CloverLeaf Farms II, Resumes Stallion Operations in the Sunshine State
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Owner John Sykes acquired the property in
1997, built it into a full-service facility and then
moved his stallion operations to Kentucky in 2007. Due to the
direction of Florida's Thoroughbred industry and the
early success of the Vinery stallion Congrats—whom
Sykes owns in partnership with Vinery—Sykes has
decided to utilize the Reddick property for stallions once again.
"The recent legislation and the direction of
Florida's Thoroughbred industry certainly played a
role in our decision," said Matt Lyons, general
manager of Sykes' Woodford Thoroughbreds and
CloverLeaf Farms.
"Of course, the Congrats horses
have really come out running as well and we want
to support him over the next few years."
Congrats, the top freshman sire in the country,
stands at Vinery for a $4,500 stud fee. Through Aug.
30, Congrats is represented by 11 winners from 34
starters. He has two stakes winners and total progeny
earnings of $477,364. His leading runner is Sorrento
Stakes (G3) winner Wickedly Perfect, a Florida-bred
OBS graduate with earnings of $114,600.
Lyons said he expects CloverLeaf to house 20
to 25 of Sykes' broodmares. Among Sykes' brood-mare band are the likes of Florida champions
Bsharpsonata and Set Play, Turko's Turn, the dam
of Point Given, and Grade 1 winner Celtic Melody,
according to the Woodford Thoroughbreds website.
Lyons indicated there are a few mares on the
property currently (late August) and more will take
up residence over the next couple of weeks. Lyons
also said that Cory Stayner has been hired as the
farm's manager.
"We have a lot of nice mares," Lyons said.
"Right now the plan is to board only our horses. If
a good client were to come along, however, we may
be open to that in the future.
"We know these are tough economic times," he
added, "but the farm is there, it's a beautiful property and the grounds have been maintained. The industry in Florida seems headed in the right
direction, and having Congrats is a big draw for us.
Everything pointed to reopening."
While an operation with the size and scope of
CloverLeaf positioning itself back in the picture in
Florida is certainly welcome news, the industry had
even more to smile about last month as all the economic indicators at the OBS August yearling sale
showed improvement.
During the sale's selected session, gross sales
increased 29.8 percent. A total of 131 horses
brought a total of $4.71 million compared to 110
head selling for $3.63 million a year ago. The selected sessions average price of $35,981 climbed
9 percent from last years average of $33,023.
Topping the select session was a Florida-bred
Any Given Saturday filly purchased by trainer Jeff
Bonde and Mersad Metanovic for $280,000. Steve
Schrivever bred the filly, who was consigned by
Beth Bayer, agent.
For the two open sessions, 478 horses sold for
a total of $4,214,850 compared to 541 horses
bringing $3,789,200 in three open sessions last
year. The average price was $8,818, up 25.9 percent from $7,004 last year, while the median price
rose 60 percent to $5,600 compared with $3,500
in 2009.
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