American classic champion and winner Animal Kingdom has recently been sold to Japan.
The news was revealed as a tweet from Naoya Yosida, the owner of Winchester Farm, and confirmed by Darren Fox, head of stallion nominations, who stated that the stallion was purchased by the Japan Bloodhorse Breeders’ Association.
According to Darren Fox, Arrowfield Stud’s John Messara owned the majority interest when it came to the 11-year-old son of Leroidesanimaux and negotiated the purchase. The stallion is still located in Darley at Jonabell and will soon be prepared for quarantine.
Arrowfield managed to buy the majority interest in the breeding rights for Animal Kingdom during 2012 and also covered his first book of makes in 2013 in Australia, making him the first winner of the Kentucky Derby to establish his stud career there.
Thereafter, the stallion was transported to Darley at Jonabell for the Northern Hemisphere season in 2014. He was transported three more times to Arrowfield in 2017, 2015, and 2014 and remained in the United States for the last two breeding seasons.
Animal Kingdom has managed to sire 12 worldwide black-type winners, led by group 1 winner and Australian millionaire Angel of Truth, who managed to win the Harrold’s Australian Derby this year.
Animal Kingdom, from his 5 Northern Hemisphere crops, has been represented by 8 black-type winners, which include 3 graded stakes winners.
Animal Kingdom’s best North American performers include Regal Glory, who managed to win the Lake George Stakes and the Lake Placid Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, along with Untamed Domain, who managed to win the Summer Stakes in 2017 and was the runner-up during the Jimmy Durante Stakes and the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Turf.
On a global scale, his offspring has managed to accumulate $12.2 million in earnings and averaged around $40,000 for each runner.
Animal Kingdom participated as a homebred for Team Valor International owned by Barry Irwin (Sheikh Mohammed and Arrowfield ed the ownership prior to the final start).
He managed to claim his first victory in his second start at two years old when he was trained by Wayne Catalano.
He managed to capture his very first stakes win during his second start at three years old during the Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes when he was trained by Graham Motion.
He made his debut on dirt during the Kentucky Derby and was presented by Yum! Brands where he managed to win by 2 ¾ lengths.
Animal Kingdom finished a close second in the Preakness Stakes against Shackleford and then suffered an injury following the Belmont Stakes, removing him from all races during the summer.
However, he was still honoured as the 3-year-old champion colt in 2011.
At the age of 4, Animal Kingdom only started twice. However, in one of the two races, he managed to produce a runner-up effort against Wise Dan during the Breeder’s Cup Mile who eventually became the Horse of the Year.
During 2013, at the age of 5, he was runner-up during the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap before he was sent overseas to compete in the Dubai World Cup which was sponsored by Emirates Airline, allowing him to win by 2 lengths.
Animal Kingdom managed to retire with an impressive 5-5-0 record in a total of 12 starts and earned over $8 million during his career.
