Airdrie stallions among the headliners at Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – There’s plenty of promise in the pipeline for Airdrie Stud, which has a young and growing stallion roster. Some of the stallions will have a coming-out party at Fasig-Tipton’s Kentucky July yearling sale.
Happy Saver and Highly Motivated are represented by their first yearlings, while Girvin and Upstart have crops from turning points in their respective careers represented at the July 8 sale at Fasig-Tipton’s Newtown Paddocks.
“We’re very lucky right now,” Airdrie president Bret Jones said.
In addition to its active stallions, the farm recently announced that it will welcome 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan at the close of his career. He’ll join 2023 Derby winner Mage, whose first foals arrived this year.
The July sale is known for featuring precocious, early developing horses. It also features a first-crop sire showcase. This year’s class represented at the sale, following early outs, includes Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun, Preakness winner Early Voting, Belmont Stakes winners Mo Donegal and Sir Winston, two-time Breeders’ Cup winner Golden Pal, Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide, and Eclipse Award champions Corniche, Epicenter, and Jackie’s Warrior.
Other first-crop stallions with yearlings at the sale are Grade 1 winners Cyberknife, Drain the Clock, Happy Saver, Idol, Jack Christopher, Mind Control, Olympiad, Pinehurst, and Speaker’s Corner, plus graded stakes winners Greatest Honour and Highly Motivated, and stakes winner Nashville.
Happy Saver and Highly Motivated both brought strong pedigrees to Airdrie. Happy Saver, by Super Saver, traces directly to Weekend Surprise, dam of breed-shaping stallion A.P. Indy, as well as fellow classic winner and classic sire Summer Squall.
Millionaire Happy Saver won the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup and was runner-up in four other Grade 1 stakes, including being beaten a half-length by Maxfield in the 2021 Clark, finishing second to champion Flightline in the 2022 Metropolitan Handicap, and running second to Life is Good in the 2022 Whitney.
“He looks the way he ran,” Jones said. “He’s very masculine. He’s a tough-made horse, just a big, strong shoulder on him, and just such a huge heart. He always fired, always bellied down, and never disgraced himself. He’s putting his stamp on [his foals] and hopefully that’s a very good sign.”
Highly Motivated, a stakes winner at 2, was multiple graded stakes-placed at 3 and beaten a neck by dual champion Essential Quality in the Blue Grass, then a Grade 2. As an older horse, he won the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup.
Highly Motivated is by leading sire and emerging sire of sires Into Mischief. His dam, stakes winner Strong Incentive, has also emerged as an elite broodmare. In the years since his birth, she has produced Grade 1 winners Surge Capacity and Ways and Means.
“His sire is obviously special, and it turns out his dam is as well,” said Jones. “I would say he’s throwing a leggier Into Mischief. They still have that Into Mischief look, but they’ve got more leg under them, and they certainly look like they could be two-turn horses with speed, just as he was.”
Although Girvin and Upstart are both established as sires of Grade 1 winners, this season is a crucial one for the Airdrie residents.
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Girvin began his career at Ocala Stud in Florida, with owners Brad and Misty Grady and Airdrie as partners. The stallion was a breakout freshman, with multiple stakes performers in his first crop. He finished fifth on the national freshman sire list behind four Kentucky stallions.
Following that first-year success, Girvin was moved to Airdrie and covered 181 mares in his first Kentucky season in 2023, up from 86 the prior year. The resulting foals are now yearlings.
Girvin’s progeny continue to burnish his reputation. Faiza and Dorth Vader, both from his first Florida crop, are Grade 1 winners.
“Ocala Stud obviously did a fabulous job with him and getting him support in Florida, and [they] really paved the way for him to come up to Kentucky,” Jones said. “What we’re hearing, and certainly what we’re seeing at Airdrie, is this yearling crop from his first Kentucky crop of mares is absolutely exceptional.”
Upstart, who has stood at Airdrie throughout his career, had a breakout spring in 2022 with Zandon winning the Grade 1 Blue Grass and finishing third in the Kentucky Derby, and Kathleen O. winning a pair of Grade 2 stakes.
Upstart, who covered 77 mares in 2021, had his book jump to 151 mares in 2022. With those foals now 2-year-olds, he is the nation’s leading sire in that division at the midway point of the year. Upstart is the sire of Debutante winner Percy’s Bar.
Upstart’s stud fee tripled to $30,000 for 2023, and he covered another book of 151 mares for a strong yearling crop.
“The pipeline is just so much stronger than it had been previously,” Jones said. “You’re seeing that now with the early returns of these 2-year-olds.”
The Fasig July yearling sale is immediately followed by the company’s July horses of racing age sale, for which the catalog is still developing. There are currently 68 horses cataloged, including the first round of supplemental entries, but the company will continue to review entries until sale day.
The fluid nature of the sale was illustrated last year when Informed Patriot finished third in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby, was supplemented into the sale set for two days later, and sold for a sale-record $1.55 million as the last horse in the ring.
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