Believe You Can had already done plenty for the Airdrie Stud operation when she retired to the farm to begin her broodmare career ahead of the 2014 breeding season.
Her place as one of the best home-grown runners in in the deep-rooted history of the Airdrie program was secure after winning the 2012 Kentucky Oaks and earning more than $1.2 million over a three-year career.
However, the stud book is full of great racemares that never came close to repeating their success when they entered the breeding shed. Whether it's the near-impossible expectations of lightning striking twice within a bloodline, or the great breeder Federico Tesio's hypothesis that great racemares have expended their “nervous energy” on the track and have none left to give their foals, the odds weren't necessarily in Believe You Can's favor.
Once again, though, she answered the call and has transitioned from one of the Jones family's stars on the racetrack to a cornerstone of their broodmare band.
That started with her first foal, the Tapit colt Believe in Royalty, who became a Grade 3-placed stakes winner, and it has continued with the Collected colt Conclude, who recently won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby to tally his third career stakes win.
Believe You Can has also been a commercial boon to the Airdrie operation in her second career. Believe in Royalty sold for $900,000 as a yearling, and full-sister Birdy Num brought $1 million at auction a year later. However, her biggest impact on the auction scene was with Brother in Arms, a War Front colt who sold to Godolphin for $2.9 million at the 2019 Keeneland September sale.
“She's been as important as any horse that we've raised on the farm, not only for what she did for us during her racing career, but what she's done as a broodmare,” said Airdrie Stud's Bret Jones. “Now, we hope her daughters and sons can continue to do that for the farm. We kept a really nice Uncle Mo filly out of her a couple years ago (the placed Faith's Reward), and she'll be bred well, and I believe Conclude has a stallion future ahead of him, so hopefully that legacy will be around for a long time.”
The next chapter of Believe You Can's story will take place Monday during the opening session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where Airdrie Stud will offer Hip 31, a Nyquist filly out of the farm's star mare.
The bay filly is by a son of Uncle Mo, meaning the cross is similar to that of Faith's Reward, the filly out of Believe You Can that Airdrie kept to one day join their broodmare band. Looking further back, Nyquist's sire Uncle Mo is a son of Indian Charlie, who stood the bulk of his stud career at Airdrie Stud.
“She's a beautiful filly,” Jones said. “We're very lucky to have her. She's been nice since day one, and we've been looking forward to showing her for a long time…This filly, I really think is the nicest foal we've had from her.”
Jones said Believe You Can took to motherhood naturally when she entered her new career, and passing on her mind was a trademark of her foals. The Nyquist filly on offer Monday was no different.
“They're both such classy fillies, both just medium-sized, really well balanced,” he said. “Just looks like a racehorse, and her mom looked like a racehorse. If she's half as good a racehorse as her mother was, everyone will be happy.”
While her yearling filly goes through her paces at the Keeneland sales grounds, Believe You Can remains in her pasture at Airdrie Stud, pregnant to Airdrie's fast-rising sire Upstart.
She'd be a popular fixture on the property regardless of her personality, but Jones said Believe You Can enjoys the attention.
“She's an absolute sweetheart,” he said. “I actually tried to take a picture of her the other day. She was standing under this big oak tree, and we had this wonderful moment in the morning where it was going to be this great picture, and as soon as I got out of my car to take it, she ran over to me so I could pet her. She completely blew the shot, but that's just the personality she's got. She's a really cool mare to be around.”
Looking at the career of Believe You Can, some of the biggest flashpoints of her life have been times when nothing happened.
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.In 2010, she was offered at the Keeneland September sale, and she finished under her reserve with a final bid of $70,000. Four years later, she went through the ring pregnant to Tapit – an in-utero foal that would become Believe in Royalty – at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, and she once again hammered under her reserve. This time around, the hammer price was $4.9 million.
That might sound like a lot of money to turn down, but Jones said his father, Brereton Jones, wasn't terribly bothered to put her back on the trailer.
“If I were a betting man, the odds would have been about 1-to-5 that she was going to stay at Airdrie, but Pop wanted to test the market,” the younger Jones said. “He gave the market a chance, and I don't think anyone was sad when she didn't bring what we hoped, and I can promise you Libby Jones (Brereton's wife and Bret's mother) wasn't sad. I think she was the happiest person in central Kentucky, and I think Mom was right.”
Since entering production, Believe You Can has done a bit of everything when it comes to who she's been bred to, from going to top commercial sires like Tapit and War Front to supporting Airdrie roster members such as Collected and Upstart. As a correct, medium-sized mare, Jones said she fits well with practically any body type on a stallion.
Believe You Can lost a foal from the first book of Darley's Essential Quality earlier this year, and she was sent to Upstart for the 2024 foaling season.
“We're just extremely bullish on Upstart and his future,” Jones said. “I think what you've already seen him do with lesser quality mares is pretty incredible. You look at how he improves his mares and all the data around that, the last couple years, his books have been incredible, and it shows you our belief in his future that we'd send Believe You Can to him. I think when these top mares, their foals start hitting the racetracks, there's no ceiling on what he can do.”
The post ‘As Important As Any Horse We’ve Raised On The Farm’: Believe You Can Continues Building Her Airdrie Stud Legacy At Keeneland September Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
