MORE Than Ready, the broodmare sire of weekend group winner Aspen Grove, was euthanized last Friday at WinStar Stud due to the cumulative effects of old age. He was 25 and had covered this season at a fee of $50,000. He was a champion juvenile sire in the USA and Australia.

He won more than a million dollars in his racing career over two seasons, the highlight coming with victory in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop Stakes over seven furlongs. More Than Ready is the leading sire in history of individual winners, already more than 2,100 and growing, and he ranks fourth in the world among sires of stakes winners, with at least 216 in that cohort.

Only Galileo, Danehill and Sadler’s Well are ahead of him presently.

Sold in 1998 at the Keeneland September Sale for $187,000, More Than Ready was trained by Todd Pletcher to win his first five starts at two, culminating with a near 10-length success in the six-furlong Grade 2 Sanford Stakes. He gained his Grade 1 triumph at three in the King’s Bishop Stakes at Saratoga, and just finished out of the first three in the Kentucky Derby.

The son of Southern Halo (Halo) initially stood for $25,000 at Vinery Stud in Kentucky, but moved to WinStar after the 2013 season when Tom Simon ceased operations in the USA. His fee was always quite steady, and reached a high of $80,000 for two seasons.

More Than Ready was blessed with excellent fertility and shuttled between the USA and Australia until 2019, a trip he made for 19 consecutive seasons. He is a rarity in that he was just as successful in both hemispheres, and no sire has had more Breeders’ Cup winners. He is also an exceptional broodmare sire, and More Than Ready’s daughters have produced some 15 winners at the highest level.

“More Than Ready was an amazing horse who touched everyone he came in contact with,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm. “He may not have been the biggest horse in the barn, but he more than made up for it in class, balance, and character. His expressions said it all. We will greatly miss him at the farm.”

A breed-shaping stallion, More Than Ready sired graded stakes winners in 12 countries, Grade 1 winners in seven, and his runners have racked up more than $219 million in progeny earnings. His daughter Rushing Fall was named Champion Female Turf Horse in 2020; Uni was honoured as the 2019 Champion Turf Female, while his son Roy H earned back-to-back Champion Male Sprinter titles in 2017 and 2018.

More Than Read’s progeny have accumulated seven wins at the Breeders’ Cup, with six different winners of four different races at varying distances. They are Uni (2019 Mile); Roy H (2018 and 2017 Sprint); Rushing Fall (2017 Juvenile Fillies’ Turf); Regally Ready (2011 Turf Sprint); More Than Real (2011 Juvenile Fillies’ Turf), and Pluck (2011 Juvenile Turf).

More Than Ready shuttled between the USA and Vinery Stud in Australia. He stood his initial season in Australia in 2001 and his last southern hemisphere crop are yearlings this year. His leading earners include More Joyous ($4,506,154), Roy H ($3,139,765); Eagle Way ($2,955,998), Rushing Fall ($2,893,000), Phelan Ready ($2,809,560), and Sebring ($2,365,522).

His offspring remain in demand in the auction ring as well, as evidenced by a sale-topping $1.2 million colt at this year’s OBS March Sale.

Legacy

Poised to carry on his legacy, More Than Ready’s sons at stud include Daredevil, the sire of Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil, and Grade 1 Preakness Stakes winner Swiss Skydiver. As a broodmare sire, More Than Ready is represented most recently by 2022 Grade 1 winner Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom).

More Than Ready is out of the winning Woodman (Mr Prospector) mare Woodman’s Girl, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Bail Out Becky (Red Ransom), and from the family of Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Stephanie’s Kitten (Kitten’s Joy).

Larry McGinnis, long-time stallion manager at WinStar Farm, said of the sire’s passing: “To me, he was more than a great stallion, he was a great friend. It was an honour to take care of such a remarkable horse. I will miss him.”