16.05 Curragh, Mdn, €16,500, 2yo, c/g, 8fT
ORTELIUS (Justify), a $1.1-million Keeneland September purchase by M V Magnier, is out of a half to the five-times Grade I-winning Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) and therefore a big deal newcomer for the Ballydoyle stable which has won this maiden for the last nine years. One of those who helped that tally was the future 2000 Guineas hero Saxon Warrior (Jpn), while others include the subsequent group winners Cairo (Ire) (Quality Road), Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), Yucatan (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Ol' Man River (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}). Also from Rosegreen is the debut fifth House Of Aviz (Uncle Mo), a full-brother to the GIII Santa Ysabel S. scorer and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and GI Starlet S. runner-up Donna Veloce and grandson of the 1999 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine Cash Run (Seeking The Gold).

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The class is led by the achievements of its lone Eclipse Award winner, 2020 champion turf female Rushing Fall (More Than Ready). A 2-year-old in 2017, the half-sister to SW & MGSP Milam (Street Sense) earned her tag with a half-length defeat of fellow 2017 'Rising Star' classmate Daddy Is A Legend (Scat Daddy) at Belmont Park. Two starts later she would take the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and take the second-most votes behind Caledonia Road (Quality Road) to be champion 2-year-old filly. Rushing Fall raced only four time as a 3-year-old but earned 3 wins and a second, capping her season off with a score in the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. She added two more wins at the highest level as a 4-year-old in 2019 before retiring as a 5-year-old with an impressive final record of 15-11-3-0, six of those being grade ones in four consecutive years, and earnings of $2,893,000. Rushing Fall was purchased by M.V Magnier's Coolmore connections for $5.5 million out of the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars sale.

The most successful colt of the 2017 'Rising Star' class, Mckinzie (Street Sense) didn't debut until late in his 2-year-old year, taking a maiden special weight event at Santa Anita in late October before immediately making an impact with a win via disqualification over future MGISP Solomini (Curlin) in the GI Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity. Though he missed the Triple Crown series as a 3-year-old, McKinzie returned in the fall of 2018 to take the GI Pennsylvania Derby and would finish the year with a win in the GI Malibu S. He would put up one more grade-one win in the 2019 Whitney S. before finishing his career in the fall of 2020 with a record of 18-8-6-0 and earnings of $3,473,360. McKinzie now stands at Gainesway and had his first weanling sell at this year's Keeneland November Sale.

Four more members of the class won multiple times at the grade-one level: Paradise Woods (Union Rags), current WinStar Farm stallion Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), Separationofpowers (Candy Ride {Arg}), and Moonshine Memories (Malibu Moon). Six other 'Rising Stars' of 2017 would go on to win once against grade-one company: Battle of Midway (Smart Strike), current Hill 'n' Dale Farms stallion Army Mule (Friesan Fire), Pavel (Creative Cause), Lady Ivanka (Tiz Wondeful), Mia Mischief (Into Mischief), and Sporting Chance (Tiznow).

Several notable horses, while not grade-one winners, would place at the level multiple times. Perhaps most notably is 2018 Canadian Horse of the Year and 2017 Canadian champion 2-year-old Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d'Oro) who took both the Queen's Plate S. and the Prince of Wales S. as part of the Canadian Triple Crown following a second-place finish to dual Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks. She would be purchased for $2,000,000 by Japan's KI Farm at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars Sale.

The aforementioned Daddy Is A Legend would hit the board twice in grade-one company behind both Rushing Fall and 2019 champion turf female Uni (GB) (More Than Ready).

There were 16 'Rising Stars' in 2017 who would go on to achieve success in grade two or three events–led by millionaire and current Spendthrift Farm stallion Coal Front (Stay Thirsty).

In total, 28/80 horses who received the 'Rising Star' honor in 2017 would win a graded-stakes race, or 35%. By including those horses that placed in graded events, that number jumps to 49/80, of 61%. An additional nine horses would win at the stakes level and five would be stakes placed. Of the 80, only 17 failed to earn black type in their careers.

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“More Than Ready was an amazing horse who touched everyone he came in contact with,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm. “He may not have been the biggest horse in the barn, but he more than made up for it in class, balance, and character. His expressions said it all. We will greatly miss him at the farm.”

Larry McGinnis, longtime stallion manager at WinStar Farm, said of the legend's passing, “To me, he was more than a great stallion, he was a great friend. It was an honor to take care of such a remarkable horse. I will miss him.”

Bred in Kentucky by Woodlynn Farm Inc., More Than Ready was purchased by Edward Rosen, agent for owner Jim Scatuorchio, for $187,000 at the 1998 Keeneland September sale and won his first five starts for trainer Todd Pletcher, including the GIII Tremont S. and GII Sanford S. before tasting defeat for the first time when stretched to a mile in the GI Champagne S. Dead-heat winner of the GII Hutcheson S. in his sophomore debut, More Than Ready was second in the GII Louisiana Derby and was beaten a head when runner-up in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. ahead of a meritorious fourth to Fusaichi Pegasus in the GI Kentucky Derby. Focusing on one-turn races for the balance of the season, More Than Ready earned Grade I laurels in Saratoga's King's Bishop S. and was second to stablemate Trippi (End Sweep) in the GI Vosburgh S. He retired to Vinery Kentucky for the 2001 breeding season with seven wins from 17 starts and earnings of $1,026,229, and was one of several Vinery stallions that moved to WinStar upon the closure of that nursery.

We lost a legend today.
With heavy hearts we announce the passing of legendary sire More Than Ready. He will be greatly missed. pic.twitter.com/38hDd2MVZS

— WinStar Farm (@WinStarFarm) August 26, 2022

A Dual-Hemisphere Sensation…

A stallion blessed with tremendous fertility, More Than Ready is the sire of an eye-popping and record-setting 2118 winners to date (72.4% winners to starters), making him the world's most prolific sire of individual winners. With a victory in the GII Wonder Again S. in June 2022, Klaravich Stables' Consumer Spending provided the stallion with his 100th worldwide winner at the group/graded level and the victory occurred on the same Belmont program where Morethanreadyeddie–named in honor of the aforementioned Rosen–won his maiden at first asking over five furlongs. Of his black-type winners (only Galileo {Ire}, Danehill and Sadler's Wells have more), some 26 have struck at the top level in seven racing jurisdictions, including Hong Kong and South Africa. The sire of 17 winners and three stakes winners from his first American crop in 2004, More Than Ready was an instant hit in Australia, where he shuttled to Vinery Stud to serve mares Southern Hemisphere time. To date, he has sired 971 winners in the U.S. and Canada and 905 in Australia and New Zealand. His progeny earnings are in excess of $219 million.

With Australasia's emphasis on speed and precocity, his foals hit the ground running, with six black-type winners among his 17 first-crop winners overall, including G1 Champagne S. heroine Carry On Cutie (Aus). His early Australian crops also featured Benicio (Aus), winner of the 2006 G1 Victoria Derby; Sebring (Aus) and Phelan Ready (Aus), victorious in the prestigious G1 Golden Slipper S. in 2008 and 2009, respectively; G1 Blue Diamond S. hero Samaready (Aus); and G1 Western Australian Derby victress Dreamaway (Aus). More Than Ready has also proven especially potent with Danehill-line mares, resulting in the likes of Group 1 winners More Joyous (Aus), Prized Icon (Aus) and More Than Sacred (Aus) in addition to Benicio (Aus), Sebring (Aus), Perfectly Ready (Aus) and Dreamaway (Aus). More Than Ready's other Southern Hemisphere Group 1 winners include Gimmethegreenlight (Aus) and Entisaar (Aus) in South Africa; and More Than Sacred in New Zealand. His progeny were brilliant enough in the early parts of their careers to score in races like the G1 Golden Slipper and G1 Blue Diamond S., but were equally effective at trips of 2000 meters and beyond in Australian fixtures such as the Queen Elizabeth S., and he accounted for Derby winners in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. In total, More Than Ready has sired Group 1/Grade I winners in seven countries.

Trainer Todd Pletcher and More Than Ready | Horsephotos

The top-level winners were a bit slower to come at home, but Buster's Ready became More Than Ready's first American Grade I winner in the 2011 Mother Goose S. Verrazano, raced in partnership by Kevin Scatuorchio's Let's Go Stable, became his sire's first male GISW in the 2013 Wood Memorial S. and Daredevil–also raced by Let's Go in partnership–his first Grade I-winning juvenile in the 2014 Champagne S. More Than Ready's son Catholic Boy holds the rare distinction of winning Grade Is on two surfaces–the GI Belmont Derby on turf and the GI Travers S. on the dirt. Catholic Boy is one of four sons of More Than Ready at stud in Kentucky (Copper Bullet, Daredevil, Funtastic), while Verrazano has gone on to become a productive stallion in South America.

More Than Ready is the leading sire of Breeders' Cup winners to date with seven and accounted for multiple Breeders' Cup winners on two separate occasions. He was represented by the winners of the Breeders' Cup juvenile turf events in 2010 (Pluck, More Than Real), while champion Roy H won the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint in 2017 and 2018. 'TDN Rising Star' and future Eclipse Award winner Rushing Fall posted the first of her six career Grade Is in the 2017 GI Juvenile Fillies' Turf. Uni (GB)–another maternal granddaughter of Danehill–beat the boys in the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Mile. More Than Ready has been represented by 13 champions around the world. Among More Than Ready's 16 offspring that earned the 'Rising Star' distinction is the versatile Emmanuel, third in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. and front-running winner of his turf debut in the GII Pennine Ridge S. at Belmont this past June. More Than Ready is the only sire to have an Eclipse Award Champion each year from 2017 to 2020.

A Broodmare Sire of Note…

More Than Ready is the broodmare sire of fully 135 stakes winners, 61 group or graded winners and 15 at the top level, including GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Structor (Palace Malice), top Australian sprinter Bivouac (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), the rags-to-riches Group 1-winning juvenile filly Miracles of Life (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) and Hong Kong champion Wellington (Aus). Other U.S. graded winners from More Than Ready mares include Kauai Katie (Malibu Moon), Breeders' Cup winner Four Wheel Drive (American Pharoah) and 'TDN Rising Star' and leading turf distaffer Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom), whose dam Mary's Follies is also responsible for Japan's top dirt galloper Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah) and Night Prowler (Giant's Causeway), a dual graded winner in the U.S. whose success extended to Barbados and that island nation's richest event, the Barbados Gold Cup.

Rosen Remembers 'Life-Changing' Horse…

Eddie Rosen has been involved with any number of successful horses over the course of his bloodstock career, but it's safe to say none left the impression the same way More Than Ready did.

“Most people are aware of all the amazing statistics he compiled as the greatest dual-hemisphere sire in history, his versatility in the ability to sire dirt, turf, long and sprint winners,” he reflected. “Sometimes forgotten is what a great 2-year-old he was, reeling off the first five starts of his career in spectacular fashion. My family and I will always cherish the wonderful memories sharing his career with the Scatuorchio family. For me, he was life-changing. During Derby week this year, I was able to visit with him and give him one last peppermint. I will miss him dearly!”

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A 2017 foal sired by Into Mischief out of Flawless, by Mr. Greeley, Authentic was bred in Kentucky by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, Inc., owned by Spendthrift Farm LLC, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC and Starlight Racing, and trained by Bob Baffert. After a maiden victory in his career debut as a 2-year-old in 2019, Authentic won five of seven starts in 2021, including three Grade 1 stakes: the TVG.com Haskell Stakes, Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, and Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

He also won the G3 Sham Stakes and G2 San Felipe Stakes at his home base at Santa Anita Park. Authentic's lone defeats came in the G1 Santa Anita Derby and G1 Preakness (to 3-year-old filly champion Swiss Skydiver.

Authentic got 224 first-place votes for Horse of the Year, with Monomoy Girl receiving seven, Swiss Skydiver six and Vekoma one.

Authentic was retired to Spendthrift, where he will stand alongside his sire.

The complete list of 2020 Eclipse Awards winners appears below:

• Horse Of The Year: Authentic
• Two-Year-Old Male: Essential Quality
• Two-Year-Old Filly: Vequist
• Three-Year-Old Male: Authentic
• Three-Year-Old Filly: Swiss Skydiver
• Older Dirt Male: Improbable
• Older Dirt Female: Monomoy Girl
• Male Sprinter: Whitmore
• Female Sprinter: Gamine
• Male Turf Horse: Channel Maker
• Female Turf Horse: Rushing Fall
• Steeplechase Horse: Moscato (GB)
• Owner: Godolphin, LLC
• Breeder: WinStar Farm LLC
• Jockey: Irad Ortiz,
• Apprentice Jockey: Alexander Crispin
• Trainer: Brad Cox

In voting that concluded January 4, 2021, Eclipse Awards voters cast their ballots to rank the top three horses and individuals in each Championship division on a 10-5-1 point system.

This voting established the top three finalists in each division, whose names were released on Jan. 16, 2021.

The tallies below represent only first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and National Turf Writers And Broadcasters.

Voter participation rate: 238/249 = 95.58%

Two-Year-Old Male
Essential Quality, 231; Jackie's Warrior, 6; Fire At Will, 1.

Two-Year-Old Filly
Vequist, 212; Aunt Pearl (IRE), 24; Malathaat, 1; Voter Abstention, 1.

Three-Year-Old Male
Authentic, 236; Tiz the Law, 2. 

Three-Year-Old Filly
Swiss Skydiver, 218; Gamine, 20.

Older Dirt Male
Improbable, 218; Knicks Go; 8, Vekoma, 5; Maximum Security, 4; Global Campaign, 1; Tom's d'Etat, 1; Whitmore, 1.

Older Dirt Female
Monomoy Girl, 234; Midnight Bisou, 4.

Male Sprinter
Whitmore, 132; Vekoma, 83; Volatile, 16; Charlatan, 4; C Z Rocket, 3.

Female Sprinter
Gamine, 219; Serengeti Empress, 13; Frank's Rockette, 4; Guarana, 1; Voter Abstention, 1.

Male Turf Horse
Channel Maker, 180; Zulu Alpha, 17; Order of Australia (IRE), 15; Factor This, 7; United, 7; Gufo, 4; Domestic Spending (GB), 3; Arklow, 2; War of Will, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.

Female Turf Horse
Rushing Fall, 115; Tarnawa (IRE), 106; Magical (IRE), 8; Audarya (FR), 5; Starship Jubilee, 2; Newspaperofrecord (IRE) 1; Sharing, 1.

Steeplechase Horse
Moscato (GB), 155; Snap Decision, 28; Rashaan (IRE), 21; Iranistan,2; Voter Abstentions, 32.

Owner
Godolphin, LLC, 78; Spendthrift Farm, LLC, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, and Starlight Racing, 56; Klaravich Stables Inc., 47; Gary Barber, 23; Sackatoga Stables, 7; End Zone Athletics Inc., 6; Peter Callahan, 4; Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, LLC, The Elkstone Group LLC, and Bethlehem Stables, 3; Calumet Farm, 1; Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, 1; M and M Racing, 1; Maggi Moss, 1; Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey 1; Gary and Mary West, 1; Voter Abstentions, 8.

Breeder
WinStar Farm, LLC, 128; Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC, 52; Calumet Farm, 45; Godolphin, 6; Charles Fipke, 1; Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC, 1; Voter Abstentions, 5.

Trainer
Brad Cox, 106; Bob Baffert, 69; Steve Asmussen, 44; Chad Brown, 8; Christophe Clement, 1; Michael Maker, 1; Peter Miller, 1; Ron Moquett, 1; Bill Mott, 1; Barclay Tagg, 1; Wesley Ward, 1; Voter Abstentions, 4.

Jockey
Irad Ortiz, Jr., 162; Joel Rosario, 54; John Velazquez, 14; Florent Geroux, 3; Tyler Gaffalione, 2; Flavien Prat, 1; Luis Saez, 1; Voter Abstention, 1.

Apprentice Jockey
Alexander Crispin, 79; Yarmarie Correa, 74; Luis Cardenas, 38; Charlie Marquez, 15; Cristian Torres, 3; Sunday Diaz, Jr. 1; Voter Abstentions, 28.

Media Eclipse Awards
Media Eclipse Awards also are given in the categories of photography, audio and multi-media Internet, news/enterprise writing, feature/commentary writing, television–feature, and television–live racing programming to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing. The 2020 Media Eclipse Awards winners, determined by a judges' panel for each category and previously announced, are:

Photography – Alex Evers, Paulick Report, “A Derby Without Fans,” Sept. 21, 2020.

News/Enterprise Writing – Natalie Voss, Paulick Report – Multi-part Series: “A Decade In, How Are We Doing With Thoroughbred Aftercare?” Dec. 2, 2019; “Emptying The Ocean With A Teaspoon: The Challenges Of Aftercare,” Dec. 3, 2019; and “Aftercare Should Not Be An Afterthought: Solutions For The Future,” Dec. 4, 2019.

Feature/Commentary Writing – Natalie Voss, Paulick Report, “'An Angel On His Shoulder': This Thoroughbred's Fate Was Written In Ink,” May 13, 2020.

Television – Feature – NBC Sports, “Riders Up: The World's First Sports Bubble,” Oct. 2, 2020 on NBCSN; Produced by the Hennegan Brothers.

Television – Live Racing Programming – NBC Sports, “The Breeders' Cup World Championships,” Nov. 7, 2020; Billy Matthews and Lindsay Schanzer, producers.

Audio/Multi-Media Internet – Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN), “To Hell and Back: Belmont Marks A Deserved Triumph for New York City,” June 19, 2020; Joe Bianca, writer and narrator, Patty Wolfe, producer.

The Eclipse Awards are sponsored by Spendthrift Farm, Roberts Communications, Four Roses Bourbon, Daily Racing Form, Breeders' Cup, FanDuel Group, The Stronach Group, TVG, Dean Dorton, Stonestreet Farm, Keeneland, Racetrack Television Network, Jackson Family Wines, Florida HBPA, Runhappy, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, Hallway Feeds, and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

The post 2020 Eclipse Awards: Authentic Voted Horse Of The Year In A Landslide appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Sportingly kept in training at five by Bob Edwards's e Five Thoroughbreds, the $320,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga steal got this year's delayed Belmont meet off to a rousing start, handily taking the GIIII Beaugay S. June 3 before becoming just the second horse to win consecutive runnings of the GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. at Keeneland. That victory made her a top-level scorer for the fourth year in a row and tied Rushing Fall with Take Charge Lady on four Keeneland stakes successes. The bay continued her winning ways in the GI Diana S. at Saratoga Aug. 23, just reeling in front-running Mean Mary (Scat Daddy) and only a letter-perfect steer Pierre-Charles Boudot atop Audarya cost her a perfect season.
Rushing Fall made the short drive from Keeneland to Fasig-Tipton for the 2020 Night of the Stars sale and sold for $5.5 million to Jamie McCalmont, agent for M.V. Magnier, from the Indian Creek draft. Rushing Fall is set to be covered by Galileo (Ire) in 2021.

It's not how you start. It's how you finish.

After a lackluster first half of 2020, Channel Maker (English Channel) ended the year in career form, posting back-to-back Grade I victories and a strong third–beaten only a length–in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Nov. 7, good for three straight Beyer Speed Figures of 108 and the trophy for champion male turf horse.
Off the board in his first four starts of the season, including a fourth-place finish in the GI Manhattan S. July 4, he crossed the wire fourth once again in the GII Bowling Green S. Aug. 1, and was moved up to third via disqualification.

The chestnut continued his affinity for a soft going with a powerful, front-running score in the GI Sword Dancer S. at Saratoga Aug. 29, then added his second career victory in Belmont's GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. Oct. 3, this time over firm turf.

He gave his backers a good run for their money at odds of 9-1 in the Championships at Keeneland, gamely leading the field of 10 into the final furlong after enjoying a clear advantage into the stretch. He just got nosed out for second by the classy, globe-trotting MG1SW Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Adam Wachtel and Gary Barber purchased Channel Maker privately as a 2-year-old prior to the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. R.A. Hill Stable and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing later joined the ownership line in the fall of 2018.

Channel Maker, Canada's champion 3-year-old colt and a full-brother to fellow Canadian champion Johnny Bear, has remained in training at Mott's Payson Park base for a 7-year-old campaign and is being aimed at the $1-million Middle Distance Turf Cup on the Saudi Cup undercard Feb. 20.

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It's early January, and you know what that means: Eclipse Award voters have begun sharing their ballots on social media, and no matter who they picked, outrage ensues from the folks who disagree.

I've got an Eclipse vote, and it's made public as a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters bloc of voters, so in the interest of transparency, I'll share here how I filled out my ballot, along with my reasoning for each category.

If you think I'm off-base with any of my votes, just remember these two things: First, the voting is closed, so nothing I say here can swing any undecided voters. Second, back in 2011, one intrepid voter chose Drosselmeyer as champion turf male in a campaign where his lone start on grass was a seventh-place effort. No matter how much we might disagree on who should be placed where, please understand that someone out there will go further off the deep end than any of us could imagine and cancel me out. Eclipse Award voters are an eclectic bunch.

With that out of the way, let's get down to business.

2-Year-Old Male
1. Essential Quality
2. Jackie's Warrior
3. Fire At Will

While I certainly can't fault anyone for giving Jackie's Warrior a mulligan for his fourth-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and instead focusing on his brilliant campaign up to that point, two things swung it toward Essential Quality for me.

First, when they faced off head-to-head on the biggest stage of their lives in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Essential Quality got there first. The juvenile dirt races hold a lot of weight for me, especially in a deep field like we had this year. Second, Essential Quality had a bit more depth to his game. Where Jackie's Warrior got to the front early to do his damage, Essential Quality showed he could be a Grade 1 horse battling for the lead or coming from behind, and he did it twice beyond a mile. That professionalism gave him the edge.

2-Year-Old Female
1. Vequist
2. Dayoutoftheoffice
3. Aunt Pearl

Vequist was the only horse in the division with two Grade 1 wins, and if she was going to split the series with Dayoutoftheoffice, I'd rather have the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in my win column than the Frizette. All due respect to Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Aunt Pearl, but the lack of depth in North America's juvenile turf platoon and its schedule compared to their dirt contemporaries makes it hard to put a turf horse on top on either of the baby divisions.

3-Year-Old Male
1. Authentic
2. Tiz the Law
3. Happy Saver

The first two were slam dunks. Authentic won the Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic, both over Tiz the Law, who would have gotten the nod if he'd have won either one of those races. There is such a wide gap to the third spot that it allowed for some creativity. Happy Saver got the call by virtue of beating older competition in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

For the record, I need you all to appreciate the level of restraint it took for me to keep my real champion 3-year-old of 2020 off the ticket: a gelding named Underscore who ran fourth in his only career start back in March, who is now working toward his second career when he's not busy receiving hugs and mints.

3-Year-Old Female
1. Swiss Skydiver
2. Shedaresthedevil
3. Harvey's Lil Goil

Pretty simple here. If a filly wins a Triple Crown race, it's going to take a mountain of evidence against her to knock her off the perch. Fortunately, Swiss Skydiver had a deep resume to justify the spot beyond her centerpiece victory, with four other graded stakes triumphs, including the G1 Alabama Stakes. Shedaresthedevil, who bested Swiss Skydiver in the Kentucky Oaks and never ran a bad one in 2020, was a clear second, completing an outstanding exacta for new Lane's End resident Daredevil.

Older Dirt Male
1. Improbable
2. Vekoma
3. Global Campaign

I'll be the first to admit that after watching Improbable lose as the favorite again and again as a 3-year-old, I never thought he'd get it together enough to become more than the occasional fluke Grade 1 winner. A year later, here I am eating my words after he became one of the few consistent pillars of an older male division that saw a lot of its potential stars struggle with injury and consistency. Improbable crisscrossed the map and beat everyone else in the division he needed to beat.

I could have shaken the bottle, pulled out a lot of other names to fill out the bottom of the ticket and felt the same about it, but consistent, strong efforts at the highest levels got Vekoma and Global Campaign there for me. In a year where practically every serious contender either got hurt or got exposed when the chips were really down, showing up to work with your lunchpail was enough.

Older Dirt Female
1. Monomoy Girl
2. Serengeti Empress
3. Valiance

In terms of margin of victory, Monomoy Girl might be the biggest runaway winner of this year's divisions. She went unbeaten in four starts this year, including her pièce de résistance in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

Serengeti Empress was probably the best horse with the worst luck this year, just missing a couple of graded stakes wins after running with a ton of heart. Even with the near-misses, she was incredibly versatile, winning graded stakes at both the sprint and route distances. Valiance got good at the right time, and proved she belonged with a win in the G1 Spinster Stakes and a second to Monomoy Girl in the Distaff.

I struggled with what to do with Midnight Bisou. She ran huge in the Saudi Cup (and she might end up being named the winner someday if the right people decide there's enough evidence to take Maximum Security down), she looked like the Midnight Bisou we all know and love in her G2 Fleur de Lis romp, and she was unlucky to get nipped in the G1 Personal Ensign. What kept her off the ticket for me was the incomplete feeling I had when I looked at her record. She only raced three times – twice on U.S. soil – she only won once (as of the time this was published), and she didn't win a North American Grade 1. When I crossed out her name from the running lines and separated the campaign from the brand recognition behind the horse that ran it, the bid lost a lot of its luster.

Male Sprinter
1. Whitmore
2. Vekoma
3. Volatile

Not a great year for this division in terms of true standouts. Like the Older Dirt Male division, there were a lot of struggles here with form and health that made this division tough to sort out. When that happens, the Breeders' Cup gains a lot more weight, almost by default. Whitmore ran the race of his life to win the Breeders' Cup Sprint, and while his campaign had its fair share of misfires, he did enough with his supporting efforts to put him on top.

Vekoma and Volatile were both lightly raced in 2020, and I don't love that, but they both went undefeated and won their Grade 1 races with gusto. No one else, save for maybe C Z Rocket, had a case that could stack up to that.

Female Sprinter
1. Serengeti Empress
2. Bell's the One
3. Glass Slippers

First, let's address the elephant in the room: Where's Gamine?

My policy for Eclipse voting is if the glacially-paced gears of horse racing's justice system are fast enough to pop a horse for a positive drug test and disqualify them from a race, they're off my ticket regardless of what they do for the rest of their campaign. When Gamine was taken down from her Oaklawn Park optional claimer earlier this year due to a lidocaine positive, she ceased being eligible for year-end honors in my eyes.

I didn't vote for La Verdad in 2015 when she was a contender in this division after she got taken down from the G2 Honorable Miss Stakes for a clenbuterol positive. She ended up winning the Eclipse anyway by eight votes over Wavell Avenue. If I were to venture a guess, Gamine will take this trophy home by a much wider margin, regardless of what I think, but I won't be part of it.

So, that leaves us with a closely matched race between Serengeti Empress and Bell's the One. Bell's the One bested Serengeti Empress by a nose in the G1 Derby City Distaff, while Serengeti Empress nosed out her foe for second in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. If we're pretending Gamine doesn't exist, that's a draw in my eyes. Serengeti Empress had an additional Grade 1 sprint win in the Ballerina, while Bell's the One only had a Grade 3 win to counter, putting the decision to rest.

Male Turf Horse
1. Channel Maker
2. Zulu Alpha
3. Instilled Regard

Filling out the award winners in this division is often a bleak affair, given how much time North America's turf males spend beating each other up, then losing to fillies and Europeans when the lights are the brightest, but this might be the least convincing group of contenders I've seen in any division since I've had a vote.

Let's get this over with. I don't tend to put European-based horses on top unless their case is so convincing that I have no other choice, and that didn't happen this year. Channel Maker was the only horse in the division with two Grade 1 wins, Zulu Alpha won a good Grade 1 in the Pegasus World Cup Turf and never threw a clunker, and Instilled Regard's spot could have gone to a lot of different horses, but I liked his big wins more than the other contenders. Next.

Female Turf Horse
1. Rushing Fall
2. Tarnawa
3. Starship Jubilee

I've seen a lot of votes go for Tarnawa, and I wouldn't be mad if she won it, given the strength of her globetrotting campaign and her impressive win against males in the Breeders' Cup Turf. However, as I laid out, I prefer to give it to a domestic horse if at all possible, and Rushing Fall came a hard-trying neck in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf away from a perfect campaign. The only thing missing from Rushing Fall's resume is an Eclipse Award, and I think she gets it here.

Steeplechase Horse
1. Abstain
2. Abstain
3. Abstain

I've had people say I should have my Eclipse vote taken away for abstaining from the steeplechase category every year. They don't seem to realize I abstain out of respect. Nothing in my job requires me to take even a passive interest in the steeplechase races. I know none of the players, the races are often held at venues I'm not familiar with in terms of geography or esteem, and I'm not aware of the unwritten class system that can separate one Grade 1 race from another (like how winning the Kentucky Derby means more than winning the Malibu Stakes). It's an entirely different culture.

If a group of basketball writers were brought in to decide the Eclipse Awards, people would erupt, and rightfully so. It would be disrespectful to the hard work done by an entire industry to have someone outside the circle decide who among them was the best. That's why I leave the steeplechase division to the people who know what they're doing, and don't let my uninformed vote interfere with that. Someone will get a trophy whether I vote or not.

Owner
1. Godolphin
2. Klaravich Stables
3. Gary Barber

Unless a partnership is practically synonymous with each other (like Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence were for a long time), I tend to see this award as one for individuals over groups. Barring outstanding circumstances like a Triple Crown winner, I look for solid high-level success in an Outstanding Owner candidate, with enough depth to fill out the ranks. Godolphin got its Grade 1 bona fides with probable champion Essential Quality and Fair Maiden, while finishing among the nation's leaders by wins, graded wins, and earnings. I could have put Klaravich Stables or Gary Barber in the top spot and slept just as well at night, but the blue team just stood out a little more for me this year.

Breeder
1. WinStar Farm
2. Godolphin
3. Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds

My criteria is a little more fluid in this category than others. I like to reward a small breeder if they can pull multiple major stars out of a small broodmare band, but short of that, I've got to lean on the numbers and the big wins. WinStar Farm was responsible for the top two in my champion 3-year-old female voting – Swiss Skydiver and Shedaresthedevil – who accounted for the Preakness Stakes and Kentucky Oaks respectively. None of the other major players could match that duo, and that's before we add Grade 1 winners Global Campaign and Paris Lights to the fold.

Jockey
1. Irad Ortiz Jr.
2. Joel Rosario
3. John Velazquez

Irad Ortiz hit the big double of winning some of the sport's biggest races in 2020 while also showing up to work every day to compile impressive numbers. He netted two Breeders' Cup races and the Pegasus World Cup, while also comfortably leading the nation by both wins and earnings while racing on North America's top circuits. This decision was tougher than it sounds, but if the object of the game is to win races and make money, Irad did it the best.

Apprentice Jockey
1. Alexander Crispin
2. Yarmarie Correa
3. Santos Rivera

It was a tight race between the top two. Crispin finished second in the jockey standings at the long Delaware Park meet, and third during one of Laurel Park's meets, while also picking up a win in the First State Dash Stakes at Delaware Park. Correa won the riding title at Thistledown's long meet and is currently holding strong in the standings at Mahoning Valley Race Course. As much as I love the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic circuit is deeper water, and the stakes win helped put Crispin on top.

Unrelated, since it was in an Arabian race and doesn't count in the Eclipse voting, but Crispin was also responsible for one of the best rides I've seen all year, both in the skill of the thing and the caliber of the horses he beat to do it. Remember what I said about different cultures in horse racing? Trust me when I tell you how big of an effort this was in the scope of Arabian racing.

Trainer
1. Brad Cox
2. Chad Brown
3. Steve Asmussen

Brad Cox won four Breeders' Cup races, including two of the biggest prizes: the Distaff and the Juvenile. He also took home the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, La Troienne, and Breeders' Futurity, and he was near the top of the list in just about any meaningful category out there. Chad Brown had a ton of Grade 1 success, but a general lack of variety beyond turf races in those wins and a quiet Breeders' Cup put him in the place position. Steve Asmussen's giant barn put up its usual bulk numbers, and he had several Grade 1 trophies to fill it out at the top.

Horse of the Year
1. Authentic
2. Improbable
3. Monomoy Girl

If Authentic won the Breeders' Cup Classic, he was going to be Horse of the Year. If Improbable had won the Classic instead of running second to Authentic, he would have been Horse of the Year. If they both flopped and an upset winner took it, it would be hard to put a horse with just four starts on top, but Monomoy Girl would have certainly been a big one in that discussion.

As it stands, Authentic got hot at the right time when the Kentucky Derby was still going to be in May, he stayed hot over the summer when the Derby moved to September, and he blossomed into a star when it mattered most late in his campaign. Looking at the whole of the season for anyone with a serious bid at the title, nobody else made sense in the top spot.

The post Making Claims: Nevills Defends His Eclipse Awards Ballot appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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LEXINGTON, KY – A dazzling array of race fillies proved demand for high-quality bloodstock remains high during a frenetic renewal of the Fasig-Tipton November Sale at Newtown Paddocks Sunday. Champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), who captured her second GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff Saturday, topped the sale when bringing a final bid of $9.5 million from B. Wayne Hughes’s Spendthrift Farm. The 5-year-old mare, who will return to training with Brad Cox, spearheaded a remarkable night of bidding for the Spendthrift team, which purchased 12 horses for $25,030,000.

“It was a remarkable evening,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning Sunday night. “I think if I would have told someone six months ago when our world kind of changed, or six weeks ago, or six days ago, or even yesterday that we were going to sell $80 million worth of horses tonight and 22 horses for a million dollars or more, they probably would have said I was delusional. But the success of the sale this evening was built upon having a tremendous catalogue of quality horses. It’s as simple as that. It really does begin and end with the quality of the horses who were entrusted to us for this catalogue. It was a spectacular catalogue.”

Fasig-Tipton sold 142 horses Sunday for a total of $80,237,000. The average was $565,049 and the median was $200,000. With 69 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 32.7%.

A year ago, 128 head grossed $68,011,000 for an average of $531,336 and a median of $300,000.

Six of the 22 horses who sold for seven figures Sunday were purchased by Hughes’s Spendthrift operation.

“I think the kind of mares we zeroed in on for this sale are just not affected very much by market conditions,” said Spendthrift General Manger Ned Toffey. “We were pretty sure that for these high-end mares, it would be pretty competitive. What will the lesser mares and on through the books at Keeneland bring? Who knows. We are as curious to see as anybody.”

Spendthrift captured Saturday’s GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic with Authentic (Into Mischief) before continuing its domination in the sales ring Sunday.

“If Wayne Hughes isn’t an inspiration to everybody involved in our industry, I don’t know who is,” Browning said. “He is an innovator, he puts his money up, he puts his ideas up and he puts his heart in it. You may not always agree with what he does or what he thinks in terms of business philosophy, but he is willing to get behind his product and he’s willing to be different. He’s a remarkable man. You can see why he has been an enormously successful businessman. He is a blessing and a great asset to our industry. The participation that Spendthrift demonstrated tonight, and honestly have demonstrated in the stallion game in the last 24 months, has been remarkable and there are bright days ahead for Spendthrift. But I would be completely remiss not to say tip of the cap and a thank you to Mr. Hughes and the whole team there because they were a huge part of the success of the sale tonight.”

While international participation in the marketplace has been limited in recent months due to travel restrictions caused by the global pandemic, Japanese buyers were out in force Sunday at Newtown Paddocks. Katsumi Yoshida purchased four horses for seven figures, led by the $2.2-million Miss Besilu (Medaglia d’Oro), while Shadai Farm purchased Competitionofideas (Speightstown) for $1.3 million.

“There was a broad buying bench with significant participation from Japanese buyers,” Browning said. “I am not surprised. I think one thing we’ve watched over the last 25 years is that the Japanese breeding industry has a long-term perspective, a much longer term perspective than we do in America and even than the Europeans do. They are looking to acquire the best equine athletes in the world and produce quality racehorses. They bought some exceptional horses tonight. You could kind of sense that there would be a perceived buying opportunity combined with an exceptional catalogue of horses who fit their profile.”

The November sale began with a large offering of weanlings. Larry Best’s OXO Equine purchased the highest-priced foal when going to $600,000 for a colt by City of Light. But the buy-back rate remained high throughout much of the weanling section.

“The foal market was as expected: selective,” Browning said. “I don’t think there was a question that, overall, the weanling pinhookers who bought in 2019 and sold in the 2020 market had a very difficult year. So it was logical that there would be a little more restraint among the pinhooking group and some of the higher-priced weanlings were sold to end-users. We know that the target continues to get a little narrower–you’ve got to vet, you’ve got to have enough pedigree, you’ve got to be physically good enough. I think there was a little more hesitancy on the weanling side of things tonight than there would have been a year ago and understandably so.”

Monomoy Girl Shines Brightest on Night of the Stars

When Brad Weisbord and Liz Crow’s Elite Sales sold two-time champion Tepin (Bernstein) for $8 million at the 2017 renewal of this auction, the partners never imagined they could top that moment, but they did just that Sunday when selling their beloved champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) (Hip 192) for a sale-topping $9.5 million to B. Wayne Hughes’s Spendthrift Farm.

“I am really proud of her and proud of our whole team,” said Crow after hugging Weisbord and trainer Brad Cox. “It was a really emotional day. It was kind of hard not knowing what was going to happen going up to the ring. We obviously had a lot of interest in her from everyone. You just want her to go to the right hands and I am glad they got her. They obviously know what they are doing with campaigning top horses such as [GI Breeders’ Cup Classic hero] Authentic (Into Mischief). I am sure they will do great things with her next year.”

Crow picked out Monomoy Girl for a modest $100,000 at the 2016 KEESEP sale on behalf of Michael Dubb, Sol Kumin’s Monomoy Stables, the Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables. Entrusted to Cox, the chestnut has won 13 of her 15 starts, with seven of those being Grade Is, and earned over $4.4 million. She already has one Eclipse Award on her resume and is guaranteed to win another this year after capturing her second GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff Saturday across town at Keeneland. Monomoy Girl missed her entire 2019 campaign after a battle with colic and then a hamstring injury, but returned better than ever in 2020 with four decisive victories.

“There is a lot of emotion after that,” said Cox. “It was electric to say the least. I am hoping to meet the new connections and lobby for a 2021 campaign.”

Cox was one of the first to congratulate Spendthrift’s General Manager Ned Toffey after the hammer fell and was successful in his mission. Toffey announced that Monomoy Girl would return to Cox’s care for a 2021 campaign.

While Monomoy Girl will have a chance to add to her long list of racetrack accomplishments before joining Spendthrift’s broodmare band, her dam and siblings have also contributed to her already illustrious resume as well. Her dam Drumette summoned $1.85 million from Bridlewood at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November Sale while carrying a foal by Mastery. Her 3-year-old half-brother, ‘TDN Rising Star’ Mr. Monomoy (Palace Malice), won one of the divisions of this year’s GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds, but was knocked off the GI Kentucky Derby trail with a minor injury. Monomoy Girl’s 2-year-old half-brother Superman Shaq (Shackleford) was a $550,000 OBSAPR buy and is also a‘TDN Rising Star’.

It was a banner night in many ways for Weisbord and Crow’s operation, which sold seven mares for a whopping $22.05 million with an average of $3.15 million. Their star-studded line-up also included $5-million champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) (Hip 185); $4.1-million Eclipse winner Uni (GB) (More Than Ready) (Hip 228); $1.3-million GISW Competitionofideas (Speightstown) (Hip 259); $1.05-million GISW Mirth (Colonel John) (Hip 186); $850,000 GSW Bellera (Bernardini) (Hip 248); and $250,000 Voting Agreement (More Than Ready) (Hip 280), a half-sister to Friday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Vequist (Nyquist).

“We were a little afraid about the economy and the horse market, but we are really thrilled with the results that we got,” Weisbord said. “I think the Monomoy Girl sale and the result from this weekend will be something that, unfortunately, we are never going to top. My partner Liz found her at public auction and she has won 13 of her 15 races. A big knock on our company was we targeted proven horses for many years, especially when I started solo. I teamed up with Liz in 2015 and have seen her rise to the top in the last five years. Monomoy has been a huge part of it and she continues to back it up with [champion] British Idiom (Flashback) and [undefeated GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine] Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). It’s just a dream come true. It has been a dream night so far.”  —@CDeBernardisTDN

Spendthrift Proves Unstoppable in Their Quest For Star Power

B. Wayne Hughes’s Spendthrift Farm has proven to be a force to be reckoned with in the Thoroughbred industry in many ways over the years and Sunday’s Fasig-Tipton “Night of the Stars” was no exception. The nursery and stallion operation struck hard and fast throughout the day, taking home many of the star-studded auction’s most coveted offerings, topped by $9.5-million sale topper and two-time GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) (Hip 192).

“They are all really nice mares and we thought it would be a good time to add some more quality to our broodmare band,” said Spendthrift’s General Manager Ned Toffey, who did the bidding and signed the tickets on behalf of Hughes.

Toffey said Monomoy Girl, who is a lock to win her second Eclipse Award this year, would return to trainer Brad Cox and prepare for a 2021 campaign.

“She is a superstar. She is an all-timer,” said Toffey. “She will go back to Brad Cox. That’s the plan right now, but we will let her decide, as long as everything stays the same. She appears very sound. The vet checked her out and everything looks good. She will train for another year and we have a stallion or two that will suit her. We will sit down with Brad and assess from there.”

The long-term goal for 2021 would be an attempt for a third Distaff. Should she accomplish this feat, Monomoy Girl would actually be the second three-time Breeders’ Cup winner in Spendthrift’s broodmare band, which is ruled by four-time Eclipse winner Beholder (Henny Hughes).

“She is so tough, talented, great-looking and competitive. The consistency is remarkable,” Toffey said. “She certainly seems to be very sound. We will let her dictate things and, if she continues to be that way, we will let her go through the year and [a third Distaff win] would be a great way to finish up.”

As for the price, Toffey said, “That was very close to what we thought we would have to pay. We thought this is the kind of mare people are looking for. She is very special. That is very close to the high end of our range, but we thought the reality was, she was going to cost that much.”

Spendthrift did not stop there, however. They were back in action immediately, buying the next two hips after Monomoy Girl: hip 193, $1.8-million Mother Mother (Pioneerof the Nile), and hip 194, $800,000 Motion Emotion (Take Charge Indy).

Mother Mother was one of several million-dollar purchases hailing from the Bob Baffert barn. The MSW and MGISP 4-year-old was consigned by Gainesway as a racing or broodmare prospect on behalf of a partnership that included Gainesway, Barry Lipman, Mark Mathiesen, Barry Hall and Andrew Molasky.

“She is a beautiful mare. I love her,” Toffey said. “She will come to the farm and be a broodmare. We didn’t have a stallion in particular in mind. She is just a really nice mare we wanted to add to the band.”

Spendthrift purchased a total of 12 horses Sunday, nine of which were mares, for $25.03 million. In addition to Monomoy Girl, the dozen was highlighted by a trio of Grade I winners in Bast (Uncle Mo) (hip 245), She’s a Julie (Elusive Quality) (hip 208) and Got Stormy (Get Stormy) (hip 168).

Three-time Grade I winner Bast was the Spendthrift team’s second most expensive purchase of the day at $4.2 million. Last seen winning the GII Santa Ynez S. in Jan. 5, the Baffert runner was retired six weeks later due to a soft tissue injury and bred to Triple Crown hero Justify (Scat Daddy).

“No secret here,” Toffey said. “When you see that kind catalogued, you hope you come out here and you’re not disappointed. When you see her, you’re certainly not disappointed–she’s just a big, impressive filly. She’s just a superstar; the talent, plus the pedigree, and in foal to a heck of a horse, so we’re excited.”

He continued, “He’s a wonderful sire–or we think he can be a wonderful sire, I should say. If you can get a chance to get a mare in foal to a horse like that, that’s always exciting.”

Toffey went to $3 million to secure stunning, dual Grade I heroine She’s a Julie, who will now retire to the Spendthrift broodmare band and is likely to visit the farm’s superstar sire Into Mischief.

“This is just a big, gorgeous, talented race mare,” Toffey said. “She will probably go to Into Mischief. She fits him well on paper. She is a really nice mare. We couldn’t be more excited to have her. She is a superstar. There aren’t too many better looking ones out here than that.”

Racing fans will also get another chance to see two-time Grade I winner and 2019 GI Breeders’ Cup Mile runner-up Got Stormy (Get Stormy) compete as Toffey said she will also return to training for 2021.

“She will go back to Mark Casse,” Toffey said. “Mark feels she is very sound and obviously Mark knows her best. She will go to his place in Ocala and get a little time off. Again, we will let the horses tell us, but she also appears to be very sound. We will let Mark give her a little break and then gear up for another campaign.”

As for the mare’s future mate, Toffey said, “We have a pretty nice stallion that warrants a mare like that.”

Spendthrift kingpin Into Mischief has had a career-best year in 2020 thanks to the exploits of GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders’ Cup Classic hero Authentic, who proved the stallion’s produce was not distance limited. In addition to Into Mischief’s success in the stud barn, he carried Hughes’s orange and purple silks to a Grade I victory on the racetrack and his half-sister Beholder is guaranteed a spot in the Hall of Fame after four championship seasons for Spendthrift.

“I was interviewed about Into Mischief the other day and somebody asked me if I knew when we took him to stud, what he was going to be,” Toffey said. “I would be the biggest liar in the world if I said we knew what we had. There is just no way to predict this stuff. He is just a remarkable, remarkable stallion. We think the world of him and we are just glad he is in our barn.”

As for what’s next for Authentic, Toffey said, “Stay tuned!” —@CDeBernardisTDN

Galileo Date for Rushing Fall

Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) (hip 205), fresh off a runner-up effort in Saturday’s GI Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, is expected to ship to Ireland for a date with super-sire Galileo (Ire) after bloodstock agent Jamie McCalmont went to $5.5 million at Fasig-Tipton Sunday to acquire the 5-year-old on behalf of Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier.

“What’s not to like?” Coolmore’s Adrian Wallace said when asked about the mare’s appeal. “She is a wonderful physical. She’s a mare that we loved from the moment we saw her. The plan is to send her to Ireland to go to Galileo. The future is bright.”

Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan purchased Rushing Fall on behalf of Bob Edwards’s e Five Racing Thoroughbreds for $320,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale. The bay became Edwards’s second Breeders’ Cup winner when she won the 2017 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She also won the 2019 GI Longines Just a Game S., 2018 GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S., and 2020 GI Diana S. , as well as the 2019 and 2020 renewals of the GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. at Keeneland. On the board in 14 of 15 starts, she won 11 times and earned $2,893,000.

“She was wonderful from start to finish,” Ryan said. “She never let us down. She is the best filly I’ve ever bought and one of the best fillies I’ve ever seen. From a physical appearance standpoint, she was a 10 out of 10. She’s gone to a great home. I can’t wait to see the offspring out of her.”

Edwards’s New Money Honey (Medaglia d’Oro) captured the 2016 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, while his champion 2-year-old Good Magic (Curlin) won the 2017 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

“The first crop for Bob was New Money Honey and the second crop was Good Magic and Rushing Fall,” Ryan said. “He’s had four Breeders’ Cup starters, three winners and a second. It’s very gratifying and, for the market to appreciate her, it’s a wonderful ending.”

Coolmore won out on Rushing Fall following an extended duel, with bids volleying between the pavilion and the back walking ring.

“We were probably running out of petrol,” Wallace admitted. “It was spirited bidding and it’s lovely to see on a night like tonight. All of these mares are household names and it’s great that people are here in a year like this to be able to support the industry and support those owners and trainers who campaigned them so well. It’s great that we can all be here to do it.”

Among the underbidders on Rushing Fall was Hunter Valley Farm’s Fergus Galvin, who was doing his bidding on behalf of a partnership in the balcony of the pavilion. Galvin was also an underbidder on the $9.5-million Monomoy Girl (Tapizar).

“They were probably the top two lots in the sale, Monomoy Girl and Rushing Fall,” Galvin said. “They were both exceptional race fillies and physicals. We thought it might have been a little bit of a down year, but the market always has a place for the highest quality and those two were that.”

Asked if he would be back in action when bidding began at Keeneland Monday afternoon, Galvin said, “We’ll see. We’ll take a deep breath after this and go from there.” @JessMartiniTDN

Allen Buys Out Bisou Partners

Allen Racing’s Chuck Allen, seated in the front row next to Bloom Racing’s Jeff Bloom, simply couldn’t part with their five-time Grade I-winning mare Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) Sunday, and fended off some stiff competition to buy out his partners on a winning bid of $5 million. The near $7.5-million earner was consigned as hip 185 by ELiTE.

“I didn’t know how that was going to play out, but in the end, Chuck Allen, one of the partners decided he wanted to have her,” said Bloom, who bought Midnight Bisou for just $80,000 at the 2017 OBS April sale. “I’ll have to get with Chuck, and obviously I’ll help him out with what the future plans are going to be. She’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Chuck to incorporate into his program. I couldn’t think of a more impressive broodmare to add to the portfolio for him.”

Midnight Bisou, winner of the 2018 GI Santa Anita Oaks and GI Cotillion S. (via DQ over fellow Friday seller Monomoy Girl {Tapizar}); the 2019 GI Apple Blossom H., GI Ogden Phipps S. and GI Personal Ensign S.; and second this year in both the Saudi Cup and Personal Ensign on either end of a GII Fleur de Lis S. romp, retired at the end of September.

Bloom’s outfit and Chuck and Lori Allen were her original owners, with Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables buying in after she finished third to the Kumin co-owned and aforementioned Monomoy Girl in the 2018 GI Longines Kentucky Oaks.

“I’m in shock; I’m really in shock more than anything,” Bloom said. “It’s surreal, and it happened so fast even though it was a slow process. I’m just trying to process it more than anything… He’s a partner in on the horse, and he was enjoying the bidding. He asked me what I thought. He was on his own at that point–he decided he wanted to have her.”

Bloom said he and the Allens had partnered on most of Bloom’s ventures in recent years: “They teamed up with us a number of years ago, and they have their own racing horses and a little bit of breeding, and most recently we’ve done almost all of our stuff together at Bloom Racing. It’s been a great relationship.”

He noted that, “The reality is, it’s easier to let it happen in the ring and let the market dictate what the valuation is… If you’re going to sell, the best way to decide the number is to put them in the ring.

“I think Chuck realized that this is an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime mare to have as part of your broodmare band. I think a lot of it is in the moment, and you never know how someone’s going to react or respond, but it’s a win-win. Everybody’s happy.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

Bast Sale a Business Decision for Chus

Bast (Uncle Mo) (hip 245) won a trio of Grade I races as a 2-year-old last year for Susan and Charlie Chu’s Baoma Corp. and the mare further rewarded the operation when selling for $4.2 million to Spendthrift Farm Sunday night in Lexington.

“We want the Chus to treat the horse industry as a business,” explained the couple’s bloodstock advisor Donato Lanni. “We enjoy buying horses and Susan needs to realize that there are some horses we need to sell just to keep it going as a business. She loves her horses and every year we want to sell a couple for her and then start over and find another Bast for her.”

Bast broke her maiden in the GI Del Mar Debutante S. last August and added a win in the GI Chandelier S. Third in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, she ended her juvenile campaign with a win in the GI Starlet S. In her lone start at three, the bay won the GII Santa Ynez S.

“She was a very decorated filly who was beautiful and ran very well,” Lanni said. “And she was in foal to Justify. The stars lined up and we were very happy with the price.”

Baoma Corp. has been represented by a pair of ‘TDN Rising Stars’ this year, with Private Mission (Into Mischief) and Happier (On My Way) graduating impressively for trainer Bob Baffert.

“We have some nice fillies for her in California that we are excited about and hopefully one of them turns out to be another Bast,” Lanni said. @JessMartiniTDN

Uni Purchased By Longtime Admirer

With most of his horses in training with Chad Brown, White Birch Farm principal Peter Brant spends a lot of time in the leading trainer’s barn, giving him an opportunity to study more than just his own runners. One Brown trainee in particular really caught the horseman’s eye over the years and on Sunday she finally became his when Brant went to $4.1 million to secure champion turf mare Uni (GB) (More Than Ready) (Hip 238).

Brant did his bidding over the phone and Brown, who watched the mare sell through the pavilion window, was thrilled to hear his client purchased the 6-year-old mare.

“Peter had the opportunity to see her train a lot,” said Brown after finishing a phone call with Brant. “He spends a lot of time at the barn and he knows all my horses very well, particularly her. He really liked her. He is a hands-on horseman and an excellent horseman. I am thrilled that he bought her. I wasn’t sure he was going to bid on the horse, but, like I said, he knows my horses very well, better than any buyer would.”

Elite Sales’ Brad Weisbord and Mandore International’s Nicholas de Watrigant teamed up to privately purchase Uni on behalf of Michael Dubb, Sol Kumin’s Head of Plains Partners, Robert LaPenta and Bethlehem Stables after her first stakes win in France in 2017. Transferred to Brown, her first Stateside win came in that year’s GII Sands Point S. at Belmont. The chestnut was four-for-four in 2018, capped by a victory in the GI Matriarch S. and her Eclipse-winning 2019 season was topped by wins in Keeneland’s GI First Lady S. and the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile. Uni successfully defended her title in the First Lady this term and was fifth in the BC Mile Saturday.

“The owners had four amazing years campaigning her,” Weisbord said. “It is awesome to hear Peter got her. He has become a good friend of mine. We will get to see her for the next 10 or 15 years and be around her foals. I am sure Chad will get to train them. It made a lot of sense. Peter bought Unaided (GB) (Dansili {GB}), Uni’s dam, a couple of years ago in France [for €1,250,000 at the Arqana December Sale], so I know how excited he is about the family. Nobody outside of the owners saw Uni train more than Peter.”

Brown paid homage to his champion, who retires with a record of 22-11-3-4 and earnings of $2,650,880.

“She has tremendous durability,” the conditioner said. “She is an extremely sound horse. I’d say she has the fastest turn of foot of any horse I’ve ever trained. She runs the fastest last quarter of any horse I’ve ever trained. She has a wonderful temperament. She is a pleasure to train. She will be a hard one to replace.”

Uni’s stall will not be the only empty one in Brown’s shedrow. Brant retired another of Brown’s Eclipse and Breeders’ Cup-winning turf mares this week in Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}). Also, six time Grade I winner Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) (Hip 205)–who finished a close second in Saturday’s GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Turf–sold during Sunday’s auction, going to Coolmore for $5.5 million.

“Now I know how those college coaches feel when they have three top 10 picks in the draft,” Brown said. “They want to be happy for the connections moving on, but they have big shoes to fill. That’s what it feels like. You never take it for granted. You have to be optimistic new stars will come, but you have to work your butt off to get them in the barn and when you get them, you really have to take care of them. I’d also like to mention my team. They do such a good job keeping these horses sound. Look at Rushing Fall and Uni’s careers, how consistent they were, they were kept safe and sound.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

Blum Buys Back Flawless

Prominent commercial breeder Peter Blum made a last-minute decision Saturday night to offer 13-year-old mare Flawless (Mr. Greeley) at Sunday’s Night of the Stars after her son Authentic (Into Mischief) sealed up Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old honors, but ultimately bought her back for $4.1 million. Consigned as hip 288 by Blum’s longtime advisor Bridie Harrison, the ‘TDN Rising Star‘ was carrying a full-sibling to the Bob Baffert-trained superstar and appeared to garner live bids from the likes of Jane Lyon of Summer Wind Farm.

“I’ve had this family for at least 20 years,” Blum noted when reached by phone Sunday night. “I’m very familiar with the family. This mare ran as a 3-year-old in New York and won her first start by 13 1/4 lengths under wraps… Not that long after she was retired, Flawless’s dam Oyster Baby (Wild Again) died. She was only seven years old. I bumped into [Flawless’s trainer] Bill Mott at Keeneland a year or two later and told him, ‘I’m a commercial breeder and I don’t know whether I can sell foals out of the mare that would bring much money because the page is going to have two blank dams.’ Bill’s comment to me was, ‘Sell your other mares, but keep her.'”

Flawless, who bested a full-sister to none other than Tapit in her debut romp, was second in her only other start at the allowance level. She is a granddaughter of GSW Really Fancy (In Reality) and hails from the female family of highest-level winners Seventh Streeth, Reynaldothewizard and American Gal.

Authentic, her fourth foal, was a $350,000 KEESEP yearling.

“She didn’t bring what I expected, and she’s worth more to me,” Blum concluded. “She is due to foal a full-brother to Authentic in January.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

Bradley and Partners Rewarded Sunday

You couldn’t necessarily see it behind his mask, but it was still a safe bet that Pete Bradley was all smiles Sunday after he and his partners’ She’s a Julie (Elusive Quality) garnered a winning bid of $3 million from the Spendthrift team. The two-time Grade I winner, who was campaigned by Bradley Thoroughbreds, Tim and Anna Cambron, Denali Stud, Rigney Racing and Madaket Stables, was consigned by the Bandoroff family’s Denali as hip 208.

“In this year, it is so hard to have expectations–that’s the thing,” the bloodstock agent said when asked how the final price stacked up to what he was anticipating. “If you looked at what she was… I told somebody, if this was 2019, she’s $2.5 million to $3 million. Here, I didn’t know. It’s good to see that quality sells; that pedigree, beauty and race record can bring that kind of money. When we all get lucky enough to get a filly like that, you should reap a reward. She’s a beauty, and I’m so glad Spendthrift bought her; I’m so glad I’ll be able to see her offspring run.”

Bradley had passed on She’s a Julie at the 2016 Keeneland September sale when she sold for $160,000, but led a group to buy into her after she took the 2018 GIII Iowa Oaks (click for more). That investment soon proved shrewd, as she finished second in the GI Alabama S. next out, took two more Grade IIIs and then annexed the GI La Troienne S. last year on the GI Kentucky Oaks undercard. She added the GI Ogden Phipps S. this June, ultimately retiring with seven wins and nearly $1.2 million in earnings under Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen’s tutelage.

“I’m always cautiously optimistic, but she was way over her reserve; our racing partnerships are here to sell when we are finished with the racing end of it,” Bradley said when asked if seeing other high-dollar mares sell well prior to She’s a Julie gave him any added confidence. “What Steve Asmussen did with this filly is unbelievable; we were lucky to get in when we got in on her. This is another one that nobody passed the vet on as a yearling, and I hope that keeps echoing back to the buyers of yearlings that they don’t have to be perfect to be sound. She was everything we could’ve hoped for and it was one of the best rides I’ve ever had, and I’ve been lucky to have some good ones.”

Past Bradley stand-outs to sell at Fasig November include Dayatthespa (City Zip) (2014, $2.1 million) and Dacita (Chi) (Scat Daddy) (2017, $1.85 million). —@BDiDonatoTDN

Got Stormy Gets Mare Portion Started

MGISW turfer Got Stormy (Get Stormy) was the first big-name mare through the ring Sunday evening at Fasig-Tipton, and GI Breeders’ Cup Classic-winning Spendthrift Farm came out on top to take her home for $2.75 million. The 5-year-old was consigned to the sale by Meg Levy’s Bluewater Sales as hip 168 on behalf of owner Gary Barber.

“Starting out with this being the first [mixed] sale of 2020, I didn’t really know what to expect,” Levy admitted. “And this was the first big mare we were taking through the ring tonight. The foal market looked a tad spotty to me–just starting out, but it’s really two separate markets. So, I have to say I was a bit nervous walking up here. She had plenty of attention, but 2020 has been filled with surprises–now it’s a happy one.”

Produced by a half-sister to Grade II winners Smooth Air (Smooth Jazz) and Overdriven (Tale of the Cat), Got Stormy was a $45,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old in 2017. She was sold privately to Barber off a fourth-place run as a maiden at Gulfstream second out the following January, and was turned over to Mark Casse. The chestnut annexed the GIII Ontario Colleen S. that summer, but really hit her stride last year in the second half of her 4-year-old season, besting the boys in the GI Fourstardave H. at Saratoga, finishing second in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile and adding the GI Matriarch S. She cut back this fall to take the GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint S. and GIII Buffalo Trace Franklin County S., and was fifth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Saturday.

Bluewater had a very strong sale here 12 months ago in no small part thanks to Barber, whose Canadian Horse of the Year Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d’Oro) brought $2 million; Belvoir Bay (GB) (Equiano {Fr}), who had upset that year’s Turf Sprint, who went for $1.5 million; and Grade II winner Road to Victory (Quality Road), co-owned with John Oxley and in foal to War Front, who sold for $1.45 million.

“He’s been very kind to us and put most of his good fillies through the ring with us,” Levy said of Barber. “Last year was a banner year, but it’s hard to expect that every year. I’m glad [Got Stormy] will stay in America–that’s even more fun.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

Japan’s Northern Farm Stays Busy at Fasig

Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm is always quite active at both November sales, collecting top mares to bring home to Japan. Despite the pandemic, this year was no different, as the farm’s Manager of International Affairs Shingo Hashimoto signed four tickets Sunday, topped by $2.2-million Miss Besilu (Medaglia d’Oro) (Hip 273).

Ben Leon’s Besilu Stables purchased the regally bred mare for $2.6-million as a weanling at the 2011 KEENOV sale as part of the Edward P. Evans dispersal. Three Chimneys acquired her as part of a package of horses they purchased from the now extinct Besilu operation. Out of SW & GSP Quiet Dance (Quiet American), the MGISP ‘TDN Rising Star’ is a half to Horse of the Year Saint Liam (Saint Ballado); GISW Funtastic (More Than Ready); and GSW Quiet Giant (Giant’s Causeway), who is the dam of Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}).

Miss Besilu’s first foal Gun It (Tapit) also summoned $2.6 million, but as a Keeneland September yearling, and was purchased by Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm. The colt followed in his dam’s hoofprints as a ‘TDN Rising Star’ and was multiple graded stakes placed. Miss Besilu is also responsible for the unraced 3-year-old gelding Portinari (Candy Ride {Arg}) and unraced juvenile filly Minha Paixao (Curlin). She did not produce a foal in 2019 and her 2020 Into Mischief colt (hip 272) preceded her into the ring, RNAing for $1 million. She is back in foal to Into Mischief.

“The mare was hugely popular because people have seen her foals, including the one in the sale, and Gun It brought $2.6 million,” said Mark Taylor of Taylor Made, who consigned the mare and foal on behalf of Three Chimneys. “She comes from this unbelievable family, hopefully soon to be a sire-producing family with Gun Runner. The mare herself was just an oil painting. She is just beautiful. She has so much class. She was a hard mare to appraise all week, but we knew she would bring a lot. I think that was a fair price. She is going to Japan. They have a hell of a product and she has a lot of blue sky left with her pedigree. I think it was a great sale.”

Hashimoto also signed Yoshida’s name on the tickets of $1.95-million Paris Bikini (Bernardini) (Hip 196), the dam of GI CCA Oaks winner Paris Lights (Curlin), who sold in foal to Curlin; $1.1-million GSW La Sardane (Fr) (Kingsalsa) (Hip 177), carrying her first foal by Justify; and $1.05-million GISW Mirth (Colonel John) (Hip 186), who is carrying her first foal by Constitution.

Hashimoto noted that a decision on when or if the mares would ship to Japan would be made after his shopping was complete later this week. —@CDeBernardisTDN

Friday Results Lead to Sunday Profits for Ocala Stud

The O’Farrell family of Ocala Stud couldn’t have drawn up the results of Future Stars Friday at the Breeders’ Cup any better, as they were holding a half-sister to GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile hero Essential Quality (Tapit) in foal to red-hot freshman sire Nyquist, who was represented by GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies upsetter Vequist. Ocala Stud paid $130,000 for unraced Indelible (Tiznow) in foal to Bernardini at last year’s Keeneland November sale, and cashed out Sunday to the tune of $1.6 million. The Lane’s End consignee (hip 269) was purchased by Japan’s Nobutaka Tada and, as if her pedigree needed any more recency, she hails from the family of recent Japanese Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

“It was a great result; obviously, Friday was a big day,” David O’Farrell said. “We bought the mare last year from Godolphin–we like to try to buy mares in foal from nice young families and from good outfits. This was just one where everything came to fruition. It was just unbelievable how things worked out. We’re very fortunate. Lane’s End did a great job and we wish the owners the best of luck.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

Positive Spirit Keeps Partnership Alive

Mike Ryan and longtime friend and partner Gerry Dilger enjoyed their biggest success as breeders when Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) captured the 2017 GI Kentucky Derby. The Derby winner was out of Above Perfection (In Excess {Ire}), a mare the two Irishmen purchased for $450,000 at the 2006 Fasig-Tipton November sale. While Dilger passed away in March, the partnership enjoyed one last success with Above Perfection when her graded-stakes winning daughter Positive Spirit (Pioneerof the Nile) (hip 226) sold for $1.5 million to Spendthrift Farm Sunday at Fasig-Tipton.

“We bought the mare here in 2006 carrying Hot Dixie Chick (Dixie Union) and when she won the Spinaway, we thought we were geniuses,” Ryan recalled. “It was nothing on our part, we didn’t do the mating. But we did breed Always Dreaming, which was a career highlight for both of us.”

Ryan continued, “And then Above Perfection followed up with this filly who surpassed our expectations. She got injured as a yearling and we couldn’t sell her, but she turned out to be a good race filly.”

Racing for Ryan and Dilger, Positive Spirit won the 2018 GII Demoiselle S. and was second in the 2019 GII Gazelle S.

Of the decision to sell the 4-year-old filly, Ryan said, “We have a Curlin yearling half-sister and we have a filly foal by Quality Road who is very nice. And the mare is in foal to Justify, so it was a business decision. The fact that we have siblings coming along made it a lot easier. It’s very emotional because my friend’s not here, but Always Dreaming’s name will always be on the top of the rafters at Churchill Downs.” @JessMartiniTDN

Dorman Broodmare Band Off to Fast Start

Matt Dorman has been racing horses with trainer Phil Schoenthal for the last decade, but after buying a farm in Maryland this year, he made the plunge into the breeding industry and got his fledgling broodmare band off with a bang with the $1.1-million purchase of Desert Isle (Bernardini) (hip 187) Sunday evening at Fasig-Tipton. Dorman did his bidding in the pavilion alongside John Sikura and Schoenthal.

“We’ve been in the business for about 10 years, but this is the year we actually bought a farm, so we are starting to build out a broodmare band and we are working with John on some stallions as well,” Dorman, co-founder of Credible Behavioral Health Software, said. “For the right price, we will probably be buying between five and 10.”

Dorman first became a fan of racing when going to the track with his late father, longtime Maryland state senator Arthur Dorman. He campaigned stakes winner Sonny Inspired (Artie Schiller) in the name of his D Hatman Thoroughbreds.

“I’ve been in the business a while,” Dorman said. “I used to go to the track with my father and I was always attracted to the breeding side. Phil has been my trainer for 10 years and we’ve done well racing-wise, so we are just taking it up to the next level. Some of the mares will be based in Maryland, but this mare will be based at Hill ‘n’ Dale.”

Part of the dispersal of historic Sam-Son Farm, Desert Isle is a daughter of champion Eye of the Sphynx (Smart Strike) and is a half-sister to champion Eye of the Leopard (A.P. Indy). The 5-year-old mare, a stakes winner on the track, sold Sunday in foal to American Pharoah.

“I stretched further than I wanted to, but I grew up appreciating Sam-Son,” said Sikura. “They are one of the last great breed-to-race outfits. They were enormously successful and I have complete appreciation for Ernie Samuel and the founders and how they developed these pedigrees. I think it is a unique opportunity to get into a terrific reproducing family. I started in the business when I was 15 years old and for the last 40 or 50 years, every year it’s Sam-Son, Sam-Son, Sam-Son. So I have respect for what they’ve developed. They deserved to get the premium. Bernardini is a great broodmare sire and the mare had talent and it’s already on the page with daughters and granddaughters that trace back to a fantastic family. I think it’s a selective market. I gave beyond where I wanted to be, but in the end I have a great new partner who wants to establish a boutique group of mares. That’s always been something I strive for.”

Also Sunday at Fasig-Tipton, Dorman, under the name Determined Stud, purchased Hollywood Royal (Distorted Humor) (hip 172) for $425,000, Andina (Ire) (Singspiel {Ire}) (hip 240) for $200,000 and Benvenutta (Tapit) (hip 249) for $400,000. @JessMartiniTDN

City of Light Colt Shines at Fasig

A colt from the first crop of MGISW City of Light (Quality Road) (hip 129) was the day’s highest-priced weanling, hammering to Larry Best’s OXO Equine for $600,000. One of the underbidders involved in the frenzy for the colt was City of Light’s trainer Mike McCarthy, who was bidding on behalf of the stallion’s owners Mr. & Mrs. William Warren.

“I have watched him win some of those big, big races and I was always in awe of him,” said Best. “It wasn’t as much about the pedigree as the physical. I really fell in love with the physical. When I went back and considered the pedigree, it was strong enough. It is the first time I have bought a colt out of an Into Mischief filly, so we will see. It was really driven by the visual. This horse looks like he will grow up to be a two-turn horse. I hope.”

Best also bought a trio of mares, topped by $1.3-million One True Kiss (Warrior’s Reward) (hip 195), who sold in foal to Into Mischief.

The Hyde family of Camas Park Stud purchased hip 129’s dam Breaking Beauty (Into Mischief) for $300,000 with this colt in utero at the 2019 Keeneland November Sale. This colt is the first foal for the half-sister to to GSWs Osidy (Storm Cat) and Quetsche (Gone West).

“He was vetted at least a dozen times,” said Fergus Galvin of Hunter Valley Farm, who consigned the colt. “It sailed past our reserve and our expectations. Obviously he was a beautiful colt, but in this current climate, you can’t get too ambitious with reserves. He had a realistic reserve and brought a great price.”

A $710,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, City of Light captured four Grade Is, including the 2018 GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and 2019 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. for earnings over $5.62 million.

“We are active on both fronts, selling and buying weanlings, and we have seen a few City of Light weanlings who are really nice,” said Galvin. “He is really stamping his stock. They have great frames, great physiques with nice movement about them.”

Three members of City of Light’s first crop went through the ring Sunday for a total of $1.215 million and an average of $405,000. —@CDeBernardisTDN

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“We have a tremendous catalogue this year with fillies and mares coming off the racetrack, a tremendous group of in-foal mares and the best group of weanlings we’ve ever had,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “We are very, very pleased and enthusiastic about the quality of our 2020 catalogue.”

Top Breeders’ Cup contenders like champion and now two-time GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff heroine Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) (Hip 192), Got Stormy (Get Stormy) (Hip 168), narrow GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Turf runner-up Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) (Hip 205), Uni (GB) (More Than Ready) (Hip 228), Distaff runner-up Valiance (Tapit) (Hip 231) and Point of Honor (Curlin) (Hip 198) will be making the trip up Newtown Pike after their tilts in the World Championships at Keeneland Saturday afternoon. Champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) (f2Hip 185), who was forced to miss the Distaff due to an injury, will also go through the ring Sunday.

It was announced late Saturday evening that Flawless (Mr. Greeley), the dam of Saturday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and GI Kentucky Derby winner Authentic (Into Mischief), has been supplemented. Catalogued as Hip 288, she will be consigned by Bridie Harrison, agent for Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds. Flawless is in foal to Into Mischief on a Feb. 18 cover carrying a full sibling to Authentic. Flawless, a TDN Rising Star, hails from a deep female family of top producers, including Holiday Runner, the dam or granddam of Grade I winners Seventh Street, Reynaldothewizard, and American Gal.

“Flawless is an exciting late addition to our November Sale,” Browning said. “Authentic is just the fourth horse ever to win the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same year, and she is carrying his full sibling. To be able to add a mare of Flawless’s qualifications to our sale on the eve of the auction is unprecedented and provides buyers one of the more unique buying opportunities in recent memory.”

Some outstanding mares who have already made the transition into motherhood will be on offer at Fasig, such as Flirt (Kitten’s Joy) (Hip 164), the dam of GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf upsetter Fire at Will, who is carrying a foal by Lemon Drop Kid. Other top producers in the catalogue include Breeders’ Cup heroine Shared Account (Pleasantly Perfect) (Hip 207), who is carrying a full-sibling to 2019 Breeders’ Cup winner Sharing (Speightstown); Melody Lady (Unbridled’s Song) (Hip 183), who produced GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt S. victor Volatile (Violence); Paris Bikini (Bernardini) (Hip 196), who is responsible for GI CCA Oaks scorer Paris Lights (Curlin); and Cara Marie (Unbridled’s Song) (Hip 254), dam of GIII Pocahontas S. winner Girl Daddy (Uncle Mo).

Two other relatives of 2020 Breeders’ Cup winners are available Sunday in Voting Agreement (More Than Ready) (Hip 280), a half-sister to GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine Vequist (Nyquist), who sells as a broodmare prospect; and Indelible (Tiznow) (Hip 269), a half-sister to GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victor Essential Quality (Tapit), who is in foal to Nyquist.

The first 159 hips of the 287-head catalogue are weanlings, including nine from the first crop of undefeated Triple Crown hero Justify (Scat Daddy). One of those Justify foals is a half-sister to MGISW sprinter Lord Nelson (Pulpit) (Hip 109). Another weanling likely to prove popular Sunday afternoon is an Into Mischief colt out of MGISP Miss Besilu (Medaglia d’Oro) (Hip 272).

“I think we are going to see quality sells or quality has maintained its market value for the most part at all levels in 2020,” said Browning. “Hopefully every horse we have in the catalogue is quality. We feel very good about the overall prospects coming into the sale, the response pre-sale from buyers, both domestically and internationally, has been very encouraging.”

Last year’s Fasig-Tipton November Sale was topped by 2019 GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff heroine Blue Prize (Arg) (Pure Prize), who summoned $5 million from Larry Best of OXO Equine. The top weanling was a $750,000 filly from the first crop of Horse of the Year Gun Runner. Overall, 128 horses changed hands for a gross of $68,011,000, an average of $531,336 and a median of $300,000.

Japanese and European buyers usually make a strong showing at the November sales. COVID-19 has made travel difficult for international buyers, but thanks to online bidding, virtual inspection videos and travel visas, the international contingent has adapted.

“I think arrangements have been made,” Browning said. “There were already Japanese buyers on the grounds looking at horses and they will participate online. There is traditionally a stronger Japanese participation at the November sales than September because these are the factories they want to buy. There has been a significant number of travel waivers for buyers from Europe.”

Bidding gets underway at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon at Newtown Paddock

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It was the first Breeders' Cup entrant for ecstatic trainer James Fanshawe, the former assistant to stalwart Sir Michael Stoute. He'd traveled to the Breeders' Cup once before with Stoute, in 1986.

“First of all thanks to all the team at home,” Fanshawe said. “The (traveling crew) has looked after her superbly since she's been here. She's done everything right since she's been here. I just can't believe it, some race to win. I'm just so thrilled. PC gave her a superb ride. Breeders Cup has looked after us amazingly.” 

Owner Allison Swinburn was unable to attend the race, but Fanshawe said she'd be celebrating at home.

Audarya was ridden to victory by Pierre-Charles Boudot, taking the place of regular rider Ioritz Mendizabaz, who was unable to compete due to not passing a test for COVID-19. It was also Boudot's first win in the Breeders' Cup.

“She did it well and she was very courageous,” said Boudot, who shares an agent with Mendizabal.

Starship Jubilee appeared to stumble at the start of the Filly & Mare Turf, losing rider Florent Geroux. The mare was corralled by outriders on the backstretch, and Geroux escaped from the incident uninjured.

Mean Mary was the quickest off the blocks, streaking to the front along with Cayenne Pepper. Boudot crafted a beautiful trip from the 11-post in the 14-horse field, pushing Audarya through the pack to make it to the rail by the first turn. She settled beautifully in mid-pack down the backstretch, tracking fractions of :23.50 and :47.44, before pulling Boudot up into fifth position before the final turn.

“I said to Pierre-Charles to get a bit of cover because she might be a bit keen, but the way he got to the rail from stall 11 was just incredible,” Fanshawe said.

Rushing Fall had been tracking the pace from third and challenged Mean Mary around the turn, taking over near the sixteenth pole. Boudot tipped Audarya out toward the center of the course and began asking the filly for run. While she didn't show a big turn of foot, Audarya kept inching into Rushing Fall's lead and was able to wear down the favorite to win by a neck on the wire. Rushing Fall held second by a head in her final career start, while Harvey's Lil Goil checked in third. Lady Prancealot finished fourth and Civil Union was fifth.

The remaining order of finish was: Sistercharlie, Mean Mary, Nay Lady Nay, My Sister Nat, Cayenne Pepper, Peaceful, Mucho Unusual, and Terebellum.

Bred in France by S.A.R.L. Haras D'Ecouves, Audarya is out of the Green Tune mare Green Bananas. The filly commanded $147,475 at the 2017 Arqana yearling sale, and has compiled a record of six wins from nine starts overall with earnings of $1,289,046.

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