Spendthrift Farm has secured dual Grade I winner Chancer McPatrick for stud duty beginning in 2026, with the colt expected to make his final career start in the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
The son of McKinzie out of Bernadreamy, by Bernardini, will join the Kentucky farm’s stallion roster following a juvenile campaign that included victories in both the GI Hopeful Stakes and GI Champagne Stakes.
“We are excited about Chancer McPatrick,” said Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey. “We’ve had good luck with precocious Grade I winners from the first crop of emerging sires–of course, that was the formula with Into Mischief when he came to stud.”
Toffey emphasized the colt’s exceptional early career trajectory.
“It takes a pretty special 2-year-old to win on debut at Saratoga, win a race like the Hopeful in the second start, and win another storied race like the Champagne in the third start. Chancer McPatrick is also a tremendous physical, and we believe breeders are really going to like what they see on the end of the shank.”
Bred in Kentucky by Rigney Racing LLC, the bay colt initially sold for $260,000 through Denali Stud at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton July Sale before commanding $725,000 at last year’s OBS April Sale, purchased by John Kimmel and Nick Sallusto as agents for Flanagan Racing.
Under trainer Chad Brown’s conditioning, Chancer McPatrick made an immediate impact at Saratoga, earning ‘TDN Rising Star’ honors with a powerful stretch rally to win his debut by a length. Despite a troubled start in the Hopeful where Flavien Prat lost an iron, the colt delivered a determined half-length victory. He then dominated the Champagne as the 1-2 favorite, joining elite company including Practical Joke and Jackie’s Warrior as winners of both prestigious New York juvenile Grade I contests.
The colt’s 3-year-old campaign includes a runner-up finish in the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby in March and a victory in the Curlin Stakes on July 24. His most recent start resulted in a fourth-place finish in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Stakes on August 23 after a wide trip.
Brown remains confident in the colt’s abilities heading into the Breeders’ Cup.
“Chancer McPatrick showed tremendous ability from the first time I worked him as a 2-year-old,” Brown said. “He won both the Hopeful and Champagne which is extremely difficult to do. The only other horse I was fortunate enough to do that with was Practical Joke, so that’s pretty good company. Chancer McPatrick is a very correct, athletic colt with a lovely temperament. I thought he ran super last time out in the Jerkens, he just needed a little bit further. He’s doing well and we’re going to train him up to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.”
Bred on a similar cross to Grade I winner and promising young sire Maxfield, Chancer McPatrick comes from an accomplished family. His second dam is GI Darley Alcibiades Stakes winner Dream Empress (Bernstein), who also finished second in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
The colt has compiled a record of 4-1-0 from nine starts with earnings of $727,875. Spendthrift Farm indicated that his stud fee will be announced at a later date.
