McWicked, 2018 Horse of the Year and the richest pacing stallion in harness racing history, will stand his initial Southern Hemisphere season at the renowned horse haven Cobbitty Equine Farm in New South Wales, Australia.
Already established as a farm that delivers world-class facilities that cater to all aspects of horse racing, Cobbitty Equine has extended their stallion roster to cater for the commercial breeder and the yearling sales market.
McWicked will stand his introductory year at exceptional value at $5,500 including GST with a live foal guarantee and a multiple-mare discount.
Grit, determination and raw talent propelled McWicked through a seven-year racing career that saw him earn over $5 million, with 40 appearances in the winner’s circle and a record of 1:46.2. With those statistics, the son of McArdle joins an elite group of horses elected into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame just months after his last appearance on a racetrack.
He retired as the richest pacing stallion ever and is second behind Foiled Again on the all-time earnings list for pacers.
In 2014, McWicked was both the USHWA and O’Brien Award winner for Three-Year-Old Colt Pacer of the Year, and in 2018, he was the oldest horse in 43 years to top the leading money earners list in North America.
He took his mark of 1:46.2 winning the 2018 Allerage at Lexington’s Red Mile, which is the third-fastest winning race mile in history. McWicked achieved this record in one of his many Northern Hemisphere tussles with the “Wonder from Down Under” Lazarus.
The two-time Breeders Crown winner is known not only for his amazing speed, but his toughness, soundness and conformation.
"McWicked gave it 110 per cent every time he got behind the gate," said trainer Casie Coleman Herlihy. "He was first-over more than any horse I have ever seen and raced strong up until the end of his career at eight years old. He was impressive on any size track and had perfect manners. McWicked had a great gait and was smart and classy. He is a big, strong horse that has a huge back end and shoulder. He has a long gait and wore no boots."
Champion reinsman Brain Sears said McWicked was one of the most intelligent horses he had ever sat behind:
"He was very smart and all business, said Sears. "McWicked was the perfect size and had everything one could ask for. I will always be appreciative of how smart McWicked is. I hope his potential offspring get his intelligence."
The son of McArdle and Western Sahara (Western Ideal) was voted the 2018 United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) Dan Patch and 2018 O’Brien Horse of the Year, as well as the 2018 Aged Pacer of the Year. At seven, he was the oldest horse to ever win Horse of the Year honours from USHWA.
McWicked descends from the famed U1 Family, a family which is littered with standardbred royalty and includes, Wiggle It Jiggleit, Betting Line, Stay Hungry, Artsplace, Armbro Operative, Artiscape, Western Terror, Sabilize, Bret Hanover, Tall Drink Hanover and Sushi Sushi.
McWicked has just completed his first commercial year at Stud at Winbak Farm in Ontario. Farm manager Pat Woods has stated that he has exceeded their expectations receiving a full book and recording a 92 per cent fertility rate thus far.
Woods said, "The best thing about McWicked is that with him being a son of McArdle, he will cross well with most of the best and most popular broodmare bloodlines. He has all the makeup of being a top stallion; speed at every age he raced, $5 million in earnings, toughness, soundness and conformation”.
McWicked is the richest and fastest son of McArdle who boasts a 41.57% live foal to winner ratio in the Southern Hemisphere. The most successful winners include Nike Franco NZ, Tintin In America (father of world champion race mare Shartin NZ), Five Star Anvil NZ, Tact Tate NZ and Elusive Chick NZ. The Falcon Seelster Grand Sire provides an excellent outcross to many mares here in Australia.
With the announcement of McWicked’s arrival Down Under last week, it was also revealed that McWicked had sired three foals whilst he was racing. From these foals, the eldest, a three-year-old colt named McWicked One, was successful on only his second appearance, recording a slick 1:51.3 mile rate at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on July 6. McWicked has also sired a two-year-old colt and a yearling filly.
In his initial season, McWicked will be available to Australian-domiciled broodmares.
McWicked will join established Cobbitty Equine Farm stallions For A Reason and Bling It On.
Farm managers Luke and Belinda McCarthy said, "We have had our eye on the Northern Hemisphere stallion market for the past few seasons. We are thrilled to have secured McWicked, a tough as nails stallion that refused to lose and gave everything to the line every week. He ticks the boxes and provides our stud with a real commercial option for breeders. We have a stallion for every budget and can help breeders every step of the way."
Cobbitty Equine Farm offers a free pedigree matching service to breeders. Contact Belinda McCarthy via email at [email protected] or visit www.testmating.com/cob to learn more.
For further information concerning Cobbitty Equine Farm stallions, go to: http://www.cobbittyequine.com.au/stallions/.
(Winbak Farm)