The well-traveled Bluegrass Cat has made himself right at home in California. Bluegrass Cat stood at several farms in Kentucky and New York before landing at Ballena Vista Farm in Ramona, Calif., beginning with the 2015 season. He had prior progeny accomplishments that figured to make him a leader in his new state. That has come to fruition, as his California-sired runners began racing in 2018, and he comes to the end of the season as the state’s leading general stallion with locally sired progeny. Through Dec. 18, Bluegrass Cat, a son of the great Storm Cat, has been represented by 87 individual winners, with 59 of those, or a solid 67 percent, having won two or more races this year. His highest-earning runner this year was Chris and Dave, who took allowance races at both Saratoga and Belmont. The stallion’s total bankroll for the season checked in at $3,539,218 through Dec. 18. Stay Thirsty – who moved to Lovacres Ranch in California for the 2018 season and therefore does not have state-sired progeny racing yet – has earnings of $3,960,349 from his runners sired in other jurisdictions, while I’ll Have Another, repatriated from Japan for 2019, has $6,065,057, due to large purses in that country. Bluegrass Cat emerged early in his racing career to win the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes and Grade 3 Nashua Stakes as a juvenile in 2005. He was among the elite 3-year-olds the following season, finishing second in both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes before winning the Haskell Invitational and finishing second in the Travers Stakes. An injury sustained in the Travers forced his retirement, and he concluded his career with a bankroll of $1,761,280. Bluegrass Cat, who is from the immediate family of sires Not For Love, Super Saver, and Private Account, began his stud career at his birthplace, WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky., in 2007, and eventually was the second-leading freshman sire of 2010. He moved to Vinery’s New York base at Sugar Maple Farm in Poughquag, N.Y., in a joint venture with WinStar in 2012, relocated to Rockridge Stud in Hudson, N.Y., with the rest of that roster for 2014, and then headed west to Ballena Vista beginning with the 2015 season. Hinting at his popularity in his adopted state, he covered 70 mares in his first season there, among the larger books in California, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. Bluegrass Cat is the sire of 40 stakes winners worldwide, led domestically by Grade 2 winners Go Blue Or Go Home, Kathmanblu, and Teeth of the Dog, and Grade 3 winners Blue Laser, Flexibility, and Sabercat Stay Thirsty a promising newcomer Multiple Grade 1 winner Stay Thirsty began his career at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky in 2013 and stood there until California owner Terry Lovingier struck a deal to purchase him from that international outfit and stand him at his Lovacres Ranch starting this year, in what amounted to a blockbuster deal for the regional breeding program. Stay Thirsty is among the most accomplished stallions in California, both during his racing career and in terms of progeny performance with his first three crops. Stay Thirsty’s earnings of $3,960,349 rank him among the leading general sires who stood in California in 2018, regardless of progeny conception area. He appears poised to continue on as his California-sired foals arrive. The son of Bernardini covered 125 mares in his first California season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. That was the second-biggest book in the state, behind multiple graded stakes winner Danzing Candy, who entered stud at Rancho San Miguel this season. Stay Thirsty won the 2011 Travers Stakes, 2012 Cigar Mile, and picked up four Grade 1 placings, including a runner-up finish in the 2011 Belmont Stakes. He had his first graded stakes winner last year, as his first-crop son Coal Front won the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga and Grade 3 Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx Racing, shortly before Lovingier struck the deal to move Stay Thirsty to California. This year, Stay Thirsty’s son Mind Control won the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga.