Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 1,553 yearlings for its Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, to be held Oct. 26-29, in Lexington, Kentucky. The catalog may be viewed online, and will also be available via the equineline sales catalogue app. Four continuous sessions, conducted Monday through Thursday, will begin each day at 10 a.m.
“This is the strongest group of yearlings we have ever offered at Kentucky October,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “This spring, a significant number of sellers decided that they would target October with many of their top yearlings. Buyers will find tremendous quality here, no matter what their budget.”
This year’s catalog cover features recent sale graduates champion juvenile filly British Idiom (Flashback) and Grade I winning Gretzky the Great (Nyquist).
Print catalogs will be available on-site in Lexington approximately one week before the sale, as well as from Fasig-Tipton’s regional offices and national representatives at that time. Online bidding and phone bidding services will be available to buyers. For more information, visit www.fasigtipton.com.
The supplemental catalogue for the Oct. 13-14 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s 2020 October Sale is now available online. It will also be available in printed form at OBS on or about Wednesday, Oct. 7.
Three 2-year-olds and two horses of racing age have been added to the two-day sale and will sell as Hip No.’s 55-59. Twenty-seven yearlings have been supplemented to the Selected Yearling portion and will sell as Hip No.’s 243-269. In addition, 28 horses have been added to the Open Yearling Sale, selling as Hip No.’s 694-721.
The sale begins Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 12:00 p.m. ET with the 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age portions, followed immediately by the Selected Yearling Sale. The Open Yearling Sale will take place Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute–Diva Delite, by Repent), the reigning Eclipse Award-winning older female and five-time Grade I winner, has been retired from racing, according to Jeffrey Bloom, co-owner and managing partner or Bloom Racing Stable.
“I cannot begin to tell you what this mare has meant to me, my family, and my partners,” said Bloom. “The places she has taken us and the thrills she has given us are immeasurable. And just to be in her presence is to feel what greatness is all about. Her calm, inquisitive demeanor, her fierce determination in a race is unlike any other horse. She is all class. I’m just so grateful I got to be a part of her incredible journey, and I’m extremely excited to watch the next phase of her life, watch her become a mother, and for her babies to hit the track with all of her class and elegance, and continue the Midnight Bisou legacy.”
Bred in Kentucky by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Midnight Bisou was bought back on a bid of $19,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September sale, but improved over the next seven months and was hammered down to Bloom as agent for $80,000 at the OBS April Sale the following spring (under-tack video). Turned over to Bill Spawr in California, Midnight Bisou was sent off at debut odds of 21-1 for Bloom and Allen Racing LLC and was beaten a nose by future Grade I winner Dream Tree (Uncle Mo), to whom she was also beaten a nose in the Desi Arnaz S. in her next start.
She became the queen of the hill in Southern California in 2018, winning the GII Santa Ynez S., the GIII Santa Ysabel S. and the GI Santa Anita Oaks (video) in convincing fashion before heading to Churchill Downs for her next appearance.
The Monomoy Girl Meetings…
On the strength of that form, Midnight Bisou was made the 23-10 favorite for the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, but she endured a nightmarish trip from a wide draw and did well to be third, beaten just over four lengths by Monomoy Girl (Tapizar). With better and richer options for his filly in the eastern half of the U.S., Bloom elected to transfer Midnight Bisou to trainer Steve Asmussen, who saddled the filly to a towering six-length success in the GII Mother Goose S., with Madaket Stables now part of the ownership group. Clearly second to Monomoy Girl in the GI CCA Oaks, the dark bay was third in the 10-furlong GI Alabama S., then crossed the line a neck second to Monomoy Girl in the GI Cotillion S. (video) before being elevated to the victory. She closed the season with a rallying third to her arch-rival in the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
The Making of a Champion…
While Monomoy Girl spent the entirety of 2019 on the shelf, Midnight Bisou dominated the division, with seven wins from eight starts. Ultra-game in taking the GI Apple Blossom H. by a nose in April, she was imperious in adding the GI Ogden Phipps S. and GIII Molly Pitcher S. before throwing down with Elate (Medaglia d’Oro) in one of the year’s most thrilling stretch battles in the GI Personal Ensign S. at Saratoga (see below). A nose best that day, she romped in the GII Beldame S. before suffering her first defeat of the season in the Distaff. She was nevertheless the runaway winner of the Eclipse, besting her Distaff conqueror Blue Prize (Arg) (Pure Prize) by a wide margin.
WATCH: Midnight Bisou outduels Elate in the 2019 GI Personal Ensign S.
Training On at Five…
The morning of the Distaff, Bloom announced that Midnight Bisou would be withdrawn from the Fasig-Tipton November sale and would instead focus on a 5-year-old campaign. Connections selected the inaugural $20-million Saudi Cup for their mare’s seasonal debut, and despite racing far back early, she made eye-catching progress up the rail in the final furlong to finish a close second to Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) (video). In the meantime, Monomoy Girl had made a successful return to action and a much-anticipated rematch loomed in the GII Fleur de Lis S. June 27. But the Brad Cox runner was re-routed for the GII Ruffian S. at Belmont two weeks later and Midnight Bisou took full advantage, rolling home by 8 1/4 lengths. Beaten a neck into second by Vexatious (Giant’s Causeway) in this year’s Personal Ensign Aug. 1, Midnight Bisou was being pointed for this weekend’s GI Juddmonte Spinster S., but she was off following a work at Saratoga this past Monday and was sent to Rood and Riddle in Lexington to be examined by Dr. Larry Bramlage. The renowned vet confirmed Wednesday that Midnight Bisou had sustained a sesamoid fracture in her right front fetlock. Surgery is not indicated and the injury will not impact her future as a broodmare.
Midnight Bisou will be consigned by Elite Sales to this year’s Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars Nov. 8.
“I want to thank trainer Steve Asmussen, assistant trainer’s Scott Blasi, Darren Fleming, her main exercise rider Angel Garica, groom Gerardo Morales (Chocolate), and the entire Asmussen team for the devotion and care they provided each and every single day,” Bloom added. “I would also like to thank her regular rider, Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who shared a very special bond with her, and was aboard for all five Grade I wins, as well as the other jockeys who were fortunate enough to climb aboard. Finally, a sincere thank you to all of Midnight Bisou’s legion of fans who have been extremely loyal with their support and love for our Champion throughout her career.”
Midnight Bisou was never out of the top three in her 22 career starts at 10 different racetracks, compiling a record of 13-6-3 and bankrolling $7,471,520. She has been sent to WinStar Farm where she will be turned out in the interim.
In addition to all the Stateside action this weekend–the final leg of the Triple Crown, Fall Stars Weekend at Keeneland and 11 Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” events–the biggest race of the year in Europe will also be run with Sunday’s G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris. Wednesday on the TDN Writers’ Room podcast presented by Keeneland, TDN International Editor Kelsey Riley joined the crew as the Green Group Guest of the Week to talk about the much-anticipated showdown between Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), how heavy rains may impact the running and much more.
Asked whether or not the Arc is a two-horse affair as the bettors have surmised, Riley said, “Oh no. It’s very much an open race, and the major development this week has been the rain that’s falling in Paris. Right now, the course at Longchamp is listed as ‘very soft’, which is the same as what it was last year when Enable ran second, and there’s more rain still forecast to come … So you have a horse like Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who’s been the best stayer in Europe the past couple seasons. I think that the soft going will help his chances a bit. It’ll turn the race into a bit more of a stamina contest.”
Stradivarius, currently a distant third choice for the bettors behind Enable and Love, is not the only potential upsetter on Riley’s radar.
“Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) was third in last year’s Arc over this same soft going and ran a very game race there,” she said. “He won a Group 1 race [the Prix Ganay] in France earlier this year. His trainer, Jean-Claude Rouget has spoken very highly of him this week coming into it, saying this is the best he’s ever had him, and that they’ve had this as their key target ever since he finished third last year. Another horse that I find a little interesting is Rouget’s ‘other’ horse, the only other 3-year-old filly in the race besides Love, Raabihah (Sea The Stars {Ire}). She was very impressive winning her first two starts this spring, and Jean-Claude, right from that point, was saying, ‘This is our Arc filly.'”
The success of fillies and mares has been a consistent theme throughout Arc history. Riley was asked about why they’ve competed so frequently and done so well against males in the race.
“With the weight scale in France this time of year, the 3-year-old fillies get a big weight break for the Arc,” she said. “They carry 121 pounds, which is what Enable carried when she won her first Arc. Three-year-old colts carry 125, older mares 128 and older horses 131 pounds. It’s also down to the fact that, especially at this time of year in Europe, there are fewer opportunities at the Group 1 level for [fillies and mares] over the mile and a quarter to a mile and a half. In both Britain and France, there are only two Group 1 races for fillies and mares from the summer onward.”
Elsewhere on the show, the writers discussed the Horseracing Safety Integrity Act passing the U.S. House of Representatives, broke down the 11-horse GI Preakness S. and reacted to Improbable (City Zip) taking charge in the older male division. Then, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, they analyzed the Kentucky Supreme Court decision that puts the future of historical horse racing machines in doubt and tried to figure out why alternative forms of gaming continue to grow while racing’s handle declines. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.
