LOS ANGELES – Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another will begin his stud career overseas after his owner reached a deal with a Japanese stallion farm.
According to the Daily Racing Form, the superstar colt was purchased by Shigeyuki Okada's Big Red Farm on the island of Hokkaido for the 2013 breeding season. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Owner Paul Reddam said he had discussions with some of the prominent stud farms in Kentucky, but the offer from Japan was too good to pass up.
"Kentucky wasn't anywhere close to where the Japanese were," Reddam said.
"It's kind of sad. I would have liked to have had a lot of I'll Have Anothers," he added.
I'll Have Another was retired due to a tendon injury one day before the June 9 Belmont Stakes, where he would have been trying to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978.
Instead, he became the first horse since Bold Venture in 1936 to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown, but fail to compete in the Belmont.
The son of Flower Alley ended his career with earnings of $2.6 million, winning all four of his races this year. Reddam bought I'll Have Another as a two-year-old for the relatively modest sum of $35,000.
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