Chiefswood Stables’ graded stakes winner Weyburn has retired and will stand at stud at Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs North in Aurora, Ontario for the 2025 breeding season. The impeccably bred son of Pioneerof the Nile, known for siring American Triple Crown winner and top sire American Pharoah, was a standout three-year-old in the U.S. and a stakes winner at ages four and five.
Born in 2018, Weyburn broke his maiden in his third career start late in his two-year-old season, winning at seven furlongs at Aqueduct racetrack in New York. His trainer, Jimmy Jerkens, was impressed enough to enter him in the one-mile Gotham Stakes (G3), where Weyburn won by a nose at 46-to-1, defeating eventual Grade 2 winner Highly Motivated.
After a fourth-place finish in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2), Weyburn narrowly missed winning the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park, finishing second by a neck to Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun. Weyburn won consecutive editions of the Sir Shackleton Stakes in 2022 and 2023 at Gulfstream Park, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 102. At five, he finished second to Horse of the Year White Abarrio in an allowance race at Gulfstream Park and third in the Westchester Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park.
“He was always a big, good-looking horse,” said Chiefswood Stables’ manager and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame jockey Robert Landry. “He was very athletic and showed the signs [of a top horse] early.”
Pioneerof the Nile, a Grade 1-winning son of Empire Maker, has sired over 54 black-type winners and established himself as a leading sire of sires. American Pharoah, Pioneerof the Nile's most famous offspring, has sired over 41 black-type winners and is among North America’s leading stallions. Other notable sires from Pioneerof the Nile include Cairo Prince and promising freshman sires Thousand Words and Aurelius Maximus.
Weyburn’s dam, Sunday Affair, boasts an impressive pedigree with two leading sires: A.P. Indy and Sunday Silence. Sunday Affair is also the dam of Chiefswood’s graded stakes-winning sprinter Yorkton, an exciting young stallion prospect standing in Kentucky.
Weyburn is Chiefswood’s first stallion to stand in Canada since Niigon, the 2004 Plate winner, who passed away prematurely in 2012. Weyburn's addition to Adena Springs North is highly anticipated for the 2025 breeding season, promising to bring his exceptional pedigree and proven performance to the Ontario stallion ranks.