Wilburn, a Grade 2-winning son of Bernardini, has been relocated to stand at Lori and Francisco Bravo’s River Oaks Farms in Sulphur, Oklahoma. The 8-year-old stallion, who formerly stood at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky, will stand for a $2,500 fee.
A $625,000 Keeneland 2-year-old, Wilburn won at first asking as a 3-year-old at Santa Anita Park and went on to win four more races in his lone season on the track. His two stakes wins include the $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Parx Racing and the Grade 2, $510,900 Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park, where he soundly defeated Grade 1 Preakness Stakes winner Shackleford and eventual Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Caleb’s Posse. Wilburn retired with five wins from nine starts and earnings of $586,515.
From two crops to race, Wilburn has sired the earners of nearly $2 million, including six stakes horses.
Wilburn’s dam is Moonlight Sonata, a Grade 3 winner by Carson City who is also the dam of Grade 2 winner Beethoven.
River Oaks previously announced the new additions of American Lion and Kennedy to the 2017 roster. River Oaks now has a total of eight stallions, including Chitoz, Foreign Policy, Excaper, Latent Heat and Read the Footnotes.