Valentine Candy retired to Leadem farm for 2027
September 17 at 10:25 AM ·Leola, AR ·
Millionaire Valentine Candy Is Coming to Arkansas -- And He’s Coming to Leadem Farm!One of the most exciting young stallions in American racing is headed to Arkansas. And if you’ve watched racing at Oaklawn Park, you may already know exactly why that is a big deal.Valentine Candy -- a millionaire, six-time stakes winner and graded stakes-placed son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify -- will stand the 2027 breeding season at Leadem Farm near Leola, Arkansas, for a $4,000 stud fee.Leadem Farm owners Bob and Tyree Wolesensky have acquired a 45% interest in the remarkable racehorse, bringing a horse with major national bloodlines and an especially impressive Arkansas racing résumé to one of the state’s established Thoroughbred operations. Leadem Farm currently offers breeding, foaling, boarding and layup services and lists Valentine Candy among its 2027 stallions.Before he ever became a millionaire, Valentine Candy became something special at Oaklawn Park.During his 3-year-old season, he went four-for-four at Oaklawn -- winning four stakes races during the same meet. That accomplishment had not been achieved at Oaklawn in 33 years. His four victories came in the Advent Stakes, Renaissance Stakes, Ozark Stakes and Bachelor Stakes.Think about that for a minute. Four starts. Four stakes victories. Four trips to the winner’s circle. And all of it happened right here in Arkansas!His Oaklawn run began late in his 2-year-old season with a 6 1/2-length victory in the Advent Stakes. He followed that with another stakes win in the Renaissance Stakes, then returned as a 3-year-old to capture the Ozark Stakes before finishing his Oaklawn campaign with a victory in the Bachelor Stakes.By the time Valentine Candy left Hot Springs, he had established himself as one of the most exciting sprinting Thoroughbreds to race at Oaklawn in years. Oaklawn itself noted that he became the first horse in 33 years to win four stakes races at a single meeting. But Arkansas was only the beginning. Valentine Candy later traveled to Saratoga, where he finished third in the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes against some of the country's top 3-year-old sprinters . He then won the $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial Stakes at Charles Town, defeating Bentornato by 1 1/2 lengths. Bentornato would go on to become a Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner. Then came another impressive chapter at Churchill Downs. Valentine Candy set a dirt track record for 5 1/2 furlongs -- another piece of evidence behind the excitement surrounding his transition from racehorse to stallion. When his racing career was finished, Valentine Candy had accumulated $1,095,877 in earnings from 17 starts, with eight wins, one second and two thirds. He was trained throughout his career by Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.And then there is the pedigree. Valentine Candy is by Justify, the undefeated 2018 Triple Crown winner who became one of the most valuable stallions in the world. Justify stood the 2026 breeding season at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud for an advertised fee of $200,000. His dam is Taste Like Candy, a Grade 1-placed daughter of Candy Ride, giving Valentine Candy a pedigree that goes well beyond his own racing accomplishments.That pedigree received another enormous vote of confidence this week. At the 2026 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, a half-brother to Valentine Candy by Into Mischief sold for $1.5 million to Spendthrift Farm and Epic Horses. The colt came from the same dam, Taste Like Candy, and the same strong female family. Valentine Candy himself had originally sold as a yearling for $250,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearling Sale. Now, instead of heading to another major racing state for his stallion career, this millionaire racehorse is coming to Arkansas.The original ownership group -- William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Jackpot Farm, Whispering Oaks Farm and Coteau Grove Farms -- will remain involved in his stud career. They will be joined by Jay Goodwin, while the Wolesenskys and Leadem Farm take their 45% interest.For Arkansas breeders, that means access to a young stallion with a combination that is not often found this close to home:-A millionaire racehorse.-A six-time stakes winner.-A Grade 2-placed performer.-A son of a Triple Crown winner.-A member of a powerful female family.-A horse who dominated Oaklawn.-And a track-record holder at Churchill Downs.Most importantly, he already has an Arkansas story.Valentine Candy isn't simply arriving in Arkansas because someone decided to stand a promising young stallion here. He is arriving after leaving his mark on Oaklawn Park -- the very track where he went undefeated and won four stakes races in a single meet.Now his next chapter begins just a short drive away, at Leadem Farm near Leola.And for Arkansas horse breeders, the name Valentine Candy may be one worth remembering. Because the horse who once gave Oaklawn four sweet victories in one meet is now coming home to Arkansas -- this time with a completely different job.Making the next generation. Valentine Candy will stand the 2027 breeding season at Leadem Farm for $4,000. *This press release from Leadem Farm has been edited for content and style @FunInArkansas 
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Leadem Farm Adds American Freedom to New Arkansas Farm
American Freedom is a top 10 second-crop sire.
- By Eric Mitchell - Bloodhorse
Top 10 second-crop sire American Freedom has been purchased by Bob and Tyree Wolesensky's Leadem Farm for a new stallion operation they are establishing near Leola, Ark., about 50 miles southeast of Oaklawn Park.
The 9-year-old son of Pulpit, who placed twice in grade 1 company and won the Iowa Derby (G3), will stand for $3,500.
"We started our farm in Texas three years ago and we ran out of space at that farm, so we started looking for bigger properties," said Bob Wolesensky, a lawyer by profession. "We found the perfect piece of property in Arkansas and are moving the whole operation there, where we were going to have a satellite facility anyway. Once we knew were going to do that, we knew we wanted another stallion and wanted one that really fit Arkansas."
Leadem Farm already stands established sires Cinco Charlie and Aikenite . Grade 3 winner Dennis' Moment , a son of Tiznow, has been retired and will enter stud at the farm next year at $2,500. Cinco Charlie will stand for $3,000, while Aikenite will stand for $1,500.
The Wolesenskys worked with Brock Martin and Steve Castagnola of Taylor Made Sales Agency to identify other stallion prospects and kept coming back to American Freedom.
"We wanted the Pulpit/A.P. Indy sire line, he's a multiple grade 1 performer, and his foals can run anywhere," he said. "We have seven broodmares and one of our first questions as a regional breeder is: Is this a stallion we could get excited about? The answer is absolutely."
Wolesensky also said he also likes American Freedom's family. The stallion is out of the Pleasant Tap stakes winner Gottcha Last , making him a half brother to grade 1-placed, three-time graded stakes winner Gottcha Gold .
As a stallion, American Freedom has sired 61 winners, including stakes winner Freedom Speaks and stakes-placed winners Heffner , American Sanctuary , and Smarten Up . His progeny have banked more than $3.4 million, so far. American Freedom launched his stud career at Airdrie Farm.
American Freedom will be shipped Arkansas during the first week in December when the Wolesenskys will be relocating all their horses to the new 100-acre farm they bought last summer. The property was attractive in part because it was formerly an organic grass-fed cattle operation with high-quality grass.
The Wolesenskys also had already been eyeing Arkansas because of the state-bred program's benefits.
"We have been looking at Arkansas for several years because of the state-bred program. You get breeders awards even when you are running outside the state. Oaklawn Park only runs five months but you can run for breeders' money year-round," Wolesensky said.