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East Pensioned at 14
Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 11 years 3 weeks agoThis morning, news broke from Orange Park Stud in California that everyone had anticipated but didn’t want to hear.
The mighty stallion East had received bad news from the veterinarian that his career at stud had ended at the age of 14. Although hearts were broken from coast to coast the news didn’t surprise anyone as most people had been on pins and needles regarding his status since the Steward had sent three broodmares to him about a week ago. When that happened, the clock governing the rest of his stud career began to tick faster and by the time of his pensioning, East had sired 73 foals in his final crop thanks to a last minute rush.
The black stallion with the blaze and the spirited attitude set the world on fire even before his birth. His sire Fighter Jet (by recently deceased Hall of Famer Jet Ski) loved to sire future studs, a quality East emulated during his own career. For Fighter Jet, these included Steward’s Cup Marathon winner Archangel, Long Island Classic winner Saharan Ace, Promise Not to Cry and dual surface sire Fang.
East’s dam was a cinch to put him on the map as one of the most promising thoroughbreds of all time. Broodmare of the Year Baby earned that title and then some by producing some of the major players in the sport. East was her very first foal, but she went on to turn out the likes of Baltimore Crown winner West who proved to be her most versatile offspring, Louisville Derby winner Forward , Los Campeones Classic winner Midwest and on the distaff side, the powerhouse broodmare Adventure who sired Long Island Classic and Los Campeones Classic winner Voldemort.
Karie McBrian who owns Baby bred most of her foals and East looked to be a speedy if feisty one from the start. Both qualities along with his unbelievable strength would put him in good stead during his racing career which spanned three seasons. He turned out a five furlong work on the dirt in 57.84 not long before he went to the starting gate for the first time.
He sprinted first time out and finished fifth. But when he bumped up next time to a mile, he controlled the race early on and romped to the wire to win by 4 ½ lengths. He won the Golden State Juvenile at the same distance but it became clear that his destiny lay in the routes. He defeated The Court Jester in the slop capturing the Louisville Jockey Club Stakes at a longer distance to round out his juvenile season.
As a sophomore, he hit the Triple Crown trail and won the Rebellion Stakes before he went to face off against a tough field in the Louisville Derby. He broke very well in the mob of horses racing for the first turn and by the time he hit the lane, he was battling it out with the survivors all the way to the wire. Of course in that mix, was another strapping colt named Awake As I Am, also swift of hoof and boasting a royal lineage.
The two fiery colts tangled in the final strides with Anvil breathing down their necks and at the last, Awake As I Am moved ahead and won, setting on what would prove to be a historic course. Both came back for the Baltimore Crown and that time, Awake As I Am powered himself to a 1 ¾ lengths win, relegating East to third.
The winner would go onto be a Triple Crown winner and East headed up to Canada to compete in the Queen’s Derby where he captured it in dominating fashion, an action that would be repeated by West later on. Anvil had his measure in the Midsummer Classic but East headed off to the star studded Steward’s Cup Classic which even with the retirement of Awake As I Am would prove to be a thrilling race.
East had some serious trouble there and didn’t rally in the stretch to finish fifth but he would come back the following year.
At four, East loomed as a big player in dirt routing, winning the Jet-Ski and Suburbia Handicaps showing an impressive turn of foot. Chretiens defeated him in the Inglewood Gold Cup but he rebounded to just make it up on time to defeat Anvil by a neck in the Long Island Handicap. He ended his career with another go at the Steward’s Cup Classic but this time finished eighth before going off to stud.
To say East was a success as a stallion doesn’t begin to do him justice.
If you break it down into statistical data, East ended his stud career with over 70% of his runners winning their races and averaging career earnings of nearly $105,000. About 15.9% of his runners won stakes races so far and in raw numbers, he sired 89 of them.
He proved to be an immediate success boasting the likes of North American Horse of the Year Prophet, Steward’s Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Hazel Annie and Honest Bird in his very first crop. The second crop, he produced stars like North American Horse of the Year Persevere who also captured the first two legs of the Triple Crown not to mention North American Champion Older Female Sparkle Factor and Triumph.
East sired a slew of sons who did impressive things on the racetrack and then looked to pass along those gifts to their offspring at stud. These included North, Echelon, Axel and Easy to Be Myself and World Class Legacy among others. But the stallion also liked siring talented daughters who would prove to be broodmares to watch in the shed as well. Mares like Worth Millions who produced Triple Crown hopeful Ball of Fire, the aforementioned Hazel Annie who produced swift miler Blazin Annie and Steward’s Cup Distaff winner Adah. So far, East has been the broodmare sire of 19 stakes winners including Targa who finished second in last year’s Steward’s Cup Distaff.
As a stud, East meshed well with all kinds of dirt routing mares, siring just one short of 800 foals. His closest competition in the shed was perhaps fittingly, Awake As I Am. Statistically speaking, they were very closely matched and both contributed champion racehorses who became very successful stallions and broodmares.
It’s likely that their pensioning dates will be closely matched too as like East, Awake As I Am received female visitors from the Trial by Summer Stables during the same week. That development quickly led to more broodmares visiting the Triple Crown winner and now Hall of Famer’s shed as well before his fertility diminishes to the point of no return. If that also 14 year old stud is a bit nervous right now, who can blame him?
But as for East, he’s still got years to live his life in leisure, his reputation assured. West (by Hall of Famer and multi-surface sire) at 12 continues his own career, mostly influencing the direction of all-weather racing with his propensity of siring nice broodmares. Other half siblings like Center and Midwest continue onward at stud.
Even though he’s pensioned now, East had more than made his mark of one of the truly outstanding dirt sires. His sons and daughters will continue his legacy for generations to come.