Honey Creek Farms

GOLD COAST, Australia–Coolmore will eventually add last year’s G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner Merchant Navy (Aus) to its stallion roster to stand alongside his champion sire Fastnet Rock (Aus), and the principals of that operation will have high hopes that those two will someday be joined by the session-topping colt at Wednesday’s opening session of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale–another son of Fastnet Rock bought for A$1-million.

With the knowledge that more breakout lots are expected later in the week, figures were largely up after the first day of trade for Australasia’s first yearling sale of the season. While there was just one seven-figure lot, 17 made at least half a million compared to 11 last year. The clearance rate was slightly down at 81% for 182 sold, compared to 85% for 187 sold last year, but the gross was up to A$39,170,000 (it was A$35,907,000 12 months ago). The average was up 12% to A$215,220 and the median was similarly up 13.3% to A$150,000.

Element Hill’s Fastnet Rock colt out of Risk Aversion has already been paid some hefty compliments in his young life, with Coolmore’s Tom Magnier drawing comparisons between him and Merchant Navy, and John O’Shea saying, “he is the best Fastnet Rock I’ve seen since Foxwedge”, who he trained to win the G1 William Reid S.

“He’s the right horse and he has the pedigree,” O’Shea added. “He’s probably a bit sharper than Foxwedge and he has a pedigree to boot.”

The bay is the second foal out of the stakes-winning Risk Aversion, herself a half-sister to stakes winners Shania Dane (Aus) (Danehill) and Scintillation (Aus) (Danehill). A plethora of stakes winners appear under the second dam, including last year’s dual group winner Man From Uncle (Aus) (Uncle Mo).

The sale capped an excellent day for the Hutchins family’s Element Hill, which also sold a A$650,000 Redoute’s Choice (Aus) filly. The Hutchinses kept mares with Coolmore before purchasing their own property in 2010 (click here for a pre-sale feature on that consignment).

“The Hutchinses have been such great clients for us and we thought this was the nicest horse in the sale,” said Tom Magnier. “We thought this horse looked very like Merchant Navy. The Hutchinses have bred a lovely horse, and to have this horse with John is exciting.”

O’Shea has recently re-opened a private stable after spending three years as private trainer for Godolphin. Godolphin, which is typically not active as a buyer at the Australian yearling sales, purchased a colt by Not A Single Doubt (Aus) (lot 122) for A$200,000 on Wednesday.

Fastnet Rock ended the day as the sire of two of the top five lots. He had four crack a half-million, also including lot 215, a colt consigned by Segenhoe Stud and bought by Marie Yoshida’s Asian Bloodstock Services. The bay is the third foal out of the stakes-winning and producing Radharcnafarriage (Ire) (Distorted Humor).

While proven sires generally dominated the top of the market on Wednesday, one first-season sire with a breakout horse was Newgate’s Deep Field (Aus) (Northern Meteor {Aus}). Lot 231 was also purchased by Asian interests, going the way of Hong Kong’s Orbis Bloodstock for A$675,000 with Justin Bahen conducting the bidding. Consigned by Kia Ora Stud, the bay is a half to the stakes-placed Unique Quality (Aus) (Elusive Quality) from an international family that includes a pair of standouts in Hong Kong: the Hong Kong Derby winner Super Satin (Aus) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and the dual Group 1 winner Blazing Speed (Aus) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}).

A Snitzel For Harron Syndicate…

James Harron’s record of selecting future stallions speaks for itself, the agent having been involved in the purchase of Vancouver (Aus) and Capitalist (Aus) at Magic Millions alone. The latter Golden Slipper winner was one of the pioneers of Harron’s colts’ syndicate of yearlings with sire potential, and lot 52, a son of Snitzel (Aus), will race in the same green silks with trainers Peter and Paul Snowden after Harron prevailed at A$900,000.

“He’s a ripping colt,” said Harron, who bought another young sire son of Snitzel, Wandjina (Aus), as a yearling. “Snitzel’s just doing an incredible job and he was one of my picks of the sale. He was a fantastic shape, a quality colt. He had a great size of hip and is a really active and athletic type of horse, really walked and looks every bit a racehorse.”

Consigned by Arrowfield, the bay is out of the War Emblem mare Madame Andree (Aus), who showed great promise while in training with Paul Messara but was ultimately unraced. It is an international family that includes GI Met Mile winner Exciting Story (Diablo) and G3 Regret S. winner Sweeping Paddy (Paddy O’Prado).

Harron said he followed the colt’s progress at the sale closely after viewing him at Arrowfield during the Hunter Valley parades.

“I did see him at Arrowfield in the Hunter Valley and then I looked at him numerous times here and just watched his progression through the sale,” the agent said. “He’s a really exciting colt. To pay that kind of money you have to have confidence. You watch them go through the sale and handle that pressure that’s put on them, because that pressure is only going to increase when they go into training. But he looks a nice, early running type of horse.”

The colt is the third foal out of his dam, whose 3-year-old Madame Pauline (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}) is unbeaten in two starts since the catalogue was published. That filly and the mare’s 2-year-old filly Nancy Grace (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}) are both with Paul Messara.

“Madame Andree was a very talented mare I trained,” said Messara. “She never made it to the track but she showed a massive amount of talent, one of the best horses I thought I’d ever trained, on par with the likes of [Group 1 winner] Ortensia on the track. She won a trial really well and just before her first race unfortunately she did a tendon.”

Because of the mare’s talent, Arrowfield took a gamble and sent her to its top-flight sires for her first three coverings.

“As a result of having such a high opinion of the mare we sent her to stallions above her pedigree and what she had done,” Messara said. “We sent her to Redoute’s twice and then to Snitzel.”

Messara said vet issues prevented Madame Pauline and Nancy Grace from being offered for sale.

“Unfortunately both of those were unable to be sold due to x-ray issues,” he said. “The first one is Madame Pauline and she’s had two starts and two wins and is stakes class in the making. Nancy Grace is the 2-year-old. She’s yet to have a run but also looks promising.”

Harron’s session one haul also included a A$600,000 son of Exceed and Excel (Aus), the second foal out of the G1 NZ 2000 Guineas winner Oasis Rose (NZ) (Oasis Dream {GB}) (lot 142).

A Precious Element…

Element Hill’s Josh Hutchins admitted earlier this week that his family keeps the family members of its foundation broodmare Tracy’s Element close to its chest, and as such it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that an elegant and athletic granddaughter of that South African champion, by three-time champion sire and emerging broodmare sire Redoute’s Choice (Aus), would be popular at Magic Millions. Lot 51 eventually went the way of Linda Huddy, best known for racing the 2010 G1 Australian Derby winner and overall five-time Group 1 winner Shoot Out (Aus) (High Chaparral {Ire}), for A$650,000. Huddy was visibly thrilled to secure a filly from such a coveted family, saying, “We’ll take her home and give her some time out in the paddock because this is pretty hard on them here at the sales. We’ll break her in and go from there.”

Huddy says she has been 15 and 20 broodmares and 20 horses in work.

“We’re not big but it’s a nice size for us to handle,” she said. “She’s a great asset to us, I just loved her.”

Tracy’s Element is best known as the dam of Australian Horse of the Year Typhoon Tracy (Aus) (Red Ransom), and she also produced the stakes winner and sire Red Element and is the dam and second dam of a plethora of stakes horses, including G2 Silver Slipper S. winner and sire Shaft (Aus) (Flying Spur {Aus}). The Redoute’s Choice filly’s dam is the winning Encosta de Lago (Aus) mare Madam Tracy (Aus), and that cross has produced the Group 1 winners Musir (Aus) and Peeping (Aus). Tracy’s Element is the namesake of the Hutchins family’s Element Hill, which on Thursday offers an I Am Invincible (Aus) colt out of another daughter of Tracy’s Element (lot 399).

Element Hill sold a daughter of Redoute’s Choice’s son Not A Single Doubt (Aus) (lot 114) later in the session for A$370,000. That one was bought for A$240,000 as a weanling. Not A Single Doubt sits fourth to his paternal half-brother Snitzel (Aus) on Australia’s general sire table midway through the racing season, with High Chaparral (Ire) and Fastnet Rock (Aus) splitting them.

Kelly Back For More Magic…

Californian Jon Kelly has been an avid supporter of Australian racing, and the man who bought the sale-topping colt here five years ago was back in action at the top of the market on Wednesday when securing a filly by popular young sire I Am Invincible (Aus) (lot 145) for A$625,000. The filly was consigned by Yarraman Park Stud, which stands the sire. Kelly had dispersed four fillies he had previously bought at this sale at last June’s National Broodmare Sale, and he explained he did so because he prefers to focus on racing rather than breeding.

“We do breed but we’re more into racing than we are breeding,” Kelly explained. “We still have several mares but we’re not planning on breeding down here, we’re planning on racing. The enthusiasm of the Australian public for racing is captivating. It’s quite different than the rest of the world. The only place that halfway compares is Ireland. America doesn’t do it at all. It’s fun, and the other thing for me is there’s no Lasix. I don’t like drugs in animals. Global Glamour won two Grade Is in seven days. That can’t be done in America because the Lasix dehydrates the horse. I really don’t like that so I’m very fond of Australian racing and the rules. They have people that do things they shouldn’t do as well, the whole world does, and we don’t like it, but it’s part of life.”

Kelly’s wife, Sarah, is a part-owner in the aforementioned Global Glamour (Aus) (Star Witness {Aus}) as part of the It’s All About The Girls syndicate. Global Glamour was a A$65,000 purchase at this sale and runs in Saturday’s Magic Millions Plate. She was narrowly beaten in last year’s Magic Millions 3YO Guineas. Sarah Kelly owns another piece of a horse in a ladies’ syndicate with trainer Gai Waterhouse, but Kelly said the I Am Invincible filly will be his first horse in training in Australia since he sold his four fillies last year. She also goes into training with Waterhouse.

“She’s a beautiful young lady,” Kelly said. “She’ll be trained by the right person, Gai Waterhouse, and we look forward to having a good time with her.”

After its success with its inaugural horse, Global Glamour, It’s All About The Girls last fall expanded to Ireland and purchased two yearling fillies at Goffs to be trained by Jessica Harrington. Kelly said he has charged the syndicate’s Legs Lawlor and Anna Seitz with finding a filly to race in Southern California.

“We’re going to try to emulate it in Southern California,” he said. “I just asked the two ladies to help me put together a ladies’ syndicate in Southern California but there’s no trainer as good as Gai, so they’re going to have to hire a man for the first time. He may have to wear a dress!”

Tycoon In Demand…

South Australia’s Mill Park Stud regularly brings a select but quality draft of yearlings to the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, and in lot 137 it offered a colt from a proven cross–a full-brother to the G2 Thousand Guineas Prelude winner Booker (Aus) (Written Tycoon {Aus}). New Zealand-based agent Bruce Perry went to A$600,000 for the third foal out of Noondie (Aus) (Flying Spur {Aus}), and he will now look to find owners for the horse and said it is undecided whether the colt will remain in Australia or go to New Zealand.

“I loved the horse, he had great balance and is by a great sire,” Perry said. “The mare is already doing the job and he ticked all our boxes. We thought he was one of the nicest colts in the sale and we’re very happy to get him. Hopefully she’ll make it two for two. He was the one we wanted so we’re delighted.”

Written Tycoon, among Australia’s leading sires and the sire of champion Capitalist, proved popular on day one of the sale. His highlights also included a colt bought by China Horse Club in partnership with Newgate and WinStar Farm for A$520,000 (lot 13).

Deep Crop Of First-Season Sires…

In addition to his A$675,000 top price, Deep Field had a pair sell for A$300,000 and four more sell for in excess of A$200,000. Supporters of Deep Field will be encouraged by the promising start made by another son of Northern Meteor, Zoustar (Aus), with his first 2-year-olds this year.

Deep Field’s Newgate barnmate, the five-time Group 1 winner and Horse of the Year Dissident (Aus) (Sebring {Aus}), had a colt sell for A$525,000. Lot 200 was consigned by Newgate and purchased by George Moore Bloodstock on behalf of the Hong Kong investment company CLSA. He will go into training with Moore’s father, Hong Kong champion trainer John Moore, who said, “he’s a good sort and he fit our criteria. Everything out of the mare has done the job and George loved him as much as I did. He’s off to Hong Kong and he’ll be sold to a syndicate that’s headed up by the vice president of CLSA. We’re delighted, that’s their first purchase.”

The colt is out of Prompt (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), who has produced the stakes winners Prompt Response (Aus) (Beneteau {Aus}) and Prompt Return (Aus) (Beneteau {Aus}) and the stakes-placed Diamond Glow (Aus) (Bel Esprit {Aus}) as well as Mr. Right (Aus) (Statue of Liberty {Aus}), a winner in Hong Kong.

Moore said the Dissidents as a group appealed to him, but that lot 200 was selected first on type.

“We go through the sale and I’ve always educated George to come up with athlete first then look at the pedigree,” he said. “From that point of view this horse is the right type.”

Dissident’s day one prices also included yearlings sold for A$460,000, A$300,000, A$270,000 and A$260,000.

Newgate’s third first-season sire, Wandjina (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), had a top price of A$250,000 and had six sell for six figures.

Also making a good impression on day one was Rubick (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}). His haul was headed by a A$470,000 colt bought by Damion Flower of Jadeskye Racing, which campaigned the dual group-winning sprinter Rubick in partnership. He also had a colt sold for A$350,000 to Hong Kong’s Orbis Bloodstock.

Arrowfield’s Olympic Glory had yearlings sell for A$160,000 and A$180,000 on day one.

Darley first-season sire Hallowed Crown (Aus) (Street Sense) had a six-figure price on day one, a colt sold for A$120,000 to Triple Crown Syndications, owner of last year’s The Everest winner Redzel (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}). Hallowed Crown’s barnmate Shooting To Win, a G1 Caulfield Guineas-winning full-brother to Deep Field, had three sell for six figures on the day including a A$200,000 filly.

Keeneland saved the best for last during the second session of its January sale. The 6-year-old mare Mrs. McDougal (Medaglia d’Oro) sparked a fury of late bidding as the final hip through the ring with bloodstock agent Steve Young securing the mare for $1.6 million on behalf of an undisclosed client, making her the current sales topper. Young also signed the ticket on Monday’s session topper the $485,000 Bellavais (Tapit). Mrs. McDougal won the 2015 GII Lake George S. for previous owner Mr. and Mrs. William Warren and trainer Chad Brown. She also placed in the GI Just a Game S. and captured that term’s GIII Noble Damsel S., after which she was privately purchased by consignor Eaton Sales’ Reiley McDonald and Young on behalf of 2 TY LLC and transferred to California-based Richard Mandella. She concluded her career last November with a record of 15-5-0-3 and earnings of $496,736. Hip 781A is out of MSW and MGSP Distorted Passion (Distorted Humor).

GOLD COAST, Australia–At the midway juncture of the racing season in Australia, one stallion has pulled well out in front in the race for champion first-season sire honours: Eureka Stud’s Spirit of Boom (Aus) (Sequalo {Aus}). The dual Group 1-winning sprinter has notched seven winners, three stakes winners and earnings of A$508,560. His next closest pursuers, Darley’s Epaulette (Aus) and Dawn Approach (Aus), have two winners apiece.

Spirit of Boom’s success is woven closely into the fabric of the McAlpine family’s Eureka Stud in Queensland, which has been in the family since the 1940s. The McAlpines bought Spirit of Boom’s third dam and bred and raced his second dam and his dam.

The McAlpines and Spirit of Boom are also closely integrated with the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. Indeed, the sire himself was a A$90,000 graduate of this sale and Eureka last year sold his second stakes winner Ef Troop (Aus)–the second-favourite for Saturday’s Magic Millions 2YO Classic–for A$70,000 and his stakes-winning filly Outback Barbie (Aus), who also runs Saturday, for A$210,000. Eureka bred both horses and offers siblings to both this week.

Of the success Spirit of Boom has so far enjoyed, the farm’s current frontman Scott McAlpine said, “It’s a long process, and in this industry in Australia it’s hard to buy colts that are performers, for a little farm such as ourselves in competition with the big boys. We sold Spirit of Boom for A$90,000 at the Magic Millions and I retained 15% with the intention that if he was good enough as a racehorse and could stay a colt there was a possibility that it might fall into place to become a stallion. So far the plan has come to fruition.”

Spirit of Boom was an early 2-year-old himself, winning a trial for the Magic Millions 2YO Classic. He beat just two home in the main event but rebounded in the autumn with a pair of wins and a second in Group 2 company. He stayed in training until the age of six, and remarkably in his final season rewarded McAlpine with the top-level performances he needed to stand at Eureka. Spirit of Boom won the G1 William Reid S. over 1200 metres at Moonee Valley before taking Queensland’s most important sprint, the G1 Doomben 10,000.

McAlpine said he syndicated the horse with 40 shareholders–many small Queensland breeders–to give Spirit of Boom the chance he needed to start his stud career.

“When he won the 10,000 and the William Reid, the big breeders probably didn’t take a lot of notice of him,” he said. “His pedigree is strong enough against his performance, but his performance is what stood out. The group of shareholders are a great team of people. We’re all battlers, all trying to make a dollar and hopefully now we’re going to make a couple dollars.”

Spirit of Boom covered in the ballpark of 150 mares in his first three years at stud, and was helped by a 90% fertility rate. McAlpine said it was apparent early on that the horse was stamping his foals.

“His foals were very much like himself, he’d very much stamped them into a mold himself,” he said. “I thought that was a great attribute to have because he was a fast, sprinting horse himself and he put his backside and shoulders on to them and gave them his intelligence.”

Rather than resting on their laurels, however, the team at Eureka set out to get the Spirit of Booms in front of buyers and trainers across the country.

“Australia is a big country, so we set out to try to market those horses across the country,” McAlpine said. “We ended up taking four to South Australia, two to Victoria, four to New South Wales and I took two to New Zealand. The rest then stayed in Queensland to be sold.”

That Queensland haul included the aforementioned Ef Troop and Outback Barbie, as well as horses sold for A$110,000, A$150,000 and A$210,000. One of the colts sold in New Zealand has also shown promise and was unlucky to be beaten first-out.

“One of the two that I took to New Zealand came out and won a trial by 10 lengths,” McAlpine said. “New Zealand starts racing before Australia and he went in the first 2-year-old race in New Zealand. There were only three horses in it. He was drawn the outside barrier and the horse that was inside, they jumped together and went head-to-head the whole way and he got beaten by a nostril.”

“I think trainers realized these horses had some ability and the trials that followed in Australia showed us that,” he added. “Then when the first races started to come along we were in the money straight away. They were winning trials, everything was going right, and they’re sound sensible horses and they’ve shown they can go on to do it. The horses that are running are performing across the board, and when this wave finishes the next wave will start. There are a lot of horses in work that will be ready to race from next week on, waiting for these Magic Millions horses to go out for spells and have a break.”

McAlpine acknowledged that winning a Magic Millions with a horse he bred and sold, by a stallion that is a fourth-generation homebred, would be special.

“We produced a Magic Millions winner in Sea Captain back in 1988 when there was a fillies’ and a colts’ race, so we know what the feeling is to win a Magic Millions when we own one,” he said. “This time we’re going to have to breed the winner. And maybe we might even get a placegetter on top of that.”

Spirit of Boom will also be represented on Saturday by the stakes-winning Jonker (Aus).

“To have three runners in that race on its own is probably a feat for any stallion, especially when it comes from a Queensland-bred horse getting Queensland mares,” McAlpine said. “He’s not getting the top line of mares. For that horse to produce racehorses that can get into that race and perform I think is a big attribute. You can’t believe a horse would get a start like this and it will continue whether he wins the Magic Millions or not. There are horses out there ready to run in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in the next month to six weeks and if we’re lucky enough to win a few races there, everyone will take even more notice.”

Eureka Stud has 15 to sell this week, five in Book 1 and 10 in Book 2 on Sunday. Those include a Pierro (Aus) half-sister to Outback Barbie (Aus) (lot 203), and a Spirit of Boom half-brother to the stakes-winning Tiyatrolani (Aus) (Captain Sonador {Aus}) (lot 392). Of that colt McAlpine said, “We have a nice Spirit of Boom colt out of an Encosta de Lago mare that won us three races and ran third in the Magic Millions Prelude the same year Spirit of Boom won. That mare’s first foal is already a stakes winner and the second foal by Spirit of Boom is already placed. This is the third one.”

Eureka sells seven Spirit of Booms, also including a half-brother to Group 1 winner Southern Lord (Aus) (Stratum {Aus}) (lot 497).

“He is out of a Rory’s Jester mare that has already produced a Group 1 winner in Southern Lord,” McAlpine said. “She has a 2-year-old in work with David Hayes who is a full-sister to this horse. He’s a lovely colt–nice, balanced and sensible.”

Sunday’s haul includes “a couple really nice fillies” as well as the full-brother to Ef Troop (lot 977). McAlpine said of Eureka’s Book 2 horses, “The pedigrees aren’t over the moon but they’re good, racing pedigrees and winning families with a bit of black-type.”

McAlpine is deservedly enjoying the accolades coming Eureka’s way with the success of Spirit of Boom.

“We’ve done it all our lives, I’m a third generation horseman and we’re a family farm that’s been operating since the late 1940s,” he said. “For a family farm to stay competitive in this very intense breeding world is very rewarding. My wife and myself have three sons and we’ve all gone the same way; once it’s in your blood you can’t get it out.”

With the blue-blooded Bellavais (Tapit) leading the way, the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale opened with a brisk day of trading Monday.

A total of 186 horses sold for $13,265,100 compared to 2017 when 163 head brought $10,514,000. The average was up 10.57% from $64,503 last year to $71,318, and the median increased 28.57% from $35,000 to $45,000. The RNA rate was slightly down at 38.61% with 117 horses failing to sell. A total of 13 horses sold for $200,000 or more this year compared to just five in 2017’s opening session.

“We started the sale week off very well,” said Keeneland’s Director of Sales Operations Geoffrey Russell. “Gross, average and median are all up. There was no million-dollar horse or $700,000 horse, but I thought the market was consistent all the way through. Foals were at a premium. January has always been a good spot to buy a race filly and obviously today Steve Young found one. Rarity is very important in the marketplace and when these rare pedigrees get put up, people pay premium prices.”

Bellavais was the star of the day, selling for $485,000 to bloodstock agent Steve Young, acting on behalf on an undisclosed client who plans to race the filly this year. The chestnut (hip 334) hails from the deep Darby Dan family of MGISW millionaire Memories of Silver.

The top short yearling of the day–and second highest-priced lot overall–was hip 303, a colt by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, who hammered for $400,000 to Alex and JoAnn Lieblong. The sale also saw a high-priced RNA in the 7-year-old mare Savings Account (Medaglia d’Oro), who left the ring unsold on a final bid of $650,000.

As for the market, consignors said they were seeing more of the same trends seen in the past couple of years, with continued strong demand for quality offerings.

“It seems strong,” said Hill ‘n’ Dale’s John Sikura, who consigned Savings Account. “We’ve had a good sale. We’ve sold our foals well. It’s pretty much repetition of what we’ve seen in the past. People land on a few horses and there is a lot of interest in those. Mares in foal are selling really well. I had some mares marked and they went beyond what I thought. I get the feeling there is pent up demand for good horses. They are hard to find and when you bring them here they are premium buys. It’s all about quality. Not everything you bring up suits market demands, but when you do, you are well rewarded. I’m excited for the 2018 auction season.”

The January sale continues through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

Lieblongs Strike for American Pharoah Colt

Alex and JoAnn Lieblong added a colt by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah to their racing stable when Ocala horseman Robby Harris went to $400,000 to secure hip 303 on their behalf Monday at Keeneland. The bay was consigned by Pope McLean’s Crestwood Farm.

“He is just a really nice colt,” Harris said. “[The Lieblongs] had something out of that mare that was a nice horse. And it doesn’t get better than American Pharoah. We looked at all of the American Pharoahs that were here and we thought he was the best one.”

Bred by the Burns family’s Mount Joy Stables, the bay colt is out of Air France (French Deputy) and is a half to Smooth Air (Smooth Jazz), who carried the Mount Joy colors to victory in the 2009 GII Gulfstream Park H. and 2008 GII Ohio Derby and

GII Hutcheson S. Air France is also the dam of graded stakes winner and young sire Overdriven (Tale of the Cat).

The short yearling was entered in the Keeneland November sale, where he first caught the eye of Alex Lieblong.

“I had this horse looked at in November and I think he was a little immature then and they took him back home,” Lieblong said by phone. “I was waiting for him to show back up, and I’ll be honest with you, I was hoping he would show up at this sale and not the September sale. So I got my wish, but I still had to pay retail.”

Lieblong thinks the colt’s Triple Crown-winning sire helped the yearling stand out.

“I think American Pharoah has probably put some leg on this horse versus even the filly I had [out of Air France],” Lieblong said. “She is a gorgeous filly, but I wish she had a little bit more leg. And I looked at another of the mare’s offspring in the past and it didn’t quite have the leg I wanted on it. But this one did. He was a horse who was hard to miss. I am looking forward to this one. I think he checked every box.”

The Lieblongs purchased Air France’s Bernardini filly for $450,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September sale. The filly, who was a first-out winner at Oaklawn last April, was catalogued to sell as the next hip (hip 304) after her half-brother, but Lieblong decided to keep her and will likely breed her to his 2014

GI King’s Bishop S. winner The Big Beast (Yes It’s True) this spring.

“She’s in Florida,” Lieblong said of the 4-year-old filly All Laced Up. “I’m going to breed her. I am leaning towards breeding her to The Big Beast and I’m probably underbreeding her a little bit there, but I thought it might help The Big Beast. That filly was very quick and had a lot of class to her.”

Air France was bred back to Bernardini last spring.–@JessMartiniTDN

Mo for Town and Country

Grade I placed Motown Lady (Uncle Mo) (hip 148) will be joining the broodmare band at Louise and Kiki Courtelis’s Town and Country Farms after farm president Shannon Potter signed the ticket at $340,000 for the 5-year-old racing/broodmare prospect. The bay was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency.

“She basically checked all the boxes for us at Town and Country for our breeding program,” Potter said. “She’s by Uncle Mo and she’s really pretty, she had a great physical to her. She is Grade I placed. We try to always be active to get the right horses. Hopefully she’ll be nice addition to our broodmare band.”

A $42,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic juvenile purchase in 2015, Motown Lady is out of Binavicar (Vicar) and is a half to multiple stakes placed Liberty Cap (Street Cry {Ire}). She was third for Martin Racing Stable in last year’s GI Zenyatta S. and GII Chilukki S. On the board in 10 of 21 starts, she won three times and earned $203,419.

“We’ll probably just take her home and breed her,” Potter said. “I’ll talk to the boss ladies and see what they think, but most likely she’ll just get bred.”

Of the mare’s final price tag, Potter admitted, “It was probably a little bit more than I wanted to pay, but it’s strong. If you have a good horse right now in this market, especially a good young mare who could run and showed a lot of potential and looks good, they are bringing a pretty good penny.”–@JessMartiniTDN

Violence Pays for Dailey, VanMeter

Renee Dailey and Tom VanMeter enjoyed a quick return on a recent broodmare investment when selling a colt by Violence for $150,000 during Monday’s first session of the Keeneland January sale. Dailey signed the ticket at $16,000 to add the unraced Queen Priscilla (Flatter), carrying her first foal, to the broodmare band at the 2016 Keeneland November sale. The mare’s colt by the highly successful freshman sire (hip 180) sold for $150,000 to Bloodstock Investments V during Monday’s first session of the Keeneland January Sale through the VanMeter-Gentry Sales consignment.

“I actually have to give all the credit to Tom,” Dailey said of the purchase of Queen Priscilla. “He saw her in the back ring and thought she was absolutely beautiful. She is a big liver chestnut mare and we saw she was in foal to Violence. We thought we’d follow her up [to the sales ring] and we got her.”

Violence had 32 first-crop winners in 2017, including stakes winners Barry Lee, Cicatrix and Cosmic Burst.

“We loved the idea of Violence, but we had no idea how strong he would be at this point,” Dailey admitted. “That was one of those things that was pure luck. He is on fire right now.”

The short yearling, co-bred by VanMeter and Ken Meng, impressed Dailey right from the start.

“I can still remember the day he was born,” Dailey said. “He was well-made and really precocious. He stood up immediately and started nursing immediately. We loved him. We thought we would bring him over here and we wanted to get a good price for him because Violence is so strong. We are thrilled, but not super surprised. We would have been happy to bring him back, too.”

An hour or so later, the couple RNA’d a Union Rags filly (hip 225) for $120,000. They had purchased the stakes-placed mare Skating (Awesome Again) carrying the short yearling for $72,000 at the 2017 Keeneland January sale.

“Skating is a really lovely mare,” Dailey said. “We were very interested in her Orb foal that she had in the sale and we didn’t get her, so we bought the mare. We are huge Union Rags fans and invested heavily in Union Rags.”

That Orb filly sold for $60,000 at last year’s January sale before bringing $160,000 at the Keeneland September sale. Skating is back in foal to Exaggerator.

“We’ve been fortunate to buy some mares that were in foal to strong stallions at reasonable prices,” Dailey said. “We have been lucky, but they can be expensive, too. We are looking at mares for this [January] sale and the ones that we like, we think are going to be very costly. We are looking for mares who have earned money themselves, hopefully stakes-placed, and have a good family below them to fill up the page. We are not opposed to purchasing an unraced mare who has a good family below her as well. I think those babies have worked out well for us. We purchased a few in November who are nice mares and we’re hoping they do the same thing.”–@JessMartiniTDN

Golden Muscade a Transatlantic Score

Golden Muscade (Medaglia d’Oro) was plying her trade at Ffos Las in Wales last summer as her half-brother Avery Island (Street Sense) was winding up for his graded stakes-winning juvenile campaign in New York. The 5-year-old broodmare prospect, who originally sold for $11,320 to trainer Brian Barr’s assistant Daisy Hitchins at the 2016 Tattersalls February sale, made 10 starts for Barr and The Golden Horse Racing Club before being transferred Stateside last September. She was off the board in four starts for Kiaran McLaughlin before selling for $125,000 to Stuart Angus, agent, during Monday’s first session of the Keeneland January Sale.

McLaughlin also trains Godolphin homebred Avery Island, who won the Nov. 5 GII Nashua S. and was second in the Dec. 2 GII Remsen S.

Golden Muscade was consigned to Monday’s sale by Taylor Made and Mark Taylor said Avery Island was only part of the mare’s appeal.

“I think there were a couple of different attractions here on Golden Muscade,” Taylor said. “One is [her sire] Medaglia d’Oro, who carries a lot of clout. And she was a big, scopey, nice broodmare prospect who looked like she had plenty of room to carry a good foal. And then of course, Avery Island is right there in the first dam and he’s on the Derby trail and looks very live.”

Golden Muscade is the first foal out of Kinda Spicy (A.P. Indy), a daughter of Chilean Group 1 winner Isola Piu Bella (Chi) (Rich Man’s Gold), who went two-for-two in her racing career for Godolphin in 2011. In addition to Avery Island, Kinda Spicy is also the dam of ‘TDN Rising Star’ Tasteful (Street Cry {Ire}).

“I sold her for a buddy I went to high school with and he was happy with the result,” Taylor said. “It was well above the reserve.”–@JessMartiniTDN

Young Comes Out on Top for Bellavais

When the dust settled after a fury of bidding on the well-bred Bellavais (Tapit), bloodstock agent Steve Young was the last man standing, securing the 4-year-old for a session-topping $485,000 on behalf of an undisclosed client. Young said the filly will return to the track this year under the care of seven-time Eclipse winner Todd Pletcher.

Trained by Jimmy Toner for John Phillips’s Phillips Racing Partnership, hip 334‘s record currently stands at 11-3-2-2 with earnings of $199,210. The chestnut boasts a pair of stakes wins on the turf last year in Gulfstream’s Ginger Brew S. and Suffolk’s Drum Top S.

“She’s from a family that you have to have a world of respect for with the Darby Dan mares,” Young said. “There is such an infrastructure of other horses in that pedigree that are doing well. She is a stakes winner. She has to have a base value out there. There is a safety net that she will never be worth less than, so I thought she was a good gamble to race as a 4-year-old. A lot of that family gets a little better as they get older. She is a multi-surface stakes horse and I think she was an obvious pick.”

Bellavais is out of GSW La Cloche (Ghostzapper), who in turn is a daughter of MGISW millionaire Memories of Silver (Silver Hawk) and a half-sister to MGISW millionaire Winter Memories (El Prado {Ire}); SW War Trace (Storm Cat) and the dams of stakes winners Elusive Collection (Elusive Quality) and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Red Lodge (Midshipman). La Cloche sold to Don Alberto Corp. for $2.4 million at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November sale carrying a full-sister to Bellavais, now named Tap Fever, a $475,000 KEESEP RNA who broke her maiden at Golden Gate Sunday for Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer and owners Don Alberto, Mark DeDomenico and Edward Taylor.

This already deep family received another timely update earlier in the weekend when the 3-year-old gelding Hawkish (Artie Schiller), a son of La Cloche’s half-sister Bridal Memories (Unbridled), came flying late to graduate in ‘TDN Rising Star’-fashion at Gulfstream Saturday.

Phillips, who consigned the filly through his Darby Dan Farm, was pleased with the sale.

“It was a very practical business decision,” Phillips said. “She is from a very good family that we rarely sell out of, but we have to make the fact of the matter is, we have to make some business decisions from time to time. She just fell in that category of paying stud fees and other obligations to make the whole thing work.”

He continued, “I always feel like we can sell a little bit of gold as long as we don’t sell the gold mine. Fortunately, we have quite a number of mares in that family and hope to continue it. We wish the buyers a lot of luck with the filly and think they will do well.”–@CDeBernardisTDN

Stuart Strikes for Stradivarius

John Stuart of Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services came out on top of a spirited round of bidding to secure the 5-year-old mare Stradivarius (Street Cry {Ire}), carrying her first foal by Medaglia d’Oro, for $375,000 on behalf of owner/breeder Andrew Rosen.

The 4-year-old mare won just one of four starts for owner Earle Mack, but did so in style, romping by 9 1/4 lengths at Evangeline in April 2016 for trainer Al Stall. Out of Aldebaran Light (Seattle Slew), the dark bay is a half-sister to GISW sire Eskendereya (Giant’s Causeway) and English Group 1 winner and sire Balmont (Stravinsky).

“I liked that she ran very fast when she broke her maiden by nine and she is in foal to Medaglia d’Oro,” Stuart said. “She is also a half to two Group 1 winners. She might go back to Medaglia or she could go to Violence, a son of Medaglia d’Oro.”

Stradivarius has previously been offered at the Keeneland November sale, where she RNA’d for $475,000.

“It is a little less than I was expecting,” said consignor Craig Bandoroff of Denali Stud. “I thought she would be $400,000 or a little north, but they looked at her hard in November and looked at her hard now and that is what they thought she was worth.”

Stuart also thought he would have to pay more for hip 248.

“She was RNA’d for $475,000 in November, so they knew they had to sell her for less,” he said. “I was a little surprised that is all she brought to be honest with you.”

As for the market, Stuart added, “I thought it was a little weak this morning, but is picking up a bit. There were a lot of nice mares that did not sell this morning.”–@CDeBernardisTDN

Shadai Scoops Up ‘Elite’ Mares

Representatives of Teruya Yoshida’s Shadai Farm were busy during Monday’s opening session of Keeneland January, securing two broodmare prospects from the Elite Sales consignment: $350,000 purchase Majestic Quality (Quality Road) and $300,000 investment Lady Foghorn (Zavata). Shadai representative Dr. Yuki Shimomura said that it is currently undecided which stallions the mares would go to.

“The Shadai team is as thorough in their homework as anybody,” Elite’s Bradley Weisbord said. “They inspect the mares for a long time and come back multiple times. It is exciting to know these mares are going to a world-class operation that constantly finds and buys the best bloodstock. We appreciate their support.”

The 6-year-old Lady Foghorn (hip 102), a daughter of SP Titia (Northern Spur {Ire}), was their first purchase of the day. Campaigned throughout her career by owner/breeder Stuart Grant’s The Elkstone Group and trainer Anthony Granitz, the Indiana-bred retired last summer with a record of 26-14-4-4 and earnings of $824,273.

The bay’s career highlights include a win in the 2016 GII Falls City H. at Churchill and six listed stakes wins in Indiana. She also placed in two other graded events and closed her career on a winning note in an allowance at Indiana Grand July 4.

“The Elkstone Group brought her here to sell,” Weisbord said. “I think that is very important to establish, especially for a young sales company like ourselves, to have like-minded owners that want to sell their horses. She came with a realistic reserve and was a gorgeous physical. [Grant’s] farm manager did a tremendous job prepping her. She has a great coat on her and came in great shape. She was a runner on both turf and dirt. It was a little bit on the higher end of what we thought she’d bring considering the stallion and her age.”

The 4-year-old Majestic Quality (hip 127) proved quite popular in the ring Monday, but Shadai fended off all comers to take the mare back to Japan. Raced by trainer Keith Desormeaux, Big Chief Racing and Rocker O Ranch, the $40,000 KEESEP yearling buy repaid that initial investment with $154,605 in earnings on the racetrack from a record of 12-1-2-4.

Runner-up in last term’s GII Rachel Alexandra S. as a maiden, the bay earned her diploma at Santa Anita in May and followed that with a pair of third-place finishes in the GII Summertime Oaks June 17 and GIII Indiana Oaks July 15. A half-sister to GSP Diski Dance (Songandaprayer), Majestic Quality is out of She Nuit All (Lost Soldier), who is a half-sister to MGISW Octave (Unbridled’s Song) and MGSW Belle Cherie (Belong to Me).

“This was for a really loyal, good client, Matt, Brian, Don’t Tell My Wife Racing and Keith Desormeaux,” Weisbord said. “I got to know those guys through Exaggerator. Keith buys as many good horses as anybody for under $100,000. He got her to be Grade II-placed. She had a little hiccup over the summer, but they got rewarded. The market is very, very strong. The mare was well positioned and got a chance to shine.”–@CDeBernardisTDN

Heider Retains Savings Account

Grade I-placed Savings Account (Medaglia d’Oro) sparked a fury of bidding at Keeneland Monday, but was ultimately led out of the ring unsold on a final bid of $650,000.

A $310,000 KEESEP yearling purchase by Craig Bernick and Scott Heider, the Tom Proctor pupil won six of 21 starts for earnings of $418,475. Victorious in the 2016 Treasure Chest S., she checked in second in the 2013 GIII Miesque S. and was third to four-time Eclipse winner Beholder (Henny Hughes) in the 2015 GIII Zenyatta S. Her final start was in December of 2016.

“The partnership with Craig was dissolved so Scott owns the whole mare,” said John Sikura, whose Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm consigned hip 205. “The thought was if she made the right price, he’d sell her and if not, he would bring her to the farm and breed her to Curlin.”

He continued, “That was the question mark coming in, whether she’d bring enough, but he knew where he wanted to be. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don’t. He’s got a lovely mare, open and sound and ready to breed. I’m uncertain at this time whether she will come back to the sale or be kept as a broodmare, but she will go to Curlin in February. She could really run and is a big, beautiful daughter of Medaglia d’Oro. He is happy to own her.”

Out of SW Wild Hoots (Unbridled’s Song), Savings Account hails from the family of GISP Be Smart (Smarty Jones) and SW Road Ready (More Than Ready). The 7-year-old mare aborted a foal by Pioneerof the Nile and was being offered as a broodmare prospect.–@CDeBernardisTDN

Sydney based New Zealander Chris Waller is to be inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall Of Fame. Waller moved to Australia in 2000 and since then has won the last seven Sydney training titles as well as being Australia’s leading Group 1 trainer the last few seasons; however he is become internationally known for his handling of the brilliant Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) who has won the last three running’s of the G1 Cox Plate. Joining Waller in the Hall Of Fame next month will be NZ trainer Murray Baker who apart from being the pre-eminent trainer in his homeland, has won 21 Group 1 races in Australia, a record for a New Zealand based trainer.

Midnight Bisou (3, f, Midnight Lute-Diva Delite, by Repent) is a maiden no more as she graduates with a convincing win in the GII Santa Ynez S. Sunday at Santa Anita.

The dark bay came out of two narrow nose defeats to GI Starlet victress Dream Tree (Uncle Mo), including her latest in the Desi Arnaz S. Nov. 18 at Del Mar.

Midnight Bisou traveled in the five path as the field bunched up exiting the chute before being taken back to sit off a :22.38 first quarter set by ‘TDN Rising Star’ War Heroine (Lonhro {Aus}). She was still under a tight hold by Mike Smith as she made a four-wide move around the far turn and took the advantage turning for home, kicking away to a 5 1/2-length score. Steph Being Steph (Majestic Warrior) grabbed second by a nose over the favorite Win The War (War Front).

This is the first stakes winner out of Diva Delite, who captured the 2010 GIII Florida Oaks. She also has produced a yearling colt by Warriors Reward.

Lifetime Record: 3-1-2-0. O- Bloom Racing Stable LLC and Allen Racing LLC; B-Woodford Thoroughbreds; T-Bill Spawr.