American Pharoah yearlings poised for success where their sire sold

In August 2013, an unassuming bay colt with a short tail and the number 85 stuck onto his hip walked out of the Taylor Made Sales barn, crossed Saratoga’s Madison Avenue, and headed into Fasig-Tipton’s Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion. With relatively little fanfare, the bid board lit up at $300,000, thanks to bloodstock agent David Ingordo, and when all was said and done, the colt still belonged to breeder Zayat Stables.

Five years later, there is considerably more fanfare as the pedigree of that colt – now, of course, known as American Pharoah – again appears in the catalog for the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale. The Triple Crown hero, who broke a 37-year drought in the American classic series, is represented by 15 yearlings from his first crop at the boutique auction. His progeny have already made a commercial splash and could be poised for a major run.

“They’re selling great,” said M.V. Magnier of the Coolmore operation, which stands American Pharoah at its Ashford Stud in Kentucky and its Australian farm. “They’re all great movers. They seem to move very much like him.”

Aisling Duignan, Coolmore’s director of bloodstock, joined Magnier to inspect American Pharoah’s weanlings last year, and noted that they inherited the efficiency of movement that powered their sire to eight Grade 1 wins, including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont by a combined 13 1/2 lengths and the Breeders’ Cup Classic by 6 1/2 lengths.

“We had gone around and looked at all the foals, and we really liked all the ones we saw,” Duignan said. “The one thing they all seemed to have in common is they all have incredible mechanics, which he did as well. They are all beautiful movers, and they move just the way that he did. They are all from wonderful female families, so you really couldn’t be surprised that they would be as impressive as they were.”

American Pharoah’s first-crop yearlings were conceived on an advertised stud fee of $200,000 – which not only made him the most expensive incoming stallion in North America since champion Ghostzapper commanded the same in 2006, it tied him as the second-most-expensive stallion on the continent overall, behind only perennial leading sire Tapit at $300,000. It was later revealed that Coolmore was cutting two-for-one deals on breedings to American Pharoah – a common practice behind the scenes for stallion operations seeking to attract the highest-quality mares possible to help their young prospects establish a foothold in a competitive market.

American Pharoah covered 208 mares in that first season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred, and they were indeed of high quality, as 55 were Grade 1/Group 1 winners or the dams of winners at that level. Living up to that quality, the stallion’s first commercial offerings have been keenly anticipated and well received, helping breeders to profit on the six-figure price point. His 37 mares in foal sold worldwide, beginning in the fall of 2016, averaged $375,228. The number spiked further once his foals were actually on the ground. Ten weanlings sold last year averaged $445,500. That group of youngsters was led by a half-sister to classic-placed Grade 1 winner Bodemeister, sold for $1 million to Emmanuel de Seroux’s Narvick International at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale, tying that auction’s record. The filly was consigned by Eaton Sales.

“I’m going to tell you, these American Pharoahs are going to blow through the roof,” Eaton’s Reiley McDonald said. “The ones I’ve seen are outstanding, and he’s stamping them. They’ve got huge shoulders and great hip, good length and scope, so this is just the beginning.”

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American Pharoah has just five yearlings sold to date, averaging $689,800. A half-brother to Group 1 winner Caravaggio was a $1 million transaction to Coolmore as a short yearling at the Keeneland January breeding stock sale, essentially a continuation of the strong weanling results. In this nascent summer and fall yearling season, a colt sold for about $1.6 million in U.S. dollars at July’s Japan Racing Horse Association sale.

American Pharoah’s lone representative at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale, which begins the major-market yearling season in North America, was a filly who failed to meet her reserve in the auction ring. She was later listed as a $200,000 private acquisition by J.J. Crupi, as agent. Echoing the comments of others, Andrew Cary of consignor Select Sales noted that the filly inherited her sire’s quality of movement.

“She’s a tremendous mover, very much like her dad,” Cary said. “She looks like she’s gonna enjoy going two turns. She has a lot of quality to her – big, rangy, big stride, covers a ton of ground. You could imagine her really enjoying two turns down the road, but her mom was a really fast sprinter, too, so hopefully she’s early enough and can stretch it out.”

American Pharoah’s offerings at the Saratoga selected sale are led by a filly out of multiple Grade 1 winner Life At Ten. The mare’s pair of starters are both winners, led by Grade 2-placed Singing Bullet. This filly, consigned by Gainesway, was a $500,000 purchase out of the Keeneland November horses of all ages sale by Gainesway’s Brian Graves, for the pinhooking partnership Blue Sky Stables.

“We thought she was a beautiful, balanced filly,” Graves said. “The sky’s the limit. He’s a Triple Crown winner, so we bought something by a Triple Crown winner out of a Grade 1 winner. We can’t be that wrong.”

American Pharoah is also represented by a half-brother to Royal Ascot heroine Acapulco; a half-brother to Canadian classic winner Unspurned; a half-brother to Grade 2 winner Upstart; a half-sister to Grade 3-winning juvenile Brazen Persuasion; and yearlings out of stakes winners Flattermewithroses, Funfair, Funny Feeling, Hessonite, J Z Warrior, and She Be Classy.

Other standout bloodlines represented include a colt from the direct female line of Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine and blue hen Urban Sea, whose sons Galileo and Sea the Stars are both major sires. Another filly cataloged is from the female family of Grade 1 winner Pioneerof the Nile, creating linebreeding the family of American Pharoah’s sire. The select yearling group also includes a colt from the family of Grade 1 winners Hymn Book and Data Link, and a filly out of a full sister to graded stakes winner Bridgetown.