Curlin Half-Brother to Justify Heads to Japan

A colt by Curlin (hip 60), who is a half-brother to Triple Crown winner Justify, will be heading to Japan after selling for $1.2 million to the bid of Hideyuki Mori Monday at Keeneland. Consigned by breeder John Gunther's Glennwood Farm, the yearling is out of Stage Magic (Ghostzapper), who, in addition to Justify, is also the dam of graded winner The Lieutenant (Street Sense).

 

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Tanya Gunther on Justique and Her Full-Sister at Glennwood

Tanya Gunther was thrilled to watch the latest 'TDN Rising Star' Justique (Justify) trounce the competition in her breathtaking debut, but the horsewoman admitted that a few thoughts of what could have been flashed through her head as she remembered the promising filly's early days spent at Glennwood Farm.

“I didn't really want to sell her,” Gunther said with an acquiescing smile. “Most of our yearlings do go to the sale, but I was a bit sad when we let her go.”

Bred by Tanya's father John Gunther in partnership with Eurowest Bloodstock, Justique is the sixth foal out of the Gunthers' graded stakes-producing homebred mare Grazie Mille (Bernardini). When the dark bay foal arrived in March of 2020, the Gunthers were caught on the other side of the Atlantic at the start of the pandemic.

Tanya Gunther received regular photo updates of Justique throughout the year. When she finally returned to Glennwood, she made up for lost time with the youngster as she worked with the filly throughout the summer of her yearling year.

“I was down in our filly barn a lot through our prep season, so I spent a lot of time with her,” Gunther explained. “I got to know her very well and she was a favorite of mine. She had a very athletic look about her, sort of the Scat Daddy and Justify aspect coming through.”

Justique would sell for $725,000 at the Keeneland September Sale before joining the John Shirreffs barn to race for C R K Stable.

“I really hoped that she would be something special and so far, she looks pretty interesting,” Gunther said.

While Gunther may have had to part with Grazie Mille's first daughter of Justify, Justique's full-sister arrived at Glennwood in March this year and Gunther said that this filly will almost definitely stay with their operation.

“She's an exceptional individual,” Gunther reported. “She is very pretty, leggy and has great scope on her. She's just a beauty, much like Justique was as a foal.”

A shiny chestnut with a touch of chrome, this youngster has the definite stamp of her sire who once meandered the very same paddocks at Glennwood before achieving Triple Crown glory. Glennwood Farm is an enthusiastic supporter of the Coolmore sire and Gunther said that she is finding common trends in Justify's progeny.

“I have found that while his offspring may not always be chestnut with the blaze, they definitely have a physique that I see a resemblance of him,” she explained. “While [Justique and her sister] are different colors, they are very much of a similar model.”

Each of these daughters of Justify represent their breeder on both sides of their pedigree. John Gunther purchased their second dam, Molto Vita (Carson City), for $24,000 in 2000. She won the 2004 GIII Thoroughbred Club of America S. and collected over half a million in earnings before retiring to stud. Her third foal, Grazie Mille, broke her maiden impressively for Chad Brown, but was forced to retire prematurely.

“She was a very talented racehorse, but she chipped a knee and we had to retire her early,” Gunther recalled. “I think she would have been a stakes horse and her trainer did as well.”

Grazie Mille's first foal Mo Town (Uncle Mo) earned the 'Rising Star' nod at two and went on to dual-surface success in the GII Remsen S. and GI Hollywood Derby before joining the roster at Ashford Stud. Along with studmate Justify, he is represented by his first crop of runners this year.

With immeasurable upside potential for Grazie Mille and her growing produce record, Gunther has high hopes for the accomplished homebred mare.

“We had the fortune of breeding her to Uncle Mo early on before he had runners and that was how she got rolling as a broodmare with progeny behind her name, so now it's hopefully onward and upward from there.”

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Toast To Vino Rosso Presented By Spendthrift Farm: Vino Rosso’s First November Weanlings Mark Full-Circle Moment For Glennwood Farm

Two years ago, the Gunther family's Glennwood Farm celebrated another graduate grabbing one of the sport's brass rings, when Vino Rosso kicked away down the Santa Anita Park stretch to win the 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic by four lengths.

The win propelled the son of Curlin to an Eclipse Award for champion older male, and a stall in the stallion barn at Spendthrift Farm.

In the span of just two years, the Glennwood operation had produced two blue-chip stallion prospects, following Justify's Triple Crown conquest a year earlier.

“Vino Rosso and Justify were field-mates as foals so it was pretty special to see both horses run in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont in 2018,” said Glennwood's Tanya Gunther. “After being in the shadow of Justify as a 3-year-old, it was very rewarding to see Vino Rosso mature into a dual Grade 1 winner, culminating with an emphatic victory in the Classic in 2019 as a 4-year-old. We have supported both stallions since they retired to stud and can't wait for the progeny to come of racing age. Exciting years ahead.”

Now, with another Breeders' Cup recently in the books, Vino Rosso's first weanlings have arrived at the sales grounds for the Kentucky fall mixed sales. After playing such a key role in Vino Rosso's early life, Glennwood Farm will play a key role in his early stud career.

The Glennwood Farm consignment will offer a pair of colts from the first crop of Vino Rosso during the Keeneland November sale, both in the prestigious first book. They will be part of the 41 Vino Rosso weanlings cataloged in the Keeneland sale, following the five entered across town at the Fasig-Tipton sale.

Hip 73 – Colt out of Bending Strings, by American Chance

This dark bay or brown colt is out of a four-time graded stakes winner, in Bending Strings.

A Glennwood homebred, Bending Strings was a standout sprinter, notching wins in the G2 Nassau County Breeders' Cup Stakes, the G2 First Flight Handicap, and the G3 Safely Kept Breeders' Cup Stakes. She also picked up a graded stakes score at a mile in the Grade 2 Chilukki Stakes.

As a broodmare, Bending Strings' resume is highlighted by Sun Studio, a stakes-placed Speightstown filly. She is also the dam of the stakes-producing Tapit mare Delightful Melody, who has the stakes winner Arzak.

His second dam, Straight South, is also a stakes winner with four black type-producing daughters. The standouts under that branch of the tree are Get It Straight, dam of Grade 3 winner Bangkok, and Rich Seam, who had a pair of stakes winners.

“We have been very pleased with our Vino babies so far and there seems to be a great buzz about his first foals,” Gunther said. “Curlin is one of our favorite proven stallions in the U.S., so with Vino Rosso being arguably Curlin's most credentialed son at stud, we eagerly await his freshman year as a sire.

“Our Vino foals of 2021 have great balance and nice big walks which is highly encouraging and they seem to have a lot of quality about them,” she continued. “We also think Spendthrift started Vino out at a very competitive price – to be able to breed to a Breeders' Cup Classic and Eclipse Award-winning son of Curlin for $30,000 in his first year seemed phenomenal value for a new sire.”

Hip 112 – Colt out of Fair Huntress, by Tiznow

The third foal out of Fair Huntress, an unraced mare purchased by Glennwood's John Gunther at the 2017 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale.

Fair Huntress comes from a strong producing dam herself, in the stakes-placed Devil His Due mare Beauty's Due. Her most proven daughter in the breeding shed is the Grade 3 winner Devil By Design, who had the Grade 1 winner Competitionofideas.

“We believed Vino would suit the two mares well physically and were very happy when the stork arrived with these two nice packages,” Gunther said. “Both are bays, which doesn't reflect Vino's coloring per se, but they do have good swagger and nice temperaments, which remind us of him. And of course, Vino's sire Curlin has a couple of bays among his top horses – Malathaat and Clairiere for example, who both ran in this year's Breeders' Cup Distaff.”

Vino Rosso, a 6-year-old son of Curlin, stands at Spendthrift Farm for an advertised fee of $25,000.

Vino Rosso won six of 15 starts and earned $4,803,125 on the racetrack. In addition to his signature Breeders' Cup Classic score, the stallion picked up victories in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes, and the G2 Wood Memorial Stakes.

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PR Back Ring Keeneland November: From Weanlings To Winners

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ISSUE OF THE PR BACK RING

The latest issue of the PR Back Ring is now online, ahead of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

The PR Back Ring is the Paulick Report's bloodstock newsletter, released ahead of, and during, every major North American Thoroughbred auction. Seeking to expand beyond the usual pdf presentation, the Back Ring offers a dynamic experience for bloodstock content, heavy on visual elements and statistics to appeal to readers on all platforms, especially mobile devices.

Here is what's inside this issue…

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ISSUE OF THE PR BACK RING

  • Lead Feature, presented by Pyrois Media: Bloodstock editor Joe Nevills ranks the 20 best Keeneland November weanlings by on-track performance since 2014, a five-year span, ending with the 3-year-olds of 2021.
  • Stallion Spotlight presented by New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc.: Chris Bernhard of Hidden Lake Farm discusses Fog of War, a Grade 1-winning son of War Front whose first foals arrive in 2022.
  • Toast To Vino Rosso presented by Spendthrift Farm: Tanya Gunther of Glennwood Farm reflects on breeding Breeders' Cup Classic winner and Spendthrift Farm sire Vino Rosso, and spotlights the two Vino Rosso weanlings the consignment will offer in Book 1 of the Keeneland November Sale.
  • Lesson Horses presented by John Deere Equine Discount Program: Bernard McCormack of Cara Bloodstock describes what the first broodmare he owned taught him about life.
  • Ask Your Veterinarian presented by Kentucky Performance Products: Dr. Katy Dern of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital explains why broodmares are so prone to colic, and the common causes.
  • Indiana Weanling Spotlight presented by Indiana Thoroughbred Alliance: Putting the spotlight on an Indiana-bred filly by the red-hot sire Not This Time, and the state-bred program where her buyer can reap the benefits.
  • Pennsylvania Leaderboard presented by Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association: A rundown of Pennsylvania's leading stallion award incentive earners with five crops of racing age or fewer.
  • American Graded Stakes Standings presented by Muirfield Insurance: Catching up with the leading breeders by North American graded stakes winners following the Breeders' Cup.
  • First-Crop Sire Watch: Stallions whose first crops of weanlings are represented in the Keeneland November Sale, including the number of horses cataloged and the farm where the stallion is currently advertised.

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ISSUE OF THE PR BACK RING

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