Multiple stakes winner Lake Ponchatrain, a $626,368-earner whose accomplishments include 10 black-type wins and placings, has been retired from racing and is booked to visit two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome in 2020 for her first breeding.
A 7-year-old daughter of 2010 Travers Stakes (G1) winner Afleet Express out of Harmony Lake, by Lucky Lionel, Lake Ponchatrain was bred in Oklahoma by the John E. and Barbara R. Smicklas Living Trusts and won 20 of her 50 career starts, with 18 placings. Three of those wins came in black-type stakes company for former owner/trainer Ernest (Mike) Haynes: the 2018 Dance to Bristol Stakes, the 2018 Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon Stakes and the 2017 Pink Ribbon Stakes — all at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia.
The well-traveled Lake Ponchatrain also placed in black-type races in Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota and Ohio.
She was purchased privately by California Chrome’s co-breeders and majority owners Perry and Denise Martin of Martin Racing in a transaction that was brokered by California-based bloodstock consultant Lisa Groothedde.
“I’ve had my eye on Lake Ponchatrain for awhile, with the aspiration of securing her for California Chrome,” Groothedde said. “She is a big, brave mare and she always ran with a lot of heart. I love the match, and couldn’t be happier for all of her connections, both past and present.”
California Chrome stands at Taylor Made Stallions in Nicholasville, Kentucky. The $14,752,650-earner’s first foals are yearlings of 2019.