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C-A-T-S, Cats, Cats, Cats! UK-Bred Averly Jane The Favorite In Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint

Already a national titlist in volleyball and rifle this year, the University of Kentucky seeks another championship — beyond the annual expectations for John Calipari's Wildcats. UK is the breeder of the unbeaten 2-year-old filly Averly Jane, the 5-2 favorite in Friday's $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint, part of the weekend's 14-race Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar.

Averly Jane was foaled and raised at UK's Maine Chance Equine Campus, the university's research and teaching farm on the north end of Lexington. UK purchased the historic property from Elizabeth Arden in 1967 as an expansion opportunity for agriculture research and programs.

The University of Kentucky equine students are hoping that Maine Chance — once home to Kentucky Derby winners Aristides and Jet Pilot — will add a Breeders' Cup champion. Owned by Gatewood Bell's Hat Creek Racing partnership and trained by Wesley Ward, Averly Jane is 4 for 4, with three stakes wins over males: Churchill Downs' Kentucky Juvenile, Saratoga's Skidmore and in her turf debut Keeneland's $200,000 Indian Summer, which gave the filly a fees-paid berth in the corresponding Breeders' Cup race.

“It's been awesome to watch a horse that came up from UK Maine Chance,” Brittany Sparks, a graduate of UK's equine program who was involved in the filly's care, said after the Indian Summer. “We foaled her, weaned her, prepped her, sold her. It's been an amazing process to watch her go along.”

Bell, Keeneland's Vice President of Racing, purchased Averly Jane for $35,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale last year.

While he'd never before purchased a horse from the UK consignment, he said: “I always go back there and look at them. I love just looking at all the smaller consignors' stuff. And Dr. (Laurie) Lawrence who runs the program, I took her class like 20 years ago when I was at UK.”

The third-generation horseman, who earned a finance degree with honors from UK in 2004, jokingly added: “I don't think I got a good grade in it.”

More seriously, he said: “It's an awesome program. The kids take a lot of pride in it. They do a great job. (Averly Jane) was at the sale and I kind of just fell in love with her. I bought two fillies off of them.

“It wasn't like a sympathy case,” he said of his purchase. “It wasn't like I was trying to make a bunch of students' day. Because they're not getting the money. The money goes to fund the program. I thought she was a really nice filly.”

Who now is worth far more than her purchase price, Ward observed.

“She's done everything right,” the trainer said. “Undefeated. We've got all of UK rooting for her, so we've got that in her favor as well.”

UK did not nominate Averly Jane to the Breeders' Cup as a foal so Bell and his partners paid $12,000 in July to make her eligible.

“They can't really afford to pay the $400 foal nomination,” Bell said of the UK program. “The nominations (for 2-year-olds) were due in like two days, or it would become $100 grand. I called Wesley and said, 'Hey, we think she's really nice. But $12,000 is $12,000.' He said, 'Nominate her.'”

UK student Claire Wilson, also an intern in Keeneland's publicity department, said of watching a filly go from foal to stakes-winner: “There's not really anything like it, and I think that's why people stay in this business as long as they do. We're having a great time cheering her on.”

The UK program has about 35 mares in its primary herd, with mares and stallion seasons donated by industry participants.

“The University of Kentucky — through our equine education, research and service — serves as the backbone of one of Kentucky's most important and vibrant industries,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “We are home to the only scientific institute in the United States in which nearly all faculty are conducting full-time research in equine health and diseases. Against this backdrop, we are thrilled to see that a horse of our own — one born and raised by Maine Chance and sold by our UK team — has emerged as a favorite in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.”

Averly Jane is by far the best horse the university has bred. Until Averly Jane, their only prior stakes-winner was Twister in Oz, who won Kansas' $10,000 Anthony Thoroughbred Futurity in 2007, which doesn't really count.

Now, however, UK is the breeder of a Breeders' Cup horse whose combined winning margin is 22 1/4 lengths while earning $313,140.

Daniel Deatrick was the student that led Averly Jane into the ring at Fasig-Tipton. Now he's hoping she is led into another ring: the Breeders' Cup winner's circle.

“I learned a lot from her,” Deatrick said. “It's crazy what she's done in just that time frame. It's a lot of fun, and we're really proud of her.”

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Ontario Breeding Program Sees Growth In 2021

Over the last four weeks, The Jockey Club released its annual statistics for the North American breeding industry and Ontario showed positive gains across the board.

The number of Ontario-sired live foals reported to The Jockey Club through Oct. 4 was up 2.6 percent over last year, the number of stallions registered in the province increased by 12.5 percent and the number of mares reported bred through Oct. 18 was up 13.9 percent. Ontario was the only jurisdiction with positive gains in all three categories.

“Ontario, in terms of growth on the breeding side, is the number one jurisdiction in North America,” said David Anderson, Breeder Representative on the board of Ontario Racing and member of the Thoroughbred Improvement Program (TIP) Committee. “I just got back from the fall sales and quite honestly that's all everyone wants to talk about, are our programs. I think they are innovative and they are forward thinking, and we're going to bolster our numbers and bolster our quality going forward.”

Among the programs drawing interest from breeders and owners are the 2021-22 Mare Recruitment (MRP) and Purchase Programs (MPP), and the new for 2021 Ontario Sire Heritage Series and Sales Credit Program.

The Mare Recruitment and Purchase Programs offer breeders incentives totaling $800,000 for bringing new in-foal mares to the province. The MRP offers all breeders a $5,000 (CDN) incentive for every new mare brought to the province to foal in 2022, while the MPP gives Ontario residents a rebate of up to 50 percent, to a maximum of $25,000 (CDN), on the purchase price of an in-foal mare from an Ontario Racing recognized public auction. Mares enrolled in both programs are then eligible for a $2,500 (CDN) incentive if they are bred to a registered Ontario Sire in 2022.

“Last time we did the program was two years ago and we exhausted all the funding, we had to turn people away. And we got 129 new mares in the province, of which 79 of them bred back to Ontario sires,” said Anderson. “I think there's a lot of potential here in the province of Ontario going forward.”

The Ontario Sire Heritage Series saw Ontario Sired three-year-old colts and geldings and three-year-old fillies accumulate points in a trio of $80,000 legs at Woodbine and Fort Erie Racetracks over five, six and seven furlongs. The $100,000 finals, the Lake Ontario and Ashbridges Bay Stakes at 1-1/16 miles, are slated for Friday, Nov. 19 at Woodbine Racetrack with Reload offspring Red River Rebel and Sunsprite leading the way in the colt/gelding and filly point standings. A total of $70,000 in bonuses will go to the top three point earners in each division.

In addition, owners with registered Ontario Bred horses competing in claiming races at Woodbine and Fort Erie Racetracks earned credits for the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (CTHS) Ontario yearling and mixed sales each time their horse visited the winner's circle this season.

“Hopefully with some of the new programs, like the new Heritage Series, it's going to create new demand for the Ontario Sired horse,” said Peter Berringer, president of the Ontario division of the CTHS. “You have to be optimistic when the numbers show we've stabilized, and increased slightly, and are trending in the right direction.”

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Texas 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale Set For April 6, 2022

The Texas Thoroughbred Association and Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie have announced that the 2022 Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale will be held on Wednesday, April 6, at the Dallas-area racetrack. The breeze show will be held Monday, April 4.

The 2022 Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale comes on the heels of the strong 2021 Texas Summer Yearling Sale. That sale saw an increase in the number of horses cataloged and sold, as well as a positive jump in the average and median sale prices.

“Based on what we saw with the Texas Summer Yearling Sale, I think there's a lot of anticipation for the upcoming Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in April,” TTA Sales Director Foster Bridewell said. “I think we're uniquely positioned in the 2-year-old sales landscape to provide a quality sale for our owners, trainers, and breeders and still attract out of region buyers and sellers.”

The sale will be held about three weeks before Lone Star Park kicks off its 2022 Thoroughbred meet with 48 days of racing starting on April 28. As usual, the Texas Thoroughbred Association Futurity, for TTA Sales graduates and Accredited Texas-breds made eligible through consignor or buyer berths, will be held on closing weekend at Lone Star with two divisions, each at $150,000 guaranteed.

Graduates of the Texas Yearling or 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale will also be eligible for the new Texas Thoroughbred Association Derby and Oaks for 3-year-olds. Both will be held at Sam Houston Race Park in 2023.

“The expanded stakes program for Texas Thoroughbred Association sales graduates certainly gives buyers something extra to think about when they're bidding on horses,” Bridewell said. “Our graduates have had success in the Texas Thoroughbred Association Futurity, and that's carried over in other stakes races around the country, including the first, second, and third place finishers in this year's Clever Trevor Stakes at Remington Park.”

“Also, thanks to the passage of HB 2460 in 2019, the Texas horse industry benefits from the infusion of $25 million per year, increasing purses and Accredited Texas-bred incentive awards,” Bridewell added. “It really does pay to breed, sell and race in Texas.”

The entry deadline for the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale is Jan. 17, 2022.

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Bloodlines: Good Timing, Quick Decisions Brought Sandstone To The Winner’s Circle

On the day that Churchill Downs ran the Street Sense Stakes, Oct. 31, a daughter of the 2006 juvenile champion and 2007 Kentucky Derby winner won the companion feature, the Rags to Riches Stakes for fillies.

Bred in Kentucky by Mark and Cindy Stansell, Sandstone won her stakes debut by 10 3/4 lengths in 1:44.18, which was faster than the colts ran in the Street Sense Stakes at the same distance.

Sandstone is the last foal out of her dam, the Seattle Slew mare Seattle Shimmer, who was 20 when she foaled this stakes winner.

Mark Stansell said, “Sandstone was one of the very best physicals out of her dam, who always threw nice babies. Seattle Shimmer had a very nice hip and would put that hip on foals, even from stallions who were a little light behind,” and due to the yearling filly's appeal on physique and pedigree, the breeders got $165,000 for Sandstone at the 2020 Keeneland September sale.

“This was a really nice yearling,” Stansell said. “One reason she only brought $165,000 was that the foals from old mares, anything over 15, are not highly sought after [in the commercial market]. If that mare hadn't been old, Sandstone would have brought more. She was that nice.”

Now a winner in two of her three starts, the Rags to Riches was the stakes debut for Sandstone, and she became her dam's first stakes winner. Two earlier foals, Sway Away (Afleet Alex) and Shaken (Uncle Mo), placed in Grade 2 company. Sway Away was second in the G2 Best Pal, San Vicente, and San Carlos; Shaken was third in the G2 Rachel Alexandra.

Yet, they almost never were.

The dam of these three talented stakes horses, as well as other good winners, was one of the last foals by Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew (by Bold Reasoning), himself a foal of 1974. The near-black champion had problems with his neck vertebrae late in life that required surgery and curtailed the last years of his stud career.

A foal of 1999, Seattle Shimmer was bred in Kentucky by Albert Finney, and Mickey and Karen Taylor. She and her stakes-winning dam received the best of care, but when the filly was born, she was “severely contracted as a foal,” said Kentucky horseman Bob Sliger, who spent many years with the Eaton Farms yearling division.

Contracted tendons are not rare among Thoroughbred foals, and the condition's name accurately describes the problem. A foal's long tendons are tightly contracted, rather than loose and flexible, when the foal is born. This can cause considerable problems with standing and nursing, and if not addressed appropriately and as early as possible, the malady has the potential to cripple a foal for life.

Seattle Shimmer, however, was in good hands.

Sliger continued: “We used PVC pipe to help get her legs straightened out, and it helped her a lot. She was broken but never went into training. That's when they had just lost Seattle Slew, and they went out of the horse business. When they did that, they gave the mare to me.”

For Sliger and former Eaton Farms manager Billy Tillery, Seattle Shimmer bred some very nice prospects, including Sway Away.

Sliger recalled that “Mark had bought three foals out of the mare off me and was crazy about Seattle Shimmer. She was a beautiful mare, a kind and lovely mare. Just a sweetheart, and Mark really wanted the mare.”

Stansell said he “was buying weanlings to resell as yearlings, and I got to know Bob after buying the third foal out of the mare, went and bought mare and the foal at side, who turned out to be Sway Away.

“She is buried in my back yard, he continued. “I have 87 acres, but buried her there.”

To produce Sandstone, Stansell “bred her to Street Sense, and this was one of the very best physicals out of the mare.”

In addition to the other foals out of Seattle Shimmer, Stansell sold, then repurchased and raced Shaken, and the half-sister to Sandstone “has an exceptional Vino Rosso foal in Book 2 of the November sale,” the breeder concluded.

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