TDN Rising Star Heartland, a son of Justify and a half-brother to Classic Empire, will stand the 2025 breeding season at WinStar Farm, it was announced today. Heartland will stand for $10,000 S&N.
“One might ask, ‘Why stand a maiden winner?’ Well, he looks the part, he’s by Justify, and he’s a half-brother to Classic Empire,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager for WinStar Farm. “It makes perfect sense to us because we know what we had. He has all the credentials—pedigree, elite ability, and looks. We felt he had the ability of a Grade 1 winner.”
Owned by CHC Inc., Siena Farm and WinStar Farm, Heartland flashed his brilliance in a head-turning career debut at Del Mar last summer. In blitzing his foes in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight at Del Mar, Heartland overcame veering in at the start to win going away by two lengths for trainer Bob Baffert. His final clocking of 1:03.20 was the fastest time of any 2-year-old at the distance at Del Mar or Saratoga last year. The sparkling effort earned Heartland a 90 Beyer Speed Figure and TDN Rising Star status.
“The way he is bred and the way he looks, the first time we breezed him I knew we were sitting on something really special,” said Baffert. When a 2-year-old runs in 1:03 and change that is really special. That’s fast. I thought he just stamped himself as one of the top 2-year-olds in the country. He was my horse.”
Boasting a stallion’s pedigree, Heartland will now embark on a new chapter at stud. A $525,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale graduate, Heartland is by Justify, racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner, Horse of the Year, and Champion 3-Year-Old Male.
Justify is off to a sensational start to his stud career. He is already represented by Eclipse Champion 2-Year-Old Filly and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Just FYI. He is also the sire of City of Troy, European Champion 2-Year-Old Colt last year, and Opera Singer, European Champion 2-Year-Old Filly of 2023. Both City of Troy and Opera Singer are Group 1 winners at two and three. Additional Grade 1 winners by Justify include Hard to Justify, Arabian Lion, and Aspen Grove. The leading Second-Crop Sire of 2023, Justify is the leading Third-Crop Sire of 2024 and is a Top Five General Sire this year.
Bred in Kentucky by CHC Inc. and produced from the Cat Thief mare Sambuca Classica, Heartland hails from a prolific and active family. He is a half-brother to Classic Empire and to stakes winners Anytime Magic and Uptown Twirl. Classic Empire, the 2016 Champion 2-Year-Old Male, was a Grade 1 winner at two and three. He won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), Breeders’ Futurity (G1), and the Bashford Manor S. (G3) en route to championship honors at two. He returned the following season at three to win the Arkansas Derby (G1).
For more information on Heartland, contact Liam O’Rourke, Olivia Desch, or Ben Hanley at 859-873-1717, or visit WinStarFarm.com.
