Owners John Celii and George Teague announced today that they have agreed to a stallion management agreement with Winbak Farm to stand World Champion millionaire Badlands Nitro at Winbak Farm of New York.
"We are excited about this opportunity. We wanted to acquire a feature Western Hanover line stallion for our New York breeding facility. Having the opportunity to stand this World Champion, is a great way to reinforce our New York Sire offerings. Badlands Nitro will be an outstanding addition to Winbak Farm," stated Winbak Farm owner Joe Thomson. "Combining a rapidly growing breeding facility, with a great sire prospect will provide owners an excellent opportunity take advantage of the rich New York purse structure."
At two, Badlands Nitro showed early speed, equaling the World Record for two-year-old pacing colts on a five-eighths mile track in 1:51.1. He has career earnings of $1,507,088, earning $1.3 million of that as a three-year-old winning the Hempt, the Art Rooney and Battle of the Brandywine. Badlands Nitro also finished strong seconds in the North America Cup, the Cane Pace, elimination of the Little Brown Jug and the Windy City Pace.
George Teague, trainer and co-owner of Badlands Nitro, touted on the colt's grit and ability. "Badlands Nitro is one of the most complete horses I have ever trained; he is versatile, sound and most importantly he has stepped up when he has needed to. He is one of the most professional horses I have ever worked with," he said.
Badlands Nitro will be standing in New York where the purses for the sire stakes have been estimated at $15 million for 2009 and the finals are raced at Yonkers Raceway. In 2007, 80 per cent of the horses that were eligible to the New York Sire Stakes were able to compete in the sire stakes program.
"We evaluated multiple opportunities for Badlands Nitro. We chose Winbak, New York because of the excellent job Winbak performed standing Badlands Hanover and their successful tract record as breeders. Badlands Nitro will become a feature stallion at Winbak, having offspring eligible for the rich and improving purse structure in New York, including the lucrative New York Sire Stakes Program. Badlands Nitro has proven himself as a small track champion, which is an excellent match for the New York track structures. We are in the process of completing a Badlands Nitro syndicate agreement, which will allow other Breeders to participate in lifetime breeding rights," stated co-owner John Celii.
No other terms or conditions were disclosed.