For $1.5 million, Eclipse Thoroughbreds gets rare find at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Buyers expect to find “collector’s items” among the yearlings carefully chosen for the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, and that was exactly what Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbreds said he found in the $1.5 million Into Mischief colt he purchased for the partnership this week.

The colt, the third-most expensive offering of the elite sale, is out of Grade 1 winner Rachel’s Valentina, dam of one winner from three starters thus far. The Bernardini mare is the only daughter of Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra. The 2009 Horse of the Year produced two winners from as many offspring in her broodmare career before she was pensioned due to difficult deliveries.

The colt was consigned by Taylor Made Sales for breeder Stonestreet Farm. Wellman said Stonestreet’s Barbara Banke had approached him about staying in for a share in the colt, which she often does with the young horses she sends to public auction.

“He was an absolute standout,” Wellman said. “He’s by, arguably, the greatest sire of our generation. He’s out of a Grade 1-winning mare who’s by Bernardini, arguably one of the best broodmare sires of our generation. And she’s out of Rachel Alexandra, who’s probably one of the best racemares of our generation. As far as pedigree is concerned, it speaks for itself, but he has to match up physically, and he did every which way.”

Stonestreet also bred a $1.1 million Quality Road colt and an $800,000 Authentic colt to lead its offerings at Saratoga.

“They raise them incredibly well at Stonestreet,” Wellman said. “Year after year, they’re turning out champions. Incredible operation.”

Hartley/DeRenzo pinhook

Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo are best known for their high-end yearling-to-juvenile pinhooking partnership. They struck in a different arena at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, with a successful weanling-to-yearling pinhook who lit up the bid board Tuesday night.

Hartley and DeRenzo, signing as AAA Thoroughbreds, purchased a Tapit colt who is a half-brother to multiple graded stakes winner Mr. Money for $275,000 at last fall’s Keeneland November breeding stock sale. About nine months later, Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm went to $1.2 million for the colt at Saratoga, from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales, as agent for the pinhookers.

“He just developed exactly the way we hoped he would,” DeRenzo said.

The partners also went to $900,000 for a Not This Time colt to attempt to pinhook as a 2-year-old early next year.

“We like to stay in the upper end of the market,” DeRenzo said. “For us, it’s easier because great horses do great things.”

Runnymede returns to Saratoga

Runnymede Farm, which is enjoying a turn in the spotlight this year for its association with Kentucky Derby winner Mage, returned to Fasig-Tipton Saratoga this year with solid results.

Runnymede sold both yearlings in its first Fasig-Tipton consignment since 2019, with a McKinzie colt going for $700,000 to CRK Stable and a Constitution filly selling for $425,000 to Winchell Thoroughbreds.

Runnymede will sell the bulk of the yearlings it consigns at the upcoming Keeneland September yearling sale. That is where the operation consigned Mage, after foaling and raising him for breeder Grandview Equine. The colt brought $235,000 as a September yearling, before he was pinhooked to his current connections as a 2-year-old.

Runnymede will offer a half-brother to Mage, also from the first crop of McKinzie, at next month’s Keeneland sale.

“We try to look at the foals by freshman sires in November the year before, and we were very pleased with the McKinzies,” Runnymede president Romain Malhouitre said. The Saratoga yearling “is a very good horse. So we are very happy with what we see from McKinzie.”

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