Owners to 'scientifically select' new stallion Copper Bullet's mares
Copper Bullet, a graded stakes-winning juvenile and multiple graded stakes-placed son of More Than Ready, has been retired and will take up stud duty at Darby Dan Farm for the upcoming breeding season, it was announced Friday.
In a unique approach to standing stallions, owner Ron Winchell is teaming with Dr. David Lambert's Equine Analysis Systems. Together, they have established three qualifications for mares to be considered for Copper Bullet’s book. If the mares meet all the requirements, the mare owner will receive a complimentary season to Copper Bullet and will be paid $5,000 when the mare is pronounced in foal at 45 days.
The first qualification is based on age, race record, family and production. If mares pass the first filter, a pedigree and a conformation photo will be sent to Lambert’s team for analysis. The photo will be uploaded into Equine Analysis Systems’ “FotoSelect” program where an algorithm program will take all the biomechanical measurements of the mare.
Should the mare pass all the requirements, the mare owner will receive a complimentary season to Copper Bullet and on top of that, Winchell will pay the mare owner $5,000 when the mare is pronounced in foal at 45 days.
“There are many reasons, based on physiology, anatomy, and genetics that a horse has the potential to become an elite stallion,” said Dr. Lambert. “Just like Tapit, Copper Bullet is such a horse. We have a panel of scientific tests and he passes them all. If now we can also scientifically select his mares, then his future chances become extraordinary.”
Campaigned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing and trained by Steve Asmussen, Copper Bullet was a dominating four-length winner of the 2017 Saratoga Special (G2) after finishing second in the Bashford Manor (G3) at Churchill Downs. In addition to his sensational juvenile season, he went on to defeat graded stakes winner Wild Shot and stakes-placed Honorable Treasure at 3 and placed in the Razorback Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn Park as a 4-year-old while compiling earnings of $339,345.
“This horse checked all the boxes that Mr. Winchell uses in evaluating horses to purchase,” said Darby Dan Farm Stallion Director Ryan Norton. “He believes in this horse and his analytics so much that he is willing to spend his money to prove how much he believes in this horse and the science. We are excited to be at the forefront of such a forward-thinking model for how to breed horses.”
By perennial leading sire More Than Ready, one of the leading stallions of stakes winners in history, Copper Bullet is produced from the winning Unbridled’s Song mare Allegory and descends from a family that includes French Highweights Loup Sauvage and Loup Solitaire. A $200,000 Keeneland September purchase by Winchell Thoroughbreds, Copper Bullet was bred in Kentucky by Dell Ridge Farm.