CLASSIC WINNER EMPIRE MAKER RETIRES TO JUDDMONTE
Empire Maker has been retired and will enter stud in 2004 for a
fee of $100,000.
Empire Maker (Unbridled out of Toussaud) won the 2003 Belmont
Stakes (Gr.1). A son of Unbridled, he is the fourth Grade 1 winner
produced by 2002 Broodmare of the Year Toussaud.
“Empire Maker is the best horse I have ever trained,” said Hall
of Fame conditioner Bobby Frankel, for whom the colt won three
Grade 1 races this year. “We weren’t within 10 lengths of seeing
this horse’s best race.”
There were high expectations from the moment Empire Maker took
his first steps. His dam, Toussaud, won the Gr.1 Gamely H. and
defeated males in the Gr.2 American H. Her first foal, Chester
House (Mr. Prospector), won the Gr.1 Arlington Million and earned
over $1.9 million. Her second foal was the Seattle Slew filly
Honest Lady, whose powerful late kick carried her to victory in the
Gr.1 Santa Monica H. and a close second to champion Kona Gold in
the Gr.1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Toussaud’s 1997 colt Decarchy
(Distant View) has been a top turf miler in California for the past
three seasons, winning two Gr.2 races. Her next foal, Chiselling
(Woodman), won the Gr.1 Secretariat S. in 2002.
Trainer Bobby Frankel tabbed Empire Maker as a top Triple Crown
prospect early in his career, a notion echoed by Dr. John Chandler,
president of Juddmonte Farms USA. “Empire Maker always seemed to be
a horse destined for greatness. From day one, he looked the part of
a champion, so much so, that many of us on the farm had a
future-book Derby wager on him long before he ever started.”
After effortlessly breaking his maiden at two, Frankel viewed
the horse as a Classic contender and crafted his racing schedule
accordingly. In the Gr.1 Florida Derby on March 15, Empire Maker
trounced his rivals by 9 ¾ lengths, the largest winning margin in
the history of the race. After a victory in the Gr.1 Wood Memorial
on April 12, where he ran his final quarter in :12 and change, he
entered the Kentucky Derby as the favorite. But the tables were
turned when Wood runner-up Funny Cide won at Churchill Downs.
Empire Maker had missed some training leading up to the Derby with
a bruised foot, but he gained his revenge in the Gr.1 Belmont
Stakes on June 7. He defeated subsequent Gr.1 Travers S. winner Ten
Most Wanted by ¾ of a length. In 2003, Empire Maker is the only
three-year-old colt to have won three Grade 1 races. Never off the
board in any of his career starts, he retires with earnings of
$1,985,800.
The death of Unbridled in 2001 and the high demand for his
offspring at this year’s sales, and the untimely demise of Chester
House, were prime considerations for retiring the regally bred
Empire Maker. “I can count on one hand the number of better
stallion prospects that I’ve seen retire in my lifetime, and I have
a few gray hairs,” said Chandler.
Juddmonte Farms will be restricting Empire Maker’s
book.
Date:
01 October 2003