The commercial market's respect for the late leading sire Giant's Causeway was apparent at this year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where two of his sons filled out the exacta for the biggest year-to-year jumps in average sale price (10 or more sold each year).
Leading the charge was Airdrie Stud's Creative Cause, whose average jumped 71.94 percent during this year's Keeneland September sale to $20,420 from 35 horses sold. As the broadest yearling auction in North America, both by duration and the scope of offerings, a big swing in performance at the Keeneland September sale can be a strong indicator of public favor toward a particular stallion.
Creative Cause nearly doubled his average sale price with his sixth crop, but he more than doubled the number of horses sold from year to year, with the previous crop featuring 17 yearlings selling at the Keeneland sale for an average of $11,876.
The yearlings of 2020 were conceived in 2018, when Creative Cause's oldest runners were 4-year-olds. At that point, he already had first-crop runner Pavel blazing the trail with a win in the Grade 3 Smarty Jones Stakes and a third against older foes in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes. By the end of the 2018 breeding season, he'd also run fourth in the G1 Dubai World Cup.
Creative Cause's second crop was also doing work to build their sire's fledgling on-track reputation in the eyes of potential breeders, led by My Boy Jack. A stakes winner at two, the colt became a factor on the Kentucky Derby trail after victories in the G3 Sham Stakes and Lexington Stakes. My Boy Jack then became a wiseguy pick for the 2018 Kentucky Derby, where he finished fifth as the betting public's third choice.
Also from her sire's second crop, Significant Form, was a Grade 3 winner as a 2-year-old in 2017, and she ran fourth in that year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Filles turf.
“This year's crop of yearlings came from a strong, deep group of mares,” said Cormac Breathnach of Airdrie Stud. “He got about 145 mares that year on the back of horses like Pavel and Significant Form, all the headline horses he was represented by. He got the biggest, and probably best, book of mares he's bred. Between his yearlings and the foals of this year, he's got some really outstanding physicals.”
The slate of offerings by Creative Cause at this year's Keeneland September sale was led by Hip 1998, a colt out of the winning Tapit mare Tamboz who sold to Kenny McPeek, agent, for $180,000. Consigned by St George Sales, agent, the colt is a half-brother to Grade 2-placed Battalion Runner, Grade 3-placed Oceanwave, and stakes-placed runners Tiznoble and Late Nite Mischief.
Airdrie Stud also got into the high-priced Creative Cause game, consigning Hip 1707, a filly out of the winning Teofilo mare Catsbury who sold to Deuce Greathouse, agent, for $95,000.
“It's nice to see him get respect, because he's doing very well on the track in terms of getting winners every weekend, and getting some stakes horses, and staying high on the lists with his contemporaries,” Breathnach said. “He's got a lot in the pipeline to sort of have a resurgence.”
Creative Cause was joined at the top of the list by fellow Giant's Causeway heir Not This Time, whose stock has been skyrocketing with the success of his first juveniles in 2020.
The 6-year-old resident of Taylor Made Stallions saw his average sale price at the Keeneland September sale jump 46.41 percent this year to $116,500 from 26 yearlings, hailing from his second crop. His debut crop saw 39 members change hands at last year's Keeneland sale for an average of $79,569.
Not This Time's first crop of runners has been led in practically every sense of the word by Princess Noor, who sold for $1.35 million at this year's Ocala Breeders' Sales Co., Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, and has gone undefeated in three high-profile starts. After breaking her maiden by a front-running 2 1/2 lengths, Princess Noor won the G1 Del Mar Debutante Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths, and she most recently took the G2 Chandelier Stakes by 8 1/4 lengths, making her status as the favorite for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies all but certain.
Princess Noor's exploits have played a big part in putting Not This Time at the top of the freshman sire list by progeny earnings, but below the surface, the stallion is represented by stakes winner Dirty Dangle and Grade 3-placed Hopeful Princess.
Taylor Made's Duncan Taylor said the early commercial acceptance of Not This Time, paired with the high-level performance of his first runners, has set the stallion up well for long-term success.
“They got such an awesome reception at the 2-year-old sales, even before he started getting winners,” Taylor said. “Then, Princess Noor brought $1.3 million, and I think when a horse shows that people think enough of their offspring that someone would go beyond a million dollars…When you're trying to market a stallion, it's so hard to break through the clutter. You can run ads, but when you say something brings a million, that starts getting people's attention, and then they really start looking at who he is and what he is, and you get people diving in. When you dive in on this horse, you keep finding better stuff.”
The top seller for Not This Time at this year's Keeneland September sale was Hip 66, a colt out of the unraced Ghostzapper mare Belle's Finale who sold to Repole Stables and St. Elias Stable for $450,000. Taylor Made Sales Agency consigned the colt, as agent.
The mantle is still wide open for a formal North American successor to the Giant's Causeway sire line, and both Creative Cause and Not This Time will be in the hunt for that title as more of their runners hit the racetrack and mature into breeding careers. The race became more urgent after Giant's Causeway died in 2018, and it's easy to argue that these two sires have gotten hot at the right time.
“I always thought Giant's Causeway was a little different [son of] Storm Cat,” Taylor said. “He's not quite as compact and one-dimensional-looking. The typical Storm Cat, to me, though he did get further distances, looked more like sprinters. Giant's Causeway was a little leaner of a horse, and Not This Time's the same way. Who knows how far they're going to go – Princess Noor just won at 1 1/16 miles, but they look like two-turn horses. They don't look like just sprinters, and I think that's another reason why people are excited about the sire.”
Another stallion with a big first crop who made a commercial leap during this year's sale was WinStar Farm's Constitution, who has seen his flag planted in the winner's circles of the Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes thanks to Tiz the Law.
Constitution's Keeneland September average for his third crop rose 44.13 percent to $159,619 from 21 sold this year. His second crop brought an average of $110,743 from 35 sold.
Leading the way for Constitution was Hip 904, a filly out of the unraced Candy Ride mare Candy Fortune who sold to Solis/Litt for $725,000. The filly is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Hog Creek Hustle and Grade 3-placed stakes winner Majestic Dunhill.
The biggest year-to-year jump in average in terms of dollars was Into Mischief, who firmly established himself as a top-tier commercial sire, with 57 yearlings sold for an average of $445,632 – the second-highest average of the sale behind Medaglia d'Oro at $599,722. The resident of Spendthrift Farm achieved a 30.72 percent increase from last year, when he had 70 yearlings average $340,900.
The post Creative Cause, Not This Time See Most Dramatic Jumps In Average At Keeneland September Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
