It's been a long time coming for Jacob West. Watching 'TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard' Mindframe make it to the famed stallion barn at Claiborne Farm and settle into the stall once home to the likes of Bold Ruler, Secretariat, Easy Goer and Unbridled marks a full-circle moment years in the making.
One year after West joined Claiborne as their Stallion Seasons and Bloodstock Manager, the farm announced this summer that Mindframe would soon be headed to Claiborne. Weeks later, West was at Churchill Downs celebrating as the son of Constitution secured a third consecutive graded stakes win, defeating champion Sierra Leone in the GI Stephen Foster Stakes.
The connection between the two stretches beyond that. As part of the selection team for owners Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola, West had a hand in purchasing Mindframe as a yearling and he has followed the Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables-campaigned colt every step of the way.
Over the past few weeks, West has split his time between the breeding stock sales and Claiborne's stallion division, where breeders have been stopping in to get a look at the farm's newest recruit. Adding a second Grade I winner to the roster in Johannes, the first son of Nyquist to stand in Kentucky, has made the stretch even more exciting.
In addition to those two newcomers, Claiborne has several other young stallions preparing to enter new phases of their stud careers next year. Prince of Monaco ($30,000) and Bright Future ($10,000) will both see their first foals in 2026 while Annapolis ($12,500) will be represented by his first crop of yearlings.
Out of a stakes-winning Street Sense mare, Mindframe was in the Betz Thoroughbreds consignment at the 2022 Keeneland September Sale when West and team first got a look at him. West said it was the colt's striking physical that led to his $600,000 purchase.
“He was one of those horses that ranked near the top of our list,” recalled West. “The depth of family was an added bonus to just how good looking he was. Now he's basically a bigger version of what he was back then. He's a big horse, standing at 16.3 hands. He moves like a cat. He's correct, has good bone and a big, strong hip and shoulder. It all translated into having really fluid mechanics on the racetrack. He covered so much ground when he would stride out.”
Johannes | Sara Gordon
Bred in Maryland by prominent Mid-Atlantic owner Larry Johnson, Mindframe's sophomore season was highlighted by a 13 3/4-length debut win, which earned him Rising Star honors, and runner-up finishes in the GI Belmont Stakes and GI Haskell Stakes. His breeder passed away early this year, just before the colt's breakout performance in the GII Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes.
“Larry had been in the business for a long time,” said West. “People had a lot of respect for him and his operation.”
Mindframe displayed his versatility while collecting back-to-back Grade I wins. In the seven-furlong GI Churchill Downs Stakes, the Todd Pletcher trainee bested a field that included future Breeders' Cup champion Nysos (Nyquist) and Grade I winners Book'em Danno (Bucchero) and Mullikin (Violence). Next out in the mile-and-an-eighth Stephen Foster, he earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure in defeating Eclipse Award winner Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), GI Kentucky Derby victor Mystik Dan (Goldencents) and G1 Dubai World Cup winner Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}).
“He was so versatile and he had such a high cruising speed,” said West. “To win at seven furlongs and at nine furlongs against some of the best horses of his generation just shows how good he was.”
Mindframe made two more career starts this year at four. After an ill-fated break in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes, where he lost jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. following a chain-reaction incident, he finished fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. He retired with earnings of $2.05 million.
West predicted that Mindframe's speed and versatility on the racetrack will translate into his career at stud.
“If you go back and analyze the history of Claiborne Farm, horses that were fast and could carry their speed over a route of ground have been successful here,” he explained. “This horse is no different. He's going to fall right in line with getting some incredible mares here on the farm. We have an incredible syndicate group that will back him in the likes of Repole Stable and St. Elias. They're going to be heavily invested in supporting him. The great thing about Mike and Vinnie and their operation is that they support them in the shed, in the sales ring and on the racetrack. They follow through with their stallions.”
West added that Mindframe's credentials are further bolstered by the success of his sire. Constitution is currently a top-five general sire in North America. Mindframe is set to become his third son in Kentucky. First-crop sire Independence Hall, who stands at WinStar alongside his sire, has produced several stakes performers from his first crop while Ashford Stud's Tiz the Law ranks third among second-crop sires in North America.
Johannes was hard to miss as a stallion prospect last year as he reeled off five graded stakes wins in eight months, dominating the turf division in California.
“A son of Nyquist from a very good family and a homebred for his owners, he was a horse that we had kind of kept an eye on,” explained West. “Serious negotiations started this spring and we were lucky that we got him. He was an incredible racehorse.”
Bred and raced by Joe and Debby McCloskey and trained by Tim Yakteen, Johannes developed into Nyquist's highest-earning son over the course of his four-year career.
After breaking his maiden by nine lengths going six furlongs as a 2-year-old, the following year he collected wins in the Baffle Stakes and Pasadena Stakes. He took his game to the next level at four, securing five graded stakes victories highlighted by the GI Shoemaker Mile Stakes. The only slight blemish on an otherwise perfect season was his second-place finish to More Than Looks (More Than Ready) in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile.
“To do what he did that year was truly remarkable,” said West. “[Jockey] Umberto Rispoli said coming into the Breeders' Cup that the horse gave him a certain feel when he was on his back with the way he ran and his style. He didn't care who he was running against. He showed up every time.”
Johannes made three starts this year at five, including a second straight win in the GII City of Hope Mile Stakes.
“His best race would probably have to be the Shoemaker Mile, winning the way he did,” West noted. “But the City of Hope this year was also impressive with the way he was able to sit off the pace and when they turned for home, if you watch him coming down the lane, it was basically just in a gallop.”
A half-brother to two other stakes performers, Johannes heads to stud on the heels of another standout year for his sire. Nyquist, the sire of four Grade I winners in 2025, will stand for $175,000 next season at Darley's Jonabell Farm.
“Being the first son of Nyquist to stand in Kentucky is very interesting,” said West. “Nyquist has such a strong following and, quite frankly, is a horse that some people might not be able to get to. So when you can get to his highest-earning son here, we feel like people will love that.”
Johannes will be part of Claiborne's new incentive program “Breed Twice, Breed for Life,” in which owners who breed two mares to the stallion in his first two breeding seasons, produce two live foals and pay two stud fees will be eligible for a lifetime breeding right.
“As a racehorse he was the real deal,” said West. “$10,000 is value for a horse like him with his race record, sire, family and his looks. We're very excited to have him here and offer him to breeders.”
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