Sam’s Treasure Switches to Dirt and Romps in Saratoga Maiden

by Bill Finley & Patrycja Szpyra

As he often does with his 2-year-olds, trainer Wesley Ward started Sam's Treasure (Munnings) off in a grass race, in this case a five-furlong maiden on May 11 at Belmont. She finished second, 2 3/4 lengths behind the winner–Cynane (Omaha Beach) had the distinction of being her sire's first winner and was Royal Ascot-bound for a time–but there was nothing about the performance to suggest that she could develop into a top horse. Maybe Ward should have been thinking dirt all along.

In a much improved effort, Sam's Treasure dominated nine rivals to win the $136,500 six-furlong race by 5 3/4 lengths. She tracked pacesetter Life's Joy (Mitole) down the backstretch, took over on the turn and then drew clear of her rivals to post a dominant victory. After being steadied early and losing ground, Colonial Rose (Constitution) managed to recover well enough to safely secure runner-up honors, but long behind the winner.

Sam's Treasure was ridden by John Velazquez, who was subbing for the injured Jose Ortiz.

The field included Camera (Curlin), a first-time starter from the Todd Pletcher barn who cost $1,050,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. The daughter of MGISP Cassies Dreamer (Flatter) bobbled a few steps out of the gate and never recovered. She finished ninth as the 70-100 favorite.

“Earlier on we had her on both surfaces,” Ward said of Sam's Treasure. “I just thought she's a big filly. She came to hand early but the races at Keeneland are at 4 1/2 furlongs and a horse needs to be a little quicker than she is to win those. The Belmont race came up. I like to run horses on grass there because it's a kind and forgiving surface. If she didn't win, I thought that would still set her up nicely for Saratoga and it did.”

Sam's Treasure, also a Fasig-Tipton Saratoga graduate, was picked out at the sale by the team of Ben McElroy, Ward and Mike Hall, the managing director of the owner, Breeze Easy LLC. She sold for $700,000.

 

“She was beautiful here last summer at the Saratoga sale,” Ward said. “We went around and looked at all the horses and this was Ben McElroy's pick as well. We kind of pushed Mike Hall into buying her because it was a lot of money for her.”

At the time of the sale, Hall's partner in Breeze Easy was Sam Ross. Ross died in September at the age of 79.

“Unfortunately, Sam died last year so Mike Hall named her Sam's Treasure after Sam,” Ward said. “And Sam's Treasure came through for him today. Sam is shining down on us. Mike is someone you really want to get behind and win for. It's so hard to win, especially here at Saratoga. To have a filly as promising as this, I'm really excited.”

Bred by Baron Thoroughbreds in Kentucky, Sam's Treasure is the second offspring for her dam, Malibu Treasure, but the first to make the races ahead of elder half-brother Buckeye Don (Speightstown). The mare had back-to-back colts by Promises Fulfilled, a yearling and a 2023 foal. Hailing from a Graded stakes-placed and multiple stakes-winning half-sister to G1SP & MGSW Choctaw Nation, Malibu Treasure can also claim GSW Her Temper; GISW El Deal (Munnings); and GSW Thunder Achiever as members of her extended female family.

6th-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 7-23, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:11.22, ft, 5 3/4 lengths.
SAM'S TREASURE (f, 2, Munnings–Malibu Treasure, by Malibu Moon) Sales history: $700,000 Ylg '22 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0, $75,750. O-Breeze Easy, LLC; B-Baron Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Gun Runner Filly Stars As Fasig-Tipton October Rewrites The Records Again

LEXINGTON, KY – With some 75 horses still to go through the ring, the 2022 Fasig-Tipton October Yearlings Sale overtook its record gross set just last year and, by the close of business Thursday, 1,100 yearlings had grossed $55,426,500. The 2021 gross was $52,607,500 for 1,153 yearlings sold. Also surpassing records set last year were the average of $50,388 and the median of $25,000. The previous marks were $45,627 and $22,000, respectively.

“Another remarkable sale concluded tonight,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. “You are always thrilled when you set records for your gross, your average and your median price, particularly considering the 2021 sale had a dramatic increase from previous years as well. It was just a remarkable horse sale from start to finish.”

Trainer Wesley Ward made the biggest purchase of Thursday's session–and of the whole auction–when he paid $700,000 for a daughter of Gun Runner from the Claiborne Farm consignment. The yearling was the third most-expensive filly to ever sell at the October sale and the auction's fifth highest price.

The sale topper was one of 56 yearlings to sell for $200,000 or over. Forty reached that mark a year ago.

“We were optimistic coming in, a) because of the market, but b) because we knew the consignors and sellers had supported us with better horses than in the past,” Browning said. “Probably the most gratifying thing is that, for many sellers, the October sale has become a first option, not a last option. I think the men and women who brought quality horses here were really rewarded by bringing horses that had great appeal across the market. I think the confidence level that this sale has now achieved amongst buyers and sellers is tremendous. When you look at the catalogue cover and you see the three [Grade I winners] on the front and you see a horse like Hot Rod Charlie on the back cover, that's what makes a sale. Buyers can come and expect to buy horses that can compete next weekend in the Breeders' Cup and sellers can bring quality horses here and get rewarded for bringing them, whether they bring $50,000, $75,000 or $700,000. I think there is a high level of confidence amongst both buyers and sellers. The October sale has become a staple in the marketplace. ”

A Gun Runner Filly for Ward

Wesley Ward was at nearby Keeneland saddling the winner of the day's second race when a filly by Gun Runner (hip 1364) went through the sales ring at Fasig-Tipton, but with bloodstock agent Ben McElroy handling bidding duties, the trainer secured the yearling for a sales-topping $700,000 Thursday. The filly was consigned by Claiborne Farm on behalf of her breeder, Rich Santulli's Colts Neck Stables. When Ward first saw the filly, he told Claiborne's Walker Hancock that he had found his GI Kentucky Oaks winner, but the trainer admitted Thursday the yearling reminded him of sprint champion Judy the Beauty (Ghostzapper), whom he purchased for $20,000 at the 2010 Keeneland September sale.

“When Ben brought me over to see her, what she really reminded me of was Judy the Beauty,” Ward said. “She has a lot of the physical attributes she had when I bought her, except it was a difference of $20,000 versus $700,000.

“That's a big difference,” he added with a laugh.

The chestnut filly is out of the unraced No More Parties (Speightstown), who is a full-sister to Santulli's Grade I winner Force the Pass.

“She's a great physical by a sire who is off to a sensational start from a really nice family,” McElroy said. “I loved the bottom side of the family, too. Mr. P with Roberto on the bottom side and the dam is a full to a good horse. Regardless of whether she was by Gun Runner, she was a really top physical. She ticked all of the boxes.”

Asked who he bought the filly for, Ward said, “For myself. Right now anyway. I hope to [add partners], of course, or it's going to empty out everything I've got. But this is what I do, it's the only thing I've ever done my whole life. You've got to invest in what you believe in.”

Ward purchased five yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton October sale. In addition to hip 1364, he also acquired a filly by Into Mischief (hip 336) for $425,000.

“I only got three total horses at Keeneland,” Ward said. “Everything that Ben showed me that I got excited about, they were just unattainable for what I put to my clients. We went way higher than we should have on a lot of them trying to chase them up there. So only having three horses and me being a 2-year-old guy, I really didn't have anything. I was lucky enough Ben bought some nice horses for Barbara [Banke] and some other clients of mine in Europe, but here in the States, at Keeneland, I just didn't get anything. I think [October] is a great sale for me and I think I got some really nice horses.”

Hip 1364 had originally been expected to sell at last month's Keeneland September sale, according to Hancock.

“She was a Book 1 scratch at Keeneland a couple of days before the sale,” Hancock said. “We thought she could be doing better and we didn't want to sell her at what would maybe be a discount, so we decided to try her here figuring she could be a big fish in a small pond. And sure enough it looks like she is. We are thrilled with the result and very excited for the owners.”

Hancock admitted Claiborne was making an unusual appearance at the October sale.

“We are not really familiar with the October sale,” he said. “We just had an overflow of yearlings this year. We only sell what we raise, yearling-wise, and we didn't have enough stalls to sell them all in September, so we had to choose some to come to this sale. The first three days were definitely not as good for us. But this filly stood out. She's a very classy filly.”

 

Carlisle Makes Solid Contact

Lauren Carlisle waited all week for a filly by Uncle Mo (hip 1429) to stride into the Fasig-Tipton sales ring and the bloodstock agent would not be denied Thursday, going to $485,000 to secure the yearling on behalf of an undisclosed client.

“First of all I am feeling relieved,” Carlisle said after signing the ticket on the yearling. “I saw this filly on Sunday and I haven't stopped thinking about her since. She was my favorite filly. I haven't bid on any other horse besides her. So it's been a long week.”

Carlisle admitted bidding at the Keeneland September sale last month felt like sledding uphill.

“I took some pretty big swings in September and I felt like the Yankees in the post-season,” she said. “I just couldn't connect on anything. So I am pretty relieved and very happy. She's a lovely filly.”

Hip 1429 is out of Pearl Turn (Bernardini) and is a half-sister to Canadian champion Gretzky the Great (Nyquist). She was bred and consigned by Anderson Farms, which purchased Pearl Turn for $310,000 at the 2016 Keeneland November sale.

“We pointed her to this sale,” said Dave Anderson. “I had two Uncle Mo fillies to sell this year and I put one in Keeneland and this one here. She just thrived in the prepping process and exploded into the type of filly that we thought she was all along. She is very athletic, never had a pimple on her. She's a half to a Grade I winner and a champion horse. She just kind of ticked all the boxes. I am thrilled that Lauren got her. I know how much she loved her.”

Anderson sold the filly's half-brother Robitaille (Quality Road) for $560,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“Fasig-Tipton has done an amazing job with this sale and they have proven that you can get a lot of money for the right horse,” Anderson said of the October sale. “I've been fortunate enough to do it for several years now, so I am not afraid to bring the right horse here. I know I will get the money and this was an example of that.”

 

Broks Not Too Busy for First Breeders' Cup Starter

Glenn and Becky Brok ended two decades of breeding Thoroughbreds in Pennsylvania with the sale of their Diamond B Farm earlier this year, but the couple will be celebrating their first Breeders' Cup starter as breeders when I'm Very Busy (Cloud Computing) goes postward in Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. The colt was co-bred with Mark Toothaker in a partnership designed to take advantage of Pennsylvania's breeders awards program.

“Mark and I have done mares before. He always supports Spendthrift stallions and he breeds mares, some of which he keeps and foals himself, and some he and I partner on because he wants to get them in a state program,” Glenn Brok said. “He would send the mares to Becky and me and the deal was, we would foal the mares and the foal was a registered Pennsylvania-bred. When we sold that foal, we were halfsies on the proceeds and we got to keep the mare. We did that on a couple of mares, hoping the foals run in Pennsylvania and we are the recipients of breeders' awards.”

As part of the partnership, Toothaker sent the mare Two Kisses (Kissin Kris) to Diamond B Farm while she was carrying a foal from the first crop of GI Preakness S. winner Cloud Computing. While most of the partners' foals were sold privately off the farm to local trainers and owners, Two Kisses' colt was considered to have enough commercial appeal to head to public auction.

“I sent him to my son-in-law Carlos and my daughter Sarah in Kentucky and they finished prepping him for us and sent him back to Maryland and we sold him with Blake-Albina,” Brok said. “Ronnie [Blake] did a great job selling him to James Layden, who gave $50,000 for him and later took him to an OBS sale. He sold him [for $135,000] to Lauren Carlisle for her client who has horses with Chad Brown.”

I'm Very Busy, racing for Team Hanley, Richard Schermerhorn and Paul Braverman, made an immediate impact on the racetrack, graduating on debut at Saratoga going 1 1/16 miles on the lawn under Flavien Prat and earning the 'TDN Rising Star' nod.

“I happened to be there for the race after his when he won so impressively first time out,” Brok recalled. “I was in the paddock for the next race and Jose Ortiz is riding a horse for a friend of mine. Jose says, 'Oh, Glenn, congratulations on your horse running so well. We love that horse. We tried him on the dirt and he seemed to like the turf better.' I said, 'Jose you didn't even ride the horse and you know everything about him.' He said, 'We pay attention.' That was a real eye-opener.”

I'm Very Busy earned his spot in the Breeders' Cup with a runner-up effort in the GII Pilgrim S. last time out.

Ironically, the Broks are less busy these days after making the move to Kentucky.

“Right after COVID, it was difficult getting help. My wife was doing all the work and getting burned out,” Brok said of the decision to sell Diamond B. “I wasn't getting any younger and she wasn't going to get any healthier with me working her to death. It just seemed like a good time. The PA program was amazing to us. We were the leading breeders, we made a lot of money and we still have horses in the pipeline that are bringing us breeders awards–it's kind of like an annuity. You need to know when to hold them and when to fold them, so we did.”

The move to Kentucky brings the Broks closer to daughter Samantha, who runs Ron Wise's Four Pillars Farm, as well as Sarah and Carlos and their grandchildren.

“We bought a little place down here, 22 acres with an indoor for my wife to ride in,” Brok said. “I partner with Sarah and Carlos, who own and operate C & S Thoroughbreds, and our farms adjoin. It's just been a new page and a good one. We are enjoying living here in Kentucky. We have a lot of friends here and there are a tremendous amount of things to do in the horse community.”

Brok also remains in his position with Brook Ledge Horse Transportation and the move has given him more time to devote to his clients.

“I get to spend more time with my Brook Ledge clients then I did when I was living in Pennsylvania,” he said.

The move has also meant the Broks have the time to stop and enjoy the moment ahead of the Breeders' Cup.

“My wife was so inundated with work with the farm in Pennsylvania, she would never have been able to get away and enjoy this experience of having a Breeders' Cup horse,” Brok said. “Now I said to her, 'Hey we were invited to a party here and seats at the Breeders' Cup.' And she said, 'That's great, let's do it.'”

Diamond B was the leading breeder in Pennsylvania in 2017 and was ranked second in the state in 2018-2020. But what would a win in the Breeders' Cup mean to the longtime breeders?

“In our industry, is there anything other than the Derby that is bigger than those two days of racing and being a part of it?” Brok asked. “Nobody is flying under the radar here. When you have success and luck and you are the leading breeder or your horse wins a stakes, or your horse runs in the Breeders' Cup, people notice. And that's a good feeling. That's a feeling of accomplishment and acceptance.”

When it was pointed out that the partnership designed to take advantage of a state-bred program had produced a colt who made his first two starts in New York before heading to Kentucky for the Breeders' Cup, Brok laughed and said, “It has worked out in the past. This time, it's the good news and the bad news. He's a pretty nice horse and he's going to the Breeders' Cup. Which isn't in Pennsylvania.”

 

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Spirited Bidding As Fasig October Sale Opens with Into Mischief Yearlings on Top

LEXINGTON, KY – The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, looking to build on a record-setting 2021 renewal, opened with a day of competitive bidding Monday. A pair of yearlings by Into Mischief topped the day's activity, with a filly going the way of Ben McElroy for $425,000 and a colt selling to the Green family's DJ Stable for $400,000.

“It was a very good opening session to the 2022 Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. “There was very good trade. The parking lot was jammed pack, we saw lots of faces on the sales grounds, lots of trainers, pinhookers and end-users and lot of representatives from overseas.”

During Monday's session, 253 yearlings sold for $12,342,100. The average of $48,783 was up 21.3% from the same session a year ago and the median of $27,000 was up 58%.

The 2021 auction set records for both average and median–of $45,627 and $22,000, respectively–and the opening session of the 2022 sale was ahead of both marks.

“The 2021 sale was a quantum leap from previous year levels, so to be able to sustain that and potentially improve on that–I hate to get too far out because it's hard to judge the composition of which days are the best when there are 1600 horses on the grounds. But it was a very solid session with lots of activity.”

With 96 yearlings reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 27.5%. It was 19.6% during last year's first session.

The Fasig-Tipton October sale continues through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

McElroy, Ward Strike for Into Mischief Filly

Bloodstock agent Ben McElroy, sitting alongside trainer Wesley Ward, made a session-topping final bid of $425,000 to acquire a filly by Into Mischief (hip 336) at Monday's first session of the Fasig-Tipton October sale. The yearling is out of stakes winner Velvet Mood (Lonhro {Aus}) and was bred by Alpha Delta Stables, which purchased the mare with the filly in utero for $1 million at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton November sale. She was consigned by Mill Ridge Sales.

“She's by a great sire, whether it's colts or fillies, and she's out of a precocious mare who was a stakes-winning 2-year-old,” McElroy said of the filly's appeal. “She just fit our model for getting them out early with Wesley and she looks like she could be turf or dirt, or even synthetic. She is a very nice filly. For me, she was the pick of the fillies today. We were happy to get her at that price and fingers crossed from here on out.”

McElroy said he expects to find partners for the yearling.

“We will put together a partnership on the filly and see how it goes,” he said. “That's good money for a horse, but by that sire, I think we did good.”

McElroy signed for four yearlings Monday and three were acquired with Ward. Keeping busy throughout the yearling sales season across the globe this fall, he also signed for eight yearlings at the Keeneland September sale and three yearlings at the Goffs Orby sale.

“It was really tough to buy what I wanted at Keeneland,” McElroy said. “In Europe, I think we got some really nice horses. We got four today and we are really happy with what we got. This sale always gets better day by day, so hopefully by Thursday these will look like good value.”

Greens Continue to Pick Their Spots

The Green family's DJ Stable, which purchased the co-toppers at the OBS October sale earlier this month, continued its yearling buying spree at Fasig-Tipton Monday, acquiring a colt by Into Mischief (hip 80) for $400,000 just minutes are purchasing a son of Gun Runner (hip 74) for $200,000.

“We are just trying to find a competitive advantage,” Len Green explained. “There are people with more money, so the idea is to try to find the spot and then buy them correctly. Because someone told me a long time ago, you run out of money before they run out of horses.”

Green admitted the team was searching for horses who might not be attracting the attention of heavy-hitting buyers.

“For example, there was an Uncle Mo (hip 197) that came in the ring later on and every big guy was on the horse,” he explained. “I looked at the list of who had visited him and they must have had 14 or so. So I said there is no sense to bid against those guys. Whereas on ours, we looked at the list and we said we have a chance to get this horse at the price we want this horse for.”

Of DJ Stable's buying process, Green said, “We have [trainer] Mark Casse, who certainly knows physical horses, and Jon Green knows what the value of horses is, he follows them all the time.”

Hip 80, bred by Emily and Oliver Bushnell and consigned by Lane's End, is out of Shysheisnot (Tribal Rule).

“This one looks like a runner,” Green said of the yearling.

DJ Stable is currently represented by a daughter of Into Mischief, Wonder Wheel, who is expected to go postward in next week's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

“It wouldn't make any difference,” Green said of the sire. “We don't look at the pedigree page. We look at the physical first. And then we look at the pedigree page to figure out a valuation for the horse.”

Hip 74, bred by Three Chimneys Farm and consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, is out of Shocking Fast (Distorted Humor), a half-sister to this year's GI Preakness S. winner Early Voting (Gun Runner).

“These are the kind of runners that, if they make it, they are worth a heck of a lot of money,” Green said. “You can say to me, 'Well, there are horses with no pedigree who win Grade I races,' but more likely the ones that win Grade I races are the ones that have the pedigree and the physical. So that's what we are looking for.”

DJ Stable purchased six yearlings at the OBS October sale, including a colt by Mitole and a filly by The Factor for matching $210,000 sale-topping figures. The operation also purchased the $600,000 sale-topping son of Curlin at the Fasig-Tipton July sale this year.

“We are also selling a lot right now,” Green said. “We were very heavy in fillies because we have a breeding program now. So we have the ability to do foal sharing. We never had that before. If you get a good filly, physically and with a pedigree and she does well on the track, then you have the opportunity to breed it and get into Book 1.

“We found that you can sell certain horses and then we have the advantage that, if we don't get the number we want, we can actually race them. So the number [of horses in the stable], believe it or not, is the same as it was last year.”

DJ Stable struck again late in the session to acquire a colt by Vino Rosso (hip 387) for $60,000.

Arrogate Filly Helps Kick Off October Sale

A filly by Arrogate (hip 7) will be heading west to the barn of that late sire's trainer Bob Baffert after bloodstock agent Donato Lanni made a final bid of $350,000 on behalf of John Rogitz to acquire the yearling early in Monday's first session of the Fasig-Tipton October sale.

The yearling was bred by Paul Tackett and his late son Phil and was consigned by Tackett. She is out of Saharan (Desert Party), a half-sister to Grade I winner My Conquestadory (Artie Schiller).

“She looks like a good Arrogate,” said Lanni. “She looks fast and she was light on her feet. She was a cool filly who did everything right.”

Lanni said of Rogitz, “He's a new guy for us and we thought this filly would suit him very well.”

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Queen Mary-bound ‘Monster’ Love Reigns Has Grogan Family in Dreamland

In winning her maiden by almost ten lengths on debut at Keeneland, Queen Mary favourite Love Reigns (Ire) (US Navy Flag) tore to shreds what many people thought possible for an unraced 2-year-old filly in the month of April.

There would have been more competition had Real Madrid taken to the field against a bunch of schoolboys such was the authority of the display. Love Reigns burst into the lead from stall one, powered home to win unchallenged, and the clock backed up what filled the eye.

Not even Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), who won the G2 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint over the same course and distance in 2020, could run a quicker time than Love Reigns did in that scintillating debut.

“Any time Ben McElroy vets your horse, you know you have something special, so I was delighted that Ben bought her. When you breed horses, all you can hope for is that they go to the best trainers, and we couldn't have dreamed of better connections buying Love Reigns,” – Eoghan Grogan

Now her breeders, the father and son team of Pat and Eoghan Grogan at Killourney Mor Farm in County Offaly, are rightly dreaming about what the filly might go on to achieve at Royal Ascot.

“It's not often you see 2-year-olds win maidens by about ten lengths, especially over five and a half furlongs, and we were gob-smacked watching it,” said Eoghan, who works full-time on the farm alongside his Dad.

“I watched it with my father and, as soon as she crossed the line, I turned to him and said, 'this is a monster.' She looked incredible at Keeneland and it's the stuff of dreams to have bred one like her.”

He added, “We always loved her and she was the pick of that crop in 2020. She was a tank, a real ball of muscle.

“For her to go on and do that, it was just unreal. There has been a fantastic buzz around town and we're really looking forward to Royal Ascot now.”

Pat Smullen put Offaly on the map. The Faithful County, as it is known, is also famous for being home to Open Championship-winning golfer Shane Lowry as well as the internationally recognisable Irish whiskey Tullamore Dew.

Love Reigns may soon join that list of famous Offaly produce which is all the more remarkable given the Grogans never set out to become breeders.

Pat, a builder by trade, was once owed money by a man who settled the debt with a horse. While that horse was never much use, it sparked a love affair with the sport that burns bright to this day, and the family are keen to capitalise on their recent run of success.

“It's mad really, because if he [Pat] never got that first horse, I don't know if he'd have come down this route at all. I had no interest in horses at the time either,” explains Eoghan.

“That horse he got as part of the deal didn't work out but he was bitten by the bug and then he bought Don't Care (Ire) (Nordico) a year afterwards. She was a very good producer and got things going for us which caught my interest. I saw that you can make a good living out of this game if you have the right stock and that's what it's all about really.”

He added, “We've eight mares of our own and there's six boarders for other clients. Myself and my father are at it full-time and it's starting to take off in the past three or four years but it has been 20 years in the making. Some of the families are starting to develop as we wanted so it's great.”

Love Reigns is out of Humble And Proud (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), whose career at Ballydoyle was cut short through injury, but she has become a proven producer on the farm. Not that things have been all plain sailing with her second career as a broodmare. They haven't.

Before her most prolific son, Glorious Empire (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), became a Group 1 winner in America, Humble And Proud didn't go in foal for three years but, after having one of her ovaries removed, has gone in foal in each of the last four seasons and is bidding for a fifth in the coming weeks.

Grogan explained, “She's gone from being written off to one of our best broodmares and it wasn't as if her progeny were a massive success in the sales ring at the start either. They weren't. I think the best price we got for one before Love Reigns was £40,000.”

In Love Reigns, the Grogans certainly brought something special to the Orby Sale last year and were rewarded when Ben McElroy went to €160,000 to secure the filly on behalf of Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Stables.

Grogan remembers, “There was loads of interest in her. She was vetted five or six different times and all of the good guys were on her. Any time Ben McElroy vets your horse, you know you have something special, so I was delighted that Ben bought her. When you breed horses, all you can hope for is that they go to the best trainers, and we couldn't have dreamed of better connections buying Love Reigns.”

He added, “She was a stunning individual with a temperament to match her looks. She actually had a colic on the Saturday of the Orby Sale and I was wondering if it was going to work out or not with her but she settled down pretty quick. She tightened up a good bit and didn't show herself as well as she can on the Saturday but, she bounced back great on the Sunday, and from then on she was great. She has always had a great temperament and nothing really fazed her.”

It is that bombproof temperament which should stand to Love Reigns when she makes the trip over to Royal Ascot for the Queen Mary.

One of her last pieces of work was reported to have gone well at Keeneland, according to McElroy, who is predicting a big performance from the filly in the Queen Mary, provided she gets her ground.

He said, “She worked on Sunday and it's all systems go for Royal Ascot now. The ground was actually soft at Keeneland and I definitely think she will want it firm at Royal Ascot. Hopefully we get lucky with the weather and, if we do, I'd be very happy about her chances in the Queen Mary.”

McElroy knows a thing or two about what a Royal Ascot winner looks like. Dual Royal Ascot scorer Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who returns in Ward's raiding party for the this year, was also sourced in Ireland by McElroy on behalf of Stonestreet for 190,000gns and the renowned agent recalls how Love Reigns was just what he looks for in sourcing a royal runner.

He explained, “Barbara Banke loves Royal Ascot so, when we go to the sales, we're looking for something that's going to be a precocious 2-year-old that will suit Wesley Ward and be out in April or early May. That sets you up, if you are good enough, to take a tilt at one of the 2-year-old races at Royal Ascot. Obviously in her case, she always showed herself to have a lot of potential and Irad Ortiz rode her in two or three pieces of work before she ever ran and relayed to Wesley that she was his best 2-year-old, never mind Stonestreet's.”

McElroy added, “We were excited for her debut at Keeneland but she was drawn one in a 12-horse field, which is always a worry, but she proved Irad right on that performance. One of the reporters from the DRF told Wesley that it was the fastest 2-year-old performance in Keeneland, which encompasses Breeders' Cup races, meaning she ran faster than Golden Pal did as a 2-year-old. Visually, it looked very impressive, and the clock backed it up.”

Humble And Proud, the rather aptly-named broodmare, gave birth to a Mehmas (Ire) colt last week, and the Grogan family are now contemplating a return to US Navy Flag (War Front) on the strength of what Love Reigns did on debut.

She may only have graced the track once, but it's not often that a filly has left such an impression. Like McElroy, the Grogans will be hoping that Love Reigns can prove their eyes-and the clock-right in the Queen Mary.

The post Queen Mary-bound ‘Monster’ Love Reigns Has Grogan Family in Dreamland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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