Issue link: http://nytbreeders.epubxp.com/i/127475
Cat on the Prowl ni in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga. X-rays taken the day after the race revealed he suffered a fractured right pastern and was retired to WinStar. His initial fee was pegged at $50,000, a figure that stood through his first two seasons. His fee for 2013 is $15,000. He's well-bred but at the same time he's also had these great runners that can compete at the highest level." — Erin Robinson adaM CogliaNese/NYra Heading to New York CoadY PHotograPHY Bluegrass Cat's Teeth of the Dog winning the grade II Dwyer Stakes Stakes-winning Laurie's Rocket 26 for the Roses to the powerful Barbaro. Little luster was lost off that defeat five weeks later when Bluegrass Cat was a 9-2 shot in the 12-furlong Belmont Stakes (gr. I). He came up short again, to Jazil, but was clearly the best of the rest. His shining moment would come later that summer at Monmouth Park where he flat out ran off with the Haskell Invitational Handicap (gr. I) by seven lengths. "His performance today is as good as any 3-year-old's this year," Pletcher said at Monmouth. "To win a grade I as significant as the Haskell puts him in an elite category as a racehorse and a prospective sire." Bluegrass Cat would face the best one more time, running second to champion Bernardi- With the expected rise in the New York-bred program, Vinery New York at Sugar Maple was on the lookout to bolster its stallion roster. In late September 2011 the farm announced the partnership with WinStar to bring Bluegrass Cat to New York. "We wanted to give the New York breeders another reason to stay home, and have the type of stallion that Kentucky breeders will follow," said Vinery president Tom Ludt. "We feel like everything is in place for him to be the leading sire in New York for many years to come." While that feat lies on the horizon, his first foals from his first season in New York are arriving. The early responses are more then encouraging. "We're still midway through the breeding season but the people that have bred to him last year are already getting New York-bred foals and they have been very pleased," Robinson said. "We're getting lots of pictures and people calling us the next day and telling us they're extremely excited about how nice their Bluegrass Cat foal is." Bluegrass Cat, Vinery New York at Sugar Maple, and the New York breeding program are getting pretty as a picture as well…with room for sharper focus. "The mare population hasn't quite picked up to the stallion population," Robinson said. "There was a big influx of stallions this year so the mares are still spread pretty thin among them. It will take a few years for the mare population to sort of catch up. Other than that, the industry in New York is booming. It's a good time to get involved." New York Breeder ❙ nytbreeders.org ❙ May 2013