Saratoga Yearling Sale Preview 2019 by RACING POST BLOODSTOCK

PULLOUT PREVIEW Friday, July 12, 2019

CREAM OF THE CROP Your guide to the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale of selected yearlings

Friday, July 12, 2019 racingpost.com

Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale Few places mix business with pleasure in such a beguiling way

OTTED among the manicured garden entrances of the grand houses of Saratoga Springs, they form a distinctive motif of the town. Known as Lawn Jockeys, these metal statuettes are brightly painted in the racing colours of the owner and bid a silent welcome to the visitor. They are a memorable symbol of the general air of old-world charm and refined affluence. Saratoga is a racing fan’s dream. Its season flourishes throughout the heady days of summer with a spirit of relaxed panache, which has long been its hallmark ever since racing began here in the 1860s. The combined allure of quality racing and a boutique yearling sale in early August – this year to be held on Monday the 5th and Tuesday the 6th – makes for a memorable trip to this postcard-pretty pocket of upstate New York. After taking in the high-octane energy and kaleidoscopic sights and sounds of the remarkable Big Apple, the drive north from New York city has often been depicted by writers and artists as 180 miles and another era away. The route follows the Hudson River valley which wends its way up to the state capital, Albany. A relatively short hop from there, Saratoga is famous for its spa water as well as its racing, and both have imparted their fabled restorative qualities on many an enchanted traveller. The racing takes place from July to September, with the Travers Stakes in late August being among the season’s biggest highlights. Getting around in the elegant town isn’t difficult, with the sales ring and racecourse easily accessible from the hotels, bars, restaurants and shopping district. During the racing season, the demand exceeds supply and so advance booking is essential. The racecourse itself is an historic and picturesque venue with an instantly recognisable grandstand bedecked in flowers. After enjoying the action on the track, some share stories over a convivial evening drink on the wooden porches of the fine Broadway inns, or head out to sample the nightlife. Many visitors become Saratoga regulars during the summer season and a community vibe fills the bars and eateries. The select yearling sale echoes the upscale feel, with patrons dressed for the occasion and lending a stylish element to the very serious endeavours of trade. Few places mix business with pleasure in such a beguiling way. There must be something in the water.

Andrew Scutts, bloodstock managing editor

CONTENTS 2-3 Top turf performers to have emerged from the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale 4 Established stallions who are strongly represented at the sale 5 Mark Taylor of leading consignor Taylor Made Sales Agency gives us the inside word on this year’s draft 6-7 A guide to the first-season sires with members of their debut crops on offer 8-9 In-depth interview with Fasig-Tipton client development and public relations manager Anna Seitz, also a driving force behind all-women racing syndicates 10 Stakes form of hips’ siblings and guide to pinhooked hips 11 Last year’s top five hips in pictures

Avenge

War Front-Lerici (Woodman) Sold by Gainesway to Steven W Young for $650,000 in 2013

War Front is one of the principal draws in the North American stallion ranks for European buyers and among the progeny of Claiborne Farm’s flagbearer to go under the hammer at Saratoga are the classy Giovanni Boldini, Souper Colossal and War Dancer. The best of all, though, is Avenge, a filly out of the winning Woodman mare Lerici bought by Steven W Young for $650,000 in 2013. Trained by Richard Mandella for Ramona Bass, she scored in the Grade 2 John C Mabee Stakes and Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes and finished third to Queen’s Trust in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at four. The following season she put up a successful defence of her Rodeo Drive Stakes title. Bass sent Avenge to Newmarket for a liaison with Frankel for her first mating last year, and the mare has since returned to the US.

Tepin

Bernstein-Life Happened (Stravinsky) Sold by Select Sales to Robert E Masterson for $140,000 in 2012

Bought in the year after her brother Prime Cut ran second in the Lexington Stakes and third in the Peter Pan Stakes, the Bernstein filly started out as a decent dirt performer for trainer Mark Casse, winning the Grade 3 Delta Princess Stakes at two. After a quiet three-year-old season she emerged as a top-notcher on turf at four when she won five races including three at the highest level – not least a score over males in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Tepin won her first four starts at five before Casse sent her on an audacious trip to take on Europe’s best milers in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot and she proved more than equal to the task, beating Belardo, Lightning Spear and Toormore convincingly. She later added the Woodbine Mile and finished second in the First Lady Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Mile before selling to Coolmore. Having been bought by her owner Robert E Masterson for just $140,000, Tepin made nearly $4.5m on the track and $8m by selling as a broodmare prospect.

Stormy Liberal

Stormy Atlantic-Vassar (Royal Academy) Not sold at $165,000 when offered by Dapple Stud in 2013

Stormy Liberal has established himself as one of the most admirable sprinters of recent years after being claimed by trainer Peter Miller and owner Rockingham Ranch from a $40,000 Santa Anita claiming race in the October of his four-year-old season. He went on to win back-to-back runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and a clutch of stakes heats in California, and finished placed in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan twice for earnings of around £1.5m. His story began when he formed part of the draft of his joint-breeder Dapple Stud at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale of 2013 and failed to reach his reserve at $165,000 – around £130,000 or €145,000; a fair way below the average price of circa $295,000 that year. Potential buyers should have paid closer attention to him, particularly those from Europe looking for turf stars. He is by Stormy Atlantic, who has made his mark in Britain and Ireland with the likes of Ollie Olga, Rerouted and Stormy Antarctic, out of a winner in France by Royal Academy and he hails from the family of Henrythenavigator and Saffron Walden.

Rushing Fall

More Than Ready-Autumnal (Forestry) Sold by Taylor Made Sales Agency to Mike Ryan for $320,000 in 2016

Rushing Fall has developed into the best North American turf filly this year in the expert hands of Chad Brown, who conditions the daughter of outstanding international sire More Than Ready on behalf of owners E Five Racing. At two she won the Jessamine Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, at three she landed the Appalachian Stakes, Lake Placid Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, and now at four she is two from two. In April she made all to defeat Rymska by a length in the Jenny Wiley Stakes and on Belmont Stakes day in June she repeated the tactics to take the Just A Game Stakes by an even wider margin, with the classy pair Beau Recall and Daddy Is A Legend filling the places. A half-sister to stakes winner Milam from the family of Albert The Great, Rushing Fall should make a handsome profit for her owners, who paid $320,000 for her as a yearling, should they wish to cash in their chips before she embarks on her career as a broodmare.

Blue Bunting

Dynaformer-Miarixa (Linamix) Sold by Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services to Anthony Stroud for $200,000 in 2009

The average price at the Saratoga Yearling Sale of 2009 was around $340,000 with five lots selling for $1m or more; yet Anthony Stroud managed to unearth one of Godolphin’s best fillies of the past decade at the auction for ‘just’ $200,000. Blue Bunting, by Dynaformer out of an unraced daughter of Linamix and Prix Saint-Alary third Mrs Arkada, flew a little under the radar at two despite being a length winner of the Listed Montrose Fillies’ Stakes at Newmarket and consequently she went off at 16-1 on her three-year-old bow in the 1,000 Guineas. But she belied those odds in the Classic, powering home to beat Together and Maqaasid, and went on to finish an unlucky fourth in the Oaks before making amends by taking the Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks. Blue Bunting has produced a number of winners for Godolphin at stud, including the smart pair Blue Creek and Flag Festival.

Racing Post Friday, July 12, 2019

SIX OF THE BEST Martin Stevens with half a dozen high-achieving turf performers who were sourced from the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale of selected yearlings Pomology

Arch-Sharp Apple (Diesis) Sold by Mill Ridge Sales to John Gosden for $250,000 in 2011

A trip to Saratoga allows European buyers to tap into not only illustrious North American-rooted bloodlines, but also the accumulated knowledge of some of the best horsemen in the world. John Gosden certainly did that when he bought an Arch filly bred by John Chandler, the renowned veterinarian who had earlier bred the likes of turf champion Cetewayo and Kentucky Oaks heroine Keeper Hill, and consigned by Mill Ridge Farm, the stud founded by Chandler’s wife Alice, who secured her place in turf history as the breeder of Sir Ivor, who sparked the US invasion of thoroughbred breeding in Europe in the 1970s. Gosden’s purchase, out of a stakes-winning daughter of Mill Ridge’s great sire Diesis, was named Pomology and carried Princess Haya of Jordan’s green silks to win four of her five starts including the Prix Minerve and Lancashire Oaks. Her sole defeat was a short-head second in the Prix Vermeille. Pomology’s first foal is a three-year-old filly by New Approach named Teikei. She also has a two-year-old Shamardal filly named Beautiful Secret and yearling and foal colts by Dubawi.

Friday, July 12, 2019 racingpost.com

Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale

GOLD STANDARD Pictures: GETTY IMAGES

Michele MacDonald runs the rule over the yearlings by the more established stallions at Saratoga this year

HILE the catalogue for this year’s Saratoga Sale of selected yearlings is slightly smaller in quantity compared to the record-breaking 2018 edition, Fasig-Tipton officials are confident that the quality of the horses is second to none. “We’re extremely upbeat on the quality of the catalogue,” says Fasig-Tipton executive vice-president Bayne Welker. “What prospective purchasers are going to find in that catalogue are going to be some very sought-after pedigrees, and the physicals are going to meet the expectations when people actually get around to seeing the horses.” The 223 hips who were assembled for the sale, which Fasig-Tipton advertises has been the recent leader among all North American yearling auctions by percentage of Grade 1 winners and Graded stakes winners sold, is 32 fewer than the 255 assembled for last year’s auction. Judging by the sire power and female families represented this year, however, there will be plenty of horses who will appeal to buyers from all over the world. “The physical has to be there for the horse to make it into the Saratoga Sale, but what we also try to do is offer some diversity of sires and pedigrees to make it something that is attractive to everyone,” Welker says. “You definitely want to give the market some diversity.” While virtually all of America’s top buyers frequent the Saratoga marketplace regularly to search for top prospects, a number of prominent international trainers and owners are also expected for this year’s auction. Anna Seitz, Fasig-Tipton client development and public relations manager – the subject of our interview on the following pages – said the sale company was advised that Irish-based Joseph O’Brien, who at age 26 has already saddled Latrobe to win the Irish Derby and made history as the youngest trainer ever to win Australia’s Melbourne Cup with Rekindling in 2017, planned to fly over for his first foray to the Saratoga venue.

Hip 39 is a sister to Breeders’ Cup winner Bar Of Gold by Medaglia D’Oro; (right) Into Mischief’s daughter Mia Mischief is a sister to hip 65

Highly successful Australian trainer Ciaron Maher has also made plans to do some Saratoga shopping, while French-based trainer Francis Graffard, who recently saddled Channel to victory in the Prix de Diane, might also turn up to search for new bloodstock, Seitz said. Buyers will find that, in addition to 49 yearlings sired by young stallions with their first crops, the Saratoga sale has drawn an impressive group by some of the world’s leading sires, including seven yearlings by Godolphin’s Medaglia D’Oro, who provided this venue with its two top-priced stars in 2018 and three yearlings overall who sold for $1 million or more. The Medaglia D’Oro offerings this time include a duo of potential superstar sale fillies: hip 39,, a full-sister to Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Bar Of Gold, and hip 150,, whose dam is a full-sister to the dam of Medaglia D’Oro’s multiple Grade 1 winner Elate. Triple Crown winner American Pharoah,, the only other sire in 2018 to hit seven figures with his offspring at Saratoga – which he did with a filly and a colt – will have nine yearlings in this year’s catalogue. Members of his first

crop, including French Group stakes winner Maven and Irish Group 2-placed Monarch Of Egypt, are beginning to show what they can do as racehorses. Some of the other highest-profile sires represented in the Saratoga auction book are Galileo, who has one colt, hip 210, a half-brother to Group 2 Lowther Stakes winner Besharah; War Front, who has a pair of fillies with international flair including hip 123, a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Princess Of Sylmar; and Tapit, who has seven offspring including a filly, hip 54, who is out of a full-sister to Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic heroine Unrivaled Belle, who in turn produced Tapit’s dual champion daughter Unique Bella. The overall sire leader by numbers this year, however, is Spendthrift Farm’s Into Mischief Mischief, who is continuing to power his way upwards among all sires worldwide, ranking sixth by earnings globally through the end of June. Into Mischief is the sire of 16 yearlings in the Saratoga catalogue and thus is an odds-on bet to make a big impact at the auction. Particularly notable Princess Of Sylmar: her War Front half-sister is catalogued as hip 123

among the Into Mischief yearlings are hip 65, a full-sister to Grade 1 winner Mia Mischief; hip 89, a filly out of a stakes-winning and stakes-producing half-sister to Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Status; hip 103, a colt out of a Grade 3-placed, stakes-producing sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Hard Not To Like; hip 140, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Salty; and hip 212, a filly produced by a half-sister to three-time Grade 1 winner and young Ashford Stud stallion Practical Joke. Ashford resident Uncle Mo follows Into Mischief with a dozen yearlings in the Saratoga Sale, while Curlin has 11 and Pioneerof The Nile is represented by nine. Uncle Mo, whose sons Nyquist and Outwork will have some of their first yearlings in the sale, continues to make his mark with his offspring on course and at the sales. His particularly flashy catalogue yearlings include hip 37, a colt out of stakes winner J Z Warrior, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner A Z Warrior and two other Graded winners; hip 72, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Out For A Spin; and hip 75, a filly out of a half-sister to Giant’s Causeway. Also by Uncle Mo are hip 127, a filly out of a half-sister to Dubai World Cup winner African Story; hip 178, a filly out of Grade 1 winner Artemis Agrotera; and hip 211, a filly who is the first foal out of Grade 2 winner and multiple

Leading sires by yearlings offered Stallion

Number offered

Into Mischief

Frosted

Uncle Mo

Curlin

American Pharoah Nyquist Pioneerof The Nile Quality Road

Grade 1-placed Dothraki Queen and from the family of Hong Kong Horse of the Year Electronic Unicorn and Kentucky Oaks winner Blushing K D. Curlin – who, along with Tapit, has sired nine 2019 Graded stakes winners through the end of June – will also be represented by a strong group of offspring at Saratoga. Some of Curlin’s most eyecatching yearlings by pedigree include hip 134, a chestnut colt who is the first foal of Grade 1 winner Taris; hip 147, a filly out of Twirl, a stakes-winning daughter of Galileo and full-sister to European champion Misty For Me (dam of champion U S Navy Flag and Grade 1 winner Roly Poly); and hip 153, a colt who is the first foal out of Scat Daddy’s Chilean champion daughter Wapi. Additional yearlings by Curlin include hip 174, a colt who is the first foal of Graded winner and multiple Grade 1-placed America, a daughter of A.P. Indy from the prolific family of Blush With

Pride, and hip 193, a colt out of Grade 1 winner Byrama. One of the sale highlights for Curlin is likely to be hip 206, a full-sister to Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator, whose first-crop yearlings will also be trotting through the Saratoga ring. In 2018, the Medaglia D’Oro half-sister to this Curlin filly sold for $1.3m to Phoenix Thoroughbreds and ranked as the second highest-priced yearling at this venue. For Pioneerof The Nile, the sire of American Pharoah who tragically passed away earlier this year aged only 13, one of the sale luminaries could be hip 40, a colt out of Graded-placed stakes winner Kindle, by Indian Charlie. Kindle has already proved she can deliver a top-quality sale yearling from this cross as her 2017 colt by American Pharoah was the second highest-priced yearling sold at last year’s Keeneland September sale when bought by Godolphin for $2.2m. That colt has been named Confidential Act. Among the American Pharoah yearlings consigned to Saratoga this year is hip 109, a filly out of Grade 1 winner Seattle Smooth; hip 151, a filly out of a half-sister to Preakness Stakes winner War Of Will and Irish Group 1 winner Pathfork; and hip 191, a colt out of a stakes-winning-and-producing half-sister to three-time champion Gio Ponti. Like American Pharoah, rising stallion star Quality Road has nine yearlings in the catalogue, including hip 146, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Dearest Trickski. The catalogue will also offer a bounty of yearlings by established sires such as Empire Maker, Candy Ride, Malibu Moon, Ghostzapper, Street Sense and Distorted Humor. Hip 173, a filly by Distorted Humor, could be appealing worldwide as her dam, the winning Elusive Quality mare Amber Grace, is a half-sister to European champion Russian Rhythm and thus is from the deep family of Park Appeal, Cape Cross, Iffraaj, Diktat, Alydaress and Shadayid. After six early withdrawals from the catalogue as of Wednesday, Taylor Made Sales Agency will lead consignors with 36 yearlings, pending further scratches, while Eaton Sales has 13, Gainesway is represented by 11, Paramount Sales have ten, and Lane’s End, Bluewater Sales and Denali Stud nine each.

Racing Post Friday, July 12, 2019

FASIG-TIPTON PHOTOS

Tom Peacock talks to Mark Taylor of the eponymous Taylor Made Sales Agency about early memories of Saratoga and this year’s strong draft

OR even the largest of consignors at Fasig-Tipton’s Saratoga Sale of selected yearlings, there is pleasure mixed in with the business during the balmy days of early August. And in the case of Mark Taylor, one of the family involved in running the Kentucky institution Taylor Made, it became something of a rite of passage. “I can remember going up there when I was in high school, so late 1980s for sure, and my brothers may have done a few years before that,” recalls the vice-president of marketing and public sales operations. “Our father [Joe] was the general manager of Gainesway Farms, so every summer that was a trek we made. I can remember being a little kid and everyone was looking forward to going to Saratoga, it was kind of a vacation but a working one – my dad had us out there mucking stalls, walking horses and grooming and doing whatever needed to be done. It was the highlight of the summer before you had to go back to school.” Clearly there are few better-placed to describe the scene than Taylor. His firm dwarfs its modern-day competitors here, easily leading the way on aggregate last year and selling the sales-topping Medaglia D’Oro colt from the family of the brilliant Songbird for $1.35 million. “It’s a really unique stop on the sales calendar for American breeders and buyers every year,” he says. “You’ve got an elite race meeting going on just half a mile down the road and you’ve got a great place to visit for breeders and their families. “A lot of our customers might have let’s say ten to 20 broodmares – they’re going to take most of them to Keeneland September but if they have one who fits Saratoga, they like to go up there. “It’s got a lot of history and the racing is incredible, there are great restaurants and there’s a lot to do outside of the sale. Their tag line used to be ‘Saratoga, the August place

The heart of the action in the Fasig-Tipton sales ring and (below) Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency, a Kentucky institution and perennial leading consignor

It’s a unique stop on the sales calendar for American breeders and buyers

to be’ and, on the east coast, it kind of is.” So what is a horse who fits Saratoga? “It’s all about conformation really,” Taylor explains. “You have to have enough pedigree to get in the sale; they’re not going to take a horse who has no pedigree, but you want to take a horse up there who’s really hard to pick apart. “At Keeneland September, say Books 1

and 2, the yearling might be looked at by the buyer say three times before they bid. At Saratoga I’d say it’s more like five or six times because it’s a lot more leisurely, it’s a smaller catalogue, people have time on their hands as opposed to, ‘Hey we’ve

Top consignors by yearlings offered Vendor

Number offered

Taylor Made

Eaton Sales

Gainesway

Paramount Sales

Bluewater Sales Denali Stud Lane’s End

got numbers, we’ve got to keep moving’. “So you need to have a horse who if it gets inspected six times by a potential buyer, they continue to like the horse, there haven’t got to be flaws you pick apart, so that’s really the big thing.” Among the 30-plus draft for this year, which include Medaglia D’Oros, Curlins and American Pharaohs, is one who stands out from the crowd as Taylor Made is responsible for the only Galileo in the sale. Mark Taylor explains that it reflects the change in the global racing mood. He says: “With an emergence of more emphasis on turf racing in America – that really seems to be a trend – and a lot of big money up for these pots, I think it’s more en vogue for big American buyers to buy horses they think might be grass horses than it was before. “And as we’ve seen with War Of Will and Omaha Beach this year, a lot of the time horses who were bought thinking they might have a tendency to be for

the grass, next thing you know you have a great dirt horse. “It’s a great trend in racing that more Americans want to go to Europe and run, more Europeans are sending horses over here to run for big purses. There seems to be a lot more exchange of competition, both ways.” And of the colt himself, Taylor surmises: “I haven’t seen enough Galileos to know if he’s typical or not, but the horse has just this magnificent walk. We’ve got 175 yearlings on the farm and none of them walk like this horse does. He just devours the ground. “But he’s a strong, robust horse who if I didn’t know he was a Galileo, I’d look at him and wouldn’t say he was exclusively grass either. He’s got some substance, a hind quarter to him that American buyers typically gravitate towards. “When you see him move, you’re going to be attracted to him no matter who you are or where you’re from. We’ll learn from it anyway; if it doesn’t go well, we’ll be hesitant to take a horse like him back up there again, but we wanted to make a statement with him that, ‘Hey, he’s a really good horse no matter where you run’. We’re going to put him on display and see if we’re right.”

AYLOR MADE has prepared countless marquee names for Saratoga over the years, such as Triple Crown hero American Pharoah and explosive juvenile Vindication, while one of its most recent exhibits, the Watercress Farm-bred Rushing Fall, has taken the turf miling division by storm.

There is added excitement this time around as included in the consignment are a couple from the first crop of yearlings by California Chrome, the Dubai World Cup and Kentucky Derby hero who stands at Taylor Made Farm. “We’re excited to bring the Chromes to market,” says Mark Taylor. “From what I’ve seen, he’s putting a lot of quality into his babies and I think there’s a lot of interest, just because he was an amazing racehorse and had such charisma. “A lot of the people are kind of chomping at the bit wanting to see them, and also wanting to buy one and see what it can do. “When you’re around him, he just gives off this aura like he’s the man. He’s a ham for the camera; as soon as you come round with one he’s on his hind legs, putting on a show.” While Taylor would love visitors to take a look at his yearlings, he suggests newcomers simply make the most of their time in this beloved corner of New York state. “The track is what I refer to as arrogantly shabby, it’s not fancy, it’s not modern, but with those iconic red and white tents they have out by the paddock, you feel like you’re stepping back in time and you can imagine people in the 1920s walking around up there,” he says. “Saratoga became popular because it would get so much hotter down in New York city, they came because you could get away from the heat. With the spas and mineral baths, a kind of old-school town sprung up. It’s just an amazing place.”

Friday, July 12, 2019 racingpost.com

Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale

YOUNG GUNS AIMING GETTY IMAGES

Michele MacDonald on the acid test for the first-crop yearling sires who make up nearly a quarter of this year’s catalogue

NE of the most exciting aspects of each edition of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale of selected yearlings is that it provides the opening curtain call for some of the best yearlings by first-crop stallions, thus launching the ensuing race for who will become leading sire among that group. This year, almost a quarter of the catalogue is made up of initial yearlings by 13 of America’s most promising young stallions, a squadron that includes five champions and three Classic winners. Four of the stallions achieved Grade/Group 1 wins on turf, another sign of an apparent increasing willingness of North American breeders to again embrace pedigrees and performance oriented toward grass. European champion Air Force Blue, a Kentucky-bred son of War Front, joins two-time American Horse of the Year and Dubai World Cup winner California Chrome in this group of elite winners on grass. American champion turf star Big Blue Kitten, by Kitten’s Joy, and versatile turf and dirt campaigner Mshawish, by Medaglia D’Oro, are also in this mix. Yet, in looking forward with the knowledge of how the bloodstock market reacted to the first weanlings by the new stallions last autumn, the most brilliant commercial stars look to be Godolphin’s dynamic duo of multiple Grade 1 winners Frosted, by Tapit, and Nyquist, by Uncle Mo. That pair led all others by weanling average sale price, with Nyquist, America’s 2015 champion juvenile and 2016 Kentucky Derby victor, setting the pace. His nine weanlings sold at auction in 2018 brought an average price of $208,333. Frosted, whose most impressive accomplishment was setting a stakes record of 1min 32.73sec in the prestigious one-mile Metropolitan Handicap while surging 14 and a quarter lengths clear of his nearest rival, sired 13 weanlings sold last year for an average of $184,230. Together, Frosted and Nyquist account for 22 of the 49 yearlings by first-crop sires

Kentucky Derby hero Nyquist is represented by nine yearlings while (below) dual American Horse of the Year California Chrome has four

in the Saratoga catalogue, with the former represented by 13 and the latter having sired nine. In general terms, the physical characteristics of the yearlings by Frosted and Nyquist are impressive, according to Bayne Welker, Fasig-Tipton executive vice-president. Welker said: “That kind of goes without even being said. When you see a list of horses [with the most yearlings in the catalogue], they’re usually leading the group in the physicals [of their offspring] that we saw. “I’ll have to say that the Nyquists and the Frosteds, both, overall, were a very desirable group of horses.” Godolphin’s Kentucky sales manager Darren Fox says: “We’re obviously very excited about both of them. “One of those stallions in a single year would have been a major coup for us, never mind getting two of them in the same year. For us, it’s definitely a very fortunate position to be in. “They both have some [yearlings with] outstanding physicals going into the select sales. I can’t wait to see a cross-section of them in one setting and to see how the market reacts to them. Their yearlings should be very well

received given the physicals that we’re seeing.” The Saratoga selected sale can provide jet propulsion to a young stallion in the

commercial marketplace, he notes. “It’s the first opportunity for the market to get a real taste of the cream of the crop by any given first-crop stallion,” Fox continues. “With Saratoga being a select sale, there’s a lot of time to inspect individual horses, and buyers can really get a sense of what a stallion is getting. “It’s very important, and if a stallion does well at Saratoga it can certainly start the momentum and it can roll forward from there. “It sets the tone for how a stallion will be received. A strong start at Saratoga is what everyone is looking for.” Frosted began his stud career with the highest fee of the stallions represented by first-crop yearlings in the Saratoga sale, standing for $50,000 alongside Nyquist, who held court for a $40,000 fee, at Godolphin’s Jonabell Farm in Lexington. Godolphin advertises that Frosted covered the best book of mares for any of the American stallions who began their stud careers in 2017. Many of Frosted’s progeny in the Saratoga catalogue reflect that quality and several have close connections to prominent Grade/Group 1 performers.

Hip 24, set to be the third Frosted to go into the ring at Saratoga’s Humphrey S Finney sale pavilion, is a grey filly who is a half-sister to Japanese Grade 1 winner Mozu Ascot. Bred by Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind Farm, the filly is out of Grade 2 winner India, a half-sister to Grade 1 winners To Honor And Serve and Angela Renee. Another Frosted filly, catalogued as hip 98 and bred by Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm, is out of the Candy Ride mare Ride To Houston, a half-sister to the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner McKinzie. Some of the other standouts by Frosted in the sale include hip 7, a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Dance With Fate; hip 130, a half-sister to Neolithic, who placed in two of the world’s richest Grade/ Group 1 races, the Dubai World Cup and the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes; hip 131, a colt produced by a half-sister to Grade 1 winner and young sire Creative Cause and to two other Graded winners; and hip 177, a colt out of a half-sister to the dam of Canadian champion and Queen’s Plate Stakes winner Holy Helena and Grade 2 winner Holy Boss. Several of the Frosted yearlings were sold as weanlings, with hip 31, a grey filly out of the Honour And

Glory mare Jeanne’s Honor, bringing $240,000 from McMahon and Hill Bloodstock. Grade 1 winner Jeanne Jones, by Nijinsky, is the second dam of the filly, who is a half-sister to stakes winner Going To Kukaro and to stakes-placed Ten K Cat. Of the five colts and four fillies in the Saratoga catalogue sired by Nyquist, one of the most intriguing is hip 179, a filly bred by the Coolmore-affiliated Lynch Bages Ltd in partnership with Camas Park Stud. A half-sister to multiple stakes winner Tea Time, the filly is out of the Empire Maker mare Asian Empress, a $1.7 million yearling herself and a full-sister to Grade 1 winner Acoma and a half-sister to the late Claiborne Farm sire Arch. Another notable Nyquist yearling is hip 8, a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Ever So Clever and to a pair of horses who each brought $1.1m at sales: Shadwell’s Tapit colt Tathqeef, who is stakes-placed in Britain, and the now eight-year-old mare Fidelity, by A.P. Indy, who was sold as a juvenile at Ocala. The Nyquist filly was bred by Bernard and Eamon Cleary’s Clearsky Farms, which earned the Eclipse Award as America’s outstanding breeder for 2017 after producing champions Arrogate and Abel Tasman. Following Nyquist and Frosted in the categories of number of Saratoga catalogued yearlings and highest weanling prices last season are the trio of California Chrome, by Lucky Pulpit, champion sprinter Runhappy, by Super Saver, and Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator, a son of Curlin. California Chrome and Exaggerator both stood their first seasons for fees of $40,000 while located at Taylor Made Farm and WinStar Farm respectively. Runhappy, meanwhile, who stood for $25,000 at Claiborne, generated a notable return for many breeders when his 18 weanlings sold averaged $150,555. Runhappy has four yearlings in the Saratoga catalogue, as does California Chrome, whose nine weanlings averaged $101,333 last autumn. Exaggerator, whose 16 weanlings sold in 2018 averaged $93,125, has five Saratoga yearlings. Hip 55, a chestnut colt by California Chrome, will likely be an individual who many visitors will want to see as he is out of Grade 1 winner Magnificent Song. Consigned by Vinery Sales, the colt was bred by Calumet Farm.

Racing Post Friday, July 12, 2019

TO HIT THE HEIGHTS Of the yearlings by Runhappy, hip 154, a grey or roan colt consigned by Brookdale Sales, possesses a notable page as he is a result of speed-on-speed breeding. He is a half-brother to millionaire multiple Graded winner Kobe’s Back, who placed in four Grade 1 events over his long and productive career. One of the yearlings by Exaggerator from a highly distinguished female family in Europe and America, meanwhile, could prove to be a savvy pinhook. Hip 107 107, a chestnut Exaggerator filly out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Scoop Of Gold and a half-sister to Irish-bred American Grade 3 winner Medea, shows three-time Grade 1 winner

Godolphin’s Frosted (above) is the most represented ﬁrst-crop ﬁrst-crop sire with 13 yearlings on off offer; er; fellow new boys Air Force Blue (left) and Runhappy

High Yield as well as British champion and 1,000 Guineas winner Forest Flower and multiple

Grade 1 winner Catch A Glimpse on her page. Bluewater Sales purchased the filly for $80,000 at Keeneland in January and is consigning her to the Saratoga auction. Of the other first-crop sires,

Air Force Blue is the standout by racing performance. After he stood his first season for a $25,000 fee at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, 20 weanlings from his first crop were sold at auction

last year and averaged $80,295. One of Air Force Blue’s sons in the Saratoga catalogue, hip 111, a bay bred by the Coolmore-affiliated Rhinestone Bloodstock and consigned by

Four Star Sales, is from the family of European luminaries El Gran Senor and Try My Best, as well as Japanese Grade 1 winner Fusaichi Pandora, dam of 2018 Japanese Horse of the Year Almond Eye.

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Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale Michele MacDonald talks to Fasig-Tipton’s Anna Seitz about her day job and her pioneering all-women racing syndicates

ITH a single phone call, a potential buyer interested in purchasing yearlings during the Saratoga select market can connect with an experienced yet youthful sales professional who was, literally, born into the business and who has gone on to make a mark in racing around the world. Marianna ‘Anna’ Seitz Ciannello, who grew up on her family’s Brookdale Farm, can field just about any kind of request for assistance from buyers and sellers, drawing on her background that includes working for seven-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher before joining Fasig-Tipton in 2009. In the past decade, in addition to her duties as client development and public relations manager for the company, Seitz has formed all-women syndicates that currently race in Europe, Australia and North America. In May, she and her partners in It’s All About the Girls sold their multiple Australian Group 1 winner Global Glamour for A$1.55 million (£850,000/€950,000) at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale. She is also fondly known as the originator of Fasig-Tipton’s popular VIP champagne toasting suite, the spot so hot at the Saratoga sale that buyers sometimes splurge on a horse just to earn a place inside to pop celebratory corks. There is not much in the thoroughbred business that Seitz has not seen or done, and her commitment on many levels to encouraging the growth of racing, coupled with her outgoing demeanour and a zest for fun, have made her a key part of Fasig-Tipton’s sales team. “She wears many, many different hats and she wears them all with great interest and enthusiasm, which is probably her greatest attribute – her love and passion of the business in general and our sales in particular,” says Fasig-Tipton president Boyd T Browning jnr. “She has many different perspectives and understands our customers’ needs and wants – she understands the highs and she understands the lows. She’s a great ambassador to bring people into the game. She’s made a hell of an impact. “She’s always thinking, she’s always willing to try. She’s

A PASSION AND A LOVE THAT SHINE THROUGH innovative, she’s creative and she’s a great employee and a great asset to Fasig-Tipton.” Seitz, who also serves on the board of Thoroughbred Charities of America while raising two young sons with her husband, bloodstock specialist Evan Ciannello, particularly appreciates the opportunity her work provides to interact with high-profile international owners and trainers. “I’m really enjoying everything right now. I’m very busy all the time, but I’m really enjoying the challenge,” Seitz says from her Kentucky office while noting an upcoming summer trip to France, where her syndicate has horses in training with Nicolas Clement. She especially relishes connecting with aspiring new owners, as she did with Bob and Kristine Edwards of e5 Racing Thoroughbreds when they were just getting started. The Edwards family went on to purchase Rushing Fall at the Saratoga sale and the filly has blossomed into a multiple Grade 1 winner. “When Rushing Fall wins, I feel like I’m a part of her team,” says Setiz. “I don’t own her, but I feel like one of the owners because I admire the Edwards and her trainer [Chad Brown] so much and I love that she came from a Fasig-Tipton sale.” Just about anyone who comes to a Fasig-Tipton sale, particularly the glitzy Saratoga yearling venue and the fireworks-laden November breeding-stock sale in Lexington, gets to know Seitz since her duties include helping arrange buyer accommodations and logistics in addition to recruiting horses. By mid-June she had already been conversing with high-profile trainers from around the globe who were interested in attending the Saratoga sale on August 5-6, including some who would be making their first visit to the historic upstate New York sale grounds adjacent to Saratoga racecourse. The international interest, coupled with a strong domestic economy, bodes well for this year’s sale even as it follows a milestone 2018 auction. “We shattered our own select sale records last year so that helps a lot with the buyer recruiting,” Seitz notes of the

2018 results that featured 156 yearlings from the boutique catalogue sold for a total of $62,794,000. “People reached out to me way earlier than normal this year, so that’s a good sign. “We’ve had some trainers from England who want to come, from Ireland and from Australia, so that’s pretty cool. It looks like we’re going to have some new players.” While American buyers typically account for the bulk of the Saratoga sale action, Seitz points out that “the world is becoming, in the trading of horses, smaller”. Middle Eastern and Japanese buyers often show up in the Saratoga result sheets along with European-based buyers such as Coolmore and bloodstock agent Hugo Merry, and Australians have begun making purchases in recent years.

UY MULCASTER, the agent known for having found Australian superstar Winx, signed a $575,000 ticket in 2017 for a Medaglia D’Oro colt on behalf of a group that has subsequently raced the colt, named Yonkers, in Ireland with trainer Ger Lyons. Attending that sale with Mulcaster was one of Winx’s co-owners, Peter Tighe. “To me, those people are celebrities – they owned the greatest mare in Australia – but they came to Saratoga and they were blown away by it,” Seitz recalls. “They sent me a package full of hats and a vest and all kinds of Winx stuff and that was so nice of them. They said, ‘You made our experience really special; we really loved

Anna Seitz is an integral part of the Fasig-Tipton set-up and has enjoyed much success with her women-only racing syndicates

Racing Post Friday, July 12, 2019

The sun sets but the sales grounds are still a hive of activity; members of the It’s All About The Girls syndicate (above) shopping for more talent at Fasig-Tipton

Saratoga because of Fasig-Tipton,’ so that was great.” Drawing international buyers to Saratoga is “something I didn’t realise was going to grow so much”, Seitz says. “But having horses myself with my syndicates in Australia, Ireland and France really helps me because I’m tuned in more with what’s going on overseas.” She adds: “I’m spending more time internationally and I’ve had people reach out to me, and people also contact us from Dubai, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Saratoga sale is a place where everybody wants to go.” Fasig-Tipton and Seitz take extra measures to be sure that visitors enjoy the experience. While the sale is perhaps most comparable to a venue like Deauville, considering the upscale and seasonal vibe of the busy social scene, it can be overwhelming to those not familiar with it. “It can be intimidating to go to Saratoga when you’ve never been and you don’t know anyone,” admits Seitz. “You call a restaurant to go to dinner and you’re told everything is booked. So, for buyers to have a connection through Fasig-Tipton, it makes it a lot less intimidating. We’re happy to help out.

“We’ve also got special rates for the hotels blocked off so they don’t have to try to get their own.” Through Audi, a special partner for the sale, Fasig-Tipton offers rides to and from the auction to relieve some pressures. “All that helps,” Seitz continues. “Then buyers and agents can focus on looking at horses and working, rather than trying to figure out where do we go, what do we do. We want them to be able to focus on what they’re there for – looking at yearlings.”

HE sale company also provides special accommodations at the high-quality racing events held the weekend before the auction during the Fasig-Tipton Festival of Racing. “It’s all so much fun, it’s not just about a horse sale,” says Seitz. “It’s about meeting up with friends from all over the world and it’s about world-class racing. “The sale itself is such a unique experience, where everybody wants to see and be seen. The whole town comes out and it has such buzz about it. The entire experience is what makes Saratoga and our

Fasig-Tipton sale so special. It’s not just one thing, it’s how everything works together. “The Festival of Racing has grown every year, and we sponsor a couple of stakes races and have a lot of fun. I think that’s a big attraction – people are having fun.” Part of the fun includes the VIP buyers’ lounge and the champagne toasts that Seitz developed. The concept now includes a partnership with Sherry-Lehmann wines, which are featured in the exclusive suite on the second floor of the Humphrey S Finney Pavilion, and elite partners in the private air transport business also participate to court customers. “I approached Boyd with the idea a few years ago,” Seitz says. “We have a lot of partners now with the sale through sponsorships, and they wanted a place where they could showcase their products in front of high-end buyers. So, it was kind of the perfect mix of we needed a place to do that and the buyers needed a place to get away from the crowd. “We like to have a toast – especially if someone sells a really nice horse or buys a really nice horse, we like to pop a bottle of champagne for them.” Even Seitz, however, has been surprised by how

enthusiastic buyers have been about the lounge. “It has grown in popularity, especially on the Monday night, the first night of the sale,” she says. “There’s no room – you can’t get from one side of the sales grounds to the other because it’s just so packed with people, including a lot from the city who just want to see the horses. We like that the public comes out, but when you’re trying to work, it gets pretty challenging. “The buyers’ lounge takes a little pressure off people who may just want to talk to somebody. I’ve gotten to know a lot of our buyers through that. “It’s a good way for Fasig-Tipton to get to know people. You’re not asking them for anything, instead we’re

‘The sale itself is such a unique experience, where everybody wants to see and be seen. The whole town comes out’ Anna Seitz

thanking them, and hopefully they have a fun time and they want to come back and do it again the following year.” As Browning pointed out, Seitz can empathise with the highs and lows of purchasing and racing from her own extensive experience. In 2011, she took the first major step into racing by gathering 19 partners to join her and her husband in a $20,000 filly acquired at the Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale in Lexington with the help of agent Bob Feld. Named I’m Already Sexy, the daughter of Ready’s Image went on to become a multiple Graded stakes winner for Hit the Board Stables, managed by the Ciannellos, and she won ten of 26 starts and $762,300. In 2015, the partners completed their dream run by selling I’m Already Sexy to Teruya Yoshida of Shadai Farm for $420,000 at the Fasig-Tipton November sale. “I really love the racetrack, but I can’t afford to own a racehorse by myself,” says Seitz, reflecting on why she launched the partnerships. “I found a lot of people wanted to own racehorses but had no idea how to do it. Again, it’s intimidating to start. It’s scary. “So I thought maybe I can

take the hard part out of this and learn how to do it and offer a model that will get people into racing.” When she was visiting Australia for the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast yearling sale, Seitz recalls that she was sitting on a bus with Goffs’ Elaine ‘Legs’ Lawlor and discussing the bonus programme Magic Millions had initiated as an incentive for all-women partnerships. “So, I said I have an all-female syndicate in the US, do you want to try it down here?” Seitz says. “That’s how we got Global Glamour – we bought her a couple of days later. We got lucky; she hit and we got a lot of press out of it. We had women from eight countries in that syndicate. “Then, since ‘Legs’ spends half the year in Ireland, we said let’s do this in Ireland. Plus Nicolas Clement has been asking me for years to train for the girls in France. He helped me, and his partner Tina Rau, to pick out a couple of fillies last year. So now we’re in France too.”

HE women partners are united by a genuine love for the horses and they are very loyal to one another, sharing connections and experiences for the greater good, Seitz points out. “I can’t believe how many successful women I’ve met through these partnerships who have helped me grow at Fasig-Tipton, in my real job, because of how they’ve mentored me,” she adds. “And to me that has been the most rewarding thing. “I’m also better at my job with Fasig-Tipton because I’m invested in the horses, because I know what’s going on at the racetrack. When I support trainers [with horses], they’re happy to support Fasig-Tipton; it’s give and take, and they know I’m trying to help the sport by bringing new people in. “At a time when there’s a lot of negativity in racing, we’re trying to do something good, and people have been very supportive of it.”

Friday, July 12, 2019 racingpost.com

Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale STAKES FORM OF HIPS’ SIBLINGS LOT NUMBER BREEDING SIBLING SIRE BEST STAKES RUN BEST RPR 1 1 f Exaggerator-Fashion Cat Corfu Malibu Moon G2w 106 New York Central Tapit G3w 104

Classic Bloodstock

6 1 c Nyquist-Flat Screen

Baccari Bloodstock

Native Bombshell

War Front

G3w

7 1 c Frosted-Flirting With Fate Dance With Fate

Two Step Salsa

8 1 f Nyquist-Foxy Danseur Ever So Clever

Medaglia D’Oro

12 1 c Hard Spun-Goldilocks’ Cat Complimenti

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