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The stallion barn at A & A has housed a long list of notable names since 1996, including:
Diabolical
Attila’s Strom
Roll Hennessy Roll
Marking
Proceed
18 New Mexico Horse Breeder
“We’ve even been blessed with outstanding employees such as Lorenzo and Martine, who’ve been with us almost since we started.”
The stallion barn at A & A has housed a long list of notable names since 1996, with each name backed by a pedigree packed with the potential to compete anywhere.
Diabolical, a millionaire and graded stakes winner by Artax and out of Bonnie Byerly by Marquetry, finished in the top three in 19 stakes in four countries. When it was time to retire, his connections decided A & A Ranch was the best place. Under Alexander’s guidance, Diabolical became a leading sire in New Mexico. Attila’s Storm and Roll Hennessy Roll also spent time sharing the ranch’s stallion roster. They both had headline-making progeny.
There’s a quietly persistent hum of excitement building around the 2023 season at A & A. Sporting Chance, by Tiznow and out of Wynning Ride by Candy Ride (ARG), is true eye-candy. He looks every inch the part of a champion sire just waiting for it
all to happen. He was bred in Kentucky by Woods Edge Farm and sold as a weanling for $275,000. Ownership changed to Robert C. Baker and William L. Mack for $575,000 when the colt was a yearling.
A 2015 model, Sporting Chance was trained by D. Wayne Lukas and sent out for nine starts at ages two and three for a $409,790 bankroll. He’s a G1 winner and entered stud at A & A in 2020. He’s bred 116 mares in his first three seasons.
Fred and Linda Alexander joined with
a group of local breeders to buy Sporting Chance. There was an intense level of anticipation on February 7, 2021, when the stallion’s first reported foal dropped on the A & A Ranch soil. It was a chestnut filly out of stakes winner Cherry One by Sir Cherokee. That breedline makes her a half-sister to One Mark, runner-up in the 2021 Mountain Top NM Bred TB Futurity. One Mark is from the first crop of Marking, a G1-placed stallion also standing at A & A. And this, if you haven’t noticed, is the way family legacies begin.
Marking, by Bernardini out of Seventh Street (multiple G1 stakes winner) by Street Cry (IRE), is a Godolphin homebred. He won his first start, and then stretched out to one-mile. He won again, finishing five- lengths to the good and retired with three firsts and two seconds from eight efforts. His bank deposits totaled $426,200
Marking began his stud career in 2018 atA&Aandwillbethereforthe2023 season. Slammed, a four-year-old filly,
is a current, top-performing Marking offspring. She’s trained by Todd Fincher, one of Alexander’s long-time associates. Marking logged his first winner in 2020, with Sassy Gal capturing her debut effort at Ruidoso Downs. Trained by Fincher, the filly is a third-generation homebred for R. Lee Lewis.
Rounding out the roster is Proceed,
a 2011 stallion whose pedigree takes
the Alexanders full circle since his sire is Desert God. Proceed, who stood his first yearatA&Ain2018,isoutofAnnisby Texas Glitter. His first foals didn’t arrive until 2021.
Owned and bred by Michael Stinson, Proceed won $235,389 from four starts with three firsts against stakes company.
Fred and Linda are a true team. Linda takes care of all the clerical work, which is an enormous load. Fred stays busy with everything else.
“We never thought we’d do so well,” he said with a hint of awe in his voice. “It’s a good life. That’s exactly what it is. A good life.”
Like the single word “rumors” he used earlier to answer a complex question,
“good life” also has the ring of simplicity. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. “It’s a good life” is unique. Maybe extraordinary. Not a lot of people on the planet can say it with sincerity. Fred and Linda are two of the lucky ones. They can say it because they have it. They know how it feels.
It’s a good life. Indeed.
“We never thought we’d do so well. It’s a good life. That’s exactly what it is. A good life.”
– Fred Alexander
Coady Photography
Dubai Racing Club/Andrew Watkins ?_______________ Don Shugart ?_______________