Press release, October 30, 2013

Girolamo to relocate to Darley’s Jonabell Farm in Kentucky

After winning his first two starts by wide margins, a game Emcee finished a length third in the six-furlong G3 Tom Fool Handicap then went on to race in four G1s including the Carter Handicap, Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap, the Forego Handicap and the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile of 2012.

He was significantly hampered in the Carter, and an unlucky third in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt, where he missed by just a half-length at the wire.

Emcee triumphed by four-and-a-half lengths in the G1 Forego Handicap last summer, a performance that earned him a 108 Beyer.  His seven furlong time of 1:21 flat equaled the decades-old Stakes record and came within a whisker of Saratoga’s track record.   Emcee surpassed the 100 Beyer mark in five of his eight career starts.

A sprinting son of Unbridled’s Song, who sired over 100 Stakes winners, Emcee is out of the multiple Stakes-producing mare Surf Club, a representative of the great Northern Dancer line.

The five-year-old will stand alongside fellow Darley stallion Desert Party at Becky Thomas’s Sequel Stallions in New York.  Girolamo, A.P. Indy’s G1-winning sprinter, will relocate to Darley’s Jonabell Farm in Kentucky for 2014.

Charlie Boden, Darley’s Head of Sales in America said, “Emcee is a horse that will generate a large amount of interest as a stallion. He proved himself on the tough New York circuit, highlighted by his Forego win, and he’s out of a multiple stakes-producing, Northern Dancer-line mare.  When you add in his great conformation, he becomes the complete package of a horse that breeders are looking for in a sire of the future.”

Boden continued, “The nature of the New York breeding program has made it easy to move horses around.  Desert Party and Girolamo have been popular with breeders in New York and the program ensures breeders will continue to reap rewards even if a stallion moves, like with Girolamo next year. I am also sure Kentucky breeders will enjoy having Girolamo at Jonabell for the first time.”

Emcee’s and Girolamo's stud fee will be announced at a later date.

For more information, please contact Charlie Boden on (859) 255-8537.