Sergei Prokofiev is Anderson Farms’ first yearling owner, David Anderson, who sold for seven figures at auction, selling for $1.1 million at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale to Coolmore’s MV Magnier. The colt went on to win three stakes in England and Ireland, including the Cornwallis Stakes (G3), and was third in the Coventry Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot.
He went to stud at Whitsbury Manor Stud and produced 23 winners in his first crop led by the Group 1 placed, Group 3 stakes winner Arizona flame and stakes winner Enchanting empress . He became the leading first-year sire with £584,723 in offspring earnings, according to Racing Post, and is set to take the leading second-crop title this year as well.
Anderson said he has kept close contact with Whitsbury Manor over the years. Recently, the Ontario government indicated that it was preparing to provide more financial support to the program set up in Ontario, and at the same time, Anderson began hearing that Sergei Prokovofiev might be available to buy.
“The Ontario government has shown a lot of support for breeding and racing, so that was the catalyst for me to make this move with the stallion,” he said. “I reached out to a few fellow breeders and the response was overwhelming. Since announcing this today, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing.”
Bernard McCormack is one of Ontario’s most enthusiastic breeders.
“When David told me in the parking lot at Keeneland that the horse might be available and that he would syndicate him, I told him I wanted to be the number one shareholder,” says McCormack, owner of Cara Bloodstock and former farm manager of Windfields Farm. “For me, he is a horse that can be found in three markets. They already love him in Europe, we will love him here in Ontario, and I believe he is a horse whose offspring you can take to Kentucky and sell them there. It is a golden opportunity for our corner of the breeding and racing world.”
Anderson described the ability that Sergei Prokofiev’s descendants had already shown as “right in the middle of the plate” to race at Woodbine.
“His runners have proven themselves on turf and turf, and he has had a bunched runner on dirt with not many opportunities, but that will come,” he said. “In Canada, historically, the most successful sires have been speed horses, and at Woodbine we have an indoor track to match speed.”
Sergei Prokofiev will run for CA$10,000, which Anderson said is about CA$5,000 less than what he would have faced in Britain next year.
“I want this to be an opportunity for breeders to get to the ground level with a lot of benefits,” he said. “I want breeders to see this as a reason to keep mares at home and not at the expense of shipping them to other jurisdictions.”
McCormack said breeders are getting proven quality with a stallion that won’t lose momentum in the market, having bred about 150 mares this year.
“So he will get a lot of results in the future if we breed him here, and he is very suitable for racing here,” he said. “We have good flights, but we have to keep our breeders in the game.”
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