November sales mark first commercial test for Triple Crown winner Justify

American Pharoah boasted a singularity of accomplishment when he retired to stud for the 2016 season. After all, he was the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years and also went on to capture the Breeders’ Cup Classic. It was the first time in decades that a new stallion had come to the commercial arena with the words “Triple Crown winner” on the catalog pages of his foals, and the market responded accordingly.

Justify, like American Pharoah, was trained by Bob Baffert, swept the Triple Crown, and retired to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky. But while his accomplishment lacked the fanfare of the drought-buster, Justify has plenty of marks in his column making him unique. The strapping chestnut first broke the “Curse of Apollo” when he became the first horse since 1882 to win the Kentucky Derby without racing as a 2-year-old, and then he continued on to sweep the Triple Crown and retire unbeaten. Justify also brings supply-and-demand dynamics to the marketplace as the most accomplished son at stud in America for the late Scat Daddy, who died unexpectedly at age 11 in 2015 while his star was still on the rise. By contrast, American Pharoah went to stud while competing against his own sire, Pioneerof the Nile, and grandsire, Empire Maker. Pioneerof the Nile has since died, earlier this year.

Justify, who stood for an advertised fee of $150,000 in his debut season at Ashford, gets his first chance to test the commercial market when mares carrying foals from his first crop are offered at the Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland November breeding stock sales. Justify covered 252 mares this season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred, tying him with Mendelssohn as the busiest North American stallion. Those mares that are appearing at auction make the quality of that group obvious. Of his 17 mares in foal on offer at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, a dozen are slated to sell in the auction’s marquee Book 1 portion on Nov. 6. That group includes Take Charge Brandi, the champion juvenile filly of 2014 who is widely considered a candidate to lead the sale. Take Charge Brandi was the most expensive horse sold in North America in 2015 when she commanded $6 million, selling to Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm on behalf of a partnership it is a part of. The young broodmare is now offered at public auction in order to dissolve that partnership.

Other notable mares cataloged at Keeneland carrying foals from Justify’s first crop include Grade 1 winner Miss Shop, the dam of Grade 3 winner Tin Type Gal; Molly Corbin, a half-sister to European champion Peeping Fawn and Group 1 winner Thewayyouare, from the family of outstanding broodmares Blush With Pride and Better Than Honour; Media Mischief, a half-sister to French Oaks winner Nebraska Tornado and several other stakes winners and producers; Milania, who is out of Kentucky Oaks winner Keeper Hill, making her a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Keep Up; Grade 2 winner Well Monied; Conquest, out of Group 1 winner Lillie Langtry, making her a full sister to multiple Group 1 winner Minding; Hourglass, who is a half-sister to European champion and prominent sire Shamardal and from the immediate family of Grade/Group 1 winner and sire Street Cry; and Sotto Voce, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Cupid.

Justify’s 11 lots at the Fasig-Tipton November mixed sale the night of Tuesday, Nov. 5, also include one of the mares expected to be among the sale leaders in Diva Delite, dam of five-time Grade 1 winner and Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Midnight Bisou. Grade 3 winner Diva Delite also is the dam of stakes-placed Stage Left.

Justify’s group at Fasig-Tipton also includes Lastofthesummerwine, dam of graded stakes winners Conquest Panthera and Happy Like a Fool, stakes winner Hawaiian Noises, and Grade 2-placed Maniacal. Another mare, Veracity, is out of graded stakes winner Yell, making her a half-sister to stakes winner Cheery and Grade 1-placed Chide. Cheery is the dam of Grade 1 winner and Breeders’ Cup candidate Elate, while another half-sister, Toll, is the dam of Grade 2 winner Tax. It is the extended family of Kentucky Derby winner Sea Hero and others. The Fasig-Tipton group also includes Grade 1 winner Noted and Quoted; Grade 1-placed stakes winner Crowley’s Law; stakes winner Easter Lily; Grade 1 winner Fuhriously Kissed; and stakes winner Haddie Be Good, the dam of stakes winner Story to Tell.

Ashford Stud introduced another son of Scat Daddy to the stallion market alongside Justify this year in the globetrotting Mendelssohn, who raced on dirt, turf, and synthetic in four countries. The young stallion, a half-brother to Grade 1 winner and leading sire Into Mischief and four-time Eclipse Award champion Beholder, has two mares in foal cataloged at Fasig-Tipton and 26 at Keeneland.

Mendelssohn competed exclusively on turf as a 2-year-old, highlighted by a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. He won his 3-year-old debut on a synthetic track before romping by 18 1/2 lengths in the Group 2 U.A.E. Derby in his first start on dirt. He picked up a pair of Grade 1 placings on dirt later in the year.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and Eclipse Award divisional champion Good Magic was a challenger to Justify during the 2018 Triple Crown, finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and fourth after pressing the champion in the Preakness. He bounced back to win the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational that summer. Now standing alongside his sire Curlin at Hill ‘n’ Dale, Good Magic has one mare in foal cataloged at Fasig-Tipton and 30 at Keeneland. The latter group includes three mares selected for Book 1, including graded stakes winners Cassatt and Zardana.

Lane’s End Farm brought in a stellar trio of new stallions for 2019 in Accelerate, City of Light, and West Coast. City of Light won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and the Pegasus World Cup in January – the latter the career finale for both he and Accelerate – before joining his sire Quality Road at Lane’s End. City of Light has one mare in foal in the Fasig-Tipton catalog and 37 in the Keeneland catalog. The latter group includes Inventive, the dam of Grade 1 winner Klimt, by Quality Road.

Accelerate, who locked up the 2018 Eclipse Award as outstanding older male with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, has one mare in foal at Fasig-Tipton and 24 at Keeneland. West Coast, the 2017 champion 3-year-old male, has 24 mares in foal at Keeneland, including Grade 2 winners Designer Legs and Dixie City.

Always Dreaming, Cloud Computing, and Tapwrit swept the 2017 American classics, and all three will have mares carrying foals from their first crops offered at Keeneland November. Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming, standing at WinStar, has 29 mares in foal there; Preakness victor Cloud Computing, residing at Spendthrift, has 15; and Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit, who stands alongside his sire Tapit at Gainesway, has 11.

Grade 1 winner Bolt d’Oro, who stands at Spendthrift Farm, is represented with mares in foal at both Fasig-Tipton (2) and Keeneland (29). Other Grade 1-winning first-crop covering sires represented at Keeneland November are Army Mule (15 mares), Bee Jersey (2), Collected (23), Free Drop Billy (11), Funtastic (2), Mo Town (14), Mor Spirit (16), Oscar Performance (16), Ransom the Moon (19), and Sharp Azteca (11).