MGISW to Hill ‘n’ Dale’s Charlatan

Guarana (Ghostzapper–Magical World, by Distorted Humor), purchased from Fasig-Tipton's November sale for $4.4 million (TDN Nov. 10 edition), will visit MGISW Charlatan (Speightstown), the farm's most recent addition to Hill n' Dale's roster at Xalapa. Awarded TDN Rising Star status after breaking her maiden by 14 3/4 lengths, she followed up that victory in her next start with a stakes record performance in the GI Acorn S., winning by six lengths before adding a score in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks. She subsequently added a victory in the GI Madison S. at Keeneland. Guarana is out of a daughter of Breeders' Cup heroine Pleasant Home, who is out of a half-sister to champion Sky Beauty.

“We have received overwhelming interest in Charlatan from absolute top class breeders,” said John G. Sikura, President of Hill 'n' Dale. “We are looking to lead the way with our best mares as a bold sign of both our commitment to and our belief in Charlatan's chances at stud.”

Charlatan, winner of the GI Arkansas Derby and GI Malibu S., finished runner-up in the Saudi Cup before retiring with a record of four wins and a second from five starts and earnings over $4 million.

The post MGISW to Hill ‘n’ Dale’s Charlatan appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Hill ‘n’ Dale ’22 Stud Fees led by Curlin

The roster and fees for Hill 'n' Dale Farm's 2022 season is led by the nation's leading sire in number of Grade I winners, dual Horse of the Year Curlin (Smart Strike–Sheriff's Deputy, by Deputy Minister). He will return in 2022 for a fee of $175,000 LFSN. Also remaining unchanged is fellow Horse of the Year Ghostzapper (Awesome Again–Baby Zip, by Relaunch). The Hall of Famer will stand for $75,000 LFSN in 2022.

Included among the operation's up-and-coming sires, Good Magic (Curlin–Glinda the Good, by Hard Spun), whose fee also remains unchanged for 2022, will stand his second season for $30,000 LFSN. The 2017 champion juvenile's initial crop of yearlings was led by a $775,000 colt at Keeneland September. Joining Hill 'n' Dale's roster at the stallion complex at Xalapa is dual Grade I winning Charlatan (Speightstown–Authenticity, by Quiet American). A winner of over $4 million in earnings, the chestnut will stand his first season at stud for $50,000 LFSN. Also standing for $50,000 LFSN in 2022: Turf champion Kitten's Joy (El Prado {Ire}–Kitten's First, by Lear Fan) and Maclean's Music (Distorted Humor–Forest Music, by Unbridled's Song), sire of Grade I winner Jackie's Warrior, among the early favorites to the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. Grade I winner Violence (Medaglia d'Oro–Violent Beauty, by Gone West) will stand for $25,000 LFSN next season.

“Hill 'n' Dale stallions continue to succeed at the highest levels,” said Hill 'n' Dale President, John G. Sikura. “Maclean's Music has enjoyed a breakout year led by Grade I winners Jackie's Warrior and Drain the Clock. Kitten's Joy is consistently a leading sire and Violence has a prime Breeders' Cup contender in Dr Schivel. Our newest addition Charlatan is hugely popular with breeders and will be supported with our best mares.”

 

Stallion, Fee (Live Foal Stands & Nurses)

Army Mule–$7,500

Charlatan–$50,000

Curlin–$175,000

Flintshire (GB)–$7,500

Ghostzapper–$75,000

Good Magic–$30,000

Kantharos–$20,000

Kitten's Joy–$50,000

Lost Treasure (Ire)–$5,000

Mucho Macho Man–$7,500

Maclean's Music–$50,000

Midnight Lute–$15,000

Violence–$25,000

World of Trouble–$7,500

The post Hill ‘n’ Dale ’22 Stud Fees led by Curlin appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

The post The Brilliant Guarana and Her Dam Magical World at Fasig-Tipton appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Undefeated Army Mule in Demand with First Yearlings

The first yearlings from GISW Army Mule (Friesan Fire-Crafty Toast, by Crafty Prospector) may have surprised a few people when they proved to be a hot commodity at the first three major yearling sales of the year.

Army Mule began his stud career in 2019 at Hill 'n' Dale Farms with a modest $10,000 stud fee after just three career starts, but at this year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, two representatives from his first book of mares brought $400,000-first a colt out of stakes winner Made Me Shiver (Maclean's Music) and then a successfully-pinhooked half-sister to GISW Volatile (Violence). A few days later at the Fasig-Tipton New York Bred Sale, the half-sister to GIISW Wells Bayou (Lookin At Lucky) brought $300,000.

Already this year, 16 of 22 Army Mule yearlings have sold to average $164,375. Despite his unassuming $7,500 stud fee today, Army Mule is one of six members of his stallion crop to have surpassed a $150,000 yearling average heading into the Keeneland September Sale.

“All the right people like the horse,” said Hill 'n' Dale's John Sikura. “I've heard a lot of very good comments from people who really pay attention, so I think there's a very good buzz. We try to be realistic but in the end, the genetic switch is on or it's off. You need the volume of foals on the ground, you need to raise them as well as you can and then they'll either run or they won't. He's poised for success and hopefully they'll be as successful as he was on the racetrack.”

According to Sikura, the key to Army Mule's recent achievements has been the support from Hill 'n' Dale and the young stallion's other shareholders.

“I like to take the approach that when we like a horse, we go all the way,” he explained. “We like to think that we're on board and we're helping drive the success rather than be passive and just passengers in seeing if they can run. If you keep that confidence throughout, it exudes to when people call and ask about the horse. To ensure his success, we bought mares at auction for that purpose. St. Elias has been a great partner and Craig Bernick, through our Elevage partnership, also owns an interest in the horse.”

St. Elias Stables, who campaigned Army Mule through his Grade I-winning career, was a force to compete with when an Army Mule yearling was in the ring at the two recent Saratoga sales. The racing operation of Vinnie Viola purchased both the aforementioned $400,000 yearlings at the Select Sale and the colt out of Made Me Shiver was bought in partnership with West Point Thoroughbreds. Days later, St. Elias took home another pair of Army Mule yearlings at the New York Bred Sale, purchased for a combined $285,000.

Jacob West, who acted as agent for St. Elias in their four new purchases, said Viola had been keen on landing a few Army Mule yearlings as they were preparing their Saratoga shopping list.

Army Mule colt out of SW Made Me Shiver fetches $400,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. | Fasig-Tipton

“Vinnie gets behind a lot of his horses that go to stud, but with Army Mule in particular, he was as brilliant as a racehorse could be,” West said. “When you've raced a horse,  he goes on to be a stallion and you get to follow them along in their careers, it's hard not to be biased and go out and support them. But [the two Select Sale purchases] stood on their own merit. We paid $400,000 for them and obviously if we weren't there to buy them, someone else would have bought them within the $300,000's. I think that speaks volumes to what the market thinks of Army Mule and the chance he has.”

While the son of Friesan Fire is making headlines this summer with his yearlings, it was just last year that he could only fill a book of 47 mares in his second season at stud.

“Army Mule is a horse that, initially, there was maybe a little bit of resistance against,” Sikura admitted. “People talked about Friesan Fire, but when you peel the layers of the onion, you see that Friesan Fire is by A.P. Indy and that his dam was a champion in Australia. She is by Dehere and [his sire] Deputy Minister is hugely influence both as a broodmare sire and a sire.”

Sikura may not be overly surprised that buyers have been impressed with Army Mule's yearlings physically. He noted that Army Mule himself is a picture of a horse.

“Physically, he's impeccable,” he said. “He's very athletic, beautifully-made, well-balanced and very fast looking. He has quality, great muscle type and a beautiful head and eye.”

Bred by Hope Hill Farm, Army Mule was a $35,000 yearling that turned heads six months later as an $825,000 2-year-old purchase at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale.

“I remember Donato [Lanni] was telling me, 'You wouldn't believe this horse. He's the best horse in the sale,'” Sikura recalled. “He was going on and on about this Friesan Fire horse that was an absolute complete freak and little did I know until after the fact that it was Army Mule.”

Trained by Todd Pletcher, Army Mule broke his maiden on debut at Belmont, defeating the rest of the field by 8 1/2-lengths and earning 'TDN Rising Star' status. He followed up that effort the following year at four with a 7 ½-length romp at Gulfstream and crossed the wire just :0.75 off the track record. In his stakes debut in the GI Carter H., the speedy bay drew away from the field in the stretch to win by over six lengths and earn a 114 Beyer Speed Figure. He was forced to retire soon after due to a chipped knee.

Army Mule colt of August Snow (Tapit) sells as Hip 2201 at the Keeneland September Sale. | Katie Ritz

“I think that horses either show ability or they don't,” Sikura explained of their decision to stand Army Mule. “It's unfortunate that horses are running very fast and sometimes, of no fault of their own, they get hurt. If a horse can be brilliant and have near track-record performances in their first three starts, think of how much untapped talent is still left with a horse like that. If you're brilliant and the fastest horse in training in your first couple of starts, I think that's a great indicator of immense quality.”

Army Mule looks to continue with his accomplishments in the sales ring at the Keeneland September Sale. The first-crop sire has 25 yearlings cataloged for the upcoming auction.

Sikura said that the type of yearling his offspring represent should appeal to a wide array of demands within the marketplace.

“I think they're more of a Mr. Prospector type,” he said. “They're medium-sized, very fast-looking, very round and with lots of bone. It's what the pinhookers want and it's what the commercial market wants–quality, early speed that sustains.”

Sikura added that he wouldn't be surprised if Army Mule's yearlings are tough to get ahold of next year once his first group of runners hit the racetrack.

“Just think of the many brilliant racehorses, like Candy Ride (Arg), Maclean's Music and Constitution, that as soon as their first crop ran, their stud fee tripled or quadrupled immediately,” he said. “Any time you get in on them in the beginning and you buy before the entire public is aware of the horse, you have great value and you have a chance to buy a really good horse for a lot less that you would the next year should they be successful.”

West is also looking forward to the Keeneland September Sale, where he says he will be scouring the sales grounds for more promising yearlings from Army Mule.

“He was an incredibly fast horses and all three of his races were basically jaw-dropping performances,” he said. “He fits the mold of what John Sikura and Hill 'n' Dale have done with standing stallions that showed brilliancy. From the weanlings we saw in November to the yearlings we see now, he looks like he's passing along his athleticism and his conformation. We're pretty excited about them and are excited to see what the September catalogue has to offer. Hopefully he's the next big stallion out there.”

The post Undefeated Army Mule in Demand with First Yearlings appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights