont Turf Classic among many other victories winner Laddie Luck, G1 Preakness Champion Stakes and Virginia Derby winner Wire Tap, grade four filly Foolish Lass, and hard-knocking grade three filly Material Girl who won the Betterbetterbetter Fillies last time out. This is obviously an incredibly proven sireline, and luckily for you he's available for two bookings during his final season!

As if this line up wasn't enough, Amber is happy to announce that Indigo Morning will be having the largest entering freshman stud line up in its history. This line up includes Altercation (to be stood by Battle Brook, most likely), Mr Wild, Ruling Restraint, Aristaeus, Everlasting Gift, Hyperion, Sweet Dreams, Prometheus, and Sunrise Spell.

Altercation, by Worldbreaker and out of Royal Assault, has lines of gold for the turf and the performance to back it up. The G1 Breeders Stakes winner has proven to still have it at six, having taken home two HoTY races off a solid HoTY-only season and still going strong. Mr Wild has got a pedigree any discernible breeder would value, being the only active descendant of his sire Mr Light in the game and out of Wild Kiss, therefore also being a source of the prolific Wild Flower turf line. As a racehorse, Mr Wild has been a consistent grade one performer. Ruling Restraint is the upcoming turf sprinter stud that all breeders should take note of, being a much needed outcross. By Passionate Ruler and out of Unbridled Mystery, Ruling Restraint has worked his way up the ranks and is currently a powerful HoTY performer, having taken three HoTY races so far this season. He is clearly on route for the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint at the end of the season.

Aristaeus has the classic dirt pedigree that makes a breeder cry. He's by Sunset Crusade, the amazing dirt classic horse who is inactive; Aris may be the only source of his lines in game. Sunset Crusade is by Akuma Battlecry, an incredibly known dirt sireline, and Akuma himself is by Breeding Hall of Fame inductee Admiral's Revenge and out of blue hen broodmare Silver Tide. As if this wasn't enough, Aris is out of Hall of Fame inductee Eternal Phantom, herself by BHoF inductee Night Stalker and HoF inductee El Sol Del Mar - names that need little introduction. Eternal Phantom was one of the best dirt classic mares in history, bringing home multiple awards and 34 wins in her career. She has so far produced three year old Head Trip and two year old Poltergeist. Her full sister Midnight Thriller produced Triple Crown winner Black Thriller among others, which hints at the producing ability of Eternal Phantom as well as Aristaeus by relation. Aristaeus himself has got a record that is nothing to sniff at, having won the Just A Trot Futurity, Gallop To The Gallows Stakes, and Breeders Cup Juvenile at two, the Pennsylvania Derby, Oklahoma Derby, and Super Derby at three, and so far two HoTY races at four. He's never stepped out of HoTY company and is an incredibly classy animal.

Everlasting Gift will also be joining the stud roster. He's out of the HoF inductee Pegasus Wings, a pensioned stud who has produced multiple G1 winners and who is by HoF inductee Royal Red Richard and out of BHoF legendary blue hen Forbidden Wings. If this wasn't precocious enough, his dam Innocent Passion (most well known as Hall of Fame inductee Cross My Heart's bitterest rival) is by excellent producer Passionate Class and HoF and BHoF inductee Little Miss Innocent (another foundation SOPS turf line). Everlasting Gift has been incredibly impressive as a racehorse, having run one of the most impressive juvenile seasons in recent memory with a whopping twelve victories (all in HoTY company) by the end of it. He ran a comparatively quieter season at three, winning the Boys Festival and a leg of the Turf Triple Sprinter Crown in the Highway Stakes, but has returned to being an absolute monster this season, having switched surfaces to the dirt and winning five HoTY races so far. Rumor has it the barn is hoping to get him to the 30-win milestone before he retires, so we'll see what happens!

Hyperion is yet another big name horse to retire. He is a direct son of HoF BHoF legend Merry Bay King and Intrepid Racing's foundation blue hen BHoF inductee Rosalind, which makes his pedigree clean and incredibly proven. Other producers from these lines have gone on to produce beautifully at stud. Hyperion is the future of SOPS's turf lines and fits perfectly into our turf roster. Hyperion took the Preakness Champion Stakes and Belmont Turf Classic among other accolades last season and has so far won five HoTY races this season. He is pristine on paper, pristine in his pedigree, and likely to be an amazing producer just as his siblings have been before him. He will be the final son of Merry Bay King to enter stud.

Next up on this power freshman roster is Sweet Dreams. He also boasts a clean but proven pedigree, being by BHoF foundation sprinter line Sweet Sugar Cane and out Smarty's Dream, herself a descendant of Smarty Jones and Livin' The Dream. Sweet Dreams is one of only three sons of his sire and will be the only of them at stud in Year Twenty. After running a decent juvenile season, Sweet Dreams rocketed to fame in Year Eighteen, being named Miler of the Year and taking down older horses with a victory in the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile to cap off his season. He has been as ferocious as ever at the mile distance at four, with five HoTY victories on the record and more to come. He will be aimed for a repeat victory in the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile at the end of the season. To get a nice clean pedigree with a huge dose of miler talent, look no further than this horse!

Continuing the line up is Prometheus. This classically lined stud is by HoF 2x Breeders Cup Classic winner Flashy Wings (himself a son of G1 News Flash and BHoF blue hen Forbidden Wings) and G1 Breeders Cup Marathon winner Fire Dancer (herself the daughter of Native Flame and BHoF On To Dancing). From these classy lines, Prometheus has excelled as a classic distance horse over both surfaces. He won a leg of both the Youth Challenge and the Turf Challenge at two, the Prince of Wales Stakes and Oklahoma Derby at three, and most recently won the Summer Dawn Treader Cup last out. Prometheus comes from lines that produce well; Flashy Wings is also the sire of G1 dirt classic sensation Flashbang and G1 turf distaffer and multiple HoTY winner Wings of Angels, while Fire Dancer hails from the prolific On To Dancer broodmare line that also gave us famous producer On To The Spotlight (Ode To Glory, In The Spotlight, Spotlight Pride). Prometheus will produce horses ideally suited for the classic distances that can run on either or both surfaces - look no further for the perfect stud to produce a CTC/CTT prospect.

Sunrise Spell rounds out this rockstar lineup. The G1 sprinter has got a fabulously fresh dirt sprinting pedigree, being by Mercurial Magic and out of Flash At Dawn. Mercurial Magic is a fresh young sire who has also sired three year old Mercurial Queen who became an HoTY winner in the Evangeline Sprint last out. Flash At Dawn is a very proven broodmare and the only source of Flash of Lightning/Whispers At Dawn lines in the game. Other horses out of Flash At Dawn include G1 Risorgimento Derby and Dubai Filly Cup winner Fiery Touch, who has produced Amnesty (who has reeled off five HoTY wins this season and took two legs of the Fillies Dirt Distance Series last season) Preakness Stakes and Risorgimento Derby winner Sizzling Dawn (dam of G1 Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies, Starshine Sprint, and Bison City Stakes winner Icarus's Flight and multiple HoTY-winner and Fillies Red Mile series contender Akanksha), G1 multiple HoTY winner Flashpoint (himself the sire of three year old HoTY performer Armistice), and G1 Woodbine Oaks winner Animatia. This is an incredibly proven family as well as a very flexible one. If you're looking for horses that may be able to perform at as long as ten furlongs and as short as five furlongs with ease, Sunrise Spell is the one for you.

Indigo Morning has also announced that the following studs will be available to the public: Bank On Greatness, Infinite Warcry, Mercurial Magic, Royal Cadenza, TDI Live This Lie, Silent Fury, Born To Impress, Great Revenge, Great Revenge, Passionate Flyer, Devil's Flair, Incognito, and Fleet Street.

We look forward to helping you plan breedings for your mares in the Y20 season!