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Breeders' Cup Bios
Search the Breeders' Cup biography database for complete bio listings of participants and horses that are on the road to the Cup. Biographical information is updated regularly, statistical information is updated daily.

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Frank Stronach
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2013 Record: (142-19-15-20)
2013 Earnings: $643,142
2013 Win %: 13% In-The-Money %: 38%

  • Owner(s): Frank Stronach
  • Born: Sept. 6, 1932, in Weiz, Austria
  • Residence: Austria. Also has homes in Canada, Florida, Colorado and Kentucky
  • Family: wife, Frieda; son, Andy, who is heavily involved in the farms and racing interests and daughter, Belinda, a former member of the Canadian Parliament, who now serves as President and CEO of Stronach's new company, The Stronach Group.
  • Web site: www.adenapringsfarm.com; www.magna.com;
  • Racing Background:  
  • Adena Springs is represented as breeder by 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic contender Game On Dude, a multiple Grade 1 winner.
  • Adena Springs leads the Breeders' Cup money list as top breeder.
  • Second leading owner by money won in Breeders' Cup history.
  • The operation has produced five Breeders' Cup winners. Awesome Again won the Classic in 1998, capping an unbeaten season. He later sired 2004 Classic winner Ghostzapper and 2007 Distaff winner Ginger Punch. In 2000, Adena Springs captured two Breeders' Cup events, taking the Juvenile with Macho Uno and the Filly and Mare Turf with Perfect Sting.
  • Top runners bred by the operation to race in 2011 included Grade 2 winners Bay to Bay and Bourbon Bay, and Grade 3 winners Don Cavollo and Stunning Stag.
  • The farm campaigned homebred Ghostzapper, a son of 1998 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Awesome Again, and out of Broodmare of the Year Baby Zip. Ghostzapper completed an unbeaten season in 2004, winning the Classic in record time at Lone Star Park, to earn Horse of the Year honors. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 2012.
  • In addition to Awesome Again and Ghostzapper, the farm's other top runners have included Breeders' Cup winners and Eclipse Award champions Ginger Punch, Macho Uno and Perfect Sting.
  • The farm has campaigned two classic winners – homebred Red Bullet, who took the 2000 Preakness Stakes, and Touch Gold, owned in partnership with Stonerside Stables, who foiled Silver Charm's Triple Crown bid in the 1997 Belmont Stakes.
  • Stronach campaigned 1980 Eclipse Award champion older female Glorious Song in partnership with Nelson Bunker Hunt.
  • Eight-time winner of Canada's Sovereign Award as outstanding breeder (1997-1999, 2005-2008 and 2010) and nine-time winner as outstanding owner (1993-1995, 1997-1999, 2002-2003 and 2005).
  • Stronach has received the Eclipse Award as leading owner four times: 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2008.
  • In 2005, operation became the first breeder in history to receive the Eclipse Award and the Sovereign Award for the same year. It did so again in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
  • Stronach received the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's national breeder award for 2004.
  • The farm has won the Eclipse Award for outstanding breeder a record eight times (2000, 2004-2008 and 2010-2011).
  • The broodmare band has included three horses named Broodmare of the Year: Baby Zip (2005), dam of Ghostzapper and Grade 1 winner City Zip; Primarily (in Canada), and Primal Force (2000), dam of Macho Uno and Awesome Again.
  • Stronach and/or Adena Springs has bred and/or raced more than 225 stakes winners.
  • Adena Springs also has breeding farms in Florida and Canada, and stands stallions at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in New York with tentative plans to also stand stallions in Maryland.
  • Stronach bought his initial property in Kentucky in 1989. In 2005, he bought more than 2,000 acres of a former cattle farm near Paris, Ky., and sold the original Adena Springs acreage near Versailles, Ky., to Jess Jackson.
  • The farm is named for the earliest inhabitants of the Kentucky property, the Adena Indians.
  • Stronach recently announced plans to launch a new political party in his native Austria and run in the 2013 parliamentary elections.
  • Stronach races horses under the name Stronach Stable, with the majority of his horses bred under the name Adena Springs.
  • On June 30, 2011, Stronach gained sole control of his racing and gaming assets by forming a new privately held company called The Stronach Group. As part of a previously announced reorganization, the company now runs Santa Anita Park, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Pimlico Race Course, Laurel Park, Gulfstream Park, the account wagering service Xpressbet, Amtote and a share of the racing TV channel HRTV.
  • MEC declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 5, 2009 and began selling off assets including Lone Star Park, Remington Park and Thistledown racetracks. The remaining racing assets were aquired in a "stalking horse bid" by MI Developments, another subsidiary of Magna International.
  • He was the founder and chairman of Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC), which was the banner under which he originally began owning and operating racetracks starting in early 2000.
  • Stronach has served on numerous corporate, government and university boards and has provided assistance to a wide range of charitable and community service organizations.
  • In 1957, he formed a tool and die company, Multimatic Investments Ltd., which expanded into the production of automotive components. In 1969, Multimatic merged with Magna Electronics Corporation Limited, and subsequently became Magna International Inc. Magna designs, develops and manufactures automotive systems, assemblies, modules and components, and engineers and assembles complete vehicle systems, primarily for sale to original equipment manufacturers of cars and light trucks in North America, Europe, Asia and South America. Magna is publically traded on both the New York Stock Exchange (MGA) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (MG.A).
  • Stronach was born in Austria and emigrated to Canada in 1954 with a working background in tool and machine engineering.

Breeders' Cup Record
Starts1st2nd3rdEarnings
32502$8,728,400

1984ClassicCanadian Factor6th
1989ClassicMi Selecto8th
1990ClassicMi Selecto9th
 TurfAlwuhush4th
1994Juvenile FilliesHonky Tonk Tune11th
 SprintKing Ruckus12th
 TurfOnly Royale (Ire)5th
1996JuvenileCash Deposit4th
 MileHelmsman6th
 SprintFriendly Lover11th
1997ClassicTouch Gold9th
1998ClassicAwesome Again1st
 ClassicTouch Gold8th
 DistaffTap to Music5th
 SprintWild Rush14th
1999ClassicGolden Missile3rd
 DistaffTap to Music5th
 Filly & Mare TurfPerfect Sting6th
2000ClassicGolden Missile13th
 Filly & Mare TurfCollect the Cash11th
 Filly & Mare TurfPerfect Sting1st
 JuvenileMacho Uno1st
2001ClassicMacho Uno4th
2002ClassicMacho Uno5th
 ClassicMilwaukee Brew3rd
 SprintCarson Hollow13th
2004ClassicGhostzapper1st
2006Ladies' ClassicSpun Sugar8th
 MileSilent Name (Jpn)6th
2007Ladies' ClassicGinger Punch1st
2008Ladies' ClassicGinger Punch6th
2009ClassicEinstein (Brz)11th

Related Links
NOTE: Bio stats include North American and selected international races. Click here to view selected international race list. Biographies on jockeys, trainers and owners are from the Breeders' Cup World Championships events from 2001 through 2009, and are intended as informational resources. Biographies will be updated if an individual is again a participant in the Breeders' Cup World Championships. Biographies are available for most horses appearing in the top 100 money earnings list, and/or for those who are frequently making headlines in the news starting with the 2006 Triple Crown season.
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