ISTAN, an emphatic 8 3/4 length winner of Saturday’s Grade III Ack Ack Stakes at Churchill Downs has been sold to Mr. And Mrs. Brereton C. Jones, owners of Airdrie Stud. A multiple graded stakes winning son of Gone West, Istan will remain in training with Bill Mott and could be pointed to the Grade I Cigar Mile before retiring to stud duty for 2008.
Out of the multiple Group stakes winning Bluebird mare Ronda, Istan hails from the immediate female family of the legendary champion and leading sire Mill Reef. Airdrie Stud’s Bret Jones said “We couldn’t be more excited about Istan. His last race showed the true brilliance that we look for in a stallion prospect, and his 111 Beyer and 0 Ragozin Sheet numbers showed it was every bit as impressive as it appeared visually. He is the right physical package as well, a good size, very well balanced and correct with a very attractive head and eye. He’s a graded stakes winner on both dirt and polytrack, and being by Gone West from Mill Reef’s family, there really is no ceiling on what this horse can accomplish.”
Raced in the colors of Darpat S.L. Stables, Istan broke his maiden in his first start at two in France before being transferred to Bill Mott’s barn on his American arrival. A winner of 9 of 20 lifetime starts, Istan currently has earnings of $434,863.
A stud fee for Istan has not been set yet.
