Cloud Computing Another First
When Always Dreaming won the Kentucky Derby for trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez, it was a magical moment, not only for the racing community and the large partnership, but for WinStar Farm.
Why WinStar Farm? Well, they stand Bodemeister, the son of Empire Maker, who himself was second in the 2011 Kentucky Derby behind I’ll Have Another. Bodemeister has his first crop of three-year-olds on the track this year, and joins Uncle Mo in back-to-back wins in the Kentucky Derby for first crop sires.
Well, another first crop sire got a Classic win in his first crop of three-year-olds, and that is Hill n’ Dale’s Maclean’s Music, with today's Preakness winner Cloud Computing. The son of Distorted Humor stands for a 2017 advertised fee of $8,500 at the farm, alongside horses like Midnight Lute and Curlin.
Maclean’s Music won his only start, when he started at age three, and was then retired due to complications from surgery in removing a fractured splint bone. When the horse retired to the farm, the hopes were high. A quote in the Paulick Report about the horse showed just that.
John G. Sikura, President of Hill ‘n Dale Farms, said, “My strong belief in this stallion's prospect as a Leading Sire are reminiscent of feelings I had when we started the stallion careers of Candy Ride, Medaglia d'Oro, and Stormy Atlantic. I believe Maclean's Music can be the next Danzig.
Maclean’s Music is out of Forest Music, the brilliantly fast Grade 2 winner and multiple G-1 placed daughter of Unbridled's Song.
The bay stallion won at first asking during the Santa Anita 2011 Spring Meet, winning by 7 1/4 lengths under wraps. Described as “very, very impressive” by Trevor Denman, Maclean's Music set fractions of :21.24, :43.48, :55.05, and 1:07.44, leading Andrew Beyer's team to rate the scintillating performance with the Fastest Beyer Speed Figure of any debut winner in history: 114.
Already the stallion has proven valuable to the farm, siring not only a Preakness winner in Cloud Computing, but also stakes winner Rockshaw and stakes placed Wicked Lick.
Congratulations to Chad Brown in achieving his first Classic win and all the connections of Cloud Computing, Maclean’s Music, and all others involved.