Multiple Grade 3 winner Optimizer will relocate to Saudi Arabia after selling to Youssef Mohammed Alturaif's YMT Farm for $35,000 via online bid on Thursday at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
A 14-year-old son of English Channel, Optimizer previously stood at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Ky., where he entered stud in 2017. He was part of a six-horse consignment of Calumet stallions offered on Thursday at the Keeneland January sale, and he was the only one to change hands in the ring. Buckland Sales consigned the offering of stallions, as agent.
Optimizer saw his first foals hit the track in 2021, and his runners have been led by Opalina, who won last year's Grade 3 Sweetest Chant Stakes at Gulfstream Park, and finished second in the G3 Herecomesthebride Stakes. Other runners of note include stakes-placed Double Clutch and Optigogo.
The stallion benefitted from a timely update in the form of Jasmine, a Saudi-born filly who closed from deep and overcame traffic in the stretch to win a race at King Abdulaziz Racecourse just 10 hours before Optimizer went through the ring.
“Optimizer, I think will fit somebody's program, whether it's a turf or synthetic type,” said Zach Madden of Buckland Sales. “Most of these guys, some of their best runners are on dirt, too. It's hard to throw out all the possibilities.
“English Channel's not with us anymore, and I know there was a lot of urgency to get an English Channel yearling at the sales last year,” Madden continued. “The last crop will be yearlings this year, so there's a lot of scarcity there.”
During his own racing career, Optimizer won five of 33 starts and earned $979,289 for Calumet Farm. After earning graded stakes placings on both the dirt and turf as a 2-year-old, he qualified for the 2012 Kentucky Derby after finishing second in the G2 Rebel Stakes. He finished 11th in the Derby, then ran sixth in the Preakness Stakes and 10th in the Belmont Stakes.
After his run at the classics, Optimizer was moved back to the grass, where he found success later in his 3-year-old season with a score in the G3 Kent Stakes. He tallied wins in the G3 Colonel E.R. Bradley Handicap and G3 Fair Grounds Handicap at age four, and he continued to race to age six.
Optimizer is out of the winning A.P. Indy mare Indy Pick, from the family of Grade 3 winner Cellist and French Group 3 winner Junko.
A @RicardoSousaFe masterclass!
JASMINE (Optimizer) found her way through to take R2 for @alturaif_stable, @yousft and @Sami_alhurabi. #SaudiRacing | #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/FocQ19Sauq
— JCSA (@JCSA_Racing) January 12, 2023
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