Mendelssohn | Horse Racing Free Tips

Clarkland Farm In Familiar Territory With Mendelssohn Colt At Keeneland September

A half-decade ago, the stall closest to the center aisle under Clarkland Farm's Book 1 shedrow at Keeneland September was occupied by a well-related Scat Daddy colt. Ahead of this year's first book, the same stall in Barn 5 is occupied by one of his sons.

As one might expect, a lot happened in between.

The Scat Daddy colt was out of Clarkland's cornerstone broodmare Leslie's Lady, and he had siblings Into Mischief and Beholder powering his page with black type. He'd be named Mendelssohn after the Coolmore partnership spent $3 million to make him the most expensive offering of the 2016 Keeneland September sale. Then, he'd go on to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and Group 2 U.A.E. Derby before retiring to Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., for the 2019 breeding season.

Mendelssohn tied for the second-most mares bred during his first season at stud, with 252. The only horse he trailed was half-brother Into Mischief at Spendthrift Farm.

Fred Mitchell of Lexington, Ky.-based Clarkland Farm had two foals from that initial crop, including the colt residing in the same stall during the same book as his seven-figure sire. Offered as Hip 58, the colt is out of the Grade 1-placed stakes-winning Lookin at Lucky mare Maybellene.

“He's just a nice individual, and the mare needs a runner, so we'll see,” Mitchell said. “She was a nice, well-bred racemare, and she had bad luck. Her first one by American Pharoah was in that fire accident that Christophe Clement had [Under the Oaks, who was one of 10 horses lost in a 2020 van fire], so that put an end to that really nice 2-year-old. The mare's had a little bit of bad luck, but this is a really nice individual, and she's still a young mare.”

The colt's tie to Leslie's Lady through Mendelssohn is perhaps his most notable pedigree note, but the female family that Maybellene contributes is certainly no slouch. The page includes champion Anees and the cornerstone sire Elusive Quality.

Mitchell has a unique perspective on some of North America's top sires, also throwing in California stallion Curlin to Mischief, having seen most of them develop from day one, even if one removes Into Mischief, who was born before Clarkland Farm bought Leslie's Lady. While we are all familiar with what the most famous offspring of Leslie's Lady look like at the public-facing stages of their lives – the sales ring, the racetrack, and at stud – Mitchell has a grasp of how they developed as foals, and how that might inform how their offspring will come up at the same age.

In addition to the two Mendelssohn yearlings on the farm, Mitchell said he also has four weanlings by the stallion, and they're setting an impressive pace.

“I probably liked them better than I did the first couple crops of Into Mischief, and we can't say anything wrong about Into Mischief,” he said. “Mendelssohn seems to cross with practically any type of mare you breed to him.”

That familiarity with the bloodline also gave Mitchell another perspective that only he and the other staff at Clarkland Farm might recognize.

“I see a lot of Leslie's Lady coming out in them,” he said of the Mendelssohns. “We've got a mare that's got an outstanding weanling on the ground, and is no kin to Leslie's Lady, but the foal looks like Beholder. I thought that was interesting to see coming out of them.”

Mendelssohn has 93 yearlings cataloged to his first Keeneland September sale, which is the most of any debuting sire this year. The veteran, and leading general sire, Into Mischief has 91 in the September catalog.

Mendelssohn has a hard act to follow after his record-setting big brother, but what he's already accomplished to get to this point has put 2016 Broodmare of the Year Leslie's Lady in an even loftier stratosphere. The “big stall” in Barn 5 has already panned out for the Clarkland Farm consignment, and now it could extend multiple legacies even further.

“It's unreal for a broodmare to have three horses standing at stud,” Mitchell said. “She's accomplished more than we think a mare could ever possibly do. If Mendelssohn hits even close to what Into Mischief has done, it'll be something to see, and the pedigree will go on for years and years.”

The post Clarkland Farm In Familiar Territory With Mendelssohn Colt At Keeneland September appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Unraced $8.2 Million Daughter Of Leslie’s Lady Dies At Saratoga

America's Joy, an unraced filly by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah out of Leslie's Lady, died from injuries sustained during a workout Sunday morning at Saratoga Race Course, reports the Daily Racing Form.

The filly fractured a sesamoid in her left foreleg and injured her neck when she fell; she later succumbed to those injuries, per trainer Todd Pletcher.

Her exercise rider, Humberto Zamora, was uninjured.

The 3-year-old filly was owned by Mandy Pope, who purchased her at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $8.2 million, making her the highest-priced filly and the fourth highest-priced yearling in Keeneland's September sale history.

Her dam Leslie's Lady also foaled UAE Derby winner Mendelssohn, champion mare Beholder, and leading North American sire Into Mischief. America's Joy was set to debut on closing day at Saratoga.

Mendelssohn’s Popularity Passes On to First Yearlings

When regally-bred Grade I winner Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy-Leslie's Lady, by Tricky Creek) joined the stallion roster at Ashford Stud in 2019, his half-brother Into Mischief had just received a bump in stud fee from $100,000 to $150,000 at nearby Spendthrift Farm. The next year, as Mendelssohn's first foals were hitting the ground, Into Mischief was represented by GI Kentucky Derby hero and eventual Horse of the Year Authentic. Today, as Into Mischief is now widely regarded as the leading stallion in the world, Mendelssohn awaits the day when his first crop reaches the starting gate to find out if he can replicate the same extraordinary success as his older brother.

“I think there's no doubt that Into Mischief is the best stallion in the world now that Galileo (Ire) has unfortunately passed away,” Coolmore's Adrian Wallace said. “Every single Saturday he's represented across the country and around the world by graded stakes horses. It will be very fitting if his half-brother by the late, great Scat Daddy could be somewhat as good.”

The breeders strongly agreed with this hypothesis, sending close to 500 mares to the Grade I winner in his first two years at stud off a $35,000 stud fee.

“We're lucky at Ashford to have stood some very popular stallions, but none have ever been as popular as Mendelssohn,” Wallace explained. “He really captured the imagination. It was no surprise that everyone was after him given the fact that he's a brother to Beholder (Henny Hughes) and Into Mischief, given his physique and that he was able to transform that on the racetrack. He became a really, really hot commodity. If he were able to cover 400 mares a year, the demand would have been there.”

A $3 million yearling purchase, Mendelssohn had all the physical appeal to attract the Coolmore buying group at the Keeneland September Sale in 2016 as well as potential breeders a few years later.

“He's an absolute picture,” Wallace said. “He's one of the best-looking horses we've ever had and we've had the privilege to have had some beautiful horses here. But he also has great balance and a wonderful temperament. He was able to get on a plane seven different times to come to the U.S. and run with credit each time.”

Trained in Europe by Aidan O'Brien, Mendelssohn was runner-up to U.S. Navy Flag (War Front) in the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. before taking the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. He returned as a sophomore with a win in the Patton S. at Dundalk in March followed by a track record-breaking score in the G2 UAE Derby. Raced exclusively over the main track from then on, the bay placed third in the GIII Dwyer S., second to Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) in the GI Runhappy Travers S. and third in the GI Jockey Gold Cup S. before retiring with earnings of over $2.5 million.

“It's been a long time since we've had a Grade I winner on dirt in this country that was trained in Europe,” Wallace said. “I think Johannesburg was the last to do it in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Mendelssohn mixed with the best 3-year-olds of his generation, both in Europe and here. His most emblematic victory was in the UAE Derby when he won by 18 ½ lengths. He broke very, very well, went to the lead and pretty much galloped out in front of the TV.”

Wallace explained the trends he has seen in Mendelssohn's first few crops.

“They're very athletic, well-conformed horses,” he said. “They've got immense quality and they're very good movers. If you watch him walk, he moves like a cat. He's got a long, fluid walk and I think he's passing that on. They're generally very well-built, well put-together horses.”

The first crop from the son of Scat Daddy made a splash in the sales ring last year as weanlings, with 28 of 36 sold to average $82,589 and name their sire as one of the top three first-crop weanling sires.

Mendelssohn colt out of Tessie Flip sells as Hip 6 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale.

Two colts brought $300,000 as weanlings. A son of MSW American Sugar (Harlan's Holiday) sold to Amerman Racing LLC at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale and a colt out of Abuntia (Olmodavor) went to Oxo Equine LLC at Keeneland November.

At the first major yearling sale this summer, the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, two Mendelssohn yearlings brought $185,000 and a third sold for $85,000.

“It's very early days, but the fact that two of his yearlings have gone through the sales ring already and sold for $185,000 a piece is a very good start,” Wallace said. “But there's a lot of very nice ones to come, both in Saratoga and at Keeneland September.”

Mendelssohn will be represented by seven yearlings at the fast-approaching Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale, with an additional nine hips cataloged for the New York-bred sale the following week.

A colt out of the winning Grand Slam mare Tessie Flip will sell as Hip 6 at the select sale with the Paramount Sales consignment. The April-foaled bay is a closely-related brother to stakes winner and GIIISP Jo Jo Air (Scat Daddy) and his dam is a half-sister to two-time Grade I winner Switch (Quiet American).

“This colt has great balance, is very athletic and has a great walk,” Paramount's Gabriel Duignan said. “I think he's an extremely nice colt. What makes him stand apart from his older siblings is that they were also very good looking and very fast, but he's got more size, strength and scope I think. So he's a bigger model than they were, but has all the good qualitites that they do. He's an extremely fast-looking horse with a huge hip on him.”

Another Mendelssohn youngster heading to Saratoga is a filly out of SP Simply Confection (Candy Ride {Arg}). Selling as Hip 195, the Indian Creek-consigned yearling is from the family of GIIISP Inflexibility (Scat Daddy), champion Ashado (Saint Ballado) and GISW Sunriver (Saint Ballado).

Hip 195, a filly out of stakes-placed mare Simply Confection, sells with the Indian Creek consignment.

“We've had the filly here on the farm and are very excited to take her up to the sale,” said Indian Creek's Sarah Sutherland. “She's a very elegant, strong, confident and intelligent filly and a beautiful mover. She's very efficient and covers the ground with no wasted action. She has handled the prep and everything coming in just as well as we could have hoped.”

Both Duignan and Sutherland spoke highly of the Mendelssohn progeny they have worked with already.

“I'm a huge fan of Mendelssohn and have been into him all along,” Duignan said. “I'm seeing the trend that a lot of the Mendelssohns I have [look like] the best the mare has thrown. He was an extremely good racehorse and we all know about his pedigree, which couldn't be better. So I think he's got a huge shot.”

“We had a couple clients breed to him last year and have several very nice weanlings on the ground,” Sutherland said. “They're predominantly out of turf mares and we're very excited about them. They have great size, natural scope and substance, and are all very correct, nice-moving horses.”

Of the five other Mendelssohn yearlings cataloged for the upcoming Saratoga Sale, the list includes a filly out of SP Auction (Ire) (Mr. Greeley), a son of GIIISW Dogwood Trail (Awesome of Course), a colt out of SP Ghost Flower (Ghostzapper), a filly hailing from the extended family of Grade/Group I winner and producer Chimes of Freedom (Private Account) and a filly out of SW Singing Kitty (Ministers Wild Cat). View the full pedigrees here.

“I think [the fact that] there are seven nominated to Fasig-Tipton's sale in Saratoga is indicative of the quality of mares he bred and the look they have,” Wallace said. “He covered a stellar book of mares in the last three years. A horse with his pedigree, look and race record deserves that support, so now the rest is up to them.”

The post Mendelssohn’s Popularity Passes On to First Yearlings appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Broodmare Of The Year Leslie’s Lady Pensioned From Breeding

Leslie's Lady, the 2016 Broodmare of the Year and dam of some of the most important Thoroughbreds of the past decade, was pensioned from breeding duties earlier this spring, Thoroughbred Daily News reports.

The 25-year-old daughter of Tricky Creek's top-flight produce record includes Grade 1 winner and leading commercial sire Into Mischief, four-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder, and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner and young sire Mendelssohn.

She also produced America's Joy, a daughter of American Pharoah who sold for $8.2 million at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Mendelssohn, by Scat Daddy, sold as a yearling for $3 million, while the Curlin filly Leslie's Harmony brought $1.1 million as a yearling.

Leslie's Lady resides at Clarkland Farm in Lexington, Ky., where owner Fred Mitchell told the TDN that the mare looked as healthy and spry as ever, but he was on the fence about breeding this season her due to her age. She was cycling early in the season, but when she stopped cycling in April after visits to the teaser, Mitchell decided to pension the mare.

Knowing for a while that Leslie's Lady was approaching pensioning age, Mitchell retained Marr Time, a Not This Time filly born in 2019, to one day carry on her dam's legacy in the Clarkland broodmare band. The filly is training for her debut start with Brad Cox.

Clarkland Farm will also retain Leslie's Lady's final foal, Love You Irene, a Kantharos filly born last year.

Though she ended up at the top of her profession, Leslie's Lady came from modest means. She was bred in Kentucky by David Hager II, and she sold as a newly-turned yearling for $8,000 at the 1997 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. She was purchased later that year by James Hines Jr., for $27,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Leslie's Lady won five of 28 starts for earnings of $187,014. She ran nine times as a juvenile, highlighted by a victory in the Hoosier Debutante Stakes at Hoosier Park. The following season, her campaign included a runner-up effort in the Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

She joined Hines' broodmare band after retiring from the track, and she produced four foals for her owner. Among them was a Harlan's Holiday colt later named Into Mischief.

After Hines' death, Leslie's Lady was cataloged in the 2006 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale as part of her late owner's dispersal. Offered in foal to Orientate, the mare sold to Clarkland Farm for $100,000. The ensuing ten foals bred by Clarkland Farm have sold from the Clarkland consignment for a combined $12.9 million, and they've earned a combined $8,757,202 on the racetrack.