Fasig-Tipton July sale: Stonestreet buys Pioneerof the Nile colt for $260,000

A colt from the first crop of current freshman sire Pioneerof the Nile set the bar high early at the Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale at the Newtown Paddocks in Lexington, Ky., selling for $260,000 to Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Farm.

The colt, consigned by Gainesway, as agent, is out of the Silver Deputy mare Honolulu Heat, who has produced two winners from three starters to date. Her dam, the multiple stakes-producing Hawaii mare Honolulu Honey, is a full sister to Grade 1 winner Qualique, the granddam of dual classic winner and champion Afleet Alex. It is the family of graded or group stakes winners Vale Mantovani, Belgravia, Island Charm, and Bistro Garden.

“He looks like he’ll be early and fast, like the one that just won for us last week” said John Moynihan, bloodstock adviser for Stonestreet Farm, which sent out the Pioneerof the Nile colt Ari the Adventurer to break his maiden by 6 ¾ lengths in his July 11 debut at Belmont Park. “We’re a believer, somewhat, in the stallion. He’s just a nice horse.”

Bred in Kentucky by Keith Early and Marvin Little Jr., the colt was a $40,000 purchase as a weanling at last year’s Keeneland November breeding stock sale. His price at the July sale makes him the most expensive foal out of his dam.

“I was really excited to get him in November,” said Brian Graves of Gainesway. “I saw the horse and I loved him. I thought he would cost a bit more [at the November sale], but we got lucky and found a nice horse, and since then Pioneerof the Nile has produced a lot of winners from his first crop.”

Pioneerof the Nile, who stands at WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky., won the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity as a juvenile, then added to his resume the following season by winning the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby and finishing second in the Kentucky Derby. The son of Empire Maker has been productive with his first juveniles early this season, siring three winners from eight first-crop starters through Sunday.