Fasig-Tipton

PULLOUT PREVIEW Tuesday, June 12, 2018

IN VOGUE

Your indispensable guide to the Fasig-Tipton July Sale featuring the hottest young sires in North America

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Tuesday, June 12, 2018 racingpost.com

THE JULY SALE

Search is on for stars of the future

OppOrtunity, prosperity and success. the American dream is encapsulated in racing’s newest triple Crown hero Justify, whose raw talent helped him follow in the footsteps of American pharoah, three years after that colt ended the 37-year wait since Affirmed in 1978. now here we are, 36 months later, with American pharoah’s first-crop yearlings (opposite) an exciting feature at Fasig-tipton for the July Sale, which takes place in Lexington, Kentucky four weeks today. A total of 349 lots of opportunity make the selected catalogue, and each

potential athlete could grow into the next American dream. in this supplement we aim to whet the appetite for what’s to come and nancy Sexton has highlighted her top five colts and fillies from an offering strong on sire-power but also numbers – it is Fasig-tipton’s largest July Sale catalogue in nearly ten years. the anticipation is always around the first-crop sires, and with 30 freshman stallions represented we highlight those expected to make the biggest impact. But will anything match Cairo prince’s sales frenzy of last year? nancy also talks to Bret Jones of

Airdrie Stud, which stands Cairo prince, to reflect on the operation’s sales success and find out more on the buzz behind its latest stallion Summer Front.

June is a month rich in racing highlights and reminds us why we never tire of turning the pages of catalogues, hoping to fold the corner of one that contributes to the July Sale being ranked one of the leaders in north America by percentage of winners, Graded stakes winners and two-year-old winners.

Enjoy the read and let the homework begin.

Lucy Watson, bloodstock director

CONTENTS 4 Bret Jones of Airdrie

Stud: “We always try to bring good representatives of our first-crop sires to Fasig-Tipton” 6 First-crop sires in focus 8 Top 5s: our pick of this year’s yearlings 9 Boyd Browning remembers Bill Graves 10 Carl McEntee on new venture Ballysax Bloodstock; stakes form of lots’ siblings 11 Trainer Tim Glyshaw on Horses In Training Sale bargain buy Bullards Alley; sale preview

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Racing Post Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Duo by ‘people’s horse’ Pharoah are sure to have their admirers

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HE first chance to snap up a yearling

by Triple Crown hero American Pharoah arises at Fasig-Tipton in a pair of fillies, hips 131 and 205.

Back in 2015 American Pharoah captured the imagination of the public like no other horse. The first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, Zayat Stables’ homebred packed in victories in the Arkansas Derby, Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Haskell Invitational and Breeders’ Cup Classic during his demanding three-year-old season, completing each challenge with a degree of dominance.

And with that American Pharoah mania grew. Nearly 61,000 descended on Monmouth Park in Zayat’s home state of New Jersey to watch him dominate the Haskell Invitational. There was also an instance when he appeared on the front cover of Vogue.

“Winning the Triple Crown was important for many reasons but

American Pharoah wins the Kentucky Derby; (above) Vogue cover star; (right) a new Triple Crown hero in the Belmont winner’s enclosure

primarily because he brought hope,” Ahmed Zayat told the Racing Post that year. “People had waited 37 years for a winner. I remember being thanked at the track when he won – a grandfather, who had seen Secretariat and Affirmed, told me how privileged he felt to have seen him with his grandson.

“It’s special to see what he means to people and how he’s connected. I told people after the Haskell that he’s America’s horse – he’s become an ambassador for the sport.”

American Pharoah retired to stand at Ashford Stud at a fee of $200,000 for 2016 (it has since been listed as private). The son of Pioneerof The Nile covered 208 mares during that first season and, while there were various reports of breeders gaining a ‘two for one’ discount for sending a second mare, that initial book came to include 47 top-level winners and/or producers. Among them

was Mekko Hokte, the dam of Caravaggio, whose resulting colt was sold by his breeders Windmill Manor Farms and Petaluma Bloodstock for $1 million to MV Magnier at the Keeneland January Sale.

So far, American Pharoah has had 13 members of his first-crop sell at auction for an average of $467,307.

With that in mind, many eyes will be on hip 131 when she enters the ring at Fasig-Tipton. Bred by Machmer Hall and sold through Select Sales, the February 3-born filly is a half-sister to Kingdom Road, Group 1-placed in Peru, and the Grade 3-placed Co Cola, out of the winning Yonaguska mare Yong Musician. It is the further family of Mind Your Biscuits.

Bluewater Sales sends through the second filly, hip 205. Bred by Southern Equine Stables and also foaled in February, she is out of Distorted Point, a Distorted Humor daughter of Zayat’s Del Mar Debutante Stakes heroine Point Ashley.

Nancy Sexton

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Tuesday, June 12, 2018 racingpost.com

THE JULY SALE Education

for the next generation UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

THE University Of Kentucky is still riding high on the achievement of Grade 3 winner Fear The Cowboy, an admirable third in the Santa Anita Handicap this year, writes Nancy Sexton.

A Fasig-Tipton graduate, the son of Cowboy Cal was bred and raised by the University of Kentucky’s Maine Chance Farm, an equine educational facility that provides students with the necessary training to forge a career in the industry.

Broodmare management, foaling and sales prep are just some of the areas covered by the programme; Fear The Cowboy, for instance, was sold by the university for $1,500 as a short yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale, which was also the destination for 12 of the farm’s crop this year.

“Most of our students come from non-racing areas of the horse industry so he’s really increased our opportunity to expose them to the thoroughbred industry,” says Dr Laurie Lawrence, professor at the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture.

Maine Chance enjoyed a good result at last year’s July Sale when selling a Northern Afleet colt to John Brocklebank for $75,000 and return this year with hip 171, a Mucho Macho Man filly out of the stakes-placed Charlotte’s Di, by El Corredor.

The filly is one of only two yearlings catalogued by her Breeders’ Cup Classic-winning sire, whose first runner Mucho Amor was the impressive winner of her debut at Keeneland.

Her victory came amid a powerful juvenile sales season for Mucho Macho Man that included the sale of two youngsters for in excess of $500,000.

“He was a great racehorse,” says Lawrence.

“Physically he fit the mare very well as they’re both correct with plenty of size and scope. The filly is tall and elegant with a great shoulder and correct legs.

She has a great attitude and is eager to please.

“She’s been popular with our students and I believe there’s some competition over who will be her show person at the sale!”

‘He puts a big, powerful hind end on them. But the quality is what stands out, they have that presence’ Nancy Sexton talks to Bret Jones of Airdrie Stud, which had a stellar sale last year with Cairo Prince and is looking to repeat the trick with another young stallion in Summer Front

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HIS time last year we were on the cusp of witnessing a frenzy of mighty proportions for the progeny of Cairo Prince. The young Airdrie Stud stallion had been exceptionally well received at auction the previous November and that momentum duly rolled into the summer yearling sales, starting with Fasig-Tipton July where he averaged $141,875 for eight sold.

The remarkable aspect of Cairo Prince’s nascent following was that it was achieved off a $10,000 fee. He ended the year having supplied 43 six-figure yearlings, including one who sold for $900,000, and was swift to get off the mark this year when an early representative, Wesley Ward’s highly regarded Abyssinian, romped home at Belmont Park.

It it perhaps too much to expect Brereton C Jones’s Airdrie Stud to repeat the trick so quickly but one year on they head to the July Sale with plenty of buzz behind their latest stallion to come under the commercial microscope in Summer Front.

Trained by Christophe Clement, the son of War Front enjoyed his finest moment when taking the Fort Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream Park. An excellent miler, he was also Grade 1-placed on multiple occasions, notably when second in the Shoemaker Mile and Eddie Read Stakes, and

precocious enough to win the King Cugat and Dania Beach Stakes during an unbeaten season at two.

Attractively priced by Airdrie at $10,000, he really caught the imagination of buyers last winter, returning an overall average of $100,667 for nine sold. Leading the way was a colt out of Psychadelacized who made $200,000 to Steve Young, himself purchaser of Summer Front for $475,000 as a two-year-old at Keeneland in 2011.

Now in the form of Fasig-Tipton comes the next test for Airdrie’s new hope.

And he is well equipped with a group of seven youngsters to his name, including two yearlings from Airdrie’s own draft of five.

“We always try to bring good representatives of our first-crop sires to Fasig-Tipton,” says Brereton Jones’s son Bret.

“And we have a very nice colt and a very nice filly by Summer Front in our draft.

From what I hear they’re just two of several nice Summer Fronts at the sale.”

Airdrie played the long game when it came to adding Summer Front to their roster, tracking the horse for more than two years before officially confirming his place as their new horse of 2016.

“He’s a son of War Front, who is obviously a premier sire,” says Jones. “Actually he was another we had aggressively targeted to stand – sadly we were destined to run second in that particular race!

“With Summer Front we had targeted him as a potential stallion prospect about two and a half years before we actually signed the contract.

We got to know Tom Moore and Judy Livingston, who raced the horse [as Waterford Stable], well – they were having so much fun racing him, they kept in training another season.

“He really had tremendous ability. He had a great turn of foot and he’s just a beautiful horse. Mike Ryan bred him and

he was an expensive horse at auction, when Steve Young bought him. He’s the type of horse you immediately fall for when he comes out of his stall, he has that kind of quality.

“I suppose, really, Summer Front had all the things we saw in War Front.”

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UMMER FRONT covered 137 mares in his first season at stud, which resulted in a live crop of 98 foals. Nine of those foals went on to sell at the November Sale, among them five who made six figures – impressive reading off a $10,000 fee.

Another colt out of Spiteful Gypsy made $60,000 to the bid of Dundrum Farm at Keeneland in January.

“He was very well represented at the breeding-stock sales and we went into November thinking he had the potential to do what he did,” says Jones. “His foals are very much like himself, he really puts a stamp on them. To

me, they’re a lot like the War Fronts but with more leg under them. He puts a big, powerful hind end on them. But the quality is what stands out, they have that presence.”

Airdrie was founded by Brereton and Libby Jones in 1972 in Midway, Kentucky, on land that used to be Woodburn Stud, once home of the great stallion Lexington.

Today, supported by a strong team of staff that includes Ben Henley as general manager, Mark Cunningham as farm manager and Cormac Breathnach in bloodstock services, it remains one of America’s most successful stud farms.

Silver Hawk, Indian Charlie and Harlan’s Holiday are just three of the major names to have held court in the stallion barn while other recent incumbents have included Proud Citizen, who sired two Kentucky Oaks heroines for Jones in Proud Spell and Believe You Can, and Divine Park, sire of Lady Eli.

‘There are some real positives in the American industry right now’ AMERICAN racing, currently basking in the achievements of Justify, has lots to be positive about.

That is the feeling of Bret Jones (below), who is in a fine place to observe the American racing scene as a Breeders’ Cup board director and a founding steering committee member of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association’s 2020 Campaign, a group developed to educate and give a voice to the industry’s under-40 generation.

“There are some real positives in the American industry right now,” he says.

“The big racedays have a lot of momentum, Americanbreds are winning all over the world and the top end of the sales market is exceptionally strong.”

However, as is

the case in different jurisdictions around the world, the American bloodstock market has become polarised in its nature. As Jones points out, the top remains exceptionally strong. Yet against that it is invariably tough going for anyone finding themselves as participants in the middle to lower tiers.

“The obvious hope is that the middle- and lower-tier sales horses can find enough demand to help breeders recoup their expenses and make their profits at the top of the market,” he says.

“These are difficult times for breeders and they are the lifeblood of our sport.”

Today there are eight stallions on the roster, ranging from proven Grade 1 sires such as Include, one of the last remaining direct descendants of Domino at stud, and Majesticperfection, who rewarded Jones’s early support by siring the 2015 Kentucky Oaks heroine Lovely Maria out of his first crop.

Norfolk Stakes winner Creative Cause is making a fine impression with his first two crops while in the case of the aforementioned Cairo Prince, it is now crunch time as his first two-year-olds take to the track.

“What happened last year at auction with Cairo Prince really was a frenzy,” says Jones of the son of Pioneerof The Nile, whose victory in the 2014 Holy Bull Stakes saw him become one of the favourites for that year’s Kentucky Derby until injury intervened.

“When you retire a horse to stud you dream of that kind of reception but it doesn’t always happen.

“But when he retired, people responded to him straightaway. He’s a really classy horse and then when you go through his race record, you see he had that brilliance.

“Then his first foals hit the market and you know, word of mouth is very powerful and momentum is very powerful, and people kept seeing one good one after another and they started talking.”

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E ADDS: “The great thing about him is that he made a lot of money for a lot of breeders. Our clientele is mainly the $10,000-$20,000 market and so for them to get that kind of return is brilliant.”

It is also a pivotal year for the homebred Peter Pan Stakes winner Mark Valeski, one of the best sons to race by the late Proud Citizen. Previously based at Woodford Thoroughbreds in Florida, he returned to stand at his birthplace in 2017 and also has his first two-year-olds this year, among them a colt who

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Racing Post Tuesday, June 12, 2018

‘What happened last year at auction with Cairo Prince really was a frenzy. When you retire a horse to stud you dream of that kind of reception’ Bret Jones of Airdrie Stud

Summer Front: could he follow in the footsteps of his studmate Cairo Prince, who had a stellar first-year July Sale in 2017?

made $95,000 at the OBS April Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale.

The octet is rounded out by Upstart, the 2015 Holy Bull Stakes winner who was Grade 1-placed on no fewer than six occasions, and American Freedom, the Haskell Invitational and Travers Stakes runner-up of 2016 who covered a full book of 150 mares this year at a fee of $10,000.

For breeders there is the confidence that an Airdrie stallion will be given every chance to succeed with the help of the stud’s own powerful band of mares. For instance, it was Jones who bred both of Proud Citizen’s American Grade 1 winners in Believe You Can and Proud Spell. The farm also bred his Somerville Tattersall Stakes winner River Proud, one of the stallion’s early standouts and a celebrated Fasig-Tipton July Sale graduate.

In the case of Include,

Airdrie’s support was rewarded via dual Grade 1 winner Include Me Out, another July Sale graduate who was sold by the stud for $150,000 to Jay Em Ess Stable in 2009.

Airdrie can also boast to have bred the best runners by various residents of former years such as Brother Derek (his sole Grade 1 winner Sam’s Sister), Canadian Frontier (Grade 1 winner No Such Word) and Stormin Fever (through Grade 1 winners Check The Label and Sweet Talker). Lest we forget also it is the Airdrie-bred daughter of Yankee Gentleman, My Boy Jack, a standout performer by leading third-season sire Creative Cause

Littleprincessemma, who now carries a place in racing history as the dam of American Pharoah.

Now the farm is playing a key role in the rise of Creative Cause as the breeder of two of his standouts in My Boy Jack, this year’s Southwest and Lexington Stakes winner who ran a creditable fifth in the Kentucky Derby, and Significant Form, last year’s Miss Grillo Stakes winner who returned this season to take the Memories Of Silver Stakes for Stephanie Seymour Brant. The latter was part of the farm’s 2016 draft at this sale when she sold for $75,000 to Bradley Thoroughbreds.

“Creative Cause is the

leading third-crop sire in what is a tough group and he’s right on the cusp of breaking out,” says Jones of the Classic-placed son of Giant’s Causeway.

“Significant Form is a beautiful filly. I remember right before we sold her, Creative Cause had a really impressive two-year-old stakes winner in California in Theonewewaitedfor [in the Landaluce Stakes at Santa Anita].

“We’d wanted to put a few more Creative Causes in that year’s July Sale so it was kind of a last-minute decision to place her in there. We don’t tend to overprep our yearlings and she ended up coming later out of the fields than the others.

“Pete Bradley and Eddie Woods, two great judges, bought her and I remember when the hammer dropped, we looked at each other and said ‘we may have been

hooked here!’ But we were rooting for them all the way – we want all of our horses to do well – and obviously she went on to do very well [she sold the following year for $575,000 as a two-year-old in training].”

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E ADDS: “We take pride in bringing the right horse to Fasig-Tipton each year, it’s been a good sale to us and we’re proud of the results. We won’t bring them unless we think they’re the right physical.

“I think this year’s draft again has great potential. So we’re looking forward to it, although it won’t be the same this year without Bill Graves on the grounds. He was a real good friend to us.”

Airdrie’s draft opens with hip 25, a Summer Front colt out of a winning Include half-sister to British Listed

winner Noble Storm. Hip 187 is a Cairo Prince half-brother to the Grade 3-placed Myositis Dan, while hip 272 is a Majesticperfection colt out of an Indian Charlie half-sister to Grade 2 winner Hello Liberty.

The farm also offers a pair of fillies in hip 258, a Summer Front filly out of a Stevie Wonderboy half-sister to Grade 1 winner Sam’s Sister, and hip 304, a Cairo Prince daughter of the stakes-placed Lovers Spat.

“The Summer Front filly is the first foal out of a winning mare from one of our big families and she’s a filly who fits the bill physically,” says Jones. “And the Summer Front colt is also a very good representation for the sire.

“Again it’s all about just trying to get the sales season going for him.”

In keeping with the Airdrie tradition, it seems very likely it will get off to a fine start.

South Korean export making waves in second-crop sire standings TAKE CHARGE INDY WITH more than $2 million in progeny earnings to his credit already this year, former WinStar Farm stallion Take Charge Indy sits ahead of his contemporaries on the leading second-crop sires’ list, writes Nancy Sexton.

At the time of writing, the son of A.P. Indy leads the way in every department, whether by prize-money, number of black-type winners (four) or number of three-year-old winners (29). His quartet of current black-type winners are a quality

group as well, comprising the Louisiana Derby winner Noble Indy, Forward Gal Stakes heroine Take Charge Paula and the minor stakes winners Split Time and C S Incharge from 69 runners.

However, breeders no longer have access to Take Charge Indy as in late 2016 – before he had even had a runner – the stallion was sold out of Kentucky to stand in South Korea.

“Selling Take Charge Indy was one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make in my time as a syndicate manager, but ultimately we have to blend the passion we have for our horses with business

principles for our shareholders,” WinStar president Elliott Walden said at the time.

“Sometimes difficult decisions like this arise for that philosophy.

The KRA has had strong interest in the horse and they simply made an offer that was too good to turn down.”

Perhaps it won’t be long until we see Take

Charge Indy return to American soil, but for now his ongoing success means there is likely to be heightened interest in his final American-bred crop of yearlings, which is made up of 64 foals bred off an advertised fee of $17,500.

Five are catalogued to sell Take Charge Indy, carrying the WinStar silks, in his racing pomp

at Fasig-Tipton, starting with hip 69, a half-brother to the stakes-placed Petrocelli from Select Sales. Also eyecatching is Nardelli Sales’s colt out of the excellent sprinter Nicole’s Dream (344), a 24-time winner all told.

Cara Bloodstock offers hip 83, a Canadian-bred daughter of the Grade 3-placed Sweet Ransom, while hailing from Small Batch Sales is a half-sister to restricted stakes winner Regal Minister (192).

Completing the quintet is Sheppell Thoroughbreds’ colt (182), a close relation to multiple stakes winner Tanika.

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Tuesday, June 12, 2018 racingpost.com

THE JULY SALE

YOUNG GUNS LOOKING FIRST-CROP SIRES

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HE Fasig-Tipton July Sale has long acted as an anticipated showcase for first-crop sires and this year is no different with 30 freshman stallions accounting for 133 of the 349-strong catalogue.

Among them are a number of young heavyweights residing in America’s leading stallion stations, none more exciting than Triple Crown hero American Pharoah. The likes of Honor Code, Carpe Diem, Constitution, Bayern, Palace Malice and Liam’s Map are also set to come under the microscope.

Leading the way with 13 catalogued is Darby Dan Farm’s Tapiture, followed closely by Ashford Stud’s Hopeful Stakes winner Competitive Edge – the first Grade 1-winning son of Super Saver to stud – with 12.

Nancy Sexton

Lucky 13 for Tapiture

DUAL Grade 2 winner Tapiture, who also finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile to Goldencents, bred 341 mares in his first two books and was quick to receive a buyers’ seal of approval when returning an average of $87,208 for 13 weanlings sold last year off a $7,500 fee. They included a colt out of Lady Leftennant who made $300,000 to Hunter Valley Farm.

His draft of 13 this time around includes a colt out of stakes winner Wild Hope (hip 121), a half-brother to millionaire Kharafa (220) and a filly out of multiple stakes producer Informative Style (274).

Lea producing the goods

WHAT a difference a year makes. Although a Grade 1 winner of more than $2.3 million who mixed it consistently well with the best on dirt and turf, Claiborne Farm’s Lea has not been immune to the fickle nature of our bloodstock business.

Lea covered 100 mares in his first season at a fee of $12,500, but only 46 in 2017.

Then his first foals hit the market. Buyers were impressed with what they saw and Lea suddenly became one of the talking horses of the year.

And little wonder; five of his 13 sold through the ring at Keeneland in November realised six figures led by a $230,000 filly out of Nippy who was knocked down to Mike Ryan. As a result, he closed the year with a weanling average of $93,538, momentum that carried over into Keeneland

New kids on the block: Claiborne Farm’s Lea (above), Darby Dan Farm’s Tapiture (top right) and Lane End’s Liam’s Map

January where he was represented by a $120,000 filly out of A.P. Reality.

“It’s remarkable really,” says Bernie Sams of Claiborne Farm. “He covered fewer than 50 mares last year but then got approximately 120 this year.

“He’s really stamping his foals. They’re good-looking and correct. Everyone seems to be very pleased with them.

“And when the breeding-stock sales came around we did a lot of marketing of the horse to remind people just how good he was, which I think helped.”

Lea represents the essence of Claiborne as one of the best runners by its resident First Samurai and a son of Greenery, a homebred Galileo daughter of its accomplished mare High Savannah.

He represented the farm admirably well on the track too, alternating successfully between dirt and turf to win the 2014 Donn Handicap and finish placed in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Woodbine Mile, Stephen Foster Handicap and Dubai World Cup. “He’d do whatever you wanted him to do,” says Sams.

“He always showed up.”

Lea is represented by three yearlings in the Fasig-Tipton July Sale starting with hip 93, a colt from the famous Serena’s Song family offered

by Select Sales. James M Herbener jr offers the other colt catalogued, hip 212, while among Bluewater Sales’s draft is a filly, hip 177, who is out of a half-sister to Canadian Grade 2 winner Part The Seas.

Three for Bayern

THE winter breeding-stock sales also featured real momentum behind Hill ’n’ Dale

Farm’s Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern, who rewarded his supporters with a 2017 weanling average of $103,333 off a $15,000 fee. They included a pair of colts who made $220,000 and $200,000, both of whom were knocked down to Rocco Bloodstock.

The earner of approximately $4.5 million, who hails from the exceptional Helen Groves family of Courtly Dee,

Bayern rolls into July with three representatives, including a daughter of the stakes-placed Hot Roots (hip 267) from Woodford Thoroughbreds.

Hill ’n’ Dale Farm is also home to the exceptional sprinter Secret Circle. He struck twice in the Breeders’ Cup for Bob Baffert – successful in the Juvenile Sprint at two, he came back to win the Sprint as a four-year-old – and also added

the Dubai Golden Shaheen at six.

This tough horse has two representatives catalogued in hip 15, a colt out of the stakes-placed Pi Bella, and hip 319, a colt who is closely related to the San Fernando Stakes winner Indian Firewater.

Awesome foursome

LANE’S END FARM was in the enviable position of being able

FIRST-CROP STALLIONS REPRESENTED AT THIS YEAR’S FASIG-TIPTON JULY YEARLING SALE Sire

Farm, fee

2017 foal average

No. yearlings catalogued

American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile)

Ashford Stud, $200,000

$445,000

2

Bayern (Offlee Wild)

Hill ’n’ Dale Farm, $15,000

$103,333

3

Carpe Diem (Giant’s Causeway)

WinStar Farm, $25,000

$120,824

5

Commissioner (A.P. Indy)

WinStar Farm, $7,500

$25,277

11

Competitive Edge (Super Saver)

Ashford Stud, $12,500

$51,133

12

Constitution (Tapit)

Winstar Farm, $25,000

$80,467

8

Conveyance (Indian Charlie)

Buck Pond Farm, $5,000

$50,000

4

Danza (Street Boss)

Spendthrift Farm, $4,000

$5,150

1

Daredevil (More Than Ready)

WinStar Farm, $12,500

$76,667

8

Fast Anna (Medaglia D’Oro)

Three Chimneys Farm, $7,500

$20,300

4

Fury Kapcori (Tiznow)

Journeyman Stallions, $3,000

–

1

Golden Ticket (Speightstown)

Questroyal North, $6,000

$4,750

1

Hampton Court (Redoute’s Choice)

Spendthrift Farm, $4,000

$15,000

1

Honor Code (A.P. Indy)

Lane’s End Farm, $40,000

$192,778

1

Imagining (Giant’s Causeway)

Anchor & Hope Farm, $7,500

$1,250

1

Jack Milton (War Front)

Crestwood Farm, $6,500

$29,571

3

Khozan (Distorted Humor)

Journeyman Stallions, $5,000

–

2

Lea (First Samurai)

Claiborne Farm, $12,500

$93,538

3

Liam’s Map (Unbridled’s Song)

Lane’s End Farm, $25,000

$142,500

1

Medal Count (Dynaformer)

Spendthrift Farm, $5,000

$3,950

1

Mr Speaker (Pulpit)

Lane’s End Farm, $10,000

$32,655

5

Palace (City Zip)

Spendthrift Farm, $6,000

$34,500

8

Palace Malice (Curlin)

Three Chimneys Farm, $20,000

$65,083

7

Race Day (Tapit)

Spendthrift Farm, $7,000

$16,213

6

Secret Circle (Eddington)

Hill ’n’ Dale Farm, $5,000

$8,625

2

$6,217

3

Sky Kingdom (Empire Maker)

Darby Dan Farm, $5,000

Summer Front (War Front)

Airdrie Stud, $10,000

Tapiture (Tapit)

$100,667

7

Darby Dan Farm, $7,500

$87,208

13

The Big Beast (Yes It’s True)

Ocala Stud, $6,000

$40,000

1

Wicked Strong (Hard Spun)

Spendthrift Farm, $10,000

$16,575

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to offer breeders the choice of four new Grade 1 winners in 2016.

Honor Code, one of the last top colts by A.P. Indy to stud, was a Grade 1 performer at two who later struck in the Whitney and Metropolitan Handicaps, and was priced accordingly at $40,000.

The brilliant Liam’s Map retired as the winner of six of eight starts in a career that was crowned by victory in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, while four-time Grade 1 winner Tonalist displayed striking versatility to win the Cigar Mile in addition to the Belmont Stakes.

Tonalist is not represented at Fasig-Tipton but Honor Code and Liam’s Map both have one yearling apiece: Honor Code, whose first weanlings sold for up to $370,000 last year, is responsible for a filly out of multiple stakes winner Hisse from Roger Daly (hip 264), while Liam’s Map’s representative is a half-sister to Fountain Of Youth Stakes winner Itsaknockout (79) from Hunter Valley Farm.

However, the 2018 sales season is one that is set to bear even greater importance to Lane’s End’s other new recruit of 2016, Mr Speaker.

A member of that outstanding Phipps family of Personal Ensign who was trained by Shug McGaughey to win the Belmont Derby at the expense of globetrotter Adelaide, Mr Speaker was warmly received by breeders during his first season, covering 117 mares at a fee of $10,000.

But then disaster struck.

Mr Speaker tested positive for piroplasmosis on his entry to Miami following a shuttle trip to Chile and was forced to immediately return to his southern hemisphere base.

Reportedly the case marked the first time in 30 years that a stallion had been denied entry to the US because of the disease.

While Mr Speaker sat out the 2017 season his first foals hit the ground and went on to do their sire proud at auction, selling for up to $70,000.

The son of Pulpit was able to return to the Lane’s End roster this season but the lack of a second crop on the ground is naturally far from ideal, making a bold showing by his first crop at this year’s yearling sales all the more important.

Mr Speaker has five opportunities to do just that at Fasig-Tipton, among them a half-brother to current Canadian Grade 3 performer Kasuga (242) and a colt out of the Grade 3-placed Nite In Rome (347).

7

Racing Post Tuesday, June 12, 2018

TO MAKE THEIR MARK Powerful squad

WINSTAR’S powerful army of young stallions includes two exceptional performers of their generation in Carpe Diem and Constitution, an excellent two-year-old in Daredevil and the Classic-placed Commissioner.

Unsurprisingly, each made their presence felt when their first crop came under the hammer last winter, and that momentum looks poised to continue as the yearling sales

season gets under way.

Constitution, Constitution winner of the Florida Derby and Donn Handicap, retired to WinStar as one of the best sons of Tapit to grace the track. He

WinStar’s Constitution (above left) and Daredevil (right), and fellow new boy, Lane’s End resident Honor Code

heads to Fasig-Tipton with an interesting eight-strong draft, among them a colt out of Grade 3 winner Dancing Solo (hip 190) and those out of

other stakes winners Danalake (colt; 189) and Livi Makenzie (filly; 300).

Fellow dual Grade 1 winner Carpe Diem, who enjoyed his best moments at Keeneland when successful in the Breeders’ Futurity and Blue Grass Stakes, returned a weanling average of $120,824 for 17 sold last year. His

summer yearling sales season opens at Fasig-Tipton with a draft of five to his name, including a half-sister to the Grade 3-placed pair One True Kiss and Tiz Kissable (99) and a close relation to last year’s Hopeful Stakes winner Sporting Chance (129).

Daredevil, the Champagne Stakes winner

who shares his sire More Than Ready with leading Australian stallion Sebring among others, was another to reward his investors last winter.

Initially priced at $12,500, he was represented by six weanlings who made in excess of $100,000. Hopes will be high this time around for the prospects of his eight-strong draft that includes a filly out of stakes winner Who Is Camille (119) and a colt who is closely related to Pacific Classic hero Collected (285).

Rounding out this powerful quartet is Hawthorne Gold Cup winner Commissioner, who finished second to Tonalist in the Belmont Stakes. A particularly good-looking son of A.P. Indy, he bred 273 mares in his first two seasons and is well represented at Fasig-Tipton with 11 yearlings, including the half-sister to Irish Group 3 winner Maoineach (95) and a granddaughter of Grade 1 winner Magical Maiden (174).

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8

Tuesday, June 12, 2018 racingpost.com

THE JULY SALE

TEN YOUNGSTERS WHO ‘Group 1 juvenile talent is very much to the fore with this colt’

A hit in the sales ring: a yearling at last year’s Fasig-Tipton July Sale awaits his turn

much to the fore with this colt, a son of 2008 Alcibiades Stakes winner and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Dream Empress.

Dream Empress is the dam of two winners including No Delusion, a $570,000 yearling who reached an official rating of 87 during her useful career in Britain for Godolphin.

This family goes back to Execution, also the ancestress of Group/Graded stakes winners such as Yonaguska, Cat’s At Home, Guided Tour, Tap Day and Fairy Garden.

Denali Stud

TOP 5 PICK OF THE COLTS Hip 124

bay by Tapit out of With Intention by Mr Greeley Gainesway’s decision to send this colt here could reap major dividends given he stands out as the only yearling catalogued by his leading sire.

Bred on the same Mr Greeley cross as Grade 1 winner Zazu and her Grade 1-placed sibling Flashback, this colt is a half-brother to Godolphin’s Group 3-winning juvenile Maftool and out of a half-sister to the talented speedsters Abraaj and Leelanau. Their dam is the winning Kris’s Intention, a daughter of Kris S; incidentally, Kris S also appears in the background of Tapit’s Grade 1 winners Untapable and Time And Motion.

Consigned by Gainesway

Hip 203

b Empire Maker-Diplomat Lady (Forestry) Breeders reacted to the news

Hip 285 of Empire Maker’s return to Kentucky by sending him 139 mares that resulted in a live crop of 94 foals bred off a fee of $100,000.

One of the many high-profile mares to head his way was the Starlet Stakes winner Diplomat Lady, whose resulting colt is catalogued here as hip 203.

Bought for $1.3 million on

her last trip through the ring, Diplomat Lady is the dam of three winners and is a half-sister to Comely Stakes winner Dream Play, in turn the dam of Australian Group 1 performer Zulu Land.

Storm Cat-lines mare clicked well with Empire Maker when he stood in Kentucky the first time round, as the likes of

JULY YEARLINGS – TOP COLTS

Bodemeister and In Lingerie attest. This particular representative is also bred on the same Forestry cross as Grade 2 scorer Magical Feeling.

Bluewater Sales

Hip 208

ch Speightstown-Dream Empress (Bernstein) Grade 1 juvenile talent is very

Year

Breeding

Consignor

Purchaser(s)

2017

Orb - Aurora Prospect

Gainesway, agent

Kenneth McPeek, agent

310,000

Price ($)

2016

Curlin - Franscat

St George Sales, agent

Hartley/de Renzo Thoroughbreds

475,000

2015

Scat Daddy - Starbourne

Indian Creek, agent

Crupi’s New Castle

385,000

2014

Cowboy Cal - Refugee

Hidden Brook, agent

Northwest Stud

550,000

2013

Bellamy Road - Affirmed Dancer

Gainesway, agent

Whisper Hill Farm

420,000

b Daredevil-Josette (Danehill) From the first crop of a stallion who caught the imagination at the winter breeding-stock sales, this colt is a three-parts brother to stakes winner Woodwin W (by More Than Ready) out of Josette, also the granddam of Collected, who claimed the scalp of Arrogate in last year’s Pacific Classic.

Maftool: the son of Hard Spun is a half-brother to hip 124, a Tapit colt

The cross of More Than Ready over Danehill has long been a trusted route, especially in Australia where it has yielded the Group 1 winners Sebring, Prized Icon, Dreamaway, More Than Sacred, Perfectly Ready, Benicio and Entisaar.

Woodford Thoroughbreds

Hip 312

b Street Sense-Mahkama (Bernardini) Another youngster with a current pedigree as the three-parts brother to Yulong Warrior, by Street Cry. Not far behind the likes of Sioux Nation and Seahenge in a series of Irish maidens last year, the progressive colt found his stride for Satish Seemar in Dubai this year, winning two races including the Al Bastakiya by close to an astonishing 12 lengths.

Their winning dam Mahkama is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Summer Raven and shares her sire, emerging broodmare sire Bernardini, with that mares’s Grade 2-winning daughter Lewis Bay, successful in the Bed O’Roses Invitational Stakes since the publication of the catalogue.

Michael and Julia O’Quinn

Nancy Sexton

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9

Racing Post Tuesday, June 12, 2018

TAKE THE EYE

‘She’s a member of a family that invariably piques international attention when it comes to auction’ TOP 5 PICK OF THE FILLIES

Hip 4

chestnut by Wicked Strong out of Our Seattle Star

by Seattle Song Regardless of how this filly’s racing career pans out she will always have some residual value as the half-sister to millionaire Seattle Smooth, whose seven wins were highlighted by the Ogden Phipps Handicap at Belmont Park. She is also a half-sister to the stakes-placed Storming Starlet and to the dam of stakes winner Just Got Out, a tough filly who won ten races overall during a 43-start career.

This is the first crop of Wood Memorial Stakes winner Wicked Strong, the first son of Hard Spun to stud in Kentucky whose foals sold for up to $85,000 at auction last winter.

Consigned by Eaton Sales

Hip 33

b Orb-Rebalite (More Than Ready) The sole filly catalogued by her Kentucky Derby-winning sire, this West Virginia-bred is a half-sister to dual Grade 2 winner Race Day, himself represented in the catalogue by six yearlings, and from the immediate family of Lite Light.

Race Day – a son of Tapit and therefore bred on the same A.P. Indy cross as this filly – enjoyed his finest moments when successful in the Oaklawn Handicap and Fayette Stakes, victories that earned him a berth at Spendthrift Farm.

Their winning dam Rebalite is a half-sister to Lite Light, the Kentucky, Coaching Club and Santa Anita Oaks heroine of 1991 who went on to produce Flying Childers Stakes winner Saddad during her successful stud career.

Select Sales

Hip 201

ch Candy Ride-Devil’s Cave (Put It Back) Candy Ride’s current crop of yearlings were bred during the first year he stood for $60,000. That figure has since risen to $80,000, a move that has been fully justified given he remains out on his own at the head of this year’s leading sires’ list.

LEADING JULY YEARLING SALE GRADUATES 2016-18 Name (sire)

Consignor

Purchaser(s)

Price (year) Best race won

Connect (Curlin)

VanMeter Sales

Paul Pompa

150,000 (2014) Cigar Mile-G1

Dream Tree (Uncle Mo)

Select Sales, agent JSM Equine

225,000 (2016) Starlet S-G1

Klimt (Quality Road)

Gainesway

Bradley T’breds

140,000 (2015) Del Mar Futurity-G1

Noble Bird (Birdstone)

Brookdale Sales

Mark Casse

105,000 (2012) Stephen Foster H-G1

Conquest Enforcer (Into Mischief) Warrendale Sales

Full House Stables

210,000 (2014) Mathis Brothers Mile S-G2

S’Maverlous (Tiz Wonderful)

Pauls Mill B’stock

Harvey Clarke

Vyjack (Into Mischief)

Select Sales, agent Pike Racing, agent

45,000 (2011) City Of Hope Mile-G2

Ghost Hunter (Ghostzapper)

Adena Springs

Scott & Evan Dilworth

75,000 (2011) Arlington H-G3

Kanthaka (Jimmy Creed)

Vinery

N/A

38,000 (2016) San Vicente S-G2

Lombo (Graydar)

Taylor Made Sales

Hot Scot Racing Stables

40,000 (2016) Robert B Lewis S-G3

Lord Simba (Discreet Cat)

Mill Ridge Sales

80,000 (2011) New Orleans H-G2

Randy Bradshaw

52,000 (2014) Los Angeles S-G3

Mr Misunderstood (Archarcharch) Eaton Sales

Woodford Sales

47,000 (2015) Commonwealth Turf S-G3

Rayya (Tiz Wonderful)

Mineola Farm

N/A

19,000 (2016) UAE Oaks-G2

Sassicaia (Bernardini)

Taylor Made Sales

Hartley/deRenzo T’breds 250,000 (2012) Toboggan S-G3

Significant Form (Creative Cause) Brereton C Jones

Bradley T‘breds, agent

JULY YEARLINGS – TOP FILLIES Consignor

57,000 (2016) Miss Grillo S-G3

Year

Breeding

2017

Medaglia D’Oro - Hung The Moon Bluewater Sales Llc

Purchaser

OXO Equine Llc

Price ($)

1,000,000

2016

Uncle Mo - Flowers Atthefinish

Dromoland Farm Inc.

Cary Frommer

250,000

2015

Tapit - French Dip

Gainesway, agent

Steven W Young, agent

500,000

2014

Malibu Moon - Holy Princess

Candyland Farm, agent

Santee Stables

210,000

2013

Desert Party - Lil Cozette

Allied Bloodstock, agent

Regis Farms

460,000

This filly, a registered Maryland-bred, is the second of two of his daughters catalogued by the sire (the other, out of Running Wild, is catalogued as hip 39) and is the product of a young, talented mare who set a track record when winning the Sabin Stakes at Gulfstream Park in 2014.

Brookdale Sales

Hip 230

b Can The Man-Five Star Daydream (Five Star Day) Few yearlings catalogued boast a family as current as this filly, a three-quarter sister to Richard Baltas’s talented three-year-old Gas Station Sushi.

The daughter of Into Mischief turned heads when blowing apart a Del Mar maiden on her only start at two, a performance that was backed up on her return at three

JULY YEARLING SALE Year

No. sold

Aggregate ($)

Average ($)

Median ($)

Top price ($)

2017

172

16,107,000

93,645

70,000

1,000,000

2016

183

15,756,500

86,101

60,000

475,000

2015

205

20,005,000

97,585

77,000

500,000

2014

162

15,253,000

94,154

70,000

550,000

2013

163

14,635,000

89,785

72,000

460,000

when she ran out the easy winner of the Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland with subsequent stakes winner Happy Like A Fool in arrears. She has since finished third in the Eight Belles Stakes; given she is a May foal, like hip 230, it is reasonable to expect further improvement is to come.

The pair are out of stakes winner Five Star Daydream, who boasts a 100 per cent winners-to-runners record at stud, and hail from the further family of Grade 1 winner Taste Of Paradise.

This filly is from the second crop of Into Mischief’s son Can The Man, whose first juveniles sold for up to $230,000 earlier this year.

Four Star Sales

Hip 231

b Strong MandateFly The Flag (Giant’s Causeway) A member of an iconic family, Gas Station Sushi: this talented daughter of Into Mischief is a three-quarter sister to hip 230, a filly by sophomore sire Can The Man

one that invariably piques international attention when it comes to auction.

Her third dam is none other than Ogden Phipps’s legendary mare Personal Ensign, a champion on the track who left a striking mark on the breed as the dam of Grade 1 winners My Flag, Miner’s Mark and Traditionally in addition to the Grade 1-placed Our Emblem (sire of War Emblem) and the Grade 2-placed Salute (dam of Grade 1 winner Mr Speaker).

It is as a granddaughter of four-time Grade 1 winner My Flag, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner of 1995, that this filly descends from Personal Ensign. Also influential at stud, My Flag left behind five winners led by another champion in Storm Flag Flying and the Grade 3-placed On Parade (dam of Grade 2 winner and sire Parading). While Fly The Flag was not one of the winning quintet, her early runners do include $150,000 earner Tisbury, a daughter of Strong Mandate’s sire Tiznow.

Denali Stud

Nancy Sexton

Bill Graves: lasting impact on the thoroughbred industry

‘His legacy and influence will continue for years’ RACING lost a friend last month with the death of respected figure Bill Graves at the age of 69. Graves acted as senior vice president with Fasig-Tipton from 1992 until his passing, and here Boyd Browning (below), president and chief executive officer of Fasig-Tipton, offers his tribute to the immensely popular horseman

B

ILL GRAVES loved horses. From the time he was a young boy until his too early passing they were an important part of his everyday.

As a young boy he rode ponies on the family farm.

With a natural feel and a competitive spirit, Bill soon began showing and jumping at the highest levels. He achieved great success in this arena as evidenced by his induction into the Virginia Show Horse Hall of Fame.

These lessons and skills soon led to a professional life in the thoroughbred industry.

Over the course of his career he was a standout showman, breeder, trainer, consignor and, for the last 26 years, a senior executive with Fasig-Tipton.

Bill Graves loved horse sales. There was an art to both the preparation and presentation of horses for a sale. Upon arrival on the sales grounds, the horse needed to look its absolute best. Sale day was ‘graduation day’ and the feed, exercise, trimming and grooming programmes were

all focused on achieving perfection. Presentation was equally important – the horse’s coat, the show person’s attire and the appearance of the barn and show areas were all important to creating the best possible impression for prospective buyers.

Bill Graves loved people.

His warm smile was always present. His quick wit and humour made him a favourite of all – from a groom in the barn to the richest buyers in the world.

He treated each with dignity and respect .He had a story to tell and told it well.

With his magnificent eye and many wonderful traits, Bill made a lasting impact on not only Fasig-Tipton and our sales, but the thoroughbred industry as a whole. His legacy and influence will continue for years through his son Brian, as well as the countless people he taught and influenced on the right way to treat horses and people.

We will miss him dearly, but will treasure the many lessons learned and memories he left us.

10

Tuesday, June 12, 2018 racingpost.com

THE JULY SALE STAKES FORM OF LOTS’ SIBLINGS FASIGTIPTON JULY SALE LOT NUMBER BREEDING VENDOR(S) SIBLING SIRE BEST STAKES RUN BEST RPR RELATION Eaton Sales 4 1 f Wicked Strong-Our Seattle Star Seattle Smooth Quiet American G1w 116 1/2 brother 6 1 c Creative Cause-Oxford Joy Vinery Sales Fast Arrow Offlee Wild G3p 98 1/2 sister 9 1 f Palace Malice-Passe Perrone Sales Wonder Gal Tiz Wonderful G1p 106 1/2 brother 20 1 f Tiznow-Powerful Package Perrone Sales Derwin’s Star Wildcat Heir G3w 111 1/2 brother 26 1 f Graydar-Queen Majesty Clarkland Farm Uno Mas Macho Uno G3p 105 1/2 brother 32 1 c Competitive Edge-Rapid Ransom Paramount Sales Ransomed Bride Cape Cross Lp 90 1/2 sister Rare Ransom Oasis Dream G2p 96 1/2 sister 33 1 f Orb-Rebalite Select Sales Race Day Tapit G2w 118 1/2 brother 36 1 c Malibu Moon-Retroesque Hidden Brook Full Ransom Full Mandate G3w 102 3/4 sister 66 1 f Race Day-Spirited Away Four Star Sales Prospective Malibu Moon G2w 113 1/2 brother 77 1 f Malibu Moon-Storm’s Darling Gainesway Sweet Ducky Pulpit G3p 113 3/4 brother 79 1 f Liam’s Map-Stormy B Hunter Valley Farm Itsaknockout Lemon Drop Kid G2w 108 1/2 brother Hot Sean Flatter G3p 90 1/2 brother 95 1 c Commissioner-Trepidation Pelican State Thoroughbreds Maoineach Congaree G3w 105 1/2 sister 98 1 f Bernardini-Triumphantly Morris B. Floyd & Chuck Givens Trouble Kid Harlan’s Holiday G3w 107 1/2 brother 99 1 f Carpe Diem-True Kiss Paramount Sales One True Kiss Warrior’s Reward G3p 97 1/2 brother Tiz Kissable Tiz Wonderful G3p 95 1/2 brother 112 1 c Unusual Heat-Veela Paramount Sales How Unusual Unusual Heat G3w 98 full sister 124 1 c Tapit-With Intention Gainesway Maftool Hard Spun G3w 111 1/2 sister 131 1 f American Pharoah-Yong Musician Select Sales Co Cola Candy Ride G3p 93 1/2 brother 135 1 c Khozan-Zurita Summerfield Bogue Chitto Crafty Prospector G2p 109 1/2 sister

Watch This Cat: the Listed-winning son of Eskendereya is a half-brother to hip 274, a filly by first-season sire Tapiture LOT NUMBER BREEDING VENDOR(S) SIBLING SIRE BEST STAKES RUN BEST RPR RELATION 142 1 c Into Mischief-Amusingly St George Sales Dangerfield Into Mischief G3p 90 full sister Stuart Morris 147 1 f Tiznow-Ashlee’s Lady Yara Put It Back G2w 106 1/2 brother Paramount Sales 176 1 c Violence-Classic Elegance Divine Elegance Uncle Mo G3p 93 1/2 sister Brereton C. Jones/Airdrie Stud 187 1 c Cairo Prince-Cranberry Sauce Myositis Dan Istan G3p 106 1/2 sister Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services 214 Lebkuchen 1 f Mizzen Mast-Electric Cove Paulina’s Love Mizzen Mast G2w 104 full brother Shawhan Place 220 1 c Tapiture-Exquisite Cassie Kharafa Kitalpha G3p 111 1/2 sister Four Star Sales 230 1 f Can The Man-Five Star Daydream Gas Station Sushi Into Mischief G3w 103 3/4 brother Stuart Morris 242 1 c Mr Speaker-Glaslyn Kasuga Temple City G3p 0 1/2 sister Paramount Sales 274 1 f Tapiture-Informative Style Watch This Cat Eskendereya Lw 95 1/2 brother

LOT NUMBER BREEDING VENDOR(S) SIBLING SIRE BEST STAKES RUN BEST RPR RELATION 282 1 f Malibu Moon-Jaramar Rain Select Sales Imperial Council Empire Maker G2p 106 1/2 brother 285 1 c Daredevil-Josette Woodford Thoroughbreds Woodwin W More Than Ready Lw 93 3/4 sister Las Venturas Deep Impact G2p 104 1/2 sister Deep Sound Deep Impact G3p 108 1/2 sister Taylor Made Sales Agency 291 1 f Will Take Charge-La Belle She’s Offlee Good Offlee Wild G3p 95 1/2 brother 293 1 c Street Boss-Lady Rushmoore South Point Sales Agency Percolator Flashy Bull G3p 90 1/2 sister 295 1 c First Samurai-Lakenheath Frankfort Park Farm The Truth Or Else Yes It’s True Lw 104 1/2 sister 312 1 c Street Sense-Mahkama Michael & Julia O’Quinn Yulong Warrior Street Cry Lw 106 3/4 sister 318 1 c Fury Kapcori-Milady’s Halo Stuart Morris Smokey Stover Put It Back G2w 119 1/2 sister 328 1 f Palace Malice-Moneybru Taylor Made Sales Agency Midnight Miley Midnight Lute G3w 103 1/2 brother

Fledgling operation aiming to strike it rich Nancy Sexton talks to Carl McEntee, whose Ballysax Bloodstock goes from strength to strength

T

HE move to relaunch as an independent can be a mighty step but in the case of Carl and Rachel McEntee of Ballysax Bloodstock, it has yielded a whirlwind of opportunity that continues at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale with an inaugural draft of six yearlings alongside a collection of racehorses.

Ballysax has been active on the buying front this year, striking at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale in February and at the Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale last month, while maintaining a presence within the private sector. And now with the July Sale on the horizon, the realisation of establishing the fledgling firm as a premier sales agency is also within grasp.

“It’s going very well,” says Irish-born McEntee, who was previously director of sales and bloodstock for Darby Dan Farm. “I’d done virtually every job within racing and then spent five sales seasons at Darby Dan, which was a great experience. But at the end of last year my wife and I had a meeting of minds and we decided to go out by ourselves.

Carl McEntee of his new venture: “We had the support of good people, both long-standing clients and new clients”

“I felt I was young enough to do it but also old enough to do it. And we had the support of good people, both long-standing clients and new clients. We’re very grateful for that support and look forward to what should be a good season.”

The son of Irish champion apprentice jockey and trainer Phil McEntee, Carl had an early stint working in America after completing the National

Stud Diploma Course. He later returned to the US for good, managing Idle Hour Farm and Paragon Farm in Kentucky before switching to the Mid-Atlantic region, first as general manager of Ghost Ridge Farm in Pennsylvania and then as director of bloodstock at Northview Stallion Station in 2011.

“We had Jump Start, Smarty Jones, E Dubai, Honour And Glory and Silver Train at one

time or another,” he says. “We were responsible for bringing in those horses, proven options, from Kentucky and changing the Mid-Atlantic landscape.”

The cut and thrust of the marketplace is a world that McEntee knows well from his time with Darby Dan Farm, and it is safe to say the new venture has hit the ground running with around 150 horses on the books to sell over the course of this year.

“The name Ballysax comes from my roots,” he says.

“Ballysax was the name of the first house we lived in while in Kildare. So it’s a homage to my family, as without them I wouldn’t be in this position today.”

The Fasig-Tipton yearling draft comprises six youngsters

by Palace (hip 55; a filly from the family of Unbridled), Shakin It Up (169; a filly out of a half-sister to Grade 2

winner Lovely Lil), Oxbow (191; a colt out of the Grade 3-placed Dashes N Dots), Maclean’s Music (195; a colt out of the stakes-placed Deeliteful Star), Paynter (202; a filly out of a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Golden Mystery) and Point Of Entry (326; a filly who is the first foal of a winning relation to high-class two-year-old Daddy Long Legs).

“There’s a very nice filly by Point Of Entry,” he says. “She’s one of those good-looking Dynaformer types and very well-balanced.

“The Maclean’s Music is a Pennsylvania-bred. The sire was very well sought after at the two-year-olds sales, which was one of the deciding factors in sending this colt here.

“The Paynter is an athletic, good-looking filly, as is the Shakin It Up – the sire just had his first winner air at Churchill. There’s also a nice filly from the first crop of Palace and the Oxbow is a good type out of a good mare.”

He adds: “Moving forward we’ll have around 50 horses in September, another 20 coming back to Fasig in October, around 14 to 15 at Timonium and hopefully about 70 in November. It’s exciting.”

And so the scene is set for a big debut sales season from Ballysax Bloodstock.

11

Racing Post Tuesday, June 12, 2018

T

HE Eugene Melnyk Dispersal promised to be one of the highlights of the sales season back in 2014 and it did not disappoint, generating a total turnover of $5,344,000 through Taylor Made Sales Agency when it came under the hammer at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, writes Nancy Sexton.

With four horses realising $500,000 or more, led by Three Chimneys Farm’s purchase of Bedford Land for $1,075,000, it consolidated the status of the Horses in Training Sale – then in its infancy – as a premier outlet of its type.

Beneath the headline lots, however, lurked a real diamond in the rough.

Catalogued as hip 417 was an unraced two-year-old by Melnyk’s Travers Stakes winner Flower Alley. His sire had struck notoriety at stud only two years before as the sire of I’ll Have Another from his second crop, while his dam, Flower Forest, was a minor stakes-winning granddaughter of Hollywood Oaks heroine Pattern Step. The Kris S mare was also a proven force at stud, with five winners from as many runners to her credit at that particular time.

For whatever reason, Wayne Spalding was able to pick up hip 417, named Bullards Alley, for just $11,000. Time would tell it was an immense bargain.

The record books show that Bullards Alley won six of his 40 starts for approximately $920,000 in earnings under the direction of trainer Tim Glyshaw. The crowning point of that 40-start career came in last year’s Canadian International at Woodbine when he bounded nearly 11 lengths clear of a field that included Oscar Nominated in

He meant the world to us says trainer Glyshaw of bargain-buy Bullards Alley

Bullards Alley: $11,000 buy who won nearly $920,000 in career earnings and (below) his trainer Tim Glyshaw

addition to international heavyweights Idaho and Erupt.

However, those records do not tell the full story. Bullards Alley was one of those horses who wore his heart on his sleeve, and as such developed an incredible following from the average racing fan, which made his death following the Elkhorn Stakes this year all the more heart-rending.

“When he won the Canadian International it was the best moment of my career,” says Glyshaw. “He meant the world to our barn.”

For all his ultimate achievements, Bullards Alley was not an overnight success.

It took plenty of patience from Glyshaw and Spalding, who raced him in partnership with Faron McCubbins, for the horse to reach his full potential.

It was in a $30,000 maiden claimer on the dirt at Churchill Downs on November 28, 2014 that he made his debut, four months after passing through Fasig-Tipton. He cracked a shin when running sixth that day, which put him on the shelf until May the following year.

Several promising efforts in a series of Churchill Downs maidens

followed before he broke his maiden on July 11 at Indiana Grand, scoring by a neck over a mile and sixteenth on the dirt.

He was not out of the first four in five subsequent tries over the next couple of months and finally broke through again in a Churchill Downs allowance, again on the dirt.

“It took him a while to figure things out,” says Glyshaw.

“Firstly we had him gelded as he was a little crazy in the beginning. Then we started him off in a maiden 30 and he cracked his shin. So he had to have some time off.

“He was a nervous horse until he was about four, and that was when he started to run in all those good races.

From that time on he was very professional.”

B

ULLARDS ALLEY closed his three-year-old campaign by taking the Woodchopper Stakes at Fair Grounds. It was to be one of his last starts on dirt; an encouraging fifth in the John B Connally Turf Cup Stakes at Sam Houston on his turf debut next time out encouraged connections to stick to the lawn when possible while stretching him out in distance, decisions for which they were to be rewarded many times over.

In May 2016, Bullards Alley struck in the Louisville Handicap at

Churchill Downs en route to filling the frame in the Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup, Sycamore Stakes, Singspiel Stakes and a second edition of the Louisville Handicap. The defining moment of his racing career came, however, in last year’s Canadian International, which was won under Eurico Rosa Da Silva by a widening ten and three-quarters of a length.

“He was a true blue collar horse because until some of those later races he would always run as a long shot and he always tried,” says Glyshaw.

“I remember he ran at Keeneland and he was running on at the end, and that was when we decided to stretch him out. There aren’t many mile and a half races, they’re mostly Graded stakes races, and when they do come up they’re some of the toughest races.

“We ran him in the John B Connally Turf Cup Stakes and he finished fifth but he ran kind of awkwardly – he was close up, then dropped off and then ran on again at the finish.

He got a 95 Beyer out of that race and that was when we knew we should be looking at distance races with him.”

One performance that will never fade from memory for his connections is that day at Woodbine last October.

“He was a long shot for the International but he’d run well up there the previous year in the Singspiel, when he barely

got beat,” says Glyshaw. “And he was training really well in the mornings, as he always did – he always gave his all.

“Then the rain came and I knew a soft track would suit him. I thought he could run well and he put in a great performance – it was the best moment of my training career.”

Bullards Alley went on to finish sixth behind Talismanic in the Breeders’ Cup Turf and returned this year to finish third in the W L McKnight Handicap at Gulfstream Park.

Then came that fateful day in the Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland in April; with Corey Lanerie aboard, Bullards Alley was pulled up quickly approaching the first turn and could not be saved, having suffered a compound condylar fracture to his left hind.

“It was a bad deal,” says Glyshaw. “It was just one of those freak things. He got bumped a little bit coming out of the gate and Corey felt him land awkwardly on that leg.”

He adds: “When it happened I didn’t realise how many people had followed him. We had a lot of people offering their condolences, not just on the track but from all over the world, particularly in Canada and England.

“Part of his popularity I’m sure was because he cost just $11,000 and it’s a good story.

He had a great personality too – he loved attention and he loved his peppermints. He was just a really cool horse.”

Timing and quality on offer make this a popular destination

T

HE Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale might be a relatively new addition to the auction calendar but its impact has already been far reaching.

In every year since its inception in 2013 the sale has thrown up a high-profile runner, ranging from the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Wavell Avenue, a $70,000 purchase by Steve Young in 2014, to $1.7 million earner Fear The Cowboy.

This season has been equally fruitful, with Go Noni Go capturing the Bourbonette Oaks and Ivy Bell finishing second in both the Humana Distaff Stakes and Ogden Phipps Handicap.

Indeed, 28 per cent of sale graduates are stakes horses while graduates have earned more than $26m on the racetrack overall.

“Now in its sixth year, the July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale was once again one of the strongest sales on the

auction calendar,” says Boyd Browning, president of Fasig-Tipton, in a recent statement.

“Proven racehorses are highly sought after in the market today and this sale’s timing makes it very popular with buyers looking to load up their racing stables ahead of the major summer race meetings. This sale has also

proven itself to be an excellent venue to showcase a horse coming off a quality performance or in good form.”

This year’s sale will be held at the company’s Newtown Pike sale grounds on Monday, July 9, the day before the July Selected Yearling Sale.

Entries will be accepted and added to the sale’s interactive online catalogue, which features video race replays, Ragozin sheets and analysis Wavell Avenue: the Breeders’ Cup winner was sold for $70,000 here in 2014

by the Daily Racing Form’s Mike Watchmaker, on Fasig-Tipton’s website up to one week before the sale.

The traditional printed catalogue will be available on the sales grounds only by July 6.

Nancy Sexton

HORSES-IN-TRAINING SALE No. sold

Aggregate ($)

Average ($)

Median ($)

Top price ($)

2017

Year

84

8,083,000

96,226

56,000

600,000

2016

72

5,048,500

70,118

42,000

575,000

2015

65

3,996,000

61,466

48,000

350,000

2014

109

8,426,000

77,303

35,000

1,075,000

2013

55

5,819,000

105,800

45,000

1,000,000

HORSES-IN-TRAINING SALE TOP LOTS Year

Breeding

Consignor

Purchaser(s)

2017

Distinta (Summer Bird)

Taylor Made Sales Agency

Medallion Racing

Price ($)

2016

Stormy Lucy (Stormy Atlantic)

Taylor Made Sales Agency

SF Bloodstock

575,000

2015

Temper Mint Patty (Congrats)

Bluewater Sales Inc.

Jacob West/Repole Stables

350,000

2014

Bedford Land (Speightstown)

Taylor Made Sales Agency

Three Chimneys Farm Llc

1,075,000

2013

Starship Truffles (Ghostzapper)

Hidden Brook, agent

Castleton Lyons Inc.

1,000,000

600,000

JULY HORSES-IN-TRAINING SALE GRADUATES 2016-18 Name (sire)

Consignor

Bullard’s Alley (Flower Alley)

Taylor Made Sales Wayne Spalding

Purchaser(s)

War Story (Northern Afleet)

Darby Dan Farm

Not sold

Ivy Bell (Archarcharch)

Lane’s End

William Denzik jr

Fear The Cowboy (Cowboy Cal) South Point Sales Not sold Go Noni Go (Stormy Atlantic)

Price (year) Best race(s) won

11,000 (2014) Canadian Internat’l-G1 545,000 (2015) Brooklyn Invitat’l-G2 85,000 (2016) Inside Information S-G2 145,000 (2016) Harlan’s Holiday S-G3, Skip Away S-G3

Foundations Farm Three Diamonds Farm 100,000 (2017) Bourbonette Oaks-G3

Point Piper (Giant’s Causeway) Kingswood Farm

Jose Luis Espinoza

Squadron A (Unbridled’s Song) Meadowlark Valley Not sold

$80,000 (2013) Longacres Mile-G3 95,000 (2015) Mr Prospector S-G3

12

Tuesday, June 12, 2018 racingpost.com

FIRST YEARLINGS 0F 2018

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