Eugene and Laura Melnyk’s Winding Oaks Farm will hold a stallion show Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., giving breeders a chance to see its two stallions, Graeme Hall and Strong Hope. The farm is located at 5850 SW College Road in Ocala.
Graeme Hall, a 13-year-old son of Dehere, has been standing at Winding Oaks since 2003. He won seven of his 22 starts for $1.15 million. As a 3-year-old in 2000, he earned Grade 2 victories in the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park and the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga, and the following year he added wins in Woodbine’s Eclipse Handicap (G2) and Belmont Park’s Stuyvesant Handicap (G3).
Graeme Hall’s most successful horse with $373,925 in earnings is Florida-bred Duke of Mischief, who won the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows last year and became a graded stakes winner last month, capturing Gulfstream Park’s Fort Lauderdale Stakes (G3).
In addition, the stallion has gotten stakes winners this year with Hallway in the Dixie Poker Ace at Fair Grounds and Florida-bred Poovey in the Sleigh Ride Stakes at Philadelphia Park. Through Tuesday, Graeme Hall was Florida’s leading sire with $360,768 in progeny earnings this year.
Strong Hope, a 10-year-old son of Grand Slam, is in his first breeding season at Winding Oaks after moving from Claiborne Farm in Kentucky. He won six of his 11 starts for $767,460. As a 3-year-old in 2003, he won the Jim Dandy and the Dwyer Stakes (G2) at Belmont.
Strong Hope’s richest runner with $128,090 in earnings is Trophy Collector, who won the Oakley Stakes at Colonial Downs last year.
Food and beverages will be served at the stallion show, and drawings will be held for complimentary breeding nominations and gifts from local vendors.
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– Photo of Graeme Hall by Louise Reinagel
