Never headed

SEPTEMBER IS traditionally a busy time in Kentucky, and it was even busier this year when the month kicked off with the rescheduled Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on September 5.

There was an eerie feel to the track as horses raced in front of the near-empty stands throughout the week with just connections in attendance as protests took place around Louisville.

If that wasn’t enough drama for the weekend, the Derby itself added even more to the storyline in the paddock.

The down part of a year full of ups and downs for Bob Baffert’s three-year-olds was put on even bigger display when Thousand Words had to be scratched in the paddock, and Baffert’s assistant taken to the hospital with a broken arm.

The up part for the barn came less than half an hour later. What beforehand was regarded as an easy second leg run toward a Triple Crown for the Barclay Tagg-trained Tiz The Law instead gave Bob Baffert another Kentucky Derby winner.

Pushed throughout much of the race by the favorite, Authentic repelled Tiz The Law after a brief duel in the stretch to win by just over a length, a third Derby win for Baffert in the last six runnings.

Spendthrift Farm shared in those ups and downs – Thousand Words and Authentic both co-owned by the farm.

By their own champion sire Into Mischief, future Spendthrift stallion Authentic was one of 10 stakes horses and three graded stakes winners for his sire over Kentucky Derby weekend at three different tracks, including the third place finisher in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.

The first two home in the Kentucky Oaks were sired by Daredevil (More Than Ready).

Fielding two of the nine Kentucky Oaks starters from his first crop, as soon as Shedaresthedevil and Swiss Skydiver crossed the line in first and second, Daredevil revealed the finnicky nature of the breeding industry.

The stallion’s first weanlings in 2017 had averaged a respectable $58,517 from a $12,500 stud fee, but he found mixed results in the yearling ring and in 2019 he only attracted 21 mares to his base at Winstar Farm.

Though Daredevil, a juvenile winner of the Champagne Stakes (G1), had 10 winners and three stakes horses by last November with his first runners, it was announced last winter that he’d been purchased by the Turkish Jockey Club in a deal that also included Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver.

As of press time, there has been no word on if Daredevil will be brought back for next breeding season, but breeders haven’t been shy about repatriating stallions to the US in the last five years.

Empire Maker and Take Charge Indy both rejoined Kentucky rosters in that time while dual classic winner I’ll Have Another joined a US roster for the first time when moved to California from Japan.

Into Mischief had been labeled as a stallion who wouldn’t produce Classic distance horses, so this year’s Kentucky Derby win by Authentic checked another box on the Into Mischief’s resume as he becomes a breed-shaping sire.

Not surprisingly, the son of Harlan’s Holiday proved to be a hit at the two yearling sales immediately following the Kentucky Derby, the thoroughbred action moving from Louisville to Lexington.

Siring the third-most expensive offering at Fasig-Tipton’s Selected Yearling Showcase, Into Mischief saw that son go to Donato Lanni for SF Bloodstock, Starlight, and Madaket for $800,000 so continuing the Kentucky Derby connection – SF Bloodstock and Starlight had purchased Authentic as a yearling and the trio was in Authentic’s early ownership group.

While Starlight and Madaket are still in the colt’s ownership, Spendthrift Farm bought out multiple owners, including SF Bloodstock, earlier this year.

The microshare ownership vehicle MyRacehorse.com joined after Authentic, who was bred by Peter Blum Thoroughbreds, finished second in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) in June.

In all, Into Mischief sired two of the top five yearlings at Fasig-Tipton before taking command at Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale.

Third by aggregate for nine sold at $4.8 million in the first session of Book 1, Into Mischief’s best-priced yearling in that opening day was the $1 million colt out of Grade 2-placed Curlina from Gainesway and bought by Oxo Equine (Lot 121).

That proved to be just a warm up for the following day when he proved to be the most popular sire in the second session with three sold for over $1 million.

That group was topped by a $1.9 million filly out of a stakes-winning half-sister to graded stakes winners and promising sires Liam’s Map and Not this Time, another purchased by Larry Best’s Oxo Equine.

In all, Into Mischief’s 11 sold on the first Monday of the sale grossed $8.25 million with an average of $750,000 and median of $675,000.

While not quite as active on the top of the leader board as he has been at past sales, Tapit again lorded at Keeneland September producing the most expensive yearling of the sale and the toppers in the two opening sessions of the book.

Purchased during a last frenetic 30 minutes of the second session that saw four of seven horses sold for over $1 million, Hip 435 out of Tara’s Tango sold for $2 million to Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Robert LaPenta, Gainesway, and Winchell to top the sale.

The second foal out of Grade 1 winner Tara’s Tango, the Stonestreet-bred Tapit colt has four graded stakes winners immediately under his second dam.

Stonestreet bought back into the colt shortly after he was sold and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Aron Wellman reflected on how important partnerships are at the sales.

“Partnerships are so prevalent in today’s market,” said Wellman. “It is wild to think how far partnerships have come.

“We had a fabulous relationship with Cot Campbell of Dogwood Stable going back to when Eclipse first started. To think how the partnership model has evolved and that now we as a partnership company are partnering with moguls in the industry.

“It speaks volumes. Barbara Banke has been gracious about staying in as a partner. She adores this colt. Hopefully between all of us we have plenty of good mojo. All I care about is that you are interviewing our partnership after he wins a Grade 1!”

While not as busy at the Fasig-Tipton sale, partnerships were active at the Keeneland September Sale with two of the top 14 yearlings purchased by groups that included multiple prominent industry members. The common denominator in both those horses was Gainesway, who not only stands Tapit but also bought into his $2 million son at the sale.

While they didn’t buy any seven-figure horses, the same SF/Starlight/Madaket group that bought and raced Authentic pooled their resources for 12 yearlings – the most of any buyer in the first book of Keeneland’s September Sale.

They were joined by another partnership at the top with Repole Stable and St. Elias partnering on eight yearlings in Book 1.

Interestingly, even though both aforementioned ownership groups bought a high number of horses only one yearling was purchased for $1 million or more.

One owner who wasn’t seen on any partnerships this sale was Shadwell Estate Company, who had an eye specifically for yearlings by Medaglia D’Oro, with three of their purchases by the stallion.

That included a $1.6 million half-sister to Irish stakes winner Sergei Prokofiev, who was the most expensive of four sevenfigure yearlings by Medaglia D’Oro with the quartet all fillies.

“She is a beautiful filly – the kind you have to have,” said Shadwell Farm’s Rick Nichols. “Sheikh Hamdan told me this morning to try to concentrate on getting some really nice fillies. We send all of our good fillies to England, and he keeps promising to send them back, but he doesn’t!

“Our broodmare band is starting to get a little old, and we need to rejuvenate it a little bit. I am pretty sure she will stay because the offspring of Medaglia D’Oro seem to do better here.”

As for Anderson Farm’s David Anderson, seeing his homebred Ontario-bred filly selling for that much was a special moment.

“I’m very emotional right now,” said Anderson. “I bred the mother and I bred this filly and she’s probably the most athletic filly I’ve ever had on the farm.

“We came here fairly confident that everyone would feel the same way I do.

“I want to thank Mr [Joe] Allen for being the underbidder on the filly. There were many wonderful people that I respect that came by to see the filly and bid on her.

“It means a lot to a little guy from Canada.”

In all, the first book of the Keeneland September Sale saw 209 of the 346 through the ring sold for a gross of $85,215 million and average price of $407,727 with a $335,000 median.

The first book was cut back to two days from three in 2019 with 340 sold of the 460 offered bringing a gross of $160,463 million, an average of $471,950 and a $355,000 median.

When we went to press, at the end of this year’s session four, 622 lots had sold at a clearance rate of 66 per cent for an aggregate of $165,853,000 and an average price of $266,645, falls of 25 per cent on 2019.