Godolphin's Eclipse Champion Male Turf Horse Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}–Modern Ideals {GB}, by New Approach {Ire}) will stand under the Darley banner at Dalham Hall Stud alongside his sire in Newmarket next season. A fee for the five-time top-level victor will be announced in due course.
Trained by Charlie Appleby, he won both the G3 Somerville S. and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at two. Sent to France at three, Modern Games duly nabbed the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and was third in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, and second in the G1 Sussex S. two starts later. Returned to North America, the royal blue colourbearer added the GI Woodbine Mile S. and the GI Breeders' Cup Mile, with a runner-up performance in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. in between. Kept in training at four, the 4-year-old ran second in the GI Mile S. at Keeneland before adding the G1 Lockinge S. at Newbury in May. In his final start, he was fourth in the G1 Queen Anne S. to Triple Time (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and was retired later this season with a record of 16-8-4-1 and earnings of $3,571,418.
Darley's Sam Bullard said, “The success of Dubawi as a sire of sires is now well known. How lucky we are to have such a sensational addition by the stallion, and one whose mother is also extraordinarily talented. He is a French Guineas winner, and his half-sister won the English Guineas. He won a Group 1 at two, remaining sound throughout, he finished with a Lockinge at four, and he has a magnificent mindset.
“He is now available to view, breeders should come and see him while in Newmarket and get involved.”
The chestnut is a half-brother to 2023 G1 1000 Guineas heroine Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), as well as listed winner Modern News (GB) (Shamardal), who was runner-up in the G3 Diomed S. and G3 Sovereign S. His dam is a half-sister to G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere victor and sire Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), and the family also features dual Group 1 winner Act One (GB) (In The Wings {GB}).
'He's going to be a great addition to the stallions ranks' #ModernGames: five-time G1 winner including two @BreedersCup
Practically unbeatable on Newmarket's Rowley Mile, Shadwell's Mutasaabeq (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) made all to annexe back-to-back renewals of the G2 Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Joel S. on Friday and gain a fifth success from six visits to his favourite venue.
Always happy on the front end with the bias firmly for front-runners, the Charlie Hills-trained homebred son of Ghanaati (Giant's Causeway) had to work late to deny two others who have likewise been around the block but remain just shy of the very top.
They are the Freemason Lodge favourite Regal Reality (GB) (Intello {Ger}), who for some time up the rising ground to the line threatened to ruin the party for the 11-4 favourite, and the imperturbable Chindit (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) but their combined doggedness and three-pound advantage over the penalised winner was not enough. By hard-fought head and half-length margins, Mutasaabeq saw them off to add to his Suffolk tally which also includes the rescheduled G2 Sandown Mile in May, a 2-year-old novice contest and conditions event the following season in which he gained TDN Rising Star status. The returning Maljoom (Ire) (Caravaggio) was never able to land a blow and finished fifth.
“This was right up there with his best,” jockey Jim Crowley said. “He loves it here, he likes to get rolling between the three and the two and where he has folded in the past, in fairness when they came to him he kept fighting and toughed it out well.”
Charlie Hills added, “It is a case of horses for courses and he has got a tremendous record at the Rowley Mile. I think when he wins he puts a lot into it and so he can't put too many races together, although he is a little bit older now and a bit stronger.”
“When he won here as a 3-year-old, he looked unbeatable and he was not far off favourite for the 2000 Guineas just off winning a conditions race. He has been pretty sound through his career, but he has not had too many chances at Group 1 level. I've always felt he is up to it and I'll speak to Angus [Gold] and Sheikha Hissa, but we could have a look at America for the [Breeders' Cup] Mile–that could be an option.
“What do you do with a horse that has won three Group 2s? He is a good miler and he likes fast ground. I'm sure he will handle the journey and he only needs to improve a couple of lengths with the travel and the conditions and you never quite know. A track like this tests his stamina, but a two-turn mile at Santa Anita will suit him ideally.”
Pedigree Notes
Following on from Thursday's G3 Tattersalls S. win of his relative Alyanaabi (Ire) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), Mutasaabeq adds another chapter to the remarkable story of his third dam Height Of Fashion (Fr) (Bustino {GB}). A son of the aforementioned G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Coronation S. heroine Ghanaati, he shares his second dam Sarayir (Mr. Prospector) with Alyanaabi and is therefore linked to the operation's current and very recent Sea The Stars (Ire) luminaries Baaeed (GB) and Hukum (Ire) and past greats Nashwan and Nayef.
Invincible Spirit's sire line also shows up in the family's G3 Cumberland Lodge S.-winning sire Mawatheeq by Danzig, the G2 Queen Mary S. winner and 1000 Guineas-placed Maqaasid (GB) by Green Desert and the GII New York S. winner Makderah (Ire) by Danzig's Danehill. Ghanaati also produced the G3 Mahab Al Shimaal scorer Wafy (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the Royal Hunt Cup winner Afaak (GB) by Green Desert's son Oasis Dream (GB).
Friday, Newmarket, Britain AL BASTI EQUIWORLD DUBAI JOEL S.-G2, £125,000, Newmarket, 9-29, 3yo/up, 8fT, 1:34.71, g/f.
1–MUTASAABEQ (GB), 135, h, 5, by Invincible Spirit (Ire) 1st Dam: Ghanaati (MG1SW-Eng, $720,406), by Giant's Causeway 2nd Dam: Sarayir, by Mr. Prospector 3rd Dam: Height Of Fashion (Fr), by Bustino (GB)
O/B-Shadwell Estate Company Ltd (GB); T-Charles Hills; J-Jim
Crowley. £70,888. Lifetime Record: 17-7-2-1, $356,753. *1/2
to Wafy (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), GSW-UAE, $246,592. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Regal Reality (GB), 132, g, 8, Intello (Ger)–Regal Realm (GB),
by Medicean (GB). O-Peter Done; B-Cheveley Park Stud Ltd
(GB); T-Sir Michael Stoute. £26,875.
3–Chindit (Ire), 132, h, 5, Wootton Bassett (GB)–Always A
Dream (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB). (65,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT).
O-Villoo Poonawalla Greenfield Farms; B-J C Bloodstock & R
Mahon (IRE); T-Richard Hannon. £13,450.
Margins: HD, HF, 3 1/4. Odds: 2.75, 16.00, 3.33.
Also Ran: Epictetus (Ire), Maljoom (Ire), Mighty Ulysses (GB). VIDEO.
— !
MUTASAABEQ toughs it out to retain Newmarket's Group 2 event under @JimCrowley1978 for @cbhills
Up until now, the Pinhook Power Rankings had to be consumed with the caveat that the auctions we'd been through represented a fraction of the overall marketplace. Now that we've got the bellwether Keeneland September Yearling Sale on the books, we know better what we have on our hands.
Where the previous sales on the calendar dealt primarily with select-level offerings and first-crop sires, the September sale revealed the market in full, from high-end pinhooks to routine trade to horses sold for a loss. If a stallion can run that gamut, you know they're a commercially sound investment. If they don't, you'll find out just as quickly.
Stallions in the pinhook power rankings will be measured by two factors:
1) Net 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 net 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.
Let's get a look at those rankings…
#1 – Tapit, Gainesway
Tapit
A seven figure horse can do a lot for a stallion in these rankings, and Tapit proved that with authority at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale when a colt purchased as a weanling for $275,000 sold to Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm for $1.2 million.
You can read more about that transaction, and the weanling-to-yearling pinhook operation of Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds here.
The transaction marked a net revenue of $925,000, which by itself put Tapit on top among sires with pinhooks in that category. It also marked a 336.36 percent increase, which put him third.
The colt, offered as Hip 129 from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, is out of the winning Tiznow mare Plenty O'Toole, whose three winners from five foals to race include multiple Grade 3 winner Mr. Money and stakes-placed Tiz Plenty. He hails from the family of Grade 1 winners Well Armed, American Patriot, and Cyberknife.
Tapit has been a pantheon-level commercial sire for a decade, and the Saratoga sale has been his playground for just as long. This colt was one of his two seven-figure yearlings at this year's renewal, and his notable Saratoga sale alumni include Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit, who sold for $1.2 million in 2015.
#2 – Constitution, WinStar Farm
Constitution
It's only fitting that a list with Tapit at the top is followed by a son of Tapit.
Constitution jumped up to second place on the chart after finishing in 35th following the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. That rise came thanks to a massive pinhook score at the Keeneland September sale, where Hip 1777 sold to Pin Oak Stud for $900,000 after bringing $100,000 as a newly-turned yearling earlier this year at the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale.
Jim Fitzgerald purchased the colt as a short yearling, and he was consigned at the September sale by Knockgriffin Farm, agent. The bay colt is the first foal out of the unplaced Curlin mare Low Pressure Zone, from the family of prominent sires Liam's Map and Not This Time.
Constitution's two yearling pinhooks at this point in the calendar have netted a combined $925,000 over their initial purchase price, which tied him with Tapit for 13th place in that category. He saw his greatest performance in the percentages, where his 284.62 percent improvement over investment placed him fifth, one spot behind Tapit.
In terms of commercial viability in the weanling-to-yearling pinhook market, Constitution is closely following in his sire's footsteps, and that's a good one to draft off.
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In terms of money in and money out, few sires have done it better on the pinhook market this season than Practical Joke.
His 15 pinhooked yearlings tied for the third-most through the Keeneland September Sale, and his revenue over investment of $1,898,000 was second only to his own sire, Into Mischief, in that category. It marked a 184.81 percent return on investment, which was a top-20 result.
The marquee return among this season's pinhooked yearlings has come at the Keeneland September sale, where Hip 17 sold to Greg Tramontin for $575,000 after selling as a weanling for $115,000. The September price tied for the highest final bid for a Practical Joke yearling at this year's sale.
Consigned in September by Four Star Sales, agent, the bay filly was purchased at last year's Keeneland November sale by Rascal Bloodstock. The filly is out of the unraced Empire Maker mare Advance Party, which puts her in a deep family that includes champion sprinter Covfefe, Grade 1 winners Acoma and Arch, U.A.E. Horse of the Year Festival of Light, and Japanese champion Yamanin Paradise.
The market for sons of Into Mischief at stud has become more crowded by the year, but Practical Joke has carved out a lofty place in that hierarchy with consistent foals and reliable returns in the commercial space, both with the capability to go well above the mean. Those words are music to a yearling pinhooker's ears.
#4 (Tie) – American Pharoah, Ashford Stud
American Pharoah
American Pharoah's story on the 2023 yearling pinhook market sounds a lot like Practical Joke's.
He ranked fourth by net return on investment, at $1,678,000 from eight yearlings sold, which placed him fourth in that category and marked a gain of 150.90 percent.
Where it differs is the entry point. Practical Joke's most expensive pinhook investment was $140,000, and all but two of American Pharoah's completed pinhooks to this point were initially purchased for more than that.
Clearly, buyers were willing to pay for them upon resale, led by Hip 321 of the Keeneland September Sale, who sold to John McCormack, agent for $650,000 after hammering for $225,000 as a short yearling at the Keeneland January sale. The dark bay or brown colt is American Pharoah's most expensive North American yearling of the season so far.
Odd Fellow's Bloodstock landed the colt during the January sale, and he was consigned in September by Paramount Sales, agent. He is out of the European Group 1-placed stakes-winning Elusive Quality mare Snowy Winter.
After the initial hysteria that inevitably surrounds a Triple Crown winner retiring to stud, American Pharoah remains a top-shelf commercial stallion. If you can land a good weanling for a reasonable price (which is the tricky part, admittedly), there is money to be made with him on the yearling market.
With nine pinhooked yearlings through the September Sale, Omaha Beach ranked 10th by income over investment with $1,170,000, and his percent gain of 178.63 percent was a top-20 return.
The most dramatic turnaround came from Hip 720 of the Keeneland September sale, a colt who sold to Lael Stable for $535,000 after hammering to Jack Gallway for $120,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale.
Consigned by Bedouin Bloodstock, agent, the colt is out of the winning Tapit mare So Fancy, with a family that includes Grade 1 winner Mayo on the Side.
Omaha Beach has proven a versatile sire with his first crop of runners, getting graded or group 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.
The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association is hosting a pedigree and conformation clinic on Monday, Oct. 23 at Fasig-Tipton in Lexington, Ky.
The day-long clinic is strategically positioned the first day of Fasig Tipton's Kentucky October Yearlings sale. Attendees will learn insights on different aspects of Thoroughbred auctions, bloodstock, pedigree, and conformation analysis, and more from industry professionals as well as enjoy a day at the sales.
The topics and speakers at the clinic include:
– Role of the Auction House and Auction Process, presented by Anna Seitz-Ciannello (Fasig-Tipton, Director of Client Relations)
– Thoroughbred Horse Racing Partnerships, presented by Terry Finley (West Point Thoroughbreds, President and CEO)
– Yearling Prep for the Sales, presented by Katie Taylor (Taylor Made Sales, Vice President of Operations)
– Horse Selection/Conformation/Pedigree, presented by Kenny McPeek (Multiple graded stakes winning trainer and leading thoroughbred bloodstock advisor)
– Equine Insurance, presented by Tyler Clarke (Clay Ward Agency)
– Equineline and Pedigree Resources, presented by Susan Martin (The Jockey Club Information Systems, Director of Marketing)
– Grayson-Jockey Club Current Research, presented by Jamie Haydon (Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, President) and Johnny Mac Smith, DVM (Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, Veterinary Advisor)
The TOBA Pedigree and Conformation Clinic is aimed towards all levels of experience – from beginners to knowledgeable owners looking to continue their education. The clinic is open to the general public, with a special discount for TOBA members. Meals, educational materials, and a TOBA gift bag are included in registration.
Registration is available online, until Friday, October 20, at: toba.memberclicks.net/seminars-clinics. Questions about the clinics and seminars may be directed to Barkley N. Porter at barkley@toba.org or (859) 276-6793.
'He's going to be a great addition to the stallions ranks' #ModernGames: five-time G1 winner including two @BreedersCup
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