Preakness hero Cloud Computing retired to Spendthrift

Classic winner and millionaire three-year-old Cloud Computing has been retired from racing and will enter stud in 2019 at B Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky.

The dark bay colt will become the newest stallion to participate in Spendthrift's Share The Upside programme.

"Cloud Computing is one of those horses that sells himself immediately when you see him," said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager.

"He's a Classic winner, but he's also the picture of what a Classic horse is supposed to look like. For him to go on and win the Preakness over Classic Empire less than 100 days after making his debut, that's pretty special and it speaks to his quality.

"There's a lot to like about Cloud Computing, and we believe breeders are going to love what they see."

The four-year-old son of Maclean's Music is out of the Grade 2-placed A.P. Indy mare Quick Temper, and his second dam, Halo America, won the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap and three other Graded stakes.

The Share The Upside fee for Cloud Computing will be $8,500 for one year. Additionally, breeders must breed a mare in 2020 on a complimentary basis.

After the breeder has a live foal in 2020, pays the stud fee, and breeds a mare back, he or she will earn a lifetime breeding right beginning in 2021.

For breeders not interested in the Share The Upside programme, Cloud Computing will be offered for $7,500 on a standard stands and nurses contract. As always, Share The Upside opportunities are limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Campaigned by Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence, Cloud Computing jumped straight onto the Kentucky Derby Trail with a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes three weeks after breaking his maiden. In his next start, Cloud Computing overcame a poor break and wide trip to rally for third in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes.

Despite qualifying for the Kentucky Derby, trainer Chad Brown instead pointed Cloud Computing to the Preakness because he had run three times in eight weeks.

Cloud Computing rewarded his connections with their first Classic victory. He ran down two-year-old champion Classic Empire in the stretch and stopped the clock in 1:55.98. The 102 Beyer Speed Figure he earned for this performance, which matches the winning Beyer figures for recent Preakness winners American Pharoah and Lookin At Lucky, exceeds the Beyers earned by Justify and Exaggerator in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.

The Classic win, which was over a field that also included Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and multimillionaire Gunnevera among others, came only 98 days after Cloud Computing's career debut, making him one of racing's fastest millionaires in recent history.

"Cloud Computing is one of the best-looking horses I've ever had walk into my shed row," said Brown. "We always had tremendous confidence in this horse, and he showed why in the Preakness.

"To give up so much seasoning to a champion like Classic Empire, he showed real brilliance to beat that colt. He's my first Classic winner, and he's very special to us."

Cloud Computing retires with earnings of $1,125,200. He was purchased by Mike Ryan as agent for $200,000 out of the Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency consignment to the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, making him the highest-priced yearling from the first crop of Maclean's Music.

"When I saw him at Hill 'n' Dale in August of 2015 right before the [Keeneland September] sale, I was awestruck. It was instant," said Ryan. "In fact, I thought he was one of the best yearlings I had seen in 2015. He's LeBron James. He's got it all: size, strength, substance, quality, and tons of class.

"He's such an outstanding physical specimen that I'd be very confident he will reproduce himself. You'll go a long way before you find a better-looking horse than Cloud Computing.

"I think when people see him, they will be tremendously impressed with his physique and presence," Ryan added.

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