Multiple Graded stakes winner Awesome Slew has been retired and will stand the upcoming breeding season at Ocala Stud for $5,000 S&N.
A versatile son of Awesome Again, Awesome Slew won stakes ranging in distance from seven furlongs to 1 1/16 miles and won or placed in 12 Graded stakes over three seasons and over nine different racetracks, recording five triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures. The Live Oak Stud homebred was a dominating winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes (G3) at PARX at three in 2016 and the Commonwealth Stakes (G3) at Keeneland and the Ack Ack Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs at four in 2017, earning triple-digit Beyers in the latter two.
“We held high expectations for this horse from the start and he delivered on the racetrack,” said Live Oak Stud’s General Manager Bruce Hill. “He is immensely talented, and we have always loved his family. We are thrilled to be able to stand Awesome Slew in Florida and especially excited to stand him at Ocala Stud. We have the utmost respect for the O’Farrell family and their entire staff and they do a tremendous job of developing top stallions.”
In winning the Smarty Jones by seven lengths, Awesome Slew controlled the pace in a commanding performance, defeating a competitive field that included subsequent Grade 1 winners Seeking the Soul and Discreet Lover.
Awesome Slew won the 2017 Commonwealth Stakes by 1 ½ lengths over Grade 1 winner A.P. Indian and multiple Graded stakes winner Limousine Liberal, circling rivals eight wide around the turn. He stopped the clock for seven furlongs in a lively 1:22.31, less than a second off Keeneland’s track record, earning a 102 Beyer.
Awesome Slew also won the Ack Ack Stakes, again demonstrating an impressive turn of foot to run down Graded stakes winner The Player to win the one-mile test by a length with a 101 Beyer.
In addition to his Graded stakes victories, Awesome Slew finished second to eventual Eclipse Champion Drefong in the Forego (G1) and was also runner-up in both the Carter Handicap (G1) and Belmont Sprint Championship (G1) and was third behind Battle of Midway and Sharp Azteca in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Del Mar. A debut winner at two, Awesome Slew earned $1,223,310 in a superb career.
“We appreciate the opportunity to partner with Live Oak to stand this exciting stallion prospect,” said Ocala Stud’s David O’Farrell. “We’re proud to be able to offer him to Florida’s breeders.”
By elite sire Awesome Again, the sire of 14 Grade 1 winners, Awesome Slew is out of the stakes-winning and Graded stakes-placed Seeking the Gold mare Slewfoundmoney. The first four dams in his female family were all stakes winners and each has produced at least two stakes horses.
For more information or to schedule an inspection, please contact David or Joe O’Farrell at (352) 237-2171 or visit www.OcalaStud.com.