November sales horse can boost credentials in Breeders' Cup

The November breeding stock sales in Kentucky always get a boost from the Breeders’ Cup, which can provide blockbuster catalog updates. This year is no exception, with more than a dozen fillies and mares expected to start in Breeders’ Cup races at Keeneland, then sell in the following days.

Two of the stars of the show at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale the night of Sunday, Nov. 8, are Eclipse Award champions Monomoy Girl and Uni. Monomoy Girl will be heading through the sale ring one day following her run as the expected favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, a race she won in her championship campaign in 2018, when she also won the Kentucky Oaks. Uni will be defending her 2019 victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Both are consigned as racing or broodmare prospects by Elite Sales, as agent.

“They aren’t one-hit wonders; they have been leaders in their divisions since they hit the racetrack,” Elite Sales’ Bradley Weisbord said in a press release. “These mares will appeal to anyone around the world looking to target the highest end of the Thoroughbred industry.”

Monomoy Girl’s expected Distaff foes Point of Honor and Valiance also are cataloged to sell at Fasig-Tipton November, as are Breeders’ Cup candidates Got Stormy (Turf Sprint), Inthemidstofbiz (Filly and Mare Sprint), Rushing Fall (Filly and Mare Turf), and Sally’s Curlin (Filly and Mare Sprint).

Other fillies and mares will only have to take a short walk across the Keeneland grounds following their Breeders’ Cup races for final preparations for the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, which will run from Nov. 9-18. That group includes Distaff hopefuls Horologist and Ollie’s Candy. Also entered at Keeneland November are Crazy Beautiful (Juvenile Fillies), Lady Prancelot (Filly and Mare Turf), and Oleksandra (Turf Sprint).

In addition to the racemares cataloged for sale, the dams of Breeders’ Cup entrants and weanling half-siblings, also will sell. Chief among those is Expo Gold, dam of Preakness Stakes winner Swiss Skydiver, a Breeders’ Cup Distaff contender. Expo Gold is carrying a Catholic Boy foal who is bred on the same cross as her championship candidate. Also cataloged in the sale as broodmares are two of her other daughters, Is It Gold and Miss Hot Legs.

Unicorn Girl, dam of expected Juvenile favorite Jackie’s Warrior, is cataloged at Keeneland in foal to leading sire Into Mischief. Her weanling colt by American Pharoah is set to walk through the ring before her.

“There is no telling what Unicorn Girl can do with a foal by Into Mischief,” Beau Lane of consignor Beau Lane Bloodstock said. “She is a powerhouse. She tried her heart out every time she raced. She’s a quality mare who was an overachiever, and she passes that on to her babies. They have the same attitude. She is the kind that can give you that special horse.”

First-year covering sires

The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred gave the first hint as to the most popular stallions who entered stud in the class of 2020. Those young stallions pass their next checkpoint as mares carrying foals from their first crop come to public auction for the first time.

Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Eclipse Award champion Vino Rosso led all first-year stallions on the Report of Mares Bred, covering 238 mares in his debut season. The son of Curlin ranked fourth in North America, behind only Uncle Mo, leading sire Into Mischief, and Mendelssohn.

“I think he’s got a big future,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of Vino Rosso, who entered stud this year at Spendthrift Farm. “He’s a very good-looking horse. He resembles Curlin a lot. He was able to win at 2, 3, and 4 and is a classy type of horse, which is what the people are looking for. He has a great disposition, he’s healthy and sound, and has all the attributes you look for in a stallion.”

Three other first-year stallions were in the top 10 nationally on the Report of Mares Bred – Breeders Cup Sprint winner and Eclipse Award champion Mitole, sixth with 230 mares; Grade 1 winner Audible, eighth with 219 mares; and Grade 1 winner Omaha Beach, ninth with 215. Mitole and Omaha Beach stand alongside Vino Rosso at Spendthrift Farm. Audible stands at WinStar Farm.

Of this popular group, Omaha Beach, a son of War Front, leads all first-crop covering sires at the Fasig-Tipton November sale, with three mares in foal cataloged among the smaller selection of broodmares at that single-session auction. Vino Rosso and Audible each have one mare cataloged at that sale, the only other representatives from their class.

Omaha Beach, whose mares in foal at Fasig-Tipton include graded stakes winner Spelling Again, then has 22 mares in foal cataloged at the longer Keeneland November sale, including three selected for Book 1. Among the other most popular debut covering sires, Vino Rosso has 22 mares in foal at Keeneland November, Mitole 26, and Audible 17.

Catholic Boy, a Grade 1 winner on both dirt and turf, covered 131 mares in his debut season at Claiborne Farm. He has 27 mares cataloged at Keeneland November, with four of those in Book 1. The Book 1 group includes a major standout in Expo Gold, dam of Preakness Stakes winner Swiss Skydiver. Swiss Skydiver is by Daredevil, who, like Catholic Boy, is a son of More Than Ready.

Other Grade 1 winners who entered stud this year in North America include Divisidero (entered stud at Airdrie Stud), Force the Pass (Anchor and Hope Farm), Heart to Heart (Crestwood Farm), Leofric (Rockridge Stud), Pavel (Ocean Breeze Ranch), Preservationist (Airdrie Stud), and World of Trouble (Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm).