Airdrie Stud announced Friday that Rigney Racing’s Jonathan’s Way (Vekoma–Female Drama, by Indian Charlie) will enter stud for the 2026 breeding season following his retirement from racing.
The dark bay colt made an immediate impact on the track, winning his first two career starts including the GIII Iroquois Stakes before health issues cut short his promising career.
Bred in Ohio by Susan Anderson, Jonathan’s Way was purchased as a weanling for $290,000 by John Moynihan on behalf of Rigney Racing at Keeneland November in 2022 — the highest-priced Vekoma offering that sales season.
The Phil Bauer trainee delivered a spectacular debut at Saratoga in August 2024, overcoming early trouble to loop rivals en route to a 4 1/4-length victory and earning ‘TDN Rising Star’ honors.
Jonathan’s Way followed with a front-running triumph in Churchill Downs’s GIII Iroquois Stakes, drawing away to a 2 3/4-length victory over Sandman (Tapit), Magnitude (Not This Time) and Owen Almighty (Speightstown) — all subsequent Derby winners. His time of 1:36 flat was more than a second-and-a-half faster than multiple Grade I winner La Cara had recorded in the GIII Pocahontas Stakes.
In his final juvenile start, Jonathan’s Way closed to finish second in Churchill Downs’s GII Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, defeating eventual GII Louisiana Derby winner Tiztastic (Tiz the Law). These performances earned him the second-shortest odds in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
The colt’s promising career was derailed when Bauer scratched him from the GII Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds due to an “unsatisfactory blood count.” The infection developed into life-threatening colitis that sidelined him for months and led to complications forcing his retirement.
“As a racehorse, Jonathan’s Way was a very special talent that, honestly, exceeded the ability of the best horses I have ever been around,” said Bauer. “He is an absolutely beautifully made horse and he translated that beauty to the way he moved on the track. He was poetry in motion. He was also the gold standard of class every day in the barn and as he battled through his illness. I don’t believe we got to see the best of Jonathan’s Way, but I do believe he has a great chance to show everyone how special he was through his stallion career.”
Airdrie Stud’s Bret Jones expressed confidence in the colt’s potential at stud despite his abbreviated racing career.
“In our opinion, there is no ceiling on Johnathan’s Way’s potential at stud. Everyone who has spent time with this horse reveres him and anyone who has watched his races has to recognize his immense talent,” Jones said. “Because of bad luck, he never had a chance to showcase that talent as a 3-year-old, but that fits the description of some of the most important stallions to stand at stud; from Not This Time and Dark Angel (Ire) today on back to Hail to Reason and Raise a Native.”
Jones highlighted the colt’s pedigree advantages: “He’s by one of the most highly regarded young stallions in the world in Vekoma, out of an Indian Charlie mare who was an undefeated 2-year-old stakes winner and he was hand-picked by one of the best judges in the industry in John Moynihan.”
Richard Rigney reflected on the colt’s impact on his racing operation.
“Jonathan’s Way has been very special to our family and our racing team,” Rigney said. “We really believed we had a Derby horse, but it just wasn’t meant to be. We are equal partners with Airdrie and we are so happy to partner with a team that believes in him as much as we do. We will both be supporting him strongly and I really believe he will repay our faith for many years to come.”
Jonathan’s Way’s dam, Female Drama, was an undefeated juvenile stakes-winner trained by Todd Pletcher. His female family has been cultivated by Joseph Allen and Darby Dan Farm, producing influential sires like Dynaformer, Memories of Silver, and 23 individual Grade I/Group 1 winners through his first six dams.
The colt is available for viewing at Airdrie Stud throughout the Keeneland September Sale. His stud fee will be announced with the rest of the Airdrie roster at the conclusion of the sale.
