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Breeders’ Spotlight: ‘Just’ Like the Movies, Krikorian Gets a Breeders’ Cup Champ

It seems like almost too good of a plot line to believe it now, but Just F Y I (Justify) was never meant to race in George Krikorian's silks.

The filly made it all the way to the Keeneland sales grounds before a puncture wound in her shoulder kept her from going through the ring. While it was nothing serious, the minor abrasion became inflamed enough to make walking back and forth for buyers impossible. So she was scratched from the September Sale, sent to Margaux Farm and eventually joined Bill Mott's stable. Not long after, she became Krikorian's first Breeders' Cup champion.

“It's funny how things happen because we would have sold her,” reflected Donato Lanni, Krikorian's longtime advisor who was the one that had made the call to Krikorian about withdrawing the filly from the sale. “Somehow when you do good things in life and you're a good person, the Man Upstairs decides that he's going to take care of you. I really believe things like that happen for a reason.”

Lanni couldn't be more genuine in his praise for Krikorian, the California-based movie theater mogul who famously gave Lanni the opportunity to buy his first horse. As the story goes, Krikorian told a 20-something-aged Lanni that if he ever saw a yearling that he liked, to go ahead and buy it. In the summer of 1999 while Krikorian was busy scouting out properties for a new theater project in Arizona, Lanni somewhat nervously spent $35,000 on a Dynaformer yearling. Named Starrer, the filly eventually became the first of many Grade I winners for both Krikorian as an owner and Lanni as an agent.

Krikorian celebrates his first Breeders' Cup victory with Just F Y I | Benoit

While Lanni has since developed a stellar career working with a number of the top horsemen and owners in the game, he has maintained a steady relationship advising his good friend–the soft-spoken Vietnam veteran with a knack for business who had launched his start in the sport.

“George is the kind of guy that is very low-key,” Lanni explained. “He has that Shawn Connery way about him. He's charming and everyone that meets him says he's a gentleman and a great guy. His whole operation is pretty cool.”

Krikorian, who developed a passion for racing while growing up near Rockingham Park where his father George Krikorian Sr. was a trainer, has spent the past three decades building up a prosperous racing and breeding operation with an emphasis on establishing and advancing each family in his commercial program.

As a perfect example of his success in achieving just that, Starrer was among the top performers of Krikorian's racing stable for many years as a dual Grade I-winning millionaire, but she would eventually be surpassed in earnings by her own granddaughter Just F Y I.

A Breeders' Cup win had alluded Krikorian for many years, but to make it to the winner's circle with a homebred in the Juvenile Fillies –and at his home track at Santa Anita with his children and grandchildren celebrating alongside him–made the wait all worthwhile.

“It was exciting just being there the whole week before the Breeders' Cup and going through the whole process,” Krikorian recalled. “The whole experience of going back and forth with the horse to the track every morning, watching her get ready and watching the other horses, she was just showing herself more and more. I knew the day that she ran that she was going to run a hell of a race. I didn't know if she would win or not, but I knew she was going to run her best race.”

Wrapping up her juvenile season undefeated, Just F Y I secured her spot as the best 2-year-old filly in the country after overcoming the widest post to come out victorious in the Juvenile Fillies. Since then, the talented bay has enjoyed a bit of time off in Florida alongside fellow Krikorian stable star War Like Goddess (English Channel), the three-time Grade I winner who is set to return to the racetrack for her 7-year-old season this spring.

To go into 2024 with the most accomplished 3-year-old filly is exciting, but Krikorian acknowledges that there are plenty of others vying for the top spot.

“It feels great, but there is going to be more competition coming,” he said. “The competition gets a little bit tougher this year, but she is also growing. She was going through a growth spurt before the Breeders' Cup and she went through a growth spurt again when she got turned out. She's going to be a much bigger, stronger horse this year. Both she and War Like Goddess are back galloping and we're getting ready for the spring. In a few weeks we will probably start putting together schedules.”

When he's not in sunny California or traveling the country for the next horse race, Krikorian has found himself spending more time in Kentucky. He recently opened a one-of-a-kind entertainment complex across from Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington called LexLive.

“I can't help myself,” the entrepreneur admitted. “If I'm driving and I see a location that I think may be a good location for a theater, I go for it. So downtown Lexington had no theaters and I thought it would make sense to put something there.”

Opened for business in 2021, LexLive is home to 10 movie theaters, a bowling alley, multiple restaurants and bars and an arcade.

But the main draw for Krikorian's trips to Lexington is to visit his farm outside of Versailles. Named Starwood Farm in honor of Starrer and fellow foundation mare Hollywood Story (Wild Rush), the 350-acre property Krikorian purchased 15 years ago is home to around 40 broodmares and their offspring.

Krikorian is known for the effort he puts into the clever, oftentimes cinema-related names of his racehorses, but he has just as much pride for the work he puts into planning his matings every spring.

Lanni gives Krikorian all the credit for successful matings like the one that produced Just F Y I, but he does wryly point out that Krikorian has a tendency to match his mare to the perfect stallion even if it might be to the detriment of the farm's bottom line in the short term when it comes time to send the yearlings to the sales in the fall.

“It's a commercial operation, but sometimes he likes to breed to stallions that are not the most commercial at the time because it's the right thing to do for the mare,” Lanni explained. “So when we go to sell them, they don't bring the money because they're not by a first-year stallion. He wants to breed to the best. I'll tell George, 'This mare is 15 years old and she hasn't had a runner. I think spending this amount of money is too much.' But he doesn't look at the price of the stallion. He just wants to breed what is best for the mare.”

Krikorian checks in with the full-sister to champion Just F Y I | Sara Gordon

He might stray away from the commercial norm, but at the end of the day Krikorian knows when to make the right business decision in order to keep the farm's overhead in check and oftentimes that means parting with a horse that he is confident has all the potential to become a star.

The one that still makes him wince just a bit is Honor A. P. (Honor Code). The son of his Grade I-winning star mare Hollywood Story, Honor A.P. went through the sales ring as a yearling and fetched $850,000 from CRK Stable before he developed into a Grade I winner and eventual Lane's End sire.

“Honor A.P. stood out from day one from when he was born and it was painful to sell the horse, but I had to,” Krikorian reflected. “The poor horse ran in the Derby, but he never got a chance to really run his race. Coming out of the gate, he gets hit and knocked out but still ends up finishing fourth. Had he been able to run his race, who knows what would've happened?”

Another recent success in the sales ring for Krikorian's program was the $1.1 million sale of Mucho Unusual (Mucho Macho Man). The homebred claimed four graded stakes including the 2020 GI Rodeo Drive S. before selling to Shadai Farm when she retired from the track in 2022.

Now Krikorian is looking to make another shrewd move for his program as he sends a high-caliber mare to the Keeneland January Sale. Starrer's stakes-placed daughter Star Act (Street Cry {Ire}), the dam of Just F Y I, already has two other winners that sold for six figures as yearlings on her produce record and she is carrying a foal by Life Is Good.

“She's gorgeous,” Krikorian gushed of the winning 13-year-old mare. “She was a beautiful racehorse to look at. Unfortunately she had an injury that shortened her career as a racehorse, but she has made up for it as a broodmare. Her foals are large and very strong-boned with big shoulders and big hips. They're just what you want in a racehorse.”

Star Act's newly-turned yearling, a full sister to Just F Y I, was originally slated for the January sale as well, but Krikorian opted to focus on selling the mare in January and perhaps send the yearling to Keeneland come September. He admitted that she reminded him too much of her older sister to part with just yet.

“Just F Y I ruled the roost here,” he said with a smile. “She really stood out physically and she pushed everybody around. She was running the show and now this foal here is doing the same thing.”

The Starwood Farm office features portraits of farm matriarchs Starrer (pictured) and Hollywood Story | Sara Gordon

Krikorian's Starwood Farm has suffered several sad losses in recent years as Starrer passed away in 2021 and Hollywood Story died the following summer. With the passing of the farm's two matriarch mares, there is space in the program for other talented race mares to take on the role of leading producer someday–be it Just F Y I, or perhaps Big Pond–a daughter of Krikorian's stallion Mr. Big who recently ran second in the GI La Brea S., or maybe one of his rare sales purchases like War Like Goddess.

Bought as a 2-year-old by Lanni for a mere $30,000, the future multi-millionaire marked a full-circle find for Krikorian and Lanni, taking them back to their early days of shopping for bargain buys together back before Krikorian raced almost exclusively from his own breeding program.

“When I had first met Donato, he had just moved to Kentucky and was starting out,” Krikorian recalled. “He was sleeping in his car, looking to get a job. I liked him because he was really energetic and you could tell how much he loved the horses. Starrer was the first horse he picked. He was starting his career and I was starting a new venture, so it worked out well. He had an eye for a horse and he didn't know he had an eye for a horse.”

Krikorian, too, has more of an eye for a horse than he will readily give himself credit for.

Only a few years after the purchase of Starrer, Krikorian and Lanni were shopping for yearlings when Lanni pointed out Hollywood Story. Krikorian took one look and knew he had to have her. He was worried she might sell for too much, but the bidding stalled at $130,000 and he took home a future Grade I winner.

It was a similar story with Mr. Big (Dynafomer). Krikorian rarely buys weanling, but when Lanni mentioned the colt at the Keeneland November Sale in 2003 and Krikorian went to see him, he couldn't resist going to $220,000 for the youngster. While injuries kept Mr. Big from reaching his full potential on the racetrack, Krikorian bred a few mares to him on a whim when the new retiree was letting down at Starwood and was thrilled when the stallion's first starter won on debut by almost 10 lengths.

Now standing at Legacy Ranch, Mr. Big is ranked among the top five leading sires in California and Krikorian supports him with a dozen mares every spring.

So when it comes to judging horseflesh, Krikorian's opinion is one to take seriously. And while the septuagenarian doesn't have any specific goals as he continues to develop his program, his drive for finding the winner's circle is evident.

“I just keep looking for those nuggets,” he said. “But everything has worked out well. It seems like every couple of years, we've been fortunate to have something good happen and that keeps you rolling along.”

Krikorian is understated in reflecting on his many achievements in the sport, but Lanni is clear that Krikorian is deserving of everything he has attained and more.

“He's self-made and he did it the hard way,” Lanni said. “I'm lucky that I've known him since 1997 and so to me he's like a father figure. I work for him, but he's more like a father figure than anything else. He takes care of a lot of people and he's very generous, so he's an easy guy to cheer for.”

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Keeneland Breeder Spotlight: Humphrey and Arnold: A Connection That Goes Well Beyond Racing

Two Labradors grace the front steps of the main house at Shawnee Farm. Their dark coats glossy in the sunlight, the affable mother-daughter pair are among the eight generations of hunting dogs bred by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and his wife Sally.

As much as the sport of horse racing has been an unwavering passion for the Humphreys throughout their many years together, so too has their shared penchant for bird hunting. In fact, the sport led them into forming a business relationship that evolved into a lifelong friendship–one that has now surpassed even their own generation.

Gathered around their trophy-adorned living room to reflect on a few of the best homebreds to come off the surrounding 1,000-plus acres of Shawnee Farm, the Humphreys are joined by their daughter Vicki Oliver and their good friends George “Rusty” Arnold and his wife Sarah.

Rusty and Sarah Arnold, Watts and Sally Humphrey, and their daughter Vicki Oliver at Shawnee Farm | Sara Gordon

Humphrey met Arnold, a fellow third-generation horseman, at a dove shoot in 1991. At the time Arnold, who saddled his first winner back in 1975, was racing in Kentucky and New York–two places that Humphrey wanted to race, and win.

“They came and interviewed me at my barn at Saratoga a few months later and the interview evidently went well,” Arnold said with a wry, sidelong glace at Humphrey. “That fall they sent me three horses.”

Three horses soon became 10 or 12 and the numbers have continued to grow from there. While keeping the majority of his fillies to race and with an emphasis on developing families, Humphrey's distinguished breeding program is one that any trainer would be glad to represent.

“It's an honor, actually,” said Arnold. “They provide me with these well-bred horses and you're not in a rush with them. You're trying to establish the future. A lot of people don't have the patience for that, but I think that's his background in the industry of developing families. If you develop a horse over a period of time, you aren't pressed to have her at her very best the first time she runs. He lets you build a horse's career.”

Such was the story for one filly that, looking back, Arnold considers to be the first top-level horse that he ever trained.

It took two attempts for Clear Mandate (Deputy Minister) to break her maiden and it wasn't until almost a year later that she won her first graded stake, but the homebred would go on to be a glowing success for Humphrey, winning Grade I races at two of his most beloved racetracks and eventually retiring to Shawnee and producing Grade I winner and sire Strong Mandate (Tiznow).

Clear Mandate hailed from one of Humphrey's finest foundation families that was highlighted by Grade I winner and Classic producer Likely Exchange (Terrible Tiger).

As Humphrey recalls, Likely Exchange's dam was field bred to Terrible Tiger when she was having trouble getting in foal. The resulting filly was Likely Exchange, the dam of 1985 GI Belmont S. winner Crème Fraiche who was doubly special for Humphrey as she was the great-granddaughter of a mare purchased by Humphrey's grandfather George M. Humphrey.

“They were all lovely horses,” Humphrey said of the family. “Great attitutudes. They all tried.”

Likely Exchange's granddaughter was no exception. Bred by Humphrey and his aunt Pamela Firman, Clear Mandate earned over $1 million and claimed a trio of Grade I victories.

Perhaps the most memorable of those wins was the 1997 John A. Morris H.–now the Personal Ensign S.–where the 5-year-old chestnut sped away to win by five lengths.

“I didn't want to run her that day,” Arnold admitted, laughing as he added that he ultimately wound up going with his boss's gut and keeping her entered. “We had thought we had a big chance to win the Alabama two years before and it came up sloppy and she didn't run well. Then the day of the Personal Ensign, it came up sloppy again. I thought the track was going to get better and it never did, but it didn't matter because she ran the best race that she ever ran.”

Later that year Clear Mandate would score again in the Spinster S., giving both Humphrey and Arnold their first Grade I win at their home track.

Humphrey and Oliver with Grade I victress Centre Court | Sara Gordon

“The Spinster was special because it was here at Keeneland,” Humphrey admitted. “But all of her wins were great.”

The summer before Clear Mandate's brilliant 5-year-old campaign, Humphrey and Arnold were a short walk down the hill from the Keeneland winner's circle at the sales pavilion, where they attended one of their first yearling auctions together. There at the 1996 Keeneland July Sale, they purchased a filly from one of the early crops of A.P. Indy for $350,000. Named Let, she would run a close second in the 1998 GI Ashland S. and later claim the 1999 GII Churchill Downs Distaff H.

Soon after retiring from the racetrack, Let produced Ravel (Fusaichi Pegasus), a $950,000 Keeneland September yearling who won the 2007 GIII Sham S. But it was later on in Let's breeding career that she brought Humphrey his stable star Centre Court (Smart Strike).

Again, Humphrey and Arnold's patience was rewarded. It took a year and four tries for the turf specialist to find the winner's circle, but from there Centre Court reeled off a series of six graded stakes wins highlighted by the 2013 GI Jenny Wiley S.

Humphrey's proudest accomplishment with the Let line came two years ago, when Centre Court's daughter Navratilova (Medaglia d'Oro) captured the GIII Valley View S. The victory marked the eighth graded stakes win for Humphrey at Keeneland. As the 23^rd owner in history to reach the milestone, he earned a commemorative Keeneland Tray that now sits in the front foyer of the family's home.

“They were all a little different,” Arnold said when comparing the family line. “Let was beautiful, that's why we paid a lot of money for her as a yearling. Centre Court is probably more like her sire, a strong-looking horse. Navratilova is very attractive but is a finer version.”

“For her to be the third generation in the family to get a graded stakes win is special,” he added, and then laughed. “It means I didn't screw it up.”

While Arnold's father and grandfather both focused their careers primarily on the breeding sector of the industry, Arnold was always drawn to the racetrack. The horseman only ventured to the other side once, but the decision has paid dividends.

When Humphrey's mother Louise Humphrey passed away in 2012, a number of the horses they owned in partnership were put up for sale. There was one in Arnold's stable at the time that he just couldn't let go. He bought half of Halloween Party (Mr. Greeley) and soon had his first broodmare.

“She had won a couple of allowances, nothing fabulous, but she was tough,” Arnold recalled. “When she ended her career I was able to breed one with Watts and I co-bred a graded stakes horse from my one-horse broodmare band.”

Centre Court and Morticia at Shawnee Farm | Sara Gordon

That first foal was Morticia (Twirling Candy). She was named at the Humphreys' annual Halloween party, where they came dressed as the Addams family, and it soon became apparent that the filly was aptly named.

“She called the shots,” said Sarah Arnold, who by then was retired from exercise riding for her husband but joked that she probably wouldn't have attempted to ride the filly anyway. “She didn't like to be by herself. She was one of those fillies that really didn't care much about people, but she loved to be with other horses whether it was a workout buddy or a pony. She was fearless in the afternoon, just not so much in the morning.”

“She was definitely a handful,” Rusty confirmed. “But she took us on one hell of a ride.”

A case of shins kept the filly from the track most of her juvenile career, but it was an upward trajectory from there. A stakes winner at three, four and five, Morticia earned blacktype victories at eight different racetracks, including the 2017 GIII Buffalo Trace Franklin S. at Keeneland–winning on Friday, October 13^th, much to the delight of her connections–and the 2019 GIII Ladies Sprint S. at Kentucky Downs. The consistent turfer retired in 2020 as a millionaire, having placed in all but 7 of her 29 career starts.

The Humphreys will attest that as a broodmare, Morticia's personality has become much more agreeable.

“She's really very sweet here,” Sally said. “She likes being a mom because she has her own built-in buddy with her all the time.”

Morticia's first foal, a filly by Nyquist, has developed into such an impressive yearling this year that she has led the Humphreys and Arnolds into making a difficult decision. Morticia will go through the ring at the upcoming Keeneland November Sale.

“I'm a trainer,” Arnold explained. “I love the racing part. This is going to allow me to race the foal. It's tough to keep them both. It becomes a business decision so that we are able to race the others. I've been very fortunate and Watts is the greatest partner in the world. We wouldn't have sold her without keeping a filly, who will be going right into the stable and we hope someday she can breed this family's ability into the next generation.”

In foal to Golden Pal, Morticia is among the rarest gems of Humphrey's broodmare band and she may be Arnold's first and only broodmare.

“I don't think I'm a broodmare type of guy,” admitted the veteran conditioner. “I like the racetrack. The breeding business has been very good to me, but we're more interested in racing.”

Arnold and Humphrey check in with Morticia | Sara Gordon

Humphrey has spent decades hoping to perfect a delicate balance of retaining his prized race mares to progress their families and selling some when other members of the family come along.

“You don't want to have so much of the same family,” Vicki said, explaining the important lesson she has learned from her father. “It would be awesome to keep them all, but you have to diversify your families.”

And so another stable standout will also go through the Keeneland sales ring now that her graded stakes-winning daughter Navratilova has recently entered the Shawnee broodmare band. With an Essential Quality colt on the ground this year and carrying a foal by Flightline, Centre Court highlights the old adage that Humphrey adopted as his philosophy.

“Breed the best to the best and hope for the best,” recited Humphrey.

“That's about the speech he gave when we first started together,” Arnold added. “He said to take care of the horses the best you can and then we will hope for the best with how they run. That philosophy has never wavered.”

And the philosophy has proven to be more than fruitful. Humphrey has developed a breeding program comparable to few others in the upper echelon of racing, but in his characteristically astute, thoughtful manner–the one that served him so well in another world as an investor and entrepreneur–Humphrey's leadership as a public servant of the racing industry has left a far greater impact.

But when it comes to his racing stable, the septuagenarian is not done yet. He may not come out and say it, but his family and friends in the room will speak up for him concerning the goal still in the back of their minds.

“I know that winning the Kentucky Oaks would be fun for him,” Vicki said. “Especially with as many fillies as he's had over the years.”

Oliver has a similar goal herself. While she got her first stakes win at Keeneland just this spring with BBN Racing's Mo Stash (Mo Town) in the GIII Transylvania S., many of her top earners, including her first Grade I winner in 2014 Del Mark Oaks victress Personal Diary (City Zip), are fillies she trains for her father.

Humphrey splits most of his homebreds between his daughter and Arnold, but there is far from a competitive fervor, much less any animosity, between the two stables.

“We've become friends with Vicki as she's grown through the business,” Arnold explained. “Watts is 10 to 12 years older than me and I'm more-years-than-that older than Vicki. It's evolved into another very good friendship.”

Hardly a day goes by that the Humphrey and Arnold clans are not in communication, whether it's Humphrey stopping by the barn at Saratoga or Keeneland or the Arnolds visiting the farm in Harrodsburg.

“Rusty and Sarah and all the people that work for him have taken great care of these horses and they care about them,” Humphrey said. “He's always had special people working for him, which is very important to us.”

But it goes even deeper than that. The families have shared decades of golf outings and quiet dinners at the farm, spent countless holidays together, and even taken annual hunting trips to the Humphreys' family plantation in north Florida, where they take a pause from racing to enjoy the sport that brought them all together in the first place.

“We've had a lot of fun together,” Sarah reflected. “They've always treated us like family.”

“A relationship like this is extremely rare in the business we're in,” Arnold added. “It's very special.”

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Ahead of Fasig November, Amy Moore Bids Queen Caroline a Heartfelt Farewell

The chances might be one in a million.

The odds of campaigning a multiple stakes winner from the first yearling you ever purchase are certainly pretty long. But to have that horse go on and produce a champion as her first foal, what are the chances?

Amy Moore, the owner of South Gate Farm in Millwood, Virginia, knows better than to take this experience for granted. Besides her childhood family pony, the first horse she ever owned was Queen Caroline. Purchased by Moore for $170,000 as a yearling in 2014, the daughter of Blame out of Queens Plaza (Forestry) was cleverly named after the episode in British history when the wife of King George IV was “blamed” for adultery and put on trial in the House of Lords. Queen Caroline would go on to earn over $400,000, claiming five stakes victories for Michael Matz.

After she retired to Moore's small Virginia farm, the mare's first foal–and the first horse that Moore ever bred–was Forte. The son of Violence went on to be a Breeders' Cup and Eclipse Award-winning juvenile and one of the top sophomores of 2023.

“It has really been a thrill,” Moore reflected. “My sister, niece and I all came to Lexington for the Breeders' Cup last year, so we were there to see him win the Juvenile. Forte definitely has the mare's personality. Queen Caroline is a mare that knows who she is and she's number one in any field that she's ever been in. I think he has that too and it shows in these incredible victories where it looks like he's beaten at the top of the stretch and he gets up to win.”

Soon, the final chapter of Moore's fairytale story with Queen Caroline will come to a close when the Grade I-producing mare goes through the ring on Nov. 7 at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale. The sale of Moore's once-in-a-lifetime mare will make it possible for the breeder to further her boutique broodmare band for many years to come.

Sara Gordon

“It's definitely bittersweet,” Moore admitted. “She's done as much for me as any horse could possibly do. I'm running a business so I have to make decisions with those considerations in mind and she's really become too valuable to keep her in Virginia on my little farm.”

Offered in foal to Flightline, Queen Caroline will sell as Hip 171 with Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services. The mare has spent the last year with consignor John Stuart at his Chanteclair Farm in Versailles. Stuart reiterated that the mare has the attitude of racing royalty.

“She's definitely the queen,” he said. “She was really competitive on the racetrack and now she bosses everybody around in the pasture. She's a really pretty mare–16'1 ½ inches, a strong body, correct. She's got a really nice eye and head to her and just a lot of class.”

Stuart said that Queen Caroline's second foal shares the same confident air as his dam and half brother. A son of Uncle Mo, the colt now named Dr. Park sold for $850,000 last year to Mayberry Farm. Now in training with John Shirreffs, the juvenile is putting in regular works at Santa Anita ahead of his debut.

Meanwhile Queen Caroline had a stretch of bad luck when her third foal was born dead last year and she then ended up losing her foal this year due to the effects of the setback in 2022. Stuart attested to the 10-year-old mare's capability as a broodmare going forward.

“I'm confident that she's good to go and is going to have a lot of foals in a row because she's young and she's fertile,” he said. “Every year that she's been bred, she's been bred one time except for the second year when she had the Uncle Mo, when she was bred twice.”

Bred on an early Feb. 24 cover date, Queen Caroline will be one of the first mares at public auction to be offered in foal to undefeated Flightline. Last year's Horse of the Year, the new Lane's End stallion holds an esteemed place at Fasig-Tipton as a $1 million graduate of their Saratoga Sale.

Queen Caroline and her paddock mate First Passage (Giant's Causeway) | Sara Gordon

“Flightline is a very special horse to everybody in the industry,” said Fasig-Tipton's president and CEO Boyd Browning. “He captivated our imagination like no other horse has in my 35 years of being involved in the Thoroughbred industry. I think everybody around the world is excited to see the potential that Flightline possesses as a stallion.”

Another important component of Queen Caroline's resume, Browning said, is her pedigree. The mare's family includes Essential Quality and Contrail (Jpn), both champions at two and three in their native countries who are now embarking on their stud careers.

“The sky is the limit in terms of what could be happening within this pedigree,” Browning said. “It's already an exceptional pedigree. She's by Blame, who is emerging as one of the best broodmare sires in the world, and you've got Seattle Slew in the pedigree. But we could look up in 10 years and say the pedigree has exploded. Forte has become a great stallion or Contrail has become a great stallion. And who knows what else is going to happen with her own produce with the potential she possesses. It's a power-packed pedigree and the future is very bright for Queen Caroline.”

“I think anybody in the world could buy Queen Caroline,” he continued. “I would be hesitant to predict who the buyer would be or where they'll be from. She has truly international appeal. Her first foal is one of the best horses of the 3-year-old crop and a champion 2-year-old last year and her second foal brought $850,000, so she's the complete package of what you're looking for in terms of a commercial broodmare. She's going to be coveted by virtually every major breeder in the world.”

In the days leading up to Queen Caroline's sale, Moore will be watching from Virginia as Forte looks to make his bid in the Breeders' Cup Classic. The breeder will make the trip to Lexington to watch her star mare go through the ring and hopefully from there, come home with one or two new additions to her small broodmare band.

“I'm sure Queen Caroline will go to a very good home,” Moore said. “That will be a comfort to me, to know she's well taken care of and she's getting the best in terms of breeding opportunities. I think her future buyer will have a very nice mare and will get some really nice foals from her.”

Even when she no longer owns the mare, Moore said she will always be proud to be listed as the breeder of Forte as he furthers his career on the racetrack and hopefully someday, the stud barn.

“It's been a roller coaster,” she said of Forte's campaign. “I'm sure Forte's owners can say the same. There have been a lot of ups and downs, as there always are in the horse business, but it's been a lot of fun to watch a really good horse compete and to own his dam. I will miss that, but I hope to produce another one and go around again someday. As soon as I have a chance, my mares will be going to Forte.”

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Penn Family Riding High into Book 3 After Seven-Figure Sale

Alex Penn wasn't at Keeneland when his family's Penn Sales sent their first seven-figure yearling through the ring during Book 1 of the September Sale. He was back home in Bourbon County, busy prepping the rest of their consignment's yearlings pointing for the later books.

“They were all drinking champagne and I was grooming horses,” he said as he jokingly nudged his wife Kendra and laughed, because really, he wouldn't have it any other way.

His family's business was founded a century ago as an all-purpose farm–over the years raising tobacco, Thoroughbreds, cattle, hay, even squash a time or two– and each generation to carry the Penn banner has stuck to its roots.

“We're farmers,” Kendra said simply. “If we can make a profit that's obviously the goal, but we're not here chasing seven figures on a regular basis.”

Of course, the Penn family couldn't help but get their hopes up about the youngster that would go on to sell for $1.35 million to M.V. Magnier. The Uncle Mo colt out of Forever for Now (War Front) looked like a star from the moment he was foaled and the Penns told his breeders Neal and Pam Christopherson going into sale day that he had gotten multiple looks from the right people.

“We had so many of the big folks coming back to look at him,” said Kendra. “He was super nice from the day he was born. He came out as a classic Uncle Mo–big, athletic, good feet, good walk. We had been telling [the Christophersons] that if we could just get him to the sale, that this horse was really nice.”

Spoken like a true farmer, Kendra shared the real 'win' of their momentous day in the spotlight.

“We were all asleep by 8:00 that night,” she said with a grin. “We had to get up at 4:00 to be back out here and do everything we need to do at home. It was definitely an honor to be a part of because the experience is not something that just happens on a regular basis, but life goes on and there are more horses and you just get up and get ready for the next day.”

During the second session of Book 1, Penn Sales offered a colt by Authentic. The half-brother to GISW Arklow (Arch) and MGSW Maraud (Blame) brought $360,000.

Choosing to skip Book 2 in order to keep their manpower within one sales barn at a time, Penn Sales will be back in action for Book 3 on Saturday with six going through the ring.

The Penns are particularly excited about Hip 1241, a Blame colt who is from the same family as the Authentic colt that sold well earlier in the auction.

“He's out of a young mare from a family that has been good to us,” Kendra explained. “His mom is a half to Arklow and Maraud. This colt is everything that family is. He's a really classy colt and he looks a lot like Arklow, so we're really excited about him.”

Their Book 3 lineup features two more colts: a Practical Joke full-brother to Kaling, who ran third in the GI Spinaway S. last year, and a colt from the first crop of Spendthrift's Vekoma.

Equally represented by three fillies, Penn Sales will offer a Classic Empire from the family of GISW Swift Temper (Giant's Causeway), a Maclean's Music out of a half-sister to Tonalist, and a filly from the first crop of Three Chimneys stallion Volatile.

Each of the 20 yearlings in Penn Sales' Keeneland September consignment were foaled and raised at the family's 1,000-acre farm outside of Paris. With oversight from the farm's two leaders in Alex's father John and his uncle Frank (profiled by TDN's Chris McGrath here), Alex and Kendra foal out around 40 mares each year and pride themselves on their hands-on approach.

“I don't think you'll find many farms left that do literally everything themselves,” Kendra noted. “From cleaning stalls to bathing to prepping to breeding, there's not an aspect of it we don't do. I think it makes a difference because we care. It's our livelihood. Everything on the farm is there year-round and so all the horses there have our attention 365 days a year.”

While Alex grew up in the Bluegrass and played a role on the family farm since childhood, Kendra hails from northwestern Pennsylvania. Her family had a small Thoroughbred breeding operation there and like her husband, she was handed equine-related responsibilities from an early age.

Kendra took the horsemanship skills she learned from her childhood and applied them to the yearling prep program at Penn Sales.

“My mom worked for Domino in the eighties when they were a premier sales company and the folks that taught her were pretty special,” she explained. “She handed that down to me. I want our horses to be respectful because a respectful horse is important for every step of their future, racing and beyond.”

Kendra recalled how a few years ago, a first-time employee had asked Kendra if she would be helping with cards during the sales. That newcomer quickly learned that Kendra can be found at the end of the shank for the majority of the sales season while simultaneously keeping a mental log of their consignment's visitors.

While Alex and Kendra said they are happy to continue passing on the spokesperson duties of their business to Frank and John, the younger generation of Penns are grateful for the opportunity to carry on the family legacy. Even their three children, they said, now have a small hand in the operation.

“I'm pretty proud to continue that tradition,” said Alex. “[Frank and John] pride themselves on their reputation and I hope to keep that going.”

“The Penns have done an amazing job raising horses for a long time,” Kendra added. “What John and Frank started has been easy for us to tailor to the sales market. We're here for the long haul, doing right by the horse and hoping that they have a sound and successful career.”

Perhaps equally as gratifying for the Penns as their first million-dollar sale, they also raised the winningest horse of 2022 in Beverly Park (Munnings), who won 15 of his 30 starts last year. The Penns said they believe that the hard-knocking horse's success may be attributed in some part to the way he was raised and the land he was raised on.

“That's something that is very important to us is letting them be horses,” Kendra said. “We raise them as racehorses and hope that the soundness carries them through. We bring them here to let people see that and hopefully they go on and be racehorses.

The post Penn Family Riding High into Book 3 After Seven-Figure Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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