Half-sisters of Triple Crown winners near debuts

The turn of the calendar to July means the rapid approach of the boutique summer meetings at Del Mar and Saratoga, which annually unveil some of the nation’s best-bred 2-year-olds. This year, a half-sister to a Triple Crown winner will be based at each track, adding extra anticipation.

Chasing Yesterday, a half-sister to 2015 Triple Crown hero American Pharoah, is based in California with Bob Baffert and will be training at Del Mar. Baffert trained American Pharoah and now trains Justify. Egyptian Storm, a half-sister to this year’s breakout star Justify, is training at Saratoga. Both posted recent works on opposite coasts as each targets her debut.

Chasing Yesterday, a daughter of perennial leading sire Tapit, was bred by Summer Wind Farm, which purchased her dam, the Yankee Gentleman mare Littleprincessemma, for $2.1 million at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November breeding stock sale. The mare is the dam of four winners from as many starters, including Grade 1-placed American Cleopatra and, more recently, Irish stakes-placed St Patrick’s Day.

Chasing Yesterday posted several works at Los Alamitos before joining Baffert’s main string at Santa Anita, where she worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds last Thursday.

Egyptian Storm is by Pioneerof the Nile, the sire of American Pharoah, and is out of the Grade 3-placed Ghostzapper mare Stage Magic. In addition to Justify, Stage Magic’s three winners from as many starters include Grade 3 winner The Lieutenant.

Bred by John and Tanya Gunther’s Glennwood Farm, Egyptian Storm was a $230,000 purchase out of last year’s Keeneland September yearling sale by R.S. Evans and West Point Thoroughbreds. Trained by Christophe Clement, who conditioned Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist for Evans, Egyptian Storm posted her first work last week, going three furlongs in 38.86 seconds on Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track.