First-crop sire Authentic continues strong start in sales ring

Five years ago, a leggy bay colt stepped into the ring at the Keeneland September yearling sale. His sire, Into Mischief, was on the rise, but had not yet claimed a general sire title or sired an Eclipse Award champion or classic winner. A May foal, the colt was slated as Hip No. 2616, deep in the second week of the marathon sale, and was purchased for $350,000.

That price now looks like a bargain. Authentic won three Grade 1 races in 2020, including the pandemic-delayed Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic, to claim the Horse of the Year title. He propelled Into Mischief to his second consecutive leading sire title. Into Mischief also broke the North American single-season earnings record that year – and has gone on to break his own mark each of the last two seasons.

Into Mischief’s stock is hotter than ever. He is pursuing a spot in the history books with a fifth consecutive sire title and also is emerging as a sire of sires with good young sons Goldencents, Maximus Mischief, and Practical Joke finding success.

Authentic’s first yearlings also are a hot commodity. Shortly after winning the 2020 BC Classic, Authentic – who won 6 of 8 starts – joined his sire at Spendthrift Farm, which had purchased a majority interest during his 3-year-old campaign. He entered stud for an advertised fee of $75,000, making him the most expensive new sire of that season.

The early sale prices for Authentic’s progeny are making even that hefty tag look like a bargain for breeders. The stallion had 13 first-crop weanlings sell at public auction last fall for an average of $242,692 – more than three times the stud fee. The average price has jumped to $430,313 from Authentic’s 16 yearlings sold thus far in 2023. The yearling average includes both “short yearlings” sold just following the turn of the calendar at the mixed sales and yearlings sold during the summer sales season that began with the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale. At that season kickoff, Authentic’s only yearling in the catalog, a filly bred by Spendthrift, topped the sale, selling for $475,000.

At the boutique Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, Authentic had the top price for a first-crop sire with an $875,000 colt. He also took the second through fourth places on that leaderboard, with two yearlings selling for $800,000 and one for $725,000.

“The Authentics have been big, leggy horses – they’ve got some stretch to them,” said Spendthrift’s Mark Toothaker. “He was an Into Mischief with size and scope, and we were hoping he would reproduce that. The filly that we took out to the July sale was beautiful. . . . I think people really like them just because they are a commercial-looking horse. They’re big, scopey. They look like a classic-type horse.”

Authentic is represented by 107 yearlings spread across the 12 sessions of the Keeneland September sale, including 27 selected for the marquee Book 1 that covers the first two days. His Book 1 offerings include a colt out of Grade 1 winner Gomo and half-siblings to Grade 1 winners Arklow and Union Strike. In the high-quality Book 2 that follows, his offerings include half-siblings to Grade 1 winners Constellation, Hog Creek Hustle, Kalypso, and Lady Ivanka.

Joining Authentic as Eclipse Award champions and first-crop yearling sires are 2018 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and divisional champion Game Winner (Lane’s End Farm); Maximum Security (Coolmore’s Ashford Stud), a multiple Grade 1 winner who was voted champion 3-year-old male of 2019 despite being disqualified in the Kentucky Derby for interference; and Improbable (WinStar Farm), the champion older dirt male of 2020.

Game Winner is standing alongside his sire, Candy Ride, at Lane’s End, and is one of three first-crop yearling sires for the farm, along with Grade 1 winners Gift Box and Honor A. P. Candy Ride is becoming known as a sire of sires, with the white-hot young Gun Runner joining the likes of classic sire Twirling Candy.

“I’m really excited about the Game Winners, in particular, and really excited about the draft of those we’ve got lined up for Keeneland September,” said Allaire Ryan, director of sales for Lane’s End. “They are physically forward individuals and big-bodied. They’re impressive physicals with a good hip and shoulders. They’re well grown. For big horses, they’re well balanced and they’re good movers. They have a lot of presence about them, and they’re kind of light on their feet. Good mechanics.”

Improbable was the rare type of horse who was both precocious and durable. He won his first three starts as a juvenile, including the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity; was a graded-placed stakes winner at 3; and, as an older horse, won Grade 1s in the Hollywood Gold Cup, Whitney, and Awesome Again before finishing second to Authentic in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Classmate McKinzie (Gainesway Farm) displayed a similar profile, as he was promoted to victory in the CashCall Futurity on the disqualification of Solomini, then was a Grade 1 winner in both two and one-turn races the following year, in the Pennsylvania Derby and Malibu, respectively. He won the Grade 1 Whitney at 4 and was a graded stakes winner sprinting at 5.

McKinzie has the most yearlings cataloged at Keeneland of his class, with 112. His seven in Book 1 include half-siblings to Grade 1 winners Callback and Up to the Mark, but his most exciting offering may come in Book 2. He is represented by a half-brother to Kentucky Derby winner Mage, from the Runnymede Farm consignment.

“We are very happy with what we see from McKinzie,” said Romain Malhouitre, president of Runnymede, which also consigned a $700,000 McKinzie colt in Saratoga. “We sent some mares back to him this breeding season.”

Joining Authentic as American classic winners in this class are Country House (Darby Dan Farm), promoted to the 2019 Derby win on Maximum Security’s disqualification; 2019 Preakness Stakes winner War of Will (Claiborne Farm); and Tiz the Law (Ashford), who won the pandemic-shortened 2020 Belmont, along with three other Grade 1s. War of Will has the distinction of also being a Grade 1 winner on turf, having won the Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland.

Also represented at the Keeneland sale are Volatile (Three Chimneys Farm) and Vekoma (Spendthrift), both of whom have been very popular with middle markets and should be major players in the second week of the sale.

Volatile was represented by 33 weanlings sold last year for an average of $80,742. He has increased that average to $113,520 from 25 yearlings sold in 2023. The latter figure is more than six times his introductory fee of $17,500 at Three Chimneys.

“The Volatiles sold great at the July sale,” said breeder George Adams, principal of Housatonic Bloodstock. “He was a wicked-fast horse at a farm that’s really hitting. He’s going to have a big, big shot. His babies have looked really good.”

Vekoma, a son of Candy Ride who entered stud for $20,000, gives Spendthrift another powerful Grade 1 winner at a different price point than Authentic. The farm rounded out its trio of newcomers that season with graded stakes winner Thousand Words.

Vekoma averaged $92,222 from 27 weanlings sold last year and is averaging $111,267 from 30 yearlings sold to date, more than five times his stud fee.

“Vekoma being a Candy Ride, another very hot sireline, and his horses just look fast, fast, fast,” said Toothaker of Spendthrift Farm. “From the time they were born, people were calling and saying, ‘Hey, can you get me a season to Vekoma?’ . . . Everybody is wanting to make sure they get a chance to get back to him – as well as Authentic.”