Strong New York-bred contingent opts for select sale

The New York-bred program is experiencing another strong year on the racetrack worldwide, led by Grade 1 winners Audible, who finished third in the Kentucky Derby, and Mind Your Biscuits, who made another successful trip to Dubai. Recent success of sale graduates such as these helped the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale catalog grow to 327 entries this year for the auction set for Aug. 11 and 12.

But a dozen standout New York-breds aren’t among those entries, choosing instead to go in the open, select sale earlier in the week. That group is led by a Medaglia d’Oro filly who is the first foal out of champion female sprinter La Verdad. The New York-bred mare, who travels to Kentucky each spring to be bred to top stallions, is based at Edition Farm in New York for owner Sheila Rosenblum’s Lady Sheila Stable. The filly is consigned by Eaton Sales.

The other New York-breds in the select sale include a colt from the first crop of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah who is a half-brother to multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Upstart and a colt from the first crop of multiple Grade 1 winner Carpe Diem who is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Include Betty.

While the majority of the catalog is made up of Kentucky-bred yearlings, the book also includes youngsters bred in the states of California, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well as Canada and Ireland.

The contingent bred in Florida – the epicenter of the 2-year-old market – includes a half-sister to Grade 1-winning juvenile Peace and War, while the lone Iowa-bred is a half-brother to Lady Ivanka, a Grade 1 winner last year as a juvenile at Saratoga.

The Ontario-bred group includes an American Pharoah colt out of Banga Ridge, the dam of Canadian classic winner Unspurned; and Unspurned’s own first foal, a colt by Uncle Mo.