Payson Stud's breeding program has been a fixture in the Thoroughbred industry for more than four decades, built by the late Virginia Kraft Payson. Since Mrs. Payson's passing in 2023, trustee Christian Erickson has carried her legacy forward, and I've been fortunate to serve as bloodstock advisor to the program. Our goal in recent years has been simple: upgrade the broodmare band.That goal led to some of the hardest–and best–decisions we've made. Together with the team at Gainesway Farm, we sold foundation mare Summer Sweet, the dam of champion She Feels Pretty, along with her Justify weanling filly for $3.8-million combined at Fasig-Tipton November. The move was strategic. We had already purchased Solo Album, a GSW by Curlin whose dam is a sister to Summer Sweet, and retained Hello and Goodbye, Summer Sweet's filly by Olympiad, who we plan to race and welcome into the broodmare band someday. We kept the youth from that family while the timing was right to capitalize.With the proceeds, we reinvested immediately–adding Buchu, a Grade II-winning daughter of Justify in foal to Not This Time, for $2.3 million, along with SW/GSP Totally Justified, also by Justify, who will race this season before joining the broodmare band.Here is a look at our mating plans for 2026.BUCHU, 5, Justify–Flowering Peach (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). Has been bred to Gun Runner.After Summer Sweet sold, Christian gave us a simple instruction: find us the best mare at Keeneland. We looked at every mare in Book 1 and kept coming back to Buchu. She needs no introduction–a GII Jessamine winner at two, GII Appalachian winner at three, by Justify out of a Galileo mare, from the female family of Medaglia d'Oro. Her second dam Naples Bay was purchased by Coolmore for $3.6 million. She was in foal to Not This Time, who we believe is arguably the best stallion in the world. $2.3 million was more than we wanted to pay, but it's what top mares cost.Buchu foaled a Not This Time colt in early February and recently checked in foal to Gun Runner. Scat Daddy has worked well with Gun Runner and Gunite is inbred to Giant's Causeway, but really it came down to this: if we weren't going back to Not This Time, who did we consider the best young stallion available? Gun Runner was the answer.SOLO ALBUM, 6, Curlin–Summer Solo, by Arch. Will be bred to Not This Time.Purchasing Solo Album was a full-circle moment for Payson Stud–we bred her and sold her as a yearling for $535,000. She was the mare we wanted at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton November sale and we were elated to get her back. She's a big, beautiful GSW by Curlin, from the female family of Summer Sweet and She Feels Pretty.Solo Album foaled a gorgeous Into Mischief filly in February and will visit Not This Time this year. Not This Time had a recent Breeders' Cup winner out of an Arch mare, and She Feels Pretty is by a Storm Cat-line sire like Not This Time. This came down to breeding what we hope is a foundation mare to one of the best stallions in the world.UNBRIDLED MARY, 7, Maclean's Music–Bauble, by Tale of the Cat. Will be bred to Locked.Unbridled Mary is a really cool mare. She won her debut at two, an allowance at three and a stakes at four. She's a medium-sized, athletic mare with a lot of speed, from the great Phipps family of Heavenly Prize. Her first foal, a Cody's Wish filly, brought $190,000 in November. She had an Into Mischief filly in March and will be bred to Locked this season.Locked is a MGIW son of Gun Runner with a ton of quality and a beautiful mover. We expect Unbridled Mary will benefit from Locked's class and stamina while injecting speed into the mating. The Gun Runner over Distorted Humor cross has already produced Cyberknife and Intricate, and we're hoping this foal will add to the tally.SEEKING THE BLUE, 11, Arch–Seeking Atlantis, by Seeking the Gold. Will be bred to Omaha Beach.Seeking the Blue is a lovely Arch mare that has produced two black-type runners in Janis Joplin and Vino Rouge, along with the 3-year-old Ghostzapper filly Phantom Blue, who brought $1,200,000 as a yearling. She is due to foal a Not This Time baby in the next couple of weeks and will be bred back to Omaha Beach.Omaha Beach is a stallion we love and came close to using last year, but felt we'd give him a year to really prove himself–and he certainly did. This is a great physical mating. Seeking the Blue is a big, strong mare that puts a good hind leg on her foals, and Omaha Beach already has GIW And One More Time from an Arch-line mare.Corningstone | Coady MediaCORNINGSTONE, 6, Kantharos–Ice Women, by Street Sense. Has been bred to Twirling Candy.Corningstone has been a really fun purchase. David Meah and I identified her as a racing and broodmare prospect at the 2024 Keeneland November sale. Christian is good buddies with Kenny McPeek, who trained Corningstone, and when Kenny gave us his thumbs up we purchased her for $275,000 and sent her back to him.She paid immediate dividends, winning two listed stakes out of the gate and later adding two more plus a graded stakes placing, retiring with $980,000 in earnings–the richest Indiana-bred mare of all time. Twirling Candy was a really obvious mating. He has an affinity for the Storm Cat and Tale of the Cat line, and even for Kantharos himself. It's an A++ cross at a great price point for a mare starting off.GIRL OF MY DREAMS, 5, Kantharos–Naples Dream, by Uncle Mo. Has been bred to Sierra Leone.Girl of My Dreams is another daughter of Kantharos purchased as a racing and broodmare prospect that paid dividends on the track. She was a black-type mare from the family of Mitole and Hot Rod Charlie with a hard-to-find physical when we purchased her. She added a trio of allowance wins and a graded stakes placing before retiring with earnings in excess of $300,000. Her best asset was her speed–she made the early lead in nearly every race and was often still around at the finish.When Sierra Leone retired to Coolmore, we thought Girl of My Dreams would be a perfect match. She's a medium-sized mare with a lot of speed; he's a tall, handsome horse built for a mile and a quarter. We can see this mating producing a beautiful horse with precocity that can progress to classic distances.LASHARA, 9, American Pharoah–Marbre Rose, by Smart Strike. Will be bred to McKinzie.Lashara is a beautiful American Pharoah mare from the family of GIW Zoftig, out of a SW/GSP Smart Strike mare. She sold for nearly a million dollars as a yearling. Her first foal was an attractive Constitution colt with a huge walk, she has a nice Forte yearling colt, and is due to foal another Constitution next month.The Payson Stud mares are kept at Gainesway, who are neighbors to the Payson Stud property, and McKinzie is an outstanding young stallion for them. GIW Scottish Lassie is out of a mare from the Empire Maker line like Lashara, and this is a physical mating that works well.PACE'S TWO SENSE, 5, Street Sense–Strawberry Sense, by A.P. Indy. Has been bred to Oscar Performance.Pace's Two Sense is a young Street Sense mare homebred by Payson Stud, out of the A.P. Indy mare Strawberry Sense, who produced four stakes horses including GSW Prime Attraction and GIP/SW Kathy's Song.Street Sense is becoming a top-shelf broodmare sire and has worked particularly well with Kitten's Joy and his son Oscar Performance (Roaring Lion, Red Carpet Ready, Tumbarumba, etc). We think Oscar Performance is one of the top young sires around and a great sire to help make a young mare, so he is the choice for Pace's Two Sense this year.The post 2026 Mating Plans: Payson Stud appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.