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Novel Promotion Rewards Coolmore Breeders with Justify Season

Coolmore's Ashford Stud will enter breeders who have booked mares to Corniche, Epicenter, Jack Christopher, or Tiz the Law into drawings to award four no-guarantee nominations to Justify in a promotion called “THE JUSTIFY 4.” There will be a separate drawing for each of the four stallions, with one no-guarantee nomination awarded among each pool, for a total of four.

The drawing will be held on Apr. 26.

The farm said that the event was being held “to celebrate Justify's phenomenal year in 2023.”

Justify is the cumulative leading third-crop sire by earnings in a group that includes strong competition from sires including Good Magic, Bolt d'Oro, Mendelssohn, and City of Light. He was the leading second-crop sire of 2023, not only by earnings, but in every black-type category. His six individual Grade I winners equaled the annual combined total of the rest of his crop year.

His appeal is global; in 2023 alone, he was the sire of dual Grade I winner Just F Y I, the favorite to be named Champion Juvenile Filly; Hard to Justify, the winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf; Opera Singer, winner of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac; Aspen Grove (Ire), winner of the GI Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational S.; Arabian Lion, winner of the GI Woody Stephens S.; and City of Troy, winner of the G1 Dewhurst S. Already in 2024, his Storm Boy (Aus) has won the A$3-million The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic in Australia.

“In a very competitive market, we hoped that this promotion would remind breeders of the incredible potential and upside of our younger stallions,” said Coolmore's Charlie O'Connor. “And who better to remind them of that than Justify? This is an amazing opportunity for breeders to use these stallions who are all Grade I winners on dirt.

“Justify has enjoyed a sensational year,” continued O'Connor. “He's the first sire in North America since Mr Prospector to sire four Grade I-winning juveniles in a single season. His two Breeders' Cup winners are amongst the three finalists for Champion 2-Year-Old Filly at the upcoming Eclipse Awards, City of Troy and Opera Singer have been crowned European Champion 2-Year-Old Colt and European Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, while Ramatuelle was crowned French Champion 2-Year-Old. And if all that's not enough, he was also Champion First-Crop Sire in Australia. We think 'THE JUSTIFY 4' concept is a novel idea which is sure to catch the imagination of breeders given four seasons to this great stallion are up for grabs.”

Justify's 2024 stud fee was initially listed at $200,000, but was later switched to private.

The terms and conditions of the event are as follows:

For each qualifying mare contracted to any of the four stallions by Apr. 26, 2024, a ticket will be entered with no limit on the number of tickets per client.
One ticket will be drawn for each of the four stallions with the prize being a no-guarantee 2024 season to Justify in each case.
The mare nominated must be approved and fit for breeding purposes. Mares over 17 or barren for the last two years are excluded.
The qualifying mare must be bred before the nominated mare can be bred by Justify.
All Coolmore employees and related parties are ineligible for these draws as are any of the partners in the participating stallions. In the event of a dispute, Coolmore is the final arbitrator.

Corniche, Epicenter, and Jack Christopher are all standing their second season at stud with first weanlings arriving now. Corniche is the Breeders' Cup-winning Champion Juvenile; Epicenter is the Eclipse Award winning Champion 3-Year-Old and Travers winner; and Jack Christopher is a three-time Grade I winner. Tiz the Law was a Grade I-winning 2-year-old who went on to win the GI Florida Derby, Belmont S., and Travers S. He has first 2-year-olds this year.

To participate in this draw, breeders may call the following Coolmore connections: M.V. Magnier, 011-353-86-821-6827; Dermot Ryan, 859-333-2562; Aisling Duignan, 859-333-2566; Charlie O'Connor, 859-333-2066; Adrian Wallace, 859-327-8302; Robyn Murray, 859-619-8770; Michael Norris, 859-753-1521; Blaise Benjamin, 859-333-2591; Charles Hynes, 859-753-3736; David O'Loughlin, 011-353-86-249-0821; or Christy Grassick, 001-353-86-255-1126.

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Michael Iavarone Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

When the IEAH stable partnership closed down in 2013, it seemed like the sport had seen the last of its founder, Michael Iavarone. But after four years on the sidelines Iavarone returned as the solo owner of a small group of horses in 2017. Since, he has built his stable into a top outfit, as evidenced by the fact that he will have a starter in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational in O'Connor (Chi) (Boboman) and in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational in Master Piece (Chi) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}).

What brought Iavarone back to the sport, what are his goals and what on earth is the story with the crazy outfits he wears when he shows up at the track? Those were some of the questions we had for Iavarone when he appeared on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Iavarone was this week's Green Group Guest of the week.

“So when I left in 2013, obviously I ran a syndicate at the time and we were unwinding the syndicate but I always wanted to essentially come back,” Iavarone said. “I just didn't know when, but I wanted to come back, just not as a syndicate. I wanted to come back with only my own money and have a couple partners. Very much low key, more for the entertainment than a business side of it. So I had to wait for the right time. I went back into the securities industry for an extended period of time. In 2017, I talked it over with my wife and we felt the time was good for a reentry point. So that's when we dipped the toe in, per se.”

Michael Iavarone Joins the TDN Writers' Room from Thoroughbred Daily News on Vimeo.

He said he never enjoyed having the responsibilities that go hand in hand with running a big syndicate. One of his worst memories was having to tell the partners that I Want Revenge (Stephen Got Even) was being scratched the morning of the 2009 GI Kentucky Derby.

“I can tell you that having a conversation with 125 or 150 people that day was so incredibly difficult that at no moment did I get a chance to even accept or even understand myself what just happened,” he said. “It felt like the worst thing in the world for them. And it was one of the worst things in the world for me to have to tell them why we're being scratched. And from that moment forward, it kind of sucked the life out of me because nobody cared or asked me the question, why did the horse scratch? Is the horse okay? It was more of a question of what does that mean to us financially? What does it mean to my investment? What does it mean to my money? And I would say to them, I can't control that. I'm not going to put a racehorse on the racetrack that has the opportunity or even the remote possibility of breaking down. Nobody really cared about that.”

And his outfits? In his IEAH days Iavarone looked and dressed like a Wall Streeter, wearing expensive and conservative suits. Now, he shows up in outfits that look like he stole them from Elvis Presley or maybe Michael Jackson. There are the jump suits, the bling, the deep tan and the ever present sunglasses.

“When I met my wife, she was very much into fashion,” Iavarone said. “So I first tried on something that I thought was kind of outrageous and ridiculous. I was against wearing it out, but I did anyway. I got some compliments. Some people looked at me like I was crazy, but I started to grow more comfortable with it. I felt like I could express myself in an older age. When I was younger I felt like I needed to be molded. I'm comfortable in my skin and I feel like it's fun. I know some people don't like it. Some people, they love it. The good news is I don't have to answer anybody anymore. That's the best part of not being part of a syndicate. So I can kind of do it my way. I feel like the way I dress now and go to the racetrack, it's all about fun.”

In the stallion spotlight segments, the podcast featured Coolmore's Epicenter (Not This Time), who stands for a fee of $40,000. The focus was also on Always Dreaming (Bodemeister), who stands at WinStar for $5,000. His best son, Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) was this week's Fastest Horse of the Week. He ran a 105 Beyer in his victory in the GIII Louisiana S. at Fair Grounds and is on his way to the Saudi Cup.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by WinStar Farm, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association,1/ST Racing, the KTA & KTOB, West Point Thoroughbreds, and XBTV.com, the team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman looked at a trio of 3-year-olds who were impressive winners last weekend. All three agreed that GIII Lecomte S. winner Track Phantom (Quality Road) and maiden winners Hall of Fame (Gun Runner) and Maymun (Frosted) are horses to watch on the road to the GI Kentucky Derby. There were also discussions of the news that Bob Baffert and Amr Zedan had dropped their last lawsuits challenging the decision to disqualify Medina Spirit (Protonico) from the 2021 Kentucky Derby and the developments out of Saudi Arabia where The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia announced that it is, finally, moving closer to disqualifying Maximum Security (New Year's Day) from his win in the 2020 Saudi Cup.

To watch the Writers' Room podcast video, click here. To listen to an audio version, click here.

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OBS January Sale Concludes on Par with 2023

A short yearling by Omaha Beach (hip 409) topped the two-day Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Winter Mixed Sale when selling for $100,000 to Discovery Bay Bloodstock during the auction's open session Wednesday. Bred by Dominque Damico and consigned by her Fly By Thoroughbreds, the Florida-bred filly is out of Gardenista (Curlin), who is a daughter of multiple graded-stakes winner Valbenny (Ire) (Val Royal {Fr}).

During Wednesday's open session, 163 horses grossed $2,009,900 for an average of $12,331 and a median of $5,200. The buy-back rate was 21.3%.

Through two days, 274 horses sold for $4,428,800. The average was $16,164 and the median was $8,000. From a smaller catalogue, the 2024 January sale concluded with figures on par with the auction's 2023 edition. A year ago, 380 horses grossed $6,346,200 for an average of $16,701 and a median of $9,500.

“I thought it was a solid sale,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “There was plenty of money for the perceived higher end. For some of the horses lower on that order, it was a little tougher for the sellers. One thing that hurt us this year from a gross number, we were pretty short in numbers on the horses of racing age section compared to last year. That's an ebb-and-flow situation from one year to the next.”

The OBS sales season continues in two months with the company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

“I think we are going to continue to see what we've seen in the marketplace,” Wojciechowski said of expectations for the spring 2-year-old sales. “There will be a lot of money there for the perceived top-end horses. It can sometimes be a challenge in the middle and lower ends, but I anticipate a good group of 2-year-olds for the upcoming season and I think we will have some good sales.”

Wojciechowski added the upcoming OBS March sale will include 2-year-old offerings from the dispersal of the late Robert Lothenbach. That dispersal begins at Fasig-Tipton with a digital sale opening next Monday and continues with the Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed sale in February.

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First Foal for New York Sire Keepmeinmind

Sequel Stallions New York's GSW and MGISP Keepmeinmind (Laoban–Inclination, by Victory Gallop) was represented by his first foal recently, a filly. Bred by Sequel, the filly is out of the unraced Wintrily (Carpe Diem), a half-sister to Nov. 18 Key Cents S. winner Tricky Temper (Into Mischief).

“We couldn't be happier with how this foal is built,” said Sequel's Becky Thomas. “She has a great size and shape to her, plenty of leg, and has all the parts and pedigree to be a great racehorse!”

Keepmeinmind will stand his second season at Sequel for $5,000 S&N.

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