13 minute read
Gone too soon
The early loss of Arrogate is being felt keenly as his son Arcangelo heads to the top of this year’s US three-year-old division, writes
IT WAS YET another year of wondering who the top three-yearold colt would be as we went into the Saratoga meet over the summer, but Arcangelo (Arrogate) made it clear he’s the front runner for the spot after a length victory in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, writes Melissa Bauer-Herzog.
The colt burst onto the scene a week after Mage (Good Magic) won the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby when he won the Peter Pan Stakes (G3) on his stakes debut.
A month later he secured a Classic with victory in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes before connections gave him a mid-season break before the Travers.
His accomplishments would have all but guaranteed him a spot at stud, no matter his sire, but being the best runner by Arrogate ensures his connections will be courting plenty of offers from farms around the world.
Sadly, Arrogate had just three seasons in his second career, but has already sired five Grade 1 winners with his final crop of juveniles hitting the track this season.
While none of Arrogate’s juveniles have won a stakes race so far this year, the stallion’s four juvenile stakes performers as of September 15 is the fourth most of any stallion. That group is led by the Grade 3 Schylerville runner-up Saratoga Secret.
Justify, another young stallion, leads the all North American stallions by juvenile stakes winners with four.
Named Australia’s champion freshman sire a few months ago – the first US-based shuttle stallion to do that since More Than Ready – Justify is proving to be a top stallion around the world with 13 worldwide juvenile stakes winners from those early crops, including graded stakes winners in five different countries, led by four Grade 2-winning juveniles including the top European two-year-old City Of Troy.
His first crop of three-year-olds are performing just as well with six stakes winners, and they include a Dirt sprint Grade 1 winner as well as a Turf Grade 1 winner.
Arabian Lion won the Woody Stephens on the Belmont under card to give Justify his first Grade 1 winner in June, but the colt had to settle for third in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1).
That race saw another sophomore stallion sire the winner – Army Mule’s One In Vermillion took the top spot, while Verifying, another by Justify, finished second.
Tragic breakdowns lead to investigation
However, in what was a rough summer in Saratoga, the race was marred in tragedy when New York Thunder (Nyquist) looked like he’d be an easy winner before breaking down a 16th of a mile from the wire.
It was the second high profile breakdown during a meet riddled with injuries.
A few weeks before that tragedy, the racing world had came together to mourn the loss of Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic), who had looked like another sure Grade 1 winner before her fatal injury.
The filly was only a few strides before the wire in the Grade 1 Test Stakes when she fell and had to be euthanised.
Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) was the first to cross the line in that race, but owner-breeder Godolphin forewent the winner’s presentation and trainer Brendan
Walsh gave the blanket of flowers to Maple Leaf Mel’s connections.
“It’s just cruel what happened,” said Walsh after the race. “I just feel terrible for Melanie [Giddings, trainer] and that whole team. That must be gut-wrenching. My filly ran her race, but that’s another story. I don’t know what to think right now.”
After the string of breakdowns on both the Dirt and Turf at Saratoga during the meet, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority [HISA] worked with the New York Racing Association [NYRA] to put additional safety procedures into place.
The updated procedures enacted through the closing week included a HISA veterinarian take part in the pre-race medical inspections of entered horses, while a Track Surface Advisory Group was formed to review both surfaces.
“NYRA is strongly supportive of the work HISA is doing here in New York State and throughout the country to enhance safety and protect the integrity of the sport,” NYRA’s vice president of communications Pat McKenna said. “NYRA welcomes additional veterinary scrutiny of horses at Saratoga Race Course and we are working
The Saratoga meet concluded with Nutella Fella (Runhappy) winning the Hopeful Stakes (G1) to put a cap on the meet and make a noise in the juvenile division. While the colt came into the race with a debut win, he wasn’t given much respect on the tote board with odds of 54.50-1.
Through the early stages of the race, it looked as if bettors had made the right decision with the colt trailing in last place, but the colt rallied from his position to win by a length and a half.
It was the first Grade 1 winner for champion sprinter Runhappy, who is quietly sitting amongst the top stallions, and the colt is from a strong fourth-crop group by the sire.
His 12 stakes winners from his first few crops puts him sixth in the group , while he has sired 19 stakes performers putting him eighth on that ranking.
The stallion is also one of just four North American stallions to have sired a juvenile Grade 1 winner this year.
Runhappy wasn’t the only fourth-crop sire to end the Saratoga meet with a big winner after Outwork sired his second straight Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes winner – on the final Sunday of the meet Brightwork secured a maiden Grade 1 victory.
This year’s fourth-crop sires’ class has proven to be a strong one and is led by Not This Time (Giant’s Causeway).
That sire’s nine stakes winners this year are led by the Grade 1-winning duo of Up To The Mark, who has won over 1m2f on the Turf, and Sibelius, who won going 6f on the Dirt.
In addition to Uncle Mo’s Outwork, his Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist is also making an impression as one of the stallions in that generation – with 19 stakes performers in 2023, his winners include the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes winner Randomized.
In all, eight of the 17 Grade 1s run at Saratoga this year were won by horses sired by stallions who entered stud in 2017 or later.
White v Bright v Knight
The older male division has been muddled since the beginning of the year and the Saratoga and Del Mar meets didn’t help clear up the picture over the summer.
White Abarrio (Race Day) threw his name in the ring early in the meet with a second career Grade 1 victory in the Whitney Stakes.
The victory came one year after his maiden Grade 1 win in the Florida Derby as a three-year-old.
In what has been a common trend in recent years amongst Whitney winners, White Abarrio skipped the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at the end of month (that race replaced the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes), leaving it open for another horse to make tracks in the division.
That horse was Bright Future, who was one of five stakes winners for Curlin at Saratoga, including three Grade 1 winners.
It was a big step up for Bright Future, who had only made one other stakes start, that being an eighth place finish in the Grade 2 Brookyln Stakes.
“It was a good spot to try a Grade 1 and he delivered a big performance. In order to go to the next [Breeders’ Cup Classic], he’s going to need to make another move forward. It appears to be pretty wide open, the older horse division.
“I guess we will learn a little more in California tomorrow or Monday. We’ll see,” said trainer Todd Pletcher.
California didn’t clear up the picture for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, but it did make it clear that the East Coast older males are a stronger group than the California contingent shortly.
That batch lined up against multiple three-year-olds in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic Stakes (G1), and it was the younger horses who filled out the top two spots.
Uncle Mo’s three-year-old Arabian Knight was given a spring rest by Zedan Racing Stables after winning the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes in January and after a third in the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes in June connections decided to tackle the Pacific Classic.
It was a different picture at the wire than last year when the generation-defining Flightline won by over 19l, but, much like that performance, Arabian Knight controlled nearly every step of the race.
The colt had to fight off another threeyear-old in Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride), but was able to stay a neck in front and avenge the Haskell loss that had been handed to him by Geaux Rocket Ride with Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) in third.
Arabian Knight is out of a mare by Astrology, a son of A.P. Indy, and is bred on what has quickly turned into a golden cross with Uncle Mo.
The colt is one of three Grade 1 winners, seven graded stakes winners and 18 stakes performers for Uncle Mo out of A.P. Indy granddaughters.
$3 million top price: the best at Keeneland September since 2019
IT WAS A STRONG OPENING to the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and the two-day Book 1 sale saw 23 yearlings fetching seven figures.
In what turned into another sales ring coronation for Into Mischief, the stallion’s $3 million sale topper (Lot 261) purchased by Sonson, Woodford and West Point with LEB, led home the stallion’s 11 seven-figure yearlings sold during the book.
Those horses helped him make history – with 14 Into Mischief yearlings sold for seven figures this yearling sales season, it is one more than Storm Cat and three more than Northern Dancer.
The sire’s’s sale-topping colt, who is the most expensive horse sold at the sale since 2019, comes with a stacked pedigree.
Bred by Repole Stable and sold by Lane’s End, he is a half-brother to the Grade 1-winning Outwork (Uncle Mo) and to the stakesplaced Nonna’s Boy (Distorted Humor). The duo are out of the Grade 1-placed Nonna Mia (Empire Maker).
The mare is far from the only stakes producer in the family with her own stakes-winning dam producing the multiple Grade 2 winner Cairo Prince (Pioneerof the Nile) among her stakes performers.
Overall, there are 11 stakes runners named on the page, and there could soon be more – Nonna Mia’s daughter Nonna Bella (Stay Thirsty) is dam of this year’s impressive Saratoga debut juvenile winner Fierceness (City Of Light). He is the dam’s third foal and first runner.
“Beautiful colt,” said Terry Finley of West Point. “I was up at Saratoga when Fierceness won. I was awestruck by that performance. Young family [and] with Into Mischief, you don’t have to say much [more].
“He was always at Lane’s End so we knew a little about his upbringing. We are really excited and have a new group of partners who are in on him. We will try to get to the Derby in 2025.”
The colt’s breeder was also the leading buyer during the first book with 21 horses purchased for a gross of $8.135 million and average
of $387,381. The group was led by another Lane’s End consignee bought by West Bloodstock on behalf of the owner for $725,000.
A Quality Road colt, he is the first foal out of the stakes-winning Great Dane Sister (Will Take Charge) (Lot 144). His Grade 2-placed dam is a half-sister Grade 3 winner Ocho Ocho Ocho (Street Sense) with the family including the graded stake winners Divine Oath (Broken Vow), Auntie Joy (Uncle Mo), and Interactif (Broken Vow).
“I’m trying to be the No. 1 buyer and No. 1 seller at the same sale!” Repole joked. “It’s just a great sale. I love the game whether it’s claiming a $25,000 horse or buying stallions or buying mares or weanlings or two-year-olds. I just have a lot of fun with the game.”
In all, eight different stallions had yearlings sell for $1 million or more with Uncle Mo second to Into Mischief on four.
Into Mischief and Uncle Mo controlled the top nine prices with Uncle Mo also the sire of the most expensive filly at $2.5 million.
Purchased by Gavin O’Connor on behalf of John Stewart – who was second only to Repole by numbers purchased on 10 – from the Denali Stud consignment, the WinStar Farm-bred filly is a half-sister to the three-time Grade 1 winner Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) and Grade 3-placed Mojovation (Quality Road) (Lot 337).
THEIR WINNING DAM Starship Warpspeed (Congrats) is out of a half-sister to Grade 2 winner and the multiple Grade 1-placed Crafty C.T. (Crafty Shaw).
“She is a lovely filly,” O’Connor said. “I know the family personally; I worked for WinStar for five years.”
He added: “She is an unbelievable broodmare prospect. The residual value is there; we feel like we have a safe asset. [The price] was a little bit more than we wanted to go, but John is a buyer.
“John was on the phone, and he was giving us the clearance to keep going. We’ve had an incredible sale, and I think we are sealed up now. We’re done, we have a total of 10. For John as a first-time owner, he has a really exciting stable of horses.”
A diverse group of buyers were on the grounds for the first few days of selling with 16 different ownerships buying the 23 seven-figure offerings.
The figures for the first book were mostly higher than last year with 221 horses bringing $116,925,000, for an average of $529,072 and $400,000 median. The gross rose by 2.87 per cent, while the average increased 2.41 per cent. The median did see a 11.11 per cent dip from the $450,000 last year for 220 sold.
“The depth and diversity of the market are really encouraging,” said Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy. “It was great to see new money still here. Japanese buyers were very active today. People are saying they are enjoying themselves again.
“It’s good to see people happy. The average is up a little bit, the median is down a little bit. There was some softness in places. There’s no doubt about that. But when you look at last year’s comparable figures, we beat the gross over what was a really strong Book 1 by $3.5 million.”
