Graded Stakes Winner La Dragontea Supplemented To Fasig-Tipton November Sale

Fasig-Tipton has added another graded stakes winner to its upcoming November Sale. La Dragontea, second in Woodbine's Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes this past Sunday, has been cataloged as Hip 267. She will be consigned as a racing/broodmare prospect by Hunter Valley Farm, agent.

Owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Rebecca Hillen, La Dragontea has had an outstanding 4-year-old season since arriving from Europe and entering the barn of trainer Christophe Clement.  Her three wins this year include Woodbine's G2 Canadian Stakes, where she stalked the pace going 1 1/8 miles to win in hand. She followed that victory up with her second-place finish in the E.P. Taylor – where she changed tactics and sat well off the pace – closing strongly to lose by just a neck going 1 1/4 miles.

La Dragontea is a daughter of multiple classic winner and top European sire Lope de Vega. One of the hottest young sires in the world, he is already the sire of 49 group or graded stakes winners, 13 of which are Group or Grade 1.

La Dragontea's dam La Concorde, a winning daughter of Sadler's Wells, is closely related to European champion and champion sire Montjeu. Her immediate family includes Group 1 winners Galileo Gold, Goldream, Again, and Aclaim.

“La Dragontea should appeal to a wide variety of racing and breeding operations,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. “She is beautifully bred, has current Grade 1 form, and at just four years old she has a lot of racing still ahead of her.”

The Fasig-Tipton November Sale will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 9, in Lexington, Ky. The sale will begin at 2 p.m.

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The Brilliant Guarana and Her Dam Magical World at Fasig-Tipton

An elite group of broodmares owned in partnership by Three Chimneys Farm and Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency will go through the ring at the upcoming Fasig-Tipton November Sale on Nov. 9. Among them, Grade I winner Guarana (Ghostzapper – Magical World, by Distorted Humor) and her dam Magical World (Distorted Humor – Pleasant Home, by Seeking the Gold) offer a rare opportunity for buyers on the 'Night of the Stars.'

“I've been doing this a long time and I don't ever recall having an opportunity to offer a mother and a daughter of this quality together at the same sale,” said Fasig-Tipton's Boyd Browning.  “Both mares are highly desirable collector's items in their own right. Both mares are in foal to Into Mischief, the leading sire in the United States again in 2021. It's a very, very unique opportunity.”

Magical World, a daughter of ultra-successful broodmare sire Distorted Humor, is out of 2005 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Pleasant Home (Seeking The Gold), a full-sister to MGSW Country Hideaway as well as Matlacha Pass, the dam of five-time Grade I winner and sire Point of Entry (Dynaformer). Her female family also includes MGISW and influential broodmare Maplejinksy (Nijinsky II).

Doug Cauthen, advisor for Three Chimneys, remembers watching in person as Magical World debuted at Gulfstream.

“I was pretty impressed with her,” he recalled of the Phipps Stable homebred. “She ran second, got beat by half a length, and I tracked her from that time on. It was a year and a half later that the opportunity to buy her privately from the Phippses came up and when you get a chance to buy into one of their great families, you jump at it.”

Magical World first produced a winning son of Awesome Again and then was bred to Ghostzapper. The resulting filly, Cauthen said, was an eyecatcher from the start.

“Guarana was a very athletic, strong filly and was sort of a barn favorite,” Cauthen explained. “The managers all liked her and when I would come every month or so and look at her, she got better and better and better. It took her a while to get through her training, but once she got to the track, it was lights out.”

Originally campaigned by Three Chimneys Farm with Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings joining the partnership later in her career, Guarana was brilliant from the start, earning 'TDN Rising Star' status in her 14 3/4-length, front-running debut win for Chad Brown and later racing to three Grade I victories.

“It doesn't really get better than that,” Cauthen said. “She propelled herself forward so powerfully that she just out-manned her competition. [She showed] brilliance and speed, winning Grade Is at seven furlongs, eight furlongs and a mile and an eighth.”

Magical World's third foal Magic Dance takes the Debutante S. | Coady

Magical World's next foal Magic Dance (More Than Ready) followed in her sister's footsteps when she too became a 'TDN Rising Star' and then claimed the Debutante S. as a juvenile.

The mare's  only foal to have gone through the sales ring to date, a colt by Pioneerof the Nile, brought $2.1 million at the 2019 Keeneland September Sale. Now named Beatbox, the 3-year-old broke his maiden this month for Chad Brown.

Magical World did not produce a foal in 2019, but she now has yearling and weanling colts on the ground.

“Her Gun Runner yearling is an exceptional-looking colt,” Cauthen said. “He's being retained by the partnership to go to the next level. Then she has a super Quality Road weanling on the ground. She just keeps throwing these great physicals, so it's hard to beat.”

According to Cauthen, Magical World's consistency in producing quality physicals is key to her success as a broodmare.

“I think she produces great physicals because she is a great physical,” he said. “She's got the speed of Distorted Humor in there, but a lot of scope and stretch that came from the dam side. I think quality is the thing that's hard to reproduce and she does it time and time again. It's hard to find that kind of mare and she's definitely special.”

“Magical World is one of those once-in-a-lifetime mares in terms of what she's already accomplished,” Browning added. “She has

produced both runners and sales horses and is still very, very young. Now you've got a combination of daughters underneath her that are going to the very best stallions in the world as well. So you've got an amazing pedigree with really unlimited potential to continue to develop.”

Magical World will sell as Hip 203 at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Both she and her Grade I-winning daughter, who sells as Hip 182, will go through the Hill 'n' Dale consignment.

John Sikura, President of Hill 'n' Dale, said he was looking forward to presenting both talented offerings.

“Magical World is a mare with her entire future in front of her,” he said. “She's the kind of mare that could be a broodmare of the year. She inherits the quality from her pedigree and certainly produces foals that have extreme ability and are conformationally flawless. Guarana has enormous breed-shaping ability as far as her brilliance on the racetrack, and her depth of pedigree traces back to some of the most significant dirt runners of the past 20 years.”

Guarana's brilliance, Sikura said, is what comes to mind when he looks back on the millionaire's career.

“Her first race was brilliant,” he said. “She won off the charts and was a 'TDN Rising Star.' Then she ran back in the GI Acorn S. It was highly unusual to take a filly who had just broken her maiden and run her back in a very deep, significant Grade I. But she won by six lengths, beating Serengeti Empress (Alternation), who was a brilliantly fast and determined mare.”

Guarana's sizzling 1:33.58 final time in the one-mile contest proved to be a stakes-record performance. From there, the speedy filly took the GI Coaching Club American Oaks and was second to Street Band (Istan) in the GI Cotillion S. Returning at four, she added another win to her resume over allowance company at Churchill Downs before winning the GI Madison S. in a near race-record performance in her final career start.

“The brilliance she demonstrated [in the Acorn S.] was remarkable in just her second start,” Browning said, reflecting on Guarana's five-for-six career. “But she also demonstrated her versatility. She won Grade Is at seven, eight and nine furlongs, so it wasn't like she was one dimensional. She literally could do it all and she displayed brilliance virtually every time she stepped onto the racetrack.”

Guarana bests fellow GISW Mia Mischief (Into Mischief) in the 2020 GI Madison S. | Coady

Along with her brilliance and versatility, Sikura explained that Guarana's pedigree will be another asset to her ability as a broodmare in terms of the number of influential broodmare sires across her page.

“If you look at every broodmare sire on her page, from Ghostzapper to Pleasant Colony to Distorted Humor, it's influential beyond the norm with highly successful broodmare sires. Much like some sire lines are prepotent and continue through generations, female families are the same way. They beat all the metrics as far as the standard norms of breeding, so the future is immensely bright for this entire family.”

“The pedigree opportunities are really unique,” Browning said of the duo. “You've got one mare by Distorted Humor who has proven to be an unbelievable broodmare sire and then you've got another by Ghostzapper, who would arguably be one of the most desirable young broodmare sires in the world. You combine that with the depth of pedigree where you've got champions all over the world in these two pedigrees, and it's pretty special.”

As for the mating with Into Mischief for both mares, Browning said, “You know the old saying, breed the best to the best. We've got an example here with one of the best producers in the world in foal to Into Mischief, who is arguably the best stallion in America and certainly numbers would verify that. Then you've got one of the best race fillies in the world in Guarana who is also bred to the best.”

The cross of Into Mischief with Distorted Humor has already proven to be highly successful with the likes of Grade I winner and sire Practical Joke as well as the talented current graded stakes performer Life Is Good.

“We bred these mares to the best sires available and I think it's a great mating for Guarana and her dam,” Sikura said. “Guarana is carrying a colt, so the sky is the limit and anybody that's very serious on a global scale will be looking for her attributes when they go shopping this November.”

For Three Chimneys, Cauthen said the farm is proud to be offering two superstar mares who have brought eyes upon the Three Chimneys breeding and racing program.

“Whenever a farm wants to be a leader in the business and can prove that they've produced top-level horses like Guarana, it says that the plan is working,” he explained. “For us advisors, we're just happy when the results work out because it's not a one-person thing, it's a 50-person job. From the Torrealba family down to the grooms that work so hard to take care of these horses, it shows that the system is working.”

 

Take a look at our 'Spotlight on the Night of the Stars' series here. 

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Grade I Winner Offers ‘Perfect’ Opportunity at Fasig-Tipton

Gainesway Farm enjoyed an unforgettable Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale this year as the leading consignor of the elite auction with 12 yearlings sold including the $2.6 million sales topper.

Now, they hope to continue the same success at the upcoming Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars Sale on Nov. 9 with a consignment that features three graded stakes winners including the speedy and precocious Perfect Alibi (Sky Mesa – No Use Denying, by Maria's Mon). The Grade I winner campaigned by Tracy Farmer will be offered in foal to super-sire Into Mischief.

“I've spent the past 20 years developing our yearling sales at Gainesway and it's been a real goal of ours to expand and try to be as competitive in the November market as we are in the yearling market,” Gainesway's Brian Graves explained. “For the Farmers to give us a Grade I winner in foal to Into Mischief means a lot to us and we're extremely appreciative for the chance.”

For Graves, Perfect Alibi offers everything breeders will be looking for in the days following Breeders' Cup weekend.

“She's an absolute collector's item,” he said. “A Grade I-winning 2-year-old and in foal to North America's leading sire. You don't get your hands on many of these kinds of broodmares that were so good at two. Speed and precocity make some of the best producers and combined with her physical-she's got balance, stretch and size- she's a broodmare that anybody would like to have.”

A daughter of Pin Oak Stud's stakes-winning homebred No Use Denying (Maria's Mon), Perfect Alibi was foaled in 2017 and was slated to sell at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale the following summer.

The auction company's president and CEO Boyd Browning remembers first hearing of the young filly as the sale approached.

“I can remember when she was just a yearling and [Fasig-Tipton's Executive Vice President] Bayne Welker was doing yearling inspections,” Browning recalled. “He called me and said, 'I found a really special horse at Pin Oak today. She's an absolute superstar.' When she got to Saratoga I remember walking into the courtyard where she was showing with Denali and when they brought her out, I was like, 'Wow, Bayne you were right.' She was a spectacular physical individual.”

The dark bay filly caught the eye of many in Saratoga including Kern Thoroughbreds' Lincoln Collins and Joe Miller, who were on the lookout for a race filly for Tracy and Carol Farmer.

Perfect Alibi as a yearling at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale | photo courtesy Joe Miller

“She was a big, strong-looking filly and we knew she was going to be very precocious,” Miller recalled. “She was so well balanced and had a great hip and shoulder on her. She was just the one filly there that we really couldn't pick apart. We loved everything about her.”

They perused the rest of the catalogue, but when Miller and Collins sat down with trainer Mark Casse, they discovered they had all landed on the same filly. After sending a photo to Tracy Farmer and getting his stamp of approval, they purchased Perfect Alibi for $220,000.

The following May the filly made her first start at Churchill Downs, blowing away a field of fellow maidens to win by 9 1/2 lengths.

“We knew she would be precocious, we just didn't know she would be that precocious,” Miller said with a laugh.

After a close second in the Astoria S. at Belmont, Perfect Alibi returned to Saratoga to take on graded stakes company and came out victorious in the GII Adirondack S. She made it to the winner's circle again in her next start in the GI Spinaway S. to become the first filly in over 10 years to sweep both prestigious 2-year-old filly contests at Saratoga.

“We knew she would just get better with distance,” Miller recalled of the Spinaway. “It was a very, very good field that she ran against that day, but she proved she was the best 2-year-old filly on the East Coast.”

“It takes a special horse to couple graded stakes wins at Saratoga as a 2-year-old,” Browning added. “She did it with style and she did it with flair. To accomplish that in the way she did was very impressive.”

Perfect Alibi made her next start at Keeneland, running second to future Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies champion British Idiom (Flashback) in the GI Darley Alcibiades S.

“She got a little bit of a wide trip that day and she even ran a very good race in the GI Breeders' Cup [Juvenile Fillies] being five wide around the turn and still coming on to be a fast closing fourth,” Miller said of the conclusion of Perfect Alibi's juvenile campaign. “She always tried so hard. She had such a high cruising speed and she just loved to win.”

The Casse trainee returned at three with a fourth-place finish in the GI Longines Test and placed in the Weber City Miss S. at Laurel Park. She retired at the conclusion of her sophomore season with earnings of over $600,000 as one of several Grade I winners for longtime Thoroughbred owner and breeder Tracy Farmer.

Perfect Alibi takes the GI Spinaway | Coglianese

“Tracy and Carol love all their horses,” Miller said. “To have a filly of her class is special because it's not easy to come by, so it certainly means a lot to them.”

Browning said he believes that on top of her memorable racing career, Perfect Alibi's Pin Oak pedigree will be another attraction for buyers.

“Mrs. [Josephine] Abercrombie is a legendary figure and it's really unique to have a filly of this caliber offered for sale and in foal to a horse like Into Mischief,” he said. “The depth of pedigree is really special. You've got the combination of some of the best breeding from Pin Oak and some of the best breeding from others in the world. It's a quality pedigree from top to bottom.”

Perfect Alibi's stakes-winning dam has produced four other winners including the Grade II-placed Noble Thought (Harlan's Holiday). Their family includes champions Chris Evert, Chief's Crown and Winning Colors.

“It's a deep Pin Oak family and Sky Mesa himself has proven to be a good broodmare sire already,” Graves added. “He's the broodmare sire of three Grade I winners and, combined with her outstanding physical and with her size and scope, it just makes her the top of the shelf.”

Along with the opportunities attainable with Perfect Alibi's breeding career, Graves also places high merit on this first foal by Into Mischief she now carries.

“She could be carrying a top-caliber broodmare prospect or a future stallion,” he said. “Some of the top qualifications of a good stallion are that they are out of a mare who was fast and precocious at two and also that they are one of the first foals out of a mare. [Those factors] greatly increase your chances to have a good stallion, so the sky is the limit.”

Perfect Alibi will sell as Hip 218 on the Night of the Stars with the Gainesway consignment.

“She truly does have worldwide appeal,” Browning said. “I think whoever breeds her has the opportunity to produce a champion literally anywhere in the world. It's going to be the perfect opportunity for some of the top buyers in the world to pursue a mare of her quality and I can't wait to see what she does in her career.”

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‘Special Filly’ Swiss Skydiver Will Be Missed at McPeek Barn

In just a few weeks, champion Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil – Expo Gold, by Johannesburg) will sell at the Fasig-Tipton 'Night of the Stars' Sale. On an evening heralded for its abundant opportunity, her trip through the ring will be marked with anticipation for what is to come as she begins her broodmare career. But until then, there's just a bit of melancholy for her fans in looking back on her remarkable racing career.

What was it, exactly, that made Swiss Skydiver so unforgettable?

It could have been her extraordinary toughness and durability. The filly's Eclipse-earning sophomore season was unlike any other as she competed in 10 stakes races at nine different racetracks, crossing the wire first in half those starts. During a year of the unprecedented in 2020, it became altogether familiar to find Swiss Skydiver in the entries nearly every month.

Or maybe it was the grit and bravery she displayed so magnificently in her historic GI Preakness. S., refusing to let Authentic inch past her white shadow roll. Every racing fan remembers exactly where they were watching as she battled to become the sixth filly in history to win the Preakness S.

Even still, it could have been her intelligent personality, which Kenny McPeek shared with her many admirers through social media as they journeyed to racetracks across the county.

Perhaps the fierce chestnut's uniqueness shines through in all of those elements, each one an important element in the story of Swiss Skydiver.

A member of the first crop of Daredevil, Hip 2997 was a half-sister to two winners and the granddaughter of GSP Clouds of Gold (Strike the Gold), but it wasn't her pedigree that caught the eye of Kenny McPeek.

“She was a big, beautiful filly with a great walk to her and a great energy,” the agent said, recalling even the barn at which he first laid eyes on her.

Swiss Skydiver becomes one for the record books in the 2020 GI Preakness S. | Horsephotos

McPeek purchased the Select Sales-consigned yearling for $35,000 for longtime client Peter Callahan. Swiss Skydiver made her debut the following November at Churchill Downs, breaking her maiden there by five and a half lengths.

There was much more to come as the calendar turned to 2020.

“Her three-year-old season was magical,” McPeek said. “For everybody who was dealing with the pandemic, we knew that there were a lot of people that couldn't go to the races and we were traveling with Swiss Skydiver. We went from state to state and it seemed like everywhere we went was a new adventure.”

Swiss Skydiver collected three consecutive graded stakes victories before making her first start against the boys in the GII Blue Grass S., running a more-than-acceptable second to Art Collector (Bernardini). After earning her first Grade I in the Alabama S. and then taking second in the GI Kentucky Oaks, Kenny McPeek had skeptics reeling when she was entered in yet another contest, this one against her toughest competition still, in the GI Preakness. S.

“I never second-guessed running her against the boys at all,” McPeek said when asked of his decision to enter the filly in her ninth start of the year. “Her speed figures looked like she fit against just about anybody.”

Off at 11-1, Swiss Skydiver refused to yield against eventual Horse of the Year Authentic and crossed the wire in front by a neck to win the second-fastest Preakness S. in history and give her trainer his first Preakness victory.

“I think I had maybe 700 text messages on my phone,” McPeek said with a laugh. “Look, when you win everybody texts you and when you lose, nobody does. But you know, she made it all happen. Without her, none of it happens.”

McPeek added that he was thrilled to share the experience with longtime client Peter Callahan.

“Peter is one of the most special people I've ever worked for,” he said. “He really understands the game. His persistence with me is really the reason why we're here. He has let me buy some slow horses too and I couldn't be happier for a guy like him to have her.”

While the stars all aligned for Swiss Skydiver during her Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old campaign, she came back at four to win the GI Beholder Mile S. in March but then several unfortunate circumstances got in the way of the original plan for her 2021 campaign. However McPeek said he will not let those disruptions get in the way of him celebrating the champion's many accomplishments.

“We would have liked to have had a better 4-year-old year, but you couldn't have had a better 3-year-old year, maybe in the history of 3-year-old fillies,” he said. “She's just a tough filly. She loves her food and you don't get many like that. With colts maybe you do; fillies are a little more sensitive, but she is as sturdy as I've ever seen and may ever will see.”

Swiss Skydiver will enter the ring at Fasig-Tipton as a six-time grade stakes-winning champion with earnings of over $2.2 million.

Swiss Skydiver sells as Hip 246 at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale | Sarah Andrew

“We're thrilled to have a filly of the quality of Swiss Skydiver entered in the sale,” Fasig-Tipton's Boyd Browning said. “She truly is the complete package-unbelievable race record, demonstrated brilliance on a number of occasions, but also demonstrated the durability and consistency that truly defines a great filly.”

Browning added that he believes Swiss Skydiver offers all the qualities the buyers as Fasig-Tipton will be seeking.

“Breeders today are desiring durability, consistency and toughness,” he said. “She's a throwback. She trained hard, she ran hard, she answered every bell. She was an exceptional racehorse and had that grit and determination that I think she is likely to pass on to her offspring as well.”

For McPeek, watching Swiss Skydiver as she embarks on her broodmare career reminds him of another one of his talented trainees from years ago.

“Take Charge Lady (Dehere) had that kind of talent and ended up being Broodmare of the Year,” he said. “I would wager that Swiss Skydiver will be every bit as good of a broodmare as she was a racehorse because she's extremely intelligent and she's just a kind soul to be around. On the physical [aspect], she's just so big and strong. She's a filly that would be ideal in that you could breed her to a list of stallions.”

For Browning, much of Swiss Skydiver's potential for success as a broodmare is found by looking back on the accomplishments of the only other two Preakness-winning fillies from the last 100 years.

“We all remember Rachel Alexandra-one of the all-time greats of our industry,” he said. “She produced a Grade I winner in a very limited number of foals and also produced a stallion who is having success at the racetrack right now too. The other filly to win the Preakness in the last 100 years is Nellie Morse and she produced a champion in her own right and has become a very influential broodmare.”

Swiss Skydiver will sell as Hip 246 with the Runnymede Farm consignment on Nov. 9 at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, but for now McPeek is enjoying his final days with his history-making filly as she begins the transition period at Magdelena Farm–the location where she was once saddled for the very first time.

“We've really been blessed to be around a horse like her,” he said. “They're few and far between and you really have to appreciate them when they come into your life. I think we did take advantage of all that and spent time with her. I got a chance to bond with her really well. It's going to be tough, because we love being around her. She's a really special filly.”

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