09/18/2024
Kings County to stand in Minnesota, $40,000 King of Minnesota Bonus Program
Kings County 2,1:52.3, 1:51.4f ($523,066) has been retired and will stand his first season in 2025. The trotter will stand at Bluff Country Equine in Minnesota. He represents his sire as the richest and fastest son of Muscle Hill to stand in the state. Racing for Lindy Farms early in his career, he was a stakes winner at two, winning the International Stallion Stake and the Champlain. Although an injury prevented his sophomore season from happening, he proved his resilience as an aged trotter. Racing for much of his aged career for Anthony MacDonald and Thestable.ca, the trotter held track records in Ohio at both Scioto Downs and Dayton Raceway, and currently is the co-track record holder at The Meadows as the fastest aged stallion trotter.
The former $210,000 yearling sets the bar high in the growing Minnesota program. Perhaps as
impressive as his record and earnings is the Kings County pedigree page. By Muscle Hill, the sire of winners of over $108 million, he’s from the Conway Hall mare Brooklyn. The mare’s Muscle Hill full brother to Kings County was the highest priced yearling at Harrisburg in 2023, fetching $600,000. Anthony MacDonald (Thestable.ca) had this to say about the new stallion. “He was a killer for us forever. Kings County was all class and never seemed to get tired. His full brother sold for $600,000 last fall, so he’s a winner from a family of winners. He set multiple track records and I couldn’t be more excited about what he will mean for the Minnesota breeding program.” Owner Jeff Fought with Cornerstone Stock Farm added, “Minnesota has been great to our farm over the past two seasons with our pacing stallion Gulf Shores. He’s bred record books in the state each year so far, so the search has been on for a trotting stallion of the same caliber. Kings County checks the boxes, a fast two year old, a fast aged horse, a stakes winner, a huge pedigree and by a sire of sires.”
A $40,000 King of Minnesota Bonus Program will be available to those that breed to Kings County.
For mares bred to the stallion in 2025 (2026 foals), a $20,000 bonus will be paid to the breeder if a Kings County offspring wins a Minnesota Harness Racing (MHRI) freshman divisional championship in 2028 (two separate awards available for colts and fillies in the trotting division). A fertility test was recently conducted and Kings County was approved for a full book. He will stand at Minnesota’s premier breeding facility, Bluff Country Equine, for a fee of $2,000, or $1,750 for multiple mares. Foals will be Minnesota eligible, as well as eligible for Breeders’ Crown nomination.
