Sires for 2021: The Regional Scene

After completing our marathon tour of covering options in the Bluegrass, today we take a tour of the main regional hubs. Clearly, it would be impractical to go into anything like the same depth and, besides, local breeders know their own markets best. But while we will only visit some of the principal centers, and pick out only one or two names in each, bloodstock investors anywhere can acknowledge the professionalism that unites horsemen, coast to coast, and think about the possibilities of diversification or experiment–above all in those programs that are incentivizing investment so successfully.

For one thing, many stallions discarded prematurely by Kentucky will deservedly flourish as bigger fish in smaller ponds. I'm sure that can still be the case, for instance, with Fed Biz–the son of Giant's Causeway making a fresh start at Highfield Stock Farm in Alberta. He has made a highly respectable start on the track, with only Cairo Prince in their intake exceeding his nine stakes winners to date, but just ran out of commercial oxygen where he was. Access to this true aristocrat, who beat Goldencents in a Del Mar track record, gives local breeders an exciting chance to raise the bar at $4,000.

Equally, of course, there have been many cases of sires working the reverse passage after starting out with regional mares–some, indeed, becoming massive influences–and those who have transferred Laoban to the Bluegrass from New York will be hoping that he can follow suit.

So we know for a fact that there will be stallions offering good value out there. Let's look for one or two nuggets.

FLORIDA
The big news round here is unmistakably Khozan (Distorted Humor), who maintains the highest fee in the state after winning its 2020 championship with only his second crop on the track. Nationally he stands fifth, by cumulative earnings, among his intake.

The late Awesome Again is an influence in Florida with Awesome Slew and Awesome of Course | Matt Wooley/EquiSport Photos

Royal Delta (Empire Maker)'s half-brother, a $1-million Fasig-Tipton Florida 2-year-old, would hardly be the first to become a significant influence after derailing so early in his track career. We'll see how far he can go, but it's surely only a matter of time before he makes a graded stakes breakthrough after five black-type winners last year. The great thing is that his stock should continue to thrive: being out of an elite producer by A.P. Indy, he's hardly confined to “Florida speed.”

But the word is out and he welcomed 181 mares to Journeyman Stud last year. And he can't be the only show in town. Even within his own class–i.e. about to launch a third crop of juveniles–The Big Beast (Yes It's True) is matching Khozan's ratio of winners and he, too, has two graded stakes performers to date. And, of course, he is less than half the price.

Brethren, by the same sire as Khozan and now with a first graded stakes winner in Cookie Dough (and overall 10.7% black-type horses-to-starters), and First Dude (Stephen Got Even) punched their $7,500 weight for second and third in the earnings table, albeit arguably nobody gives value more consistently than Adios Charlie (Indian Charlie) at just $4,000. His latest flagbearer Jean Elizabeth has been beaten once (by a nose) in her last 10 starts, including two at graded stakes and six at black-type level.

On the same Ocala Stud roster there's now a chance to tap into one of the great modern families through Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul), while the first four dams (Live Oak family) of Awesome Slew (Awesome Again) are all graded stakes performers and producers. But don't forget another heir to the same, sadly departed sire: Awesome of Course (Awesome Again–Mais Oui, by Lyphard), even though he is now an acknowledged veteran quietly plying his trade to tiny books at $2,000.

Awesome of Course has real breadth of achievement, crowned by four graded stakes winners and five Grade I performers including Breeders' Cup champion Awesome Feather. In 2020 he numbered Florida Derby runner-up Shivaree among eight 90+ Beyers, so he's still keeping up an absolutely excellent output for this kind of fee.

Gunnevera | Sarah Andrew

In terms of fresh blood, meanwhile, it's good to see some promising two-turn stallions around the state (and some decent turf quality, too). The closing kick of Gunnevera (Dialed In–Unbridled Rage, by Unbridled) became so familiar–he was still picking up the pieces in the G1 Dubai World Cup at five, his sixth elite podium–that we tend to forget how he was already rolling in time to win the GII Saratoga Special S. And though he arrives at Pleasant Acres for $6,000 as a famous rags-to-riches story, you couldn't ask for better seeding of his family: first four dams by Unbridled, Graustark, The Minstrel and Turn-to.

Pleasant Acres Stallions is also home to Bucchero (Kantharos–Meetmeontime, by General Meeting), who has covered 291 mares in his first two years in the breeding shed, tops among all Florida-based stallions. Bucchero is a half-brother to the dam of dual-surface Grade I winner and Hill 'n' Dale-based World of Trouble (Kantharos), and he was the leading Florida stallion by average and median at last month's OBS Winter Mixed Sale, his first yearling through the ring having sold for $45,000, nine times his stud fee.

In the market backwaters, meanwhile, there's something pretty remarkable astir in Cajun Breeze (Congrats–Cajun Dawn, by Awesome Again), who is operating on private-treaty terms at Stonehedge Farm South. His track career (four-for-33) gave him highly marginal claims to one at stud, but the fact is that he has had a stakes winner from each of his three crops to date, despite an aggregate of only 31 runners (of which 19 are winners). He just came up with his fourth black-type winner in Cajun Brother, winner of the $75,000 Sunshine Sprint S. I can't really figure it out, either, even if the fourth dam is the very productive Fred W. Hooper mare Queen Pat (Crozier), but something seems to be working and people are gradually cottoning on: Cajun Breeze inched up to 45 mares last spring.

And I'm sorry, but I can't resist stressing that the venerable Greatness (Mr. Prospector–Harbour Club, by Danzig)–with another small firm, in Solera Farm–offers something pretty unique, nowadays, as a son of one breed-shaper out of mare by another, with next two dams by Graustark and, wait for it, Bold Ruler! His books/crops have largely dried up but he has sired some very tough and talented runners in his time (Lady's Island, aged six, won her latest graded stakes just before Christmas before selling for $310,000 at FTKFEB) and, if you could get a filly out of him, how could you price that bloodline at just $2,500? So please do the whole breed a favor and get a last residue of Greatness while we can!

NEW YORK
A changing of the guard here, with stalwarts Bellamy Road (Concerto) and Frost Giant (Giant's Causeway) pensioned even as the heavily subscribed young sensation Central Banker (Speightstown) charged into the slipstream of veteran Big Brown (Boundary) in the state championship–with only a third crop of juveniles in play. With six stakes winners to date, Central Banker stands fifth nationally, among his intake, in cumulative earnings.

Leading the next cycle, the imaginatively promoted War Dancer (War Front) duly became champion freshman, highlighted with a one-two at Saratoga. No less than anywhere else, however, newcomers will doubtless be in strong demand as everyone seeks out the next Laoban.

The most obvious candidate appears to be Solomini (Curlin), as a notably accomplished juvenile for a sire sooner associated with two-turn maturity, from the family of Frosted and Midshipman; so obvious, in fact, that he corralled the biggest book in the state (123) for his debut season alongside Central Banker at McMahon of Saratoga.

Bustin Stones | Sarah Andrew

But your heart meanwhile goes out to some who are doing pretty well from limited opportunity. Yes, there is bound to be much interest in Mr. Monomoy (Palace Malice) at Waldorf Farm, yet poor old Bustin Stones (City Zip–Shesasurething, by Prospectors Gamble) will be entitled to glare at breeders driving the van past him at just $2,500.

He doesn't have his new neighbor's glamorous pedigree–Mr. Monomoy is, of course, a Grade II-winning half-brother to Monomoy Girl (Tapizar)–but he was a very fast horse (GI Carter H., 109 Beyer) who once again came up with his mandatory stakes winners in 2020 (plus seven 90+ Beyers), while confined to a much smaller pool of talent than those he annually joins in the top echelons of the prize money table.

Above all, simply in terms of bang for buck, it feels crazy that you can now get to a stallion as accomplished as Freud (Storm Cat–Mariah's Storm, by Rahy) for just $5,000 at Sequel Stallions. I know he will probably benefit from suitably restrained management, now that he's 23, but Speightstown just got a big fee increase–and he's three weeks older!

Freud | Sarah Andrew

Freud remains an Empire State legend, as a six-time champion and brother to Giant's Causeway, and proved as potent as ever in 2020 with a state-high five stakes winners, eight stakes performers and 15 Beyers of 90+ from fewer runners than Big Brown and Central Banker, the only pair to exceed his earnings. His lifetime numbers put a whole bunch of expensive Kentucky stallions in the shade, with 55 winners and 109 performers at black-type level clocked at a ratio, against named foals, of six and 12% respectively; while his 10 graded stakes scorers include four at the elite level.

We've often spoken about the self-fulfilling prejudice against ageing stallions, and I guess some people would be embarrassed to pick one as “exposed” as Freud as the best value in the state against all these sparkly new stallions. But that's just what he is, and you know it. (If, that is, you want to breed yourself a racehorse.) In fact, there can't be much better value around, coast-to-coast, than Freud at a fee so much lower than all those Kentucky rookies with little realistic prospect of getting anywhere near his record.

A son of Freud's illustrious brother who has been around for a while without ever gaining much profile, meanwhile, is Giant Surprise (Giant's Causeway–Twisted Sis, by A.P. Indy) at Rockridge. His public career lasted 70 seconds in a Saratoga maiden, flimsy-enough grounds for a place at stud, but he has never failed to sire winners at a good percentage from a marginal foothold (including in 2020, with 20 from 37 starters) while his handful of black-type winners are headed by an earner of over $800,000. His dam is by A.P. Indy out of a Grade I winner and, still only 11, he is going to pull a smart one out of his hat someday at just $2,500.

MID-ATLANTIC
There's a big, Jump Start-sized hole hereabouts, as can be seen from the seventh consecutive championship posthumously secured by the Pennsylvania legend in 2020. Warrior's Reward, the strapping son of Medaglia d'Oro brought to the same state in 2018, did reiterate his credentials among active sires and remains in corresponding demand; while those eager to maintain the A.P. Indy connection, and at a very competitive rate, will see Friesan Fire ticking along reliably at Country Life. But a more recent recruit to the same roster has made an auspicious start in the quest to fill the gap.

Mosler | Ellen Pons

Mosler (War Front–Gold Vault, by Arch) has built quickly on his regional freshman title with Hello Hot Rod gamely holding out to complete a hat trick in the Jimmy Winkfield S. the other day. He's the second stakes winner to emerge from Mosler's debut crop, following Miss Nondescript in the Maryland Millions Lassie S., likewise a dirt sprint. But clearly his stock can be expected to emulate his own versatility in terms of surface, once given the chance, and there's a broader sense that he is only just getting going: he's had 13 winners so far from just 28 starters among 71 named foals in his first crop.

Grade II-placed and equal to four campaigns on the track, Mosler offers a conduit to the genes and physique that qualified him as a $1.05-million yearling. He's a half-brother to dual Grade I winner Contested (Ghostzapper) out of a half-sister to Pomeroy, winner of marquee Saratoga sprints in the Forego and King's Bishop, and ultimately traces to triple Classic winner Imprudence (Fr). The big dynamo in his pedigree, however, is the replication of grandsire Danzig behind his damsire, Arch, who was out of Danzig's daughter Aurora.

Mosler, standing at $4,000, will do well to consolidate on his freshman title as impressively as Golden Lad (Medaglia d'Oro), who arguably warranted a rise from $5,000 at Northview after finishing behind only set-your-clock studmate Great Notion (Elusive Quality) in Maryland earnings last year. Out of a stakes-winning half-sister to Dialed In (Mineshaft), he has scored some big sales and is motoring along with three-figure books.

The last word here, however, is reserved for one of the most remarkable stallions in the whole country in Fiber Sonde (Unbridled's Song–Silken Cat, by Storm Cat), who continues to turn out remarkable results from Beau Ridge Farm in West Virginia at a fee of just $1,000. In 2020, this unraced half-brother to Speightstown (Gone West) had eight black-type winners among 53 overall from 96 starters; while his lifetime stakes horses represent 12.2% of named foals.

John McKee bought him for just $8,000 in 2007 and there can't be many horsemen around who have secured–or offered–more horse-per-dollar in recent times. My respect to you, sir!

CALIFORNIA
The most accomplished trainer in the land keeps producing champions out of its most beautiful track, which has itself addressed some big challenges in impressive fashion. So it would certainly be heartening to see some fresh blood invigorating the Cal-bred program. The rookie stallions launched over the past couple of years are working from a small footprint of cheaply bred horses, however, and only a handful appear to be starting up this spring.

Cat Burglar | Elizabeth Hay

A couple of those about to launch their first juveniles have had plenty of support, however, including Danzing Candy (Twirling Candy) at Rancho San Miguel, who herded up 329 mares in his first three books. Hopes must also be high at Barton Thoroughbreds for Cat Burglar (Unbridled's Song–Be My Prospect, by Forest Wildcat), who launches his first juveniles this year. A hard-knocking, Grade II-placed campaigner from the family of Eight Belles (same sire) and Belong to Me (Danzig), he has been priced to have every chance at $2,500 and it's surely auspicious that he welcomed his biggest book yet in his third year.

New blood is never confined to outright rookies, however. Stay Thirsty (Bernardini) has shown the kind of demand that can be achieved by incomers, though he will only have his first state-bred runners this year; it'll be 2022 before Californian dollars start to put some perspective on the Japanese riches amassed by I'll Have Another (Flower Alley); and 2023 before another globetrotter, Sir Prancealot (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), can test a reputation established by migrants on local tracks. That reputation is sufficient to have secured him the premier fee in the state, and the one thing nobody should have any reservations about is his own sire. (Tamayuz belongs to the modern European breed's royal family and has himself proved an admirable achiever, given the mares operating at his level of the market.)

Clubhouse Ride | Horsephotos

The developing story among those who have been here from the outset remains Clubhouse Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}–Seeking Results, by Seeking the Gold), listed at $3,500 by Legacy Ranch. He continues to discover striking quality from small numbers, and has already maintained his momentum in 2021 with Brickyard Ride (now six-for-12) showing blistering pace to win his stakes debut (Beyer 99) in the California Cup Sprint. This is a barnmate of graded stakes winner Warren's Showtime, who made the podium in the GI Del Mar Oaks last summer; and also of Margot's Boy, who missed the GII Del Mar Derby only by a head. All three are in the care of Craig Lewis, who supervised their sire's millionaire career through 43 starts, including Grade I podiums at ages two and six.  Clubhouse Ride is out of a half-sister to GI Jockey Club Gold Cup winner River Keen (Ire) (Keen {GB}) from an interesting family, so it's no mystery. His books are going up now and he has really earned his stripes.

Another whose stature grows by the year is Smiling Tiger (Hold That Tiger–Shandra Smiles, by Cahill Road), who produced another five stakes winners in 2020. A multiple Grade I winner himself, he has already produced one to emulate that distinction in Spiced Perfection, and at $7,500 is taking an important role in a new phase for Harris Farms following the loss of Unusual Heat and Lucky Pulpit in 2017.

But the old guard remains admirably represented there by Vronsky (Danzig–Words of War, by Lord At War {Arg}) at $3,500. This very well-bred veteran's average crop only comprises a couple of dozen foals, but he has had a Grade I winner in his time and has certainly made a very sprightly start to 2021: The Chosen Vron following through an impressive debut score by tailcoating an exciting Baffert pair in the GII San Vicente S. last weekend, while the farm's homebred Closing Remarks won the $200,000 California Cup Oaks last month. We know that some of these expensive Kentucky start-ups won't even manage his last month's work in their whole careers, but this is not supposed to be an easy business at any point of the compass.

The post Sires for 2021: The Regional Scene appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Fed Biz Relocating to Canada

Fed Biz (Giant’s Causeway–Spunoutacontrol, by Wild Again), a graded winner short and long and Grade I placed on both dirt and turf, is being relocated from WinStar Farm to Highfield Stock Farm in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

A $950,000 Keeneland September yearling, Fed Biz was a six-time winner at the races of over $770,000 and retired to stud at WinStar Farm. From three crops of racing age, Fed Biz is the sire of 10 black-type winners, including GSW Inthemidstofbiz.

“Fed Biz was an incredibly talented racehorse,” said Adrian Munro, President of Highfield. “And with his outstanding pedigree and stunning looks, we are thrilled to welcome him to Alberta. This is the right time for a stallion of his calibre to be introduced to the Western Canadian market. We think Alberta is poised for growth and the team at Highfield look forward to Fed Biz joining Cape Canaveral at the farm.”

Added WinStar’s Eliott Walden: “We wish Fed Biz and Highfield Stock Farm the best of success in Western Canada. He has gotten runners on all surfaces and distances and he is so well bred. I see him being a top stallion in that region for years to come.”

Fed Biz will stand for C$4,000 (LFSN).

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Speightstown, Constitution Headline WinStar Farm’s 2021 Stallion Roster; Tiznow Pensioned From Stud Duty

WinStar Farm has set 2021 stud fees for its 22-stallion roster, headed by Speightstown who will stand for $90,000 S&N and leading second-crop sire Constitution who will stand for $85,000 S&N.

WinStar will further bolster its roster for the upcoming breeding season by welcoming new stallions Improbable, Laoban, Tom's d'Etat, Global Campaign, and Promises Fulfilled. WinStar has also announced that considering the current circumstances facing the industry that fees for most of the stallions on its roster will be reduced.

“During these times we felt it appropriate to drop 75 percent of our fees,” said Elliott Walden, WinStar's president, CEO, and racing manager. “We gave two horses a bump—Speightstown, the co-leading sire this year with three Grade 1 winners and fourth general leading sire, and Constitution who has over-delivered at every point of his career. As always, our mission is to offer breeders stallions of the highest quality. We are excited about Laoban joining our roster and three very live horses in the Breeders' Cup Classic joining our roster for the 2021 breeding season.”

Added Liam O'Rourke, WinStar's director of bloodstock services, “We are offering breeders the opportunity to secure a limited number of seasons to Laoban, Outwork, and Improbable before the Breeders' Cup, with their prices subject to change based on their Breeders' Cup results.”

Improbable, City Zip's only four-time Grade 1 winner, has rattled off three consecutive Grade 1 scores in 2020 and is the early favorite for next month's $6-million Breeders' Cup Classic. He was a runaway winner of the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita, earning a 105 Beyer and then shipped to Saratoga and dominated the historic G1 Whitney Stakes, earning a 106 Beyer. Most recently, he romped by 4 1/2 lengths in the G1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita, defeating champion Maximum Security and earning a 108 Beyer.

Tom's d'Etat, by sire of sires Smart Strike, is also a top contender for the Breeders' Cup Classic for G M B Racing. He registered a brilliant 4 1/4-length victory in this year's G2 Stephen Foster Stakes, running a career-best 109 Beyer. Tom's d'Etat covered 1 1/8 miles in an eye-catching 1:47.30, geared down in the late stages. The final time came within a whisker of Victory Gallop's track and stakes record of 1:47.28 set in 1999.

The Al Stall trainee has recorded 10 triple-digit Beyers, including nine in a row in an illustrious career. Tom's d'Etat is out of the stakes-winning and multiple stakes-placed Giant's Causeway mare Julia Tuttle who is out of a full sister to Pacific Classic (G1) winner and leading sire Candy Ride (ARG).

Global Campaign, a son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, heads to the Breeders' Cup Classic following back-to-back graded stakes scores and is a winner in three of four starts in 2020 for WinStar Farm and Sagamore Farm. He emulated his sire by capturing the G1 Woodward Handicap in his most recent start, earning a career-best 104 Beyer for trainer Stanley Hough. The Woodward was his second straight graded win following a victory in the G3 Monmouth Cup Stakes in his prior outing.

Promises Fulfilled won five graded stakes at distances from six furlongs to 1 1/16 miles—winning the G1 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes, G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes, G2 John A. Nerud Stakes, G2 Phoenix Stakes, and G3 Amsterdam Stakes, competing exclusively in graded stakes company following his first two victories at two. In front in 15-of-17 starts no matter the distance, Promises Fulfilled competed in 15 graded stakes, including eight Grade 1s, banking $1,455,530 in a stellar career for trainer Dale Romans.

The upcoming breeding season—with the influx of Grade 1 winners embarking on their stallion careers at WinStar—will also mark a changing of the guard. Tiznow, a multiple champion on the racetrack and an influential stallion who has made an indelible mark on the breed, will be retired from stud duty. Still the only two-time winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic, Tiznow was a champion on the racetrack and in the breeding shed, siring numerous elite runners.

Known as “The Big Horse Sire,” Tiznow is the sire of 15 Grade 1 winners that have won many of the world's most prestigious events. He is the sire of Dubai World Cup winner Well Armed, G1 Travers Stakes winner Colonel John, and Breeders' Cup winners Folklore, winner of the 2005 Juvenile Fillies and Tourist, winner of the 2016 Mile. He has even made his mark as an emerging broodmare sire of 34 stakes winners, including multiple Grade 1 winner Tiz the Law.

Fees with an asterisk are good through Breeders' Cup and are subject to change pending results. For Tom's d'Etat and Global Campaign, fees will be announced after the Breeders' Cup.

The complete 2021 roster of stallions and fees for WinStar Farm are as follows:

Stallion S&N Fee
Tom's d'Etat – NEW TBD
Global Campaign – NEW TBD
Distorted Humor Private
Speightstown $90,000
Constitution $85,000
More Than Ready $65,000
Improbable – NEW $40,000*
Laoban – NEW $25,000*
Audible $22,500
Always Dreaming $17,500
Exaggerator $15,000
Outwork $15,000*
Take Charge Indy $15,000
Yoshida (JPN) $15,000
Speightster $10,000
Promises Fulfilled – NEW $10,000
Carpe Diem $7,500
Congrats $7,500
Good Samaritan $7,500
Paynter $7,500
Tourist $5,000
Fed Biz $5,000

The post Speightstown, Constitution Headline WinStar Farm’s 2021 Stallion Roster; Tiznow Pensioned From Stud Duty appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Michiganders McGowan And ‘Pippi’ Make Their Maiden Voyage To Keeneland September Sale

It's often true that one never forgets their first time visiting Keeneland, whether it's for the races or a sale. Courtney McGowan's version of that story, though, is different than most.

McGowan, 37, first set foot on the Lexington, Ky., property Tuesday evening and unloaded her chestnut Fed Biz filly from the trailer after an eight-hour drive from central Michigan. The filly's there to sell Thursday as the maiden offering of the McGowan Thoroughbreds program, both as a breeder and a consignor, bringing to a crescendo McGowan's crash course in chasing her dreams.

“This is the first Thoroughbred I've ever bred,” McGowan said. “I've been dreaming of this since I was eight years old.”

A native of Northern California, McGowan was introduced to the Thoroughbred world through some family members who raced and bred in the Northwest, and she caught the horse bug early spending her summers on their farms. She'd planned on staying in the region after some time spent in the Mountain Time Zone for school and other pursuits, but that plan changed six years ago when her career as a retail store manager sent her elsewhere.

“I went into the manager training program in Portland, Ore., and I was supposed to go north to Washington, and the next thing I knew, they said, 'You're going to Michigan.'” McGowan said. “I went, 'I'm sorry, where?'”

The job was in Grand Rapids, but McGowan set herself up in Sand Lake, a single-blinking-stoplight town that'll get you into the city in short order after a quick trip down US-131. She had no family in Michigan, but she had a couple paint horses that came with her on the trip east.

The Michigan-bred program isn't what it used to be, owing to a decades-long decline that's left the state without a Thoroughbred racetrack since 2017, but McGowan never lost her love of the breed, and especially its bloodlines, that she developed as a horse-crazy child. When a friend sent her the listing for an unraced Spanish Steps broodmare prospect in Kentucky named Spanish Thunder, the gears started turning quickly.

Sire Spanish Steps didn't immediately ring a bell for McGowan until she saw he was a full-brother to mega-sire Unbridled's Song. The mare never raced, owing to a bowed tendon, but she had some Grade 1 winners on her page and McGowan loved her physical. She admitted it was a bit of an impulse buy, but it was a long time coming.

“I had finally come into a financial situation where I could start looking beyond my two riding horses,” she said, “and my best friend was looking online, and sent me this message that said, 'Oh my God, you have to have this mare.' Life gets in the way, and you can get discouraged and think, 'Well, you're never going to achieve that.' When I saw that mare, I thought, 'I'm buying her. We're doing this.'”

That decision was quick and easy. Choosing Spanish Thunder's first partner took some time.

“She's a phenomenal mare – great mind, great conformation, just a compact mare,” McGowan said. “I wanted to find a stallion that could lengthen her out. She has an old bowed tendon, and I wanted a stallion that had some longevity, and I spent many, many hours doing bloodline analysis of what was going to cross the best. I ultimately landed on Fed Biz because I liked his dam line, and I obviously love Giant's Causeway (the sire of Fed Biz). My ultimate goal was finding a cross for making a successful athlete.”

McGowan admitted to growing up as a city girl, but her approach to her new endeavor was to be hands-on throughout the process. The first time she'd ever crossed over the Kentucky state line was taking Spanish Thunder into the state last spring to be bred.

She tried to be hands-on with the foaling, but the filly had other ideas.

“The baby popped out while I was at work on a Friday,” McGowan said “When I came back, she was on the wrong side of the fence.”

McGowan nicknamed the chestnut “Pippi” after the children's book character Pippi Longstocking – a fellow free-spirited young redhead.

The newly-minted breeder immediately liked what she saw, and that didn't change as the filly grew. The mantra of McGowan's fledgling breeding operation is “attractive on paper, irresistible in person,” and with Pippi, she felt she was onto something.

“She throws a temper, and then looks at you and says, 'Okay, fine. I'm done,' and she gets over it,” McGowan said. “She's got a great brain on her. I can't complain about her conformation. I can't find a fault in the filly.

“I want an attractive horse that when you pull them out of the stall, everyone goes, 'wow,'” she continued. “That's what I was ultimately going for, and with Pippi, that's what I got. I'm not just breeding for a racehorse. I want to set up my babies to have the best life during and after racing. I want something that's attractive to anybody outside of the racing industry.”

Making sure her foals are bred to succeed at a vocation beyond racing factored heavily into McGowan's mating decision with Pippi. Though Thoroughbreds were the family business, her own hands-on background with horses has primarily been from the Western disciplines, so she was fully aware of all the things a horse can do besides go fast. If McGowan could give her foals a better shot at a productive life after the track through her genetic choices, she was set on doing it.

“I've always loved the Thoroughbreds,” she said. “I've always loved watching them race, and I love the versatility of them, because a lot of my friends are in the hunter jumper world, which Thoroughbreds excel at after the track. I love that versatility – being able to run flat out, and love running, and being able to transition that into the fearlessness and heart to jump over these amazing jumps, and just love what they're doing.”

Now that she's on the sales grounds at Keeneland, McGowan remains a one-woman show, owing both to her status as a small-time seller with just one horse to offer and COVID-19 restrictions keeping some friends away who'd planned on helping her through the process.

Those restrictions also mean consignors are largely letting their showpeople lead their horses through the ring when it's time to sell this year. If she ends up doing it herself, McGowan will have an especially unique hands-on experience Thursday when offering Pippi, who is cataloged as Hip 3880.

Of course, there are plenty of tough realities the duo will have to stare down as they head to the ring. In a market becoming ever-more selective, Book 6 of the Keeneland September sale can be a tough spot to make commerce happen, especially commerce of any kind of significance. Offering a horse from a state-bred program with no racetrack probably won't help, either.

Despite the challenges, McGowan is approaching the sale with the long game in mind. Selling the horse under her own shingle instead of through a consignor was a conscious choice, and one she hopes will stick in the memories of shoppers if they like what they see at the end of the shank.

“I have the Western show experience,” she said. “I know how to present a nice-looking horse. I ultimately decided to do that just to get my name out there. Even though I'm a small-time breeder, I'm breeding quality over quantity.”

For someone who's had a hand in every part in Pippi's life, from planning the mating to walking her through the ring, opening that hand and letting the filly go might seem wrought with emotional landmines. There is no shortage of tearful goodbyes when a horse and the people responsible for their care part ways, and it's a long drive back to Michigan with an empty trailer.

McGowan said that wouldn't be the case with her and Pippi. She's been preparing from the moment she saw the little redhead on the wrong side of the fence.

“I don't necessarily think it's going to be hard,” she said. “Yes, she's my first foal, and she is kind of the culmination of my dream, but from day one, it's always been, 'I'm not keeping her.' When I first laid eyes on her, the first thing I thought was, 'Oh my God, she's red.' I crossed two bays and I got a red. The second thing I thought was from that moment on, as awesome as this is, I'm in this as a business. As nice as she is, keeping her would be a disservice to her. I can't hold on to her. She needs to go do something.”

The post Michiganders McGowan And ‘Pippi’ Make Their Maiden Voyage To Keeneland September Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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