by Steve Bailey

Rod Valente’s unbeaten sprinter Bustin Stones will stand the 2009 season at Waldorf Farm in North Chatham, New York, for a fee of $6,500, farm owner Jerry Bilinski said on Thursday.

The four-year-old homebred City Zip colt, winner of the Carter Handicap (G1) in his previous start on April 5 at Aqueduct, will stand as the property of a syndicate.

 Bustin Stones did not race as a juvenile but won all three of his starts as a three-year-old, including the New York Stallion Times Square Stakes at Aqueduct and the Screenland Stakes at Belmont Park.

He opened his four-year-old campaign with victories in the Promonroe Stakes on January 21 at Aqueduct and the General George Handicap (G2) at Laurel Park on February 18 prior to a half-length victory in the Carter.

Trained by Bruce Levine, Bustin Stones was slated to contest the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G2) on July 26 at Saratoga Race Course, but Levine was forced to scratch him on the day of the race with a stone bruise in his right front foot. He did not return to the track until August 9.

Bilinski said Bustin Stones would be pointed toward the $400,000 Vosburgh Stakes (G1) on September 27 at Belmont Park and the $2-million Sentient Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) on October 25 at Santa Anita Park for his final two starts.

Steve Bailey is deputy news editor for Thoroughbred Times