He’s already made a significant mark on Alberta’s Thoroughbred scene and his offspring haven’t even hit the track yet — at least not in this province.
Jennifer Buck, farm manager at Highfield Stock Farm, is excited by the star power that Fed Biz has brought to both the Aldersyde breeding operation and to horse racing in Alberta as a whole.
“We wanted to bring that caliber of stallion into Alberta so we could offer something that’s a little better than what we had for stallion power here,” Buck said. “Now owners have an option so they don’t have to travel to breed their mares (to a top stallion).”
Fed Biz, who is in his third breeding season at Highfield, is a rarity in Alberta: a stallion who is royally bred, excelled on the racetrack and has a proven record in the breeding shed.
Sired by champion Giant’s Causeway, Fed Biz sold for $950,000 as a yearling. Trained by the legendary Bob Baffert, he won more than three-quarters of a million dollars racing primarily on the tough Southern California circuit, including setting two track records at the famed Del Mar racetrack north of San Diego.
Buck said she met Baffert at Santa Anita Park recently and told him that Fed Biz was now standing at Highfield, which prompted the six-time Kentucky Derby winner to recount the story of when the horse was purchased as a yearling.
“A bloodstock agent had told me the story of how Baffert had missed a horse he wanted in the sale and then took a look at Fed Biz and said, ‘Let’s get him.’ When I told Baffert about Fed Biz, he told the same story and with just as much passion.”
After finishing his racing career in 2014, Fed Biz was sent to WinStar Farm in Versailles, Kentucky to begin a stallion career that has seen his progeny win over 500 races and almost $18 million in purses through the end of last year.
When another stallion with a similar bloodline arrived at WinStar, Fed Biz became available and Highfield owner Adrian Munro jumped at the chance to bring him to Alberta.
“We're kind of lucky in that way, the stars aligned really,” Buck said of the stallion’s availability. “We love the Giant’s Causeway line and we both have really loved Fed Biz all along.”
He arrived at Highfield in early 2021 and has covered anywhere from 75 to 85 mares each breeding season. His first locally-bred yearlings will go up for sale later this year.
Highfield had stood Cape Canaveral, a perennial top sire in Alberta, until he was pensioned in late 2021, leaving a hole in the picturesque breeding farm’s operation.
“We had been looking for something that was on Cape’s level and how nice is it that we have access to a stallion of his quality,” Buck said. “It’s nice that we have that kind of stallion power here in Alberta.
“Western Canada has great horsemen but was really missing a stallion of this caliber. This is for breeders in B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba as well as here in Alberta. It’s nice for breeders to come here rather than having to take their mares to Ontario or Kentucky.”
Highfield is breeding its own mares to Fed Biz, who stands for $4,500, with an eye to selling them, but is also prepared to race his offspring should reserves not be met at sale.
“It doesn't matter whether it’s a Highfield mare or an outside mare, we want them to succeed,” Buck said. “It's time for us to up our game. We can all do our part to make things better for the racing industry and this is our part.”
She said incentive programs have improved so more horsemen are interested in breeding, even pulling mares out of retirement. Fed Biz has played a role in that resurgence as breeders are enticed by the stallion’s conformation and pedigree.
“He's such a good looking horse, he’s so well put together and he throws that into his offspring as well,” Buck said. “I think any horseman would look at him and say he’s just perfect, he’s nicely balanced, he’s not too small, not too big, he’s just a good specimen.”
