Posts Tagged ‘unbridled belle’

The upcoming long holiday weekend provides an opportunity for three tracks–Hollywood Park, Aqueduct and Churchill Downs—to run a combined total of 16 graded stakes, many with entrants coming out of the Breeders’ Cup Championships held earlier this month at Santa Anita.

Churchill Downs has carded the 1 1/8-mile G2 Falls City as the 11th of 12 races on Thursday. Unbridled Belle hopes to go out a winner before she heads for the breeding shed. The 6-year-old mare has accumulated almost $1.9 million in earnings and will face off against another millionaire, Swift Temper, who has gotten the best of Unbridled Belle in their three previous meetings this year.

Friday’s feature race, the G2 Clark Handicap, has attracted a stellar field of competitors, including Macho Again, Bullsbay, Etched, Blame and Einstein, the highweight in the 1 1/8-mile dirt event. The 7-year-old will start from the far outside post (14) in what will be the 30th and final race of his career. With regular rider Julien Leparoux in Japan, Rajiv Maragh will take over in the irons. The G3 River City Handicap (race 9) at 1 1/8 miles on the turf, is on the undercard.

Churchill’s meet closes on Saturday with the running of twin G2 stakes, the Golden Rod for fillies, and the Kentucky Jockey Club for colts and geldings. Sassy Image, winner of the opening weekend’s Pocahontas Stakes, as well as the runner-up in that race, Decelerator, are expected to start. The upset winner of the Iroquois, Thiskyhasnolimit, is the 2-1 favorite in the field of nine in the Kentucky JC. Both races are 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

Aqueduct hosts the G3 Fall Highweight on Thursday, the G2 Top Flight Handicap on Friday, and a quartet of graded stakes on Saturday, highlighted by the G1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile. Pyro, winner of the Forego and Kodiak Kowboy, victor of the Vosburgh, are co-highweights at 120 lbs. They will be facing DeFrancis winner Vineyard Haven, Bribon and Driven By Success. With the coupling of Pyro and Vineyard Haven, there will be only four betting interests.

Also on the Aqueduct’s Saturday card is the running of the 1 1/8-mile G1 Gazelle for 3-year-old fillies. Stardom Bound will be in the spotlight here; she had a string of five consecutive G1 wins to her credit, before finishing third in the Ashland in April. This will be her first start on the dirt. The other two graded stakes will focus on juveniles–the G2 Demoiselle for fillies, and the G2 Remsen for males, both run at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt. The winners of these races may be pointing to a race on the first Saturday in May next year.

The G1 Citation kicks off the three-day Hollywood Park Turf Festival on Friday and features a field of ten older horses going 1 1/16 miles. Cowboy Cal, winner of the Oak Tree Mile, will attempt to redeem himself in the Citation after a 10th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Proudinsky and Fluke, also entered in the Citation, will both be saddled by Bobby Frankel’s long-time assistant Humberto Ascanio, who is now the trainer of record for the late Hall of Famer’s starters.

Saturday’s Hollywood stakes are the G1 Matriarch for fillies and mares going a mile on grass, supported by the G3 Generous, for two-year-olds, also at a mile. The Matriarch pits two outstanding mares against each other—Ventura and Diamondrella. Both were last seen at the Breeders’ Cup; Ventura was second in the Filly & Mare Sprint, while Diamondrella ran a disappointing 11th in the Turf Sprint. Following the Breeders’ Cup, Diamondrella changed barns and is now with jockey-turned-trainer Gary Stevens.

Hollywood’s Turf Festival concludes on Sunday with the running of the G1 Hollywood Derby and the G3 Miesque (a mile for 2-year-old fillies). In the 1 ¼-mile Hollywood Derby, we can expect to see Take the Points square off against Battle of Hastings. Another intriguing entry is Black Bear Island. Now with Julio Canani, the son of Sadler’s Wells was previously conditioned by Aiden O’Brien.

By Ray Paulick
In honor of Black Friday, that “holiday” all men love to hate, we’re going to take a quick look at the year’s best bargains from among the ranks of 2009 American Graded Stakes winners. There are no American horse sales tomorrow, but perhaps this list of underpriced gems will inspire some of you to get up at 4 a.m. and drive to your local Wal-Mart in search of a flat-screen television for less $200.

First, some perspective. There have been 137 American Graded Stakes winners of 2009 sold at public auction as yearlings for an average price of $199,319 and a median of $105,000. That’s well above this year’s average price ($48,094) and median ($10,000) for yearlings sold, according to statistics from bloodhorse.com

Forty-five American Graded Stakes winners of 2009 sold as 2-year-olds. Their average price was $398,681 and their median was $170,000. Again, that’s well above the average ($48,797) and median ($20,000) for all 2-year-olds sold at public auction this year. (Pinhooked horses are counted in both categories.)

Of the 137 American Graded Stakes winners of 2009 that sold as yearlings, 43 of them sold for $50,000 or less—nearly one-third. That’s pretty good value!

Of the 45 American Graded Stakes winners of 2009 that sold as 2-year-olds, just 8 sold for $50,000 or less.

One of those bargains is Haynesfield, whose victory last weekend in the Grade 3 Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct was his first AGS win. Haynesfield was picked up for just $20,000 at the 2008 Keeneland April 2-year-olds in training sale. It was a good deal for his owners, but perhaps not for his seller; the Speightstown colt brought $100,000 at the previous year’s Keeneland September yearling sale.

The other top five 2-year-old sale bargains are G2 Distaff Handicap winner Secret Gypsy, $10,000; G1 Champagne winner Homeboykris, $11,000; G3 William Donald Schaefer Stakes winner No Advantage, $20,000; and G2 Razorback Stakes winner Let It Rock, $24,000. Like Haynesfield, Homeboykris sold for more as a yearling ($50,000) than he did as a 2-year-old, as did No Advantage ($35,000). There’s no telling why they brought less as juveniles than as yearlings, but I would bet dollars for donuts (and I love donuts) that veterinarians had something to do with it.

The blue-light special from the yearling sales among 2009 AGS winners is G3 Berkeley Handicap winner Autism Awareness, who sold for the bargain basement price of $1,000 at the CTBA’s Northern California sale. While it’s great value for the buyer, it’s a mixed blessing for the California commercial yearling market, or what there is left of it.

The other four steals were G3 Turnback the Alarm Stakes winner Unbridled Belle, $4,000; G3 Bowling Green Handicap winner Grand Couturier, $6,285; G2 Las Palmas Handicap winner Tuscan Evening, $8,823; and the $9,500 purchase Mine That Bird, winner of the G1 Kentucky Derby (though not for his original owners, who sold him privately for $400,000 late in his 2-year-old season.

There really are some deals out there, and when it comes to horses you don’t have to get up at 4 a.m. and fight the maddening crowds.

By Ray Paulick
It’s not the least bit surprising to see horses like Giant’s Causeway, A.P. Indy and Unbridled’s Song among the leading sires of American Graded Stakes winners, a weekly feature brought to you by Keeneland. After all, Giant’s Causeway leads all American-based sires by progeny earnings in 2009, A.P. Indy is fifth on the list and Unbridled’s Song ninth, according to bloodhorse.com.

A.P. Indy has seven AGS winners of 2009 that have won 10 graded stakes; Giant’s Causeway has six AGS winners of nine races, and Unbridled’s Song and Pulpit (16th on the general sire list) each have five AGS winners of seven graded stakes.

But right in the middle of those five sires–which had 2009 stud fees ranging from a high of $250,000 for A.P. Indy, $125,000 each for Giant’s Causeway and Unbridled’s Song and $80,000 for Pulpit—is a stallion who is priced much more affordably and is quietly having his best year at stud, as represented by his offspring on the track and the sale ring. That stallion is Dixie Union, a multiple-American Graded Stakes-winning son of Dixieland Band who stands at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky. Dixie Union has been represented by six AGS winners of 2009 that have won eight AGS races.

Dixie Union’s 2009 stud fee was $35,000, payable when foal stands and nurses.

Thoroughbred owners have taken notice of Dixie Union’s success, even though he only ranks 21st on the list of leading American sires by progeny earnings. Through the first three days of the Keeneland September yearling sale, Dixie Union has had five yearlings sell from seven offered for an average price of $235,000 and a median of $205,000. His two RNAs were bought back at $140,000 and $235,000. Those are very good numbers–even at his earlier stud fee of $50,000.

Dixie Union was a top-class racehorse at ages two and three for trainer Richard Mandella and his breeder, Herman Sarkowsky, who co-owned the colt with Gerald Ford of Diamond A Racing. At 2  in 1999 he won three AGS stakes: the Hollywood Juvenile Championship at Hollywood Park, Best Pal at Del Mar and Norfolk Stakes during the Oak Tree Racing Association meeting at Santa Anita. He finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and came out of that race with a bone chip in his knee. Dixie Union’s return was too late to make the 2000 Triple Crown races, but he won a pair of Grade 1 races at 3: the Haskell Invitational and Malibu Stakes. He retired to stud with a slight tendon injury following the Malibu.

Dixie Union’s six AGS winners of 2009 are: Justwhistledixie, winner of the Grade 2 Davona Dale and Bonnie Miss Stakes at Gulfstream Park; Dixie Chatter, winner of the Grade 2 Arcadia at Santa Anita; Bold Union, winner of the Grade 3 Endine Stakes at Delaware Park; Dixie Band, unbeaten winner of the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Futurity; Hot Dixie Chick, a two-time Saratoga stakes winner of the Grade 2 Schuylerville and Grade 1 Spinaway; and most recently, Gone Astray, winner of the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby.

While Lane’s End has other, higher-profile stallions among its roster of 22 (most notably, Horses of the Year A.P. Indy, Mineshaft and Curlin, and leading sire Smart Strike, among others) no one at Will Farish’s successful Versailles, Ky., operation may offer better value than Dixie Union.

By Ray Paulick
Keeneland’s September yearling sale is the largest auction of its kind in the world, serving as a marketplace for all levels of participants in the Thoroughbred industry, from the rich and famous who fly into Lexington in their private jets for the early select sessions to the blue-collar horsemen who pull a two-horse trailer into town behind their pickup trucks at the tail end of the marathon sale.

This year’s 14-day Keeneland September sale begins on Monday, Sept. 14 and runs through Sept. 28. Friday, Sept. 18 is a dark day. There are over 5,000 yearlings catalogued to this year’s sale.

Because it is the largest Thoroughbred yearling sale in the world, it should come as no surprise that the Keeneland September sale has more of its graduates win American Graded Stakes than any other auction. The Keeneland September sale has produced 66 AGS winners of 2009, five times as many as any other Thoroughbred auction. It accounts for 38.4% of the 172 AGS winners of 2009 that were sold at public auction. (The figures represent only those horses that sold and do not include RNAs.)

The most surprising thing to me about the Keeneland September graduates that went on to win an AGS race in 2009 is the number of horses that sold for relatively low prices. Unbridled Belle, winner of the Grade 3 Obeah Stakes at Delaware Park, was the biggest bargain, selling for $4,000 at the 2004 Keeneland September sale. Zensational, winner of three consecutive Grade 1 races and the likely favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, was a $20,000 yearling purchase. A total of 20 AGS winners of 2009 brought prices of $50,000 or less at the Keeneland September sale. At the other end of the spectrum is the $3.9 million Storm Cat colt, Mr. Sidney, who won the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland this spring.

The 66 AGS winners that sold at Keeneland September had an average price of $254,621 and a median of $115,000.

Because it serves as a marketplace for such a wide range of yearlings in terms of the quality of their pedigrees, the percentage of Keeneland September graduates that win an AGS race is lower than that of some other Thoroughbred auctions. Since the AGS winners of 2009 sold in different years, we’ll arbitrarily use 2007 as a benchmark for calculating the percentage (the same year was applied to consignors of sale horses in last week’s American Graded Stakes Standings brought to you by Keeneland). There were 3,799 yearlings sold at the 2007 Keeneland September sale, and the 66 AGS winners that were bought at a Keeneland September auction represent 1.7% of that figure.

By comparison, Fasig-Tipton’s select sales in Kentucky in July and at Saratoga in August, which select yearlings based on pedigree and conformation, had 3.3% and 7.0% AGS winners of 2009, respectively, using the number sold in 2007. The average price of FT July’s 12 AGS winners of 2009 was $141,500 and the median was $150,000. FT Saratoga select has produced 10 AGS winners of 2009; their average sale price was $431,000 and median was $330,000.

The Keeneland November breeding stock sale has had 12 of its graduates (10 weanlings, two horses of racing age) win AGS races in 2009. Their average was $415,083, buoyed by the world record price $1.7-million weanling, Mi Sueno (winner of the Grade 1 Darley Debutante last week), and the $2.4 million Mushka, who sold as a 3-year-old at last year’s Keeneland November sale. The median price of the 12 AGS winners sold at Keeneland November was $79,500.

Rounding out the auctions that have produced the most 2009 AGS winners are a pair of 2-year-old sales, Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic May sale and the OBS March sale, with eight each. FT Midlantic’s eight AGS winners sold for an average price of $130,125 and median of $92,500, and the eight OBS March AGS winners sold for an average of $256,875 and median of $260,000. Using the number of 2-year-olds sold at their 2007 sales, the FT Midlantic AGS winners represent 2.3% of the number sold and the OBS March winners 3.2%.