Frosted rides first-crop momentum into Keeneland September sale

Frosted turned in his signature performances on New York racetracks before coming home to Kentucky to begin his stud career. Now, after his first yearlings delivered a breakout performance at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected sale in New York, the young stallion comes to the Keeneland September marketplace with a strong hand for continued success.

A Grade 2-placed juvenile, Frosted went on to win the Grade 1 Wood Memorial and Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby at 3, picking up four graded stakes placings, including a runner-up effort in the 2015 Belmont Stakes to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Frosted blossomed to post his best season in 2016. His signature triumph came in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park, as he romped by 14 1/4 lengths in the sire-making event. His final time was 1:32.73, missing the track record by .40 of a second. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 123, not only the top number of the year, but also the top number of perennial leading sire Tapit’s stud career. Finishing second to Frosted in the Met Mile was another son of Tapit, Anchor Down. That Grade 2-winning miler, standing alongside his sire at Gainesway, also has first yearlings this year.

Frosted won the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga and the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge in Dubai in 2016, and finished third in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes. He concluded his career with five stakes wins and six placings for earnings of more than $3.9 million. He retired to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s Darley at Jonabell Farm near Lexington, Ky., after successfully carrying the blue colors of Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation around the globe, commanding an advertised fee of $50,000 in his first season, making him the highest-priced incoming stallion in North America that season.

“It’s very special to retire a horse of Frosted’s caliber, but even more so in that he accomplished so much as a homebred, racing in Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin silks,” said Dan Pride, chief operating officer of Darley’s American operations. “His Metropolitan Handicap was one for the ages, and add to that his great pedigree and tremendous physical appearance and you’ve got all the pieces in place for a sire of the future.”

Frosted, who recorded an average price of $181,500 from 10 weanlings sold last year, is averaging $258,333 from 18 yearlings sold this season. He had seven yearlings sold for an average of $371,429 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, with three breaking the $500,000 threshold – a filly sold for $850,000 to Larry Best’s OXO Equine, a filly sold for $575,000 to bloodstock agent Mike Ryan, and a colt sold for $500,000 to Spendthrift Farm.

“Just a beautiful filly,” Best said of his purchase. “She just looks the part.”

Frosted, who continued on to average $138,750 from four yearlings sold at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale later that week, has 71 yearlings cataloged at Keeneland September, including 18 selected for the elite Book 1 portion. His high-end group includes a filly out of Grade 1 winner Appealing Zophie, the dam of Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit, by Tapit. The mare also has produced Grade 2 winner Ride a Comet.

Frosted’s group in Book 1 at Keeneland September also includes half-sisters to Grade 1 winners Hard Aces, Finnegans Wake, Iotapa, and Weep No More; a filly out of Grade 3 winner Snow Top Mountain, the dam of Grade 3 winner Greyvitos; a filly out of Grade 2 winner Schiaparelli, who is from the immediate family of European Horse of the Year Roaring Lion; and a half-sister to classic-placed graded stakes winner Firing Line.

Also turning in a breakout performance at the yearling sales in New York over the summer was another Wood Memorial winner, Outwork. He was represented by a New York-bred filly who sold for $500,000 – briefly holding the position as the highest-priced filly in the history of the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred sale before Best went to $775,000 for a Malibu Moon filly later in the session.

“I’ve been outbid on a lot of” Outworks, said trainer Jeremiah Englehart, who signed the ticket on behalf of his JCE Racing, All About the Girls, and Travis Durr.

The filly was consigned by Denali Stud, as agent for breeder WinStar Farm, which stands Outwork.

“We’ve had a few,” Denali’s Conrad Bandoroff said of offspring of Outwork. “They all have very nice profiles, very smooth, athletic horses. They look a lot like Uncle Mo and a lot like that sireline. They put a beautiful neck and shoulder on them. Good movers, athletic horses.”

Outwork, who has 43 yearlings cataloged at Keeneland September, is one of several sons of champion juvenile and leading freshman sire Uncle Mo with their first yearlings this season. Also among those is Eclipse Award champion juvenile and 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. That young stallion stands alongside Frosted at Darley and matched his stablemate with a yearling sold for $330,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky summer selected yearling sale, tying for the top price by a first-crop yearling sire and the second highest price of the sale overall. All eight of Nyquist’s yearlings sent through the ring at the Saratoga selected sale sold, led by a pair of $400,000 youngsters to average $320,625. He has 50 yearlings at Keeneland September, led by eight in Book 1.

Nyquist entered stud with a fee of $40,000, tied for the second highest for an incoming North American stallion, behind Frosted. Matching Nyquist at that $40,000 mark was two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome, who stands at Taylor Made Farm. The 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and 2016 Dubai World Cup winner, California Chrome comes in to Keeneland September – where he has 59 cataloged, four in Book 1 – averaging $100,000 from six yearlings sold this year.

Eclipse Award champion sprinter Runhappy, who has been robustly promoted early in his career at Claiborne Farm and will have bonus money up for grabs for his first runners next year, was represented by a $650,000 colt sold at the Saratoga selected sale. He has 54 in the September sale, with an 11-horse Book 1 contingent including a colt who is a half-brother to Canadian Horse of the Year Biofuel and fellow Sovereign Award champion Tu Endie Wei and a filly out of Grade 1 winner Meadow Breeze, the dam of Grade 1-placed Royal Copy.

Other stallions represented by first-crop yearlings at Keeneland September include Eclipse Award champion turf males Big Blue Kitten and Flintshire; Cartier Award European champion juvenile Air Force Blue; Australian champion juvenile Vancouver; Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Tourist; Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Tamarkuz; Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red; Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Hit It a Bomb; and Grade 1/Group 1 winners Brody’s Cause, Effinex, Mshawish, Slumber, and The Gurkha.