International trotting star Wishing Stone, a winner of the Kentucky Futurity at three and the Copenhagen Cup in Denmark at age five, will be officially retired from racing and will stand stud.
On Friday, Bob Marks of Deo Volente Farms and Joe McLead of Sugar Valley Farm jointly made the announcement that Wishing Stone will stand at Sugar Valley Farm in Delaware, Ohio. Both Marks and McLead emphasized, “Wishing Stone’s world record performances on five-eighths and half-mile tracks make him a natural for the Buckeye State which at this time features exclusively five furlong and half-mile ovals. Given the fact that he raced sound from ages two through seven strongly suggests that his foals would be ideal for the Ohio racing circuit and beyond.”
A winner of more than $2.3 million lifetime, Wishing Stone returned to the races this year at age seven after fulfilling stallion duty at Deo Volente Farms in New Jersey. He has been entered in the Breeders Crown for older trotters and will be retired following that event.
By one of the great sire of sires, Conway Hall and from the productive Meadowbranch Magic, Wishing Stone won such stakes as the Kentucky Futurity, Copenhagen Cup, Maxie Lee Memorial, and Cutler Memorial and was stakes placed in eliminations or finals of the Hambletonian, Peter Haughton Memorial, and Elitlopp in Solvalla, Sweden. In addition, Wishing Stone was the New York Sires Stakes trotting champion during his two-year-old year.
Wishing Stone’s stellar race career against some of the fiercest competition in both America and Europe earned him 24 lifetime wins.
Wishing Stone will bring this international speed, performance and durability to Ohio for the 2015 breeding season. He will stand for a fee of $4,500 and all foals will be eligible to the growing Ohio Sires Stakes program.
(Deo Volente Farms and Sugar Valley Farm)