Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), a dual Group 1-winning sprinter in the colours of Hughes, Rawlings, and O'Shaughnessy, will shortly begin his fast work in preparation for the G1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Sept. 9.
Trained by Julie Camacho, the 3-year-old is eight-for-seven and claimed both the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and the G1 July Cup S. in July.
“Shaquille is in really good form,” said Camacho's husband and assistant Steve Brown. “We purposely gave him a quiet couple of weeks after Newmarket which was always the plan. “He looks well and it has freshened him up. He has regrouped nicely and is back cantering.
“We are very pleased with him. He is a very straightforward horse at home and he will do his first bit of fast work on Saturday. We are all systems go to Haydock and we're looking forward to it.”
Of the colt's autumn plans, Brown added, “I would think the obvious route would be to go to Champions Day [in October]. We've obviously had a little bit of interest in the possibility of going abroad [to the Breeders' Cup] this year, but I think we will be staying at home and probably go to Ascot.
“We'll go a step at a time, but it will have been a long year by then and he's still a 3-year-old and we have to be mindful of that.”
Co-owned by joint-breeder Martin Hughes, Shaquille has generated plenty of attention regarding a future stallion career.
“There has been lots of interest in him,” Brown said. “We have directed that down to Martin. He's waded through it and I think he's keen to do something more towards the end of the year, really.
“He said pretty early on it was something we'd discuss at the end of the year and we should just get on and enjoy the racing for now in the short term. There are lots of scenarios, but he's been wonderful whatever happens.”
In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this Sunday running at Sapporo and Niigata Racecourses:
Sunday, August 6, 2023 5th-SAP, ¥13,720,000 ($96k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800mT MISS MATENRO (f, 2, Into Mischief–Miss Panthere {Jpn}, by Daiwa Major {Jpn}) is the first foal for her dam, who carried the silks of owner and breeder Chiyono Terada to victory in Group 2 company in Japan in 2018, where she had future Horse of the Year Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) back in third. Miss Panthere continues to reside in Kentucky, where she has since foaled a full-brother to Miss Matenro and a colt by Authentic before visiting Flightline this year. Norihiro Yokoyama rode Miss Panthere to her Group 2 win and has the call on Miss Matenro. Into Mischief is the sire of 22 winners from 24 Japanese starters. B-Chiyono Terada (KY)
6th-NII, ¥13,720,000 ($96k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800m HAPPY IMAGE (JPN) (f, 2, Good Magic–Sassy Image, by Broken Vow) is out of a winner of the GI Humana Distaff S. and GI Princess Rooney H. and was purchased in utero by Big Red Farm for $110,000 at the 2021 Keeneland January Sale. The Apr. 30 foal is related to three winners from five to race, including the 15-time winner V J Day (War Front) and is bred on a cross over Fappiano-line dams that has resulted in Grade II-winning juveniles Vegas Magic and Dubyuhnell. B-Big Red Farm
11th-NII, Leopard S.-G3, ¥76,000,000 ($534k), 3yo, 1800m MYSTIC LORE (c, 3, Arrogate–Folklore, by Tiznow) was beaten narrowly on career debut on turf back in February, but broke his maiden in fine fashion on the dirt the following month and tacked on the equivalent of a first-level allowance when last seen June 24 (see below, SC 7). Having been given a standby invitation for last month's Japan Dirt Derby, the $500,000 Keeneland September purchase finds a good spot here for his stakes debut. The son of 2005 champion 2-year-old filly Foklore boasts a big pedigree, as Folklore's half-sister Rhodochrosite (Unbridled's Song) produced Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), whose first-crop progeny flew off the shelf at last month's JHRA Foal Sale. Another half-sister to Folklore, GSP Delightful Quality (Elusive Quality), supplied 'TDN Rising Star' and two-time Eclipse Award winner Essential Quality (Tapit). Leading rider Yuga Kawada has the call. B-Lewis Thoroughbred Breeding LLC (KY)
Dual Classic winner Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}–Gale Force {GB}, by Shirocco {Ger}) will stand in 2024 under Coolmore's National Hunt banner after being purchased from Godolphin this week.
Bred by Philippa Cooper's Normandie Stud and born and raised at Coolmore, the three-time Group 1 winner was purchased by Godolphin for 200,000gns out of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1. Sent into training with Charlie Appleby, the March foal broke his maiden at first asking at Newmarket in October of 2020, and was an undefeated winner of the G2 Dante S., his third start, in 2021. Third in the G1 Derby, Hurricane Lane rattled off the G1 Irish Derby, G1 Grand Prix de Paris, and the G1 St Leger in succession later that summer and was a close third in the G1 Grand Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Kept in training at four, he added a third in the G2 Hardwicke S. at Royal Ascot and was also first in the G2 Jockey Club S. at five. His record stands at 13-7-0-3 with $2,792,161 in earnings.
“We are delighted to get Hurricane Lane,” Coolmore's Cathal Murphy said. “He's a fine, big, good-moving horse with a pedigree and race record to match. He's one of the best sons of Frankel to date and comes from a leading Aga Khan family. His dam by Shirocco won a listed race at Saint-Cloud and her half-sister Seal Of Approval (GB) (Authorized {Ire}) won a Group 1 on British Champions Day.”
A full-brother to the stakes-placed mare Frankel's Storm (GB), Hurricane Lane is from the extended family of dual Derby winner and sire Harzand (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).
“Hurricane Lane is a very good-looking son of Frankel with plenty of scope and a good action,” added Appleby. “He showed a great constitution throughout his career and was a wonderful racehorse who gave us many great days.”
One of the fastest-growing segments of the Thoroughbred auction market is the weanling-to-yearling pinhook market, which regularly produces some of the biggest hammer prices of the yearling season.
While there are individuals within the bloodstock marketplace that have carved out reputations for having a keen eye when it comes to buying young horses and re-selling them as yearlings, the various noms-de-sales ticket that can be tied to an individual through different agents and partnerships can make quantifying the best pinhookers nearly impossible.
We don't have that problem with sires. That's one line on the transaction that is never changed or hidden.
With that in mind, I'll be spending the yearling season trying to figure out which sires are performing best in the weanling-to-yearling pinhook market by seeing whose youngsters are providing the biggest returns on investment from their previous purchases.
Stallions in the pinhook power rankings will be measured by two factors:
1) Gross revenue from every pinhooked yearling by a sire during the 2023 major sale season over the combined purchase price of those horses during the weanling/short yearling season of fall 2022/winter 2023. Because pinhooks comprise a smaller percentage of the yearling market's total offerings, compared with yearling-to-juvenile pinhooks, there is no minimum number of horses sold to qualify for the list.
2) Percent change of gross yearling sales over combined weanling/short yearling purchase price. If a horse sells for $10,000 as a weanling and brings $200,000 as a yearling, that's a 1,900 percent improvement. If a $200,000 yearling goes on to sell for $390,000, that's a 95 percent improvement. Both net you $190,000, but the entry point and expectations are very different.
Stallions are ranked in each category, and their combined ranks are totaled into a combined score. The lower the score, the better the horse is performing.
With just one major North American yearling sale in the books – the Fasig-Tipton July sale – we don't have a ton of data to pull from for this inaugural list, but every set of power rankings has to start somewhere. This list will surely evolve and refine over time, and hopefully it'll turn into something useful, or at least interesting.
So, let's get a look at those rankings.
#1 – Good Magic, Hill 'n' Dale Farms
Good Magic
What a 2023 it's been for Good Magic, who was represented by a Kentucky Derby winner from his first crop in Mage before nearly taking the Preakness Stakes with Blazing Sevens. It was a near-certainty that buyers would pounce on the Good Magics when the yearling season came around, and investors in his young stock would be rewarded for their perfect timing.
Good Magic had two pinhooked yearlings sell at the Fasig-Tipton July sale for a total of $470,000 off a combined initial investment of $124,000. The gross increase of $346,000 was the greatest season-to-season jump by any stallion through the first yearling auction, and he had the fifth-highest gain by percentage at 279.03 percent.
The most dramatic jump among the two Good Magics came from Hip 175, a colt who sold as a weanling to Three Counties Bloodstock for $49,000 at last year's Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale and later sold to Boardshorts Stables for $370,000. The first foal out of the winning Carpe Diem mare Scolding, the colt was consigned at the July Sale by Blandford Stud, agent.
The Fasig-Tipton July sale is a big momentum-setter for first-crop sires, and rookie Thousand Words was one of the early standouts at this year's renewal.
Thousand Words' lone pinhooked yearling started as a $65,000 weanling purchase by Stella Stables at last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale, and he sold to Stanley Stables for $250,000 at this year's July sale. He ranked fourth by both gross and percent gains, at $185,000 and 284.62 percent, respectively.
Offered as Hip 351, the filly is out of Grade 3-placed Maria's Mon mare Izshelegal, and she was consigned at the July Sale by Gainesway, agent.
Thousand Words, a Grade 2-winning son of Pioneerof the Nile, was himself a $1-million yearling during his own time in the sales ring, offering a positive bit of past performance when projecting the fortunes of his foals at auction.
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His one pinhooked yearling to sell at the July sale started as a $20,000 short yearling secured by Cece Stables at this year's Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, and he sold to Legion Bloodstock, agent, for $130,000 at the July Sale. The 550 percent gain was the second-best among qualifying sires, while the gross increase of $110,000 placed him 10th in that category.
Consigned by Gainesway, agent, the colt offered as Hip 149 is the first foal out of the unraced Giant's Causeway mare Pipistrella, from the family of champion High Chaparral.
Omaha Beach has proven a versatile sire with his first crop of runners in the early months of their juvenile season, getting stakes-placed runners on both dirt and turf. His runners figure to get better as time rolls on, and it appears he has managed to maintain the attention of the marketplace while those early runners do the work to prove out their sire.
#4 – Army Mule, Hill 'n' Dale Farms
Army Mule
After performing admirably with his first runners in 2022, it's little surprise that buyers are bullish on Army Mule's follow-up crops, and the believers are being rewarded.
Army Mule had two pinhooked yearlings in the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, starting with a combined initial investment of $72,000 and selling for $217,000. That marked a gross gain of $145,000, which ranked him sixth for his best-performing category.
The star of that duo was Hip 233, a filly out of the unraced Giant's Causeway mare Whiff, handled by the Paramount Sales consignment. Good Amego Bloodstock first landed her for $42,000 at the Keeneland January Sale, then she hammered to Pablo Stables for $140,000 in July.
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#5 – Caracaro, Crestwood Farm
Caracaro at Crestwood Farm
Another first-crop sire making a positive impression with his debut yearlings. Caracaro had two pinhooked yearlings sell in July, growing an initial investment of $57,000 to $190,000.
That marked a 233.33 percent season-to-season growth, while the gross improvement of $133,000 ranked him seventh in that category.
The biggest revenue driver among Caracaro's pinhooked yearlings was Hip 329, a filly out of the unplaced Giant's Causeway mare Giants Diva, from a deep family including English Horse of the Year Dayjur, champion Sky Beauty, and Grade 1 winners Maplejinsky, Pleasant Home, and Tale of Ekati.
She sold to Scoot Stables as a weanling for $47,000 at the Keeneland November Sale, then she sold through the Gainesway consignment to All Star Bloodstock for $150,000.
Caracaro has every right to have early-developing types. After securing an Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old, Uncle Mo was a record-setting freshman sire, and his debut crop featured champion juvenile and eventual leading freshman sire Nyquist.
(Arrogate x Folklore (Tiznow)) working up the Ritto slope this morning for Mr. Yahagi
