As widely expected after his third-place effort in Saturday’s Awesome Again
(G1) at Santa Anita, 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Bayern (Offlee Wild)
has called it a career. The $4.4 million-earner will enter stud at Hill ‘n’ Dale
Farms near Lexington, Kentucky.
“Bayern was a super talented horse,” Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said.
“He had tremendous speed and carried that speed to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic
over a very good field and won the Woody Stephens (G2) wrapped up in near
track-record time (seven furlongs in 1:20.75).
“He is a great-looking horse and a rarity in that he could beat the best
sprinters and carry his speed a mile and a quarter. Not many horses can do that.
On his day he was a super brilliant horse.
“Something was bugging him this year that we could never figure out even
though he trained great. It’s time to retire the horse and be thankful of all he
has accomplished.”
Bayern’s other stakes victories came in last year’s Haskell Invitational (G1)
and Pennsylvania Derby (G2), where he set a 1 1/8-mile Parx track record of
1:46.96. A $320,000 , he compiled a record of 15-6-1-3.
“Bayern is a great type, medium sized, beautifully balanced and very
powerful,” said Donato Lanni, who selected the colt as a two-year-old in
training at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May in 2013.
“His work was fantastic at the Maryland sale and I told Bob we had to buy
him. He was our pick of the sale and everyone loved the horse. He cost $320,000,
but we were determined to buy him whatever it took.”
“Bayern gave me and my family great joy,” owner Kaleem Shah said. “I am
looking forward to breeding my best mares to him and can’t wait to see his
foals. He gave me the ultimate thrill winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic and I
hope to win important races with his progeny. I keep my mares at Hill ‘n’ Dale,
so I will get to visit him regularly.”
“I love the brilliance, the physical horse and the fact that he hails from
the Courtly Dee pedigree,” Hill ‘n’ Dale’s John Sikura said of his roster’s
newest addition. “His race in the Woody Stephens was breathtaking. I was there
and was awed by how fast and easy he won in near track-record time.
“I love deep reproducing pedigrees and I don’t think there is a more prolific
family in the stud book than Courtly Dee and her daughters. Bayern has all the
parts and we can’t wait to receive him here at the farm.”
Broodmare of the Year Courtly Dee appears as Bayern’s third dam. Courtly Dee,
whose best offspring was Althea, is the ancestress of Green Desert, among many
others. Bayern’s half-brother by Scat Daddy sold for a sale-topping $1.4 million
at the Fasig-Tipton Florida sale earlier this year.