Airdrie Sire Duo Sends First Crop to Keeneland September

The Brereton C. Jones/Airdrie Stud consignment will be bustling in just a few weeks at the Keeneland September Sale as an assembly of over 60 yearlings bred and raised at the landmark Midway farm prepare to go through the ring. The majority of these youngsters represent the dozen-strong stallion roster at Airdrie, which includes two sires that are represented by their first crop of yearlings this year in Grade I-winning millionaires Preservationist (Arch – Flying Dixie, by Dixieland Band) and Divisidero (Kitten's Joy – Madame du Lac, by Lemon Drop Kid).

Airdrie will showcase 14 yearlings by the stallion duo at Keeneland, starting with the consignment's first horse to go through the ring in Book 1. Hip 179, a Preservationist colt out of Brereton C. Jones homebred Church By the Sea (Harlan's Holiday), reflects the caliber of broodmare that Airdrie chose to back these young sires.

“This colt is from a family that everyone knows well,” said Airdrie Stud's Director of Sales Jocelyn Brooks. “Not only has Church By the Sea produced multiple graded stakes winners herself, but her family goes back to MGSW Cairo Memories (Cairo Prince) and GI Blue Grass winner Zandon (Upstart). This colt is what you want to see in a Book 1 horse. He's big and strong, beautiful and athletic, and he has a really nice way of going. We're excited about bringing him over to the sale.”

The consignment has eight additional Preservationist yearlings cataloged including Hip 1067, a colt out of Lifetime Memory (Istan) from the family of Grade II winner Speaktomeofsummer (Summer Front).

“He comes from another favorite family here on the farm,” Brooks explained. “He's a stunning physical and is another big, strong colt. He's powerful looking, but is still very fluid moving. We think he'll be very popular with his physical and his really nice family that we've had for all these years.”

A $485,000 yearling himself, Preservationist made six trips to the winner's circle for Centennial Farms and trainer Jimmy Jerkens, with headline victories in the GI Woodward S. and the GII Suburban H. Despite Preservationist's success as an older horse, Brooks said that Airdrie was initially drawn to the bay because of the speed he showed early in his career.

“Our big conversation that we've had with breeders–and actually what we found out when we were looking to bring him to stud–is that he was very precocious,” Brooks noted. “As a 2-year-old, he was the best-training horse in the barn, as they said. When he broke his maiden going six furlongs in 1.09:01 and ran a 3 ½ Ragozin number, you say, 'I'm thinking of the horse that won the Woodward and the Suburban. I didn't realize that he had that speed.' So not only was he a Grade I winner going long, but he also had the speed that everyone is after.”

Preservationist colt out of Church by the Sea selling in Book 1 at Keeneland September | Matt Wooley – EquiSport Photos

A homebred for Emory A. Hamilton, the son of Arch boasts a pedigree that contains a number of influential broodmares like Too Chic and Courtly Dee.

Preservationist's pedigree, top and bottom, is one of the best that you'll find with those Middlebrook Farm and King Ranch families that go back for generations of top-quality horses,” Brooks said. “His pedigree has been a huge draw for breeders.”

Brooks explained that based on the first few Preservationist crops on the ground at Airdrie and the additional yearlings they have had a chance to look at, the stallion is passing on some of his best qualities.

Preservationist is a big, powerful, strong horse, but he's still very athletic,” she said. “We've been really excited about his foals. They are all nice physicals and definitely are very athletic. A lot of them look like him in having that good bone and nice size.”

Preservationist, who has stood for a fee of $10,000 in his first three years at Airdrie, had 26 progeny go through the ring as weanlings including an $85,000 Airdrie-consigned colt out Limitless (Discreet Cat). Brooks said their team was happy with the results from the weanlings that Airdrie sent through the ring.

“They sold very well and went to the right buyers–people who have a wonderful eye and who we respect their opinion,” she said. “We always say that the Airdrie pinhook is the best angle because we brought them over to the sale as weanlings to show off how much we love our Preservationists and hopefully they show up and do even better in September. When [buyers] see the individual physicals, with his pedigree on top of everything, we think that he's going to have a really strong sale.”

Preservationist has 36 progeny cataloged for the Keeneland September Sale while his studmate and fellow first-crop yearling sire Divisidero will be represented by nine yearlings.

Divisidero gets back-to-back wins in the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic S. | Coady

Airdrie's consignment includes Hip 2689, a Divisidero colt out of MSW Keep Crossing (Istan).

“This colt is a good example of a Divisidero because they really do favor him,” Brooks said. “They definitely have his balance, build, and fluid movement and hopefully they have his speed. This colt is just a lovely horse. He's been really easy to be around and he looks like 'Divisidero 2.0.'”

Another Airdrie stallion with an impressive pedigree, Divisidero hails from the family of breed-shaping stallions Northern Dancer, Halo and Danehill.

“He's from a female family that you don't get the chance to breed to very often,” Brooks said. “It's just a fantastic pedigree and we're really lucky to have that here on the farm. He's a beautiful horse. He's very well put together and he definitely looks like a horse that would be a very fast turf horse.”

Campaigned by Gunpowder Farms, the son of Kitten's Joy was a debut winner early in his sophomore year and went on to claim the GII American Turf S. on the Kentucky Derby undercard in his third career start. The turf specialist claimed at least one graded stakes win every year over his five seasons on the track, including back-to-back scores in the 2016 and 2017 editions of the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic S.

“We always joke about telling people to go back and watch his race on Derby Day because any one of them would work, either his first stakes win or one of his two Grade I wins,” Brooks said. “He raced against some of the best turf horses that there have been in recent years and he had an incredible turn of foot. People are excited by his explosive speed, for sure. Everyone wants that in their sire.”

To help fight the ongoing battle for a fair shake in the commercial market for young turf sires, Airdrie Stud has thrown whole-hearted support to Divisidero to get his stud career off to a fast start.

“We have bred 15 to 20 mares to Divisidero every year that he has been here,” Brooks shared. “We really believe in this horse. We love his pedigree, we love what he did on the track and we love him physically. His foals have followed in his footsteps in that they're very similar to him. They have his build and they look like very fast horses and very good-moving horses.”

With the recent loss of Kitten's Joy, who passed away in July this year, Divisidero is one of just a handful of young stallions standing in the U.S. with the opportunity to carry on the perennial leading stallion's legacy.

“With the loss of Kitten's Joy, who will never be replaced, it's nice to have such a well-bred son of his that was so accomplished on the racetrack standing here at Airdrie,” Brooks said. “Hopefully he will have an opportunity to fill a tiny bit of the footsteps that Kitten's Joy left behind.”

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Sagamore’s Jocelyn Brooks Named Director of Sales at Airdrie

Jocelyn Brooks, the former Chief of Staff for Sagamore Racing, will become the new Director of Sales for Brereton C. Jones's Airdrie Stud, the Midway, Kentucky nursery announced Friday morning. She will fill the role formerly held by Cormac Breathnach, who was recently named Keeneland's Director of Sales. The farm said that in her new role, Jocelyn will work directly with Airdrie's breeders and clients in helping with all aspects of their mating plans as well as being a leading presence for the Brereton C. Jones consignments at the major Thoroughbred auctions.

Brooks spent the last six years at Kevin Plank's Sagamore in Glyndon, Maryland. The historic farm was formerly owned by Alfred G. Vanderbilt, Jr. Brooks's responsibilities at Sagamore included racing administration, breeding and sales analysis, horse roster management, hospitality, social media and community engagement. Brooks is deeply interested in Thoroughbred aftercare and created Sagamore Farm's Next Move program, which retrains retired Sagamore Racing horses for second careers such as dressage, hunters/jumpers, eventing and therapy work. She is also a supporter of the Retired Racehorse Project and The Real Rider Cup and serves on the Board of Directors for the Maryland Horse Foundation. In her free time, Jocelyn enjoys riding her Sagamore retiree, Perpetual Optimism.

“We are unbelievably fortunate to be able to welcome Jocelyn to our Airdrie team,” said Airdrie's Bret Jones. “She is exactly the type of person everyone wants to be around: smart, funny and unendingly positive. Just as importantly, she is as passionate about our industry as anyone I've met and is exceedingly knowledgeable. She will not only give great counsel to our breeders and clients, but she will genuinely care about the success of their programs. This is a home run hire for Airdrie Stud and all those with whom we do business.”

“Jocelyn represents a new generation of female leaders in the Thoroughbred horse racing industry and Sagamore Racing was the beneficiary of Jocelyn's extraordinary leadership,” said Kevin Plank. “In addition to her excellence in horsemanship, she reimagined the Sagamore experience for all whom visited our very special farm. We wish Jocelyn the very best and will always consider Jocelyn to be part of our Sagamore family.”

Said Brooks, “I am thrilled for the opportunity to join the team at iconic Airdrie Stud, a place with such rich history, great people and an outstanding reputation. I can't wait to get started and look so forward to meeting our breeders, clients and, of course, our incredible horses.”

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Airdrie Stud Names Jocelyn Brooks Director of Sales

Brereton C. Jones's Airdrie Stud has announced that Jocelyn Brooks will become the new director of sales for the Midway, Ky., nursery.

She will fill the role formerly held by Cormac Breathnach, who was recently named Keeneland's director of sales. In her new role, Jocelyn will work directly with Airdrie's breeders and clients in helping with all aspects of their mating plans as well as being a leading presence for the Brereton C. Jones consignments at the major Thoroughbred auctions.

Jocelyn has spent the last six years as chief of staff for Sagamore Racing based at Sagamore Farm, in Glyndon, Md. Sagamore Farm is owned by Kevin Plank, the founder, chairman and brand chief of Under Armour. The historic farm was formerly owned by Alfred G. Vanderbilt, Jr.

Jocelyn's responsibilities at Sagamore included racing administration, breeding and sales analysis, horse roster management, hospitality, social media and community engagement. Jocelyn is passionate about Thoroughbred aftercare and created Sagamore Farm's Next Move program, which retrains retired Sagamore Racing horses for second careers such as dressage, hunters/jumpers, eventing and therapy work. She is also a proud supporter of the Retired Racehorse Project and The Real Rider Cup and serves on the Board of Directors for the Maryland Horse Foundation. In her free time, Jocelyn enjoys riding her Sagamore retiree, Perpetual Optimism.

“We are unbelievably fortunate to be able to welcome Jocelyn to our Airdrie team,” said Airdrie's Bret Jones.  “She is exactly the type of person everyone wants to be around: Smart, funny and unendingly positive. Just as importantly, she is as passionate about our industry as anyone I've met and is exceedingly knowledgeable. She will not only give great counsel to our breeders and clients, but she will genuinely care about the success of their programs. This is a home run hire for Airdrie Stud and all those with whom we do business.”

“Jocelyn represents a new generation of female leaders in the Thoroughbred horse racing industry and Sagamore Racing was the beneficiary of Jocelyn's extraordinary leadership,” said Kevin Plank. “In addition to her excellence in horsemanship, she reimagined the Sagamore experience for all whom visited our very special farm.  We wish Jocelyn the very best and will always consider Jocelyn to be part of our Sagamore family.”

“I am thrilled for the opportunity to join the team at iconic Airdrie Stud, a place with such rich history, great people and an outstanding reputation,” Brooks said. “I can't wait to get started and look so forward to meeting our breeders, clients and, of course, our incredible horses.”

The post Airdrie Stud Names Jocelyn Brooks Director of Sales appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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