Volatile's first crop includes $1.15 million filly

Grade 1 winner Volatile got off to an explosive start with a filly from his first crop selected to the elite Book 1 of the Keeneland September yearling sale, as she lit up the bid board at $1.15 million.

Volatile, who stands at Goncalo Torrealba’s Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., was the first of this year’s first-crop sires to break the seven-figure threshold. Gainesway’s McKinzie joined him with a $1.2 million colt sold in Book 2.

“His first crop have been super impressive to us,” Three Chimneys COO Chris Baker said.

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Volatile, the first son of Violence to stand in Kentucky, is out of the stakes winner Melody Lady, and is a full brother to her stakes winner Buy Sell Hold. Melody Lady is out of Grade 1-winning sprinter Lady Tak. Violence, who was trained by Steve Asmussen for Three Chimneys and Phoenix Thoroughbreds, flashed the speed inherited from both sides of his family. The gray won five of six career starts, culminating with the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at the 2020 Saratoga meet, defeating eventual divisional champion Whitmore and fellow Grade 1 winners Mind Control and Firenze Fire. A hairline fracture to a cannon bone ended Volatile’s racing career that fall.

Volatile covered 181 mares in his first season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. Those included several prominent racemares or producers from Three Chimneys, as it sought to get its newcomer off to a strong start. The group was led by multiple Grade 1 winner Love and Pride, whose six winners from as many starters include stakes winners Princesinha Julia and Bella Runner. It was Love and Pride’s filly who lit the board at $1.15 million, selling to Mike Rutherford.

Other mares Three Chimneys bred to Volatile in his 2021 debut season included Amour d’Ete, dam of Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting; Grade 1 winner Malibu Prayer; Grade 2 winner Quiet Temper, dam of stakes-placed Collaborate; Kentucky Oaks runner-up Shook Up, dam of stakes winner King Ottoman; Grade 3-placed Rutledge Ballado, dam of Grade 3 winner Silent Bird and four other stakes horses; and Repeta, dam of three stakes winners.

“Mr. Torrealba and we believe that if we believe in our stallions we stand, we shouldn’t have any hesitation in supporting them with our best mares,” Baker said. “We bred a lot of Grade 1 winners and important mares to him because we stand behind our stallions and we stand behind our product.”

Through Book 4 of the September sale, Volatile has been represented by 43 yearlings sold for an average price of $170,279 – more than 9.7 times his introductory stud fee of $17,500. In addition to Love and Pride’s filly, his top lots include a $700,000 colt out of Shook Up sold to KDE Equine, and a pair of $400,000 yearlings.

“They have size, substance, and scope, and they look fast,” Baker said. “Very consistent in that regard.”

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