Ransom the Moon to stand at Calumet Farm in 2019

Multiple Grade 1 winner Ransom The Moon, the last out winner of Del Mar's Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes, will stand at Calumet Farm for the 2019 breeding season, it was announced Thursday.

“As the only Grade 1-winning sprinting son of Malibu Moon to go to stud, Ransom the Moon offers breeders with a dirt-speed option on an incredible sire line,” said Calumet Farm's director of stallions Jak Knelman.

“To win sprinting in California you have to be fast, and to defeat the likes of champion sprinter Roy H in Grade 1 competition in both 2017 and 2018 you have to be very good.”

Bred by Sam-Son Farm, Ransom the Moon is out of a stakes winning, graded placed Red Ransom mare and his second dam is Grade 1-winning and multiple graded stakes producing Countus In.

“Ransom the Moon possesses speed, an immense turn of foot, and class above all else. Those are the qualities I look for in a top class racehorse. He's one of the most talented horses that I have ever trained,” said trainer Phil D'Amato.

Campaigned by Agave Racing Stable and Jeffry Wilke, Ransom the Moon will start once more in preparation for the 2018 Breeders' Cup Sprint. After the Breeders' Cup he will be available for inspection at Calumet Farm for the 2019 breeding season.

“He is beautiful, and if he replicates himself we are set. He is about 16.2 and has a beautiful neck and topline with a strong hip and hind leg. Looking at his profile, He looks like a classic distance horse but he has the speed to win at 6 furlongs,” said Knelman

“It's been an exciting journey these past two years watching Ransom showcase his speed on the dirt," said Mark Martinez of Agave Racing Stable, "but we are incredibly excited to watch him write the next chapter in his book while standing stud at the storied Calumet Farm.”