Grade 1-Winning Dams Add Appeal at The Saratoga Sale

Proven sires aplenty are represented at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's sale of selected yearlings in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., but grade 1-winning dams add hype to the page of eight youngsters that strut in with added pizzazz.

One standout in the catalog is Hip 202, a Gun Runner  colt out of the Malibu Moon mare Heavenly Love consigned by Gainesway, agent.

Heavenly Love won the 2017 Darley Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland for owner/breeder Debby Oxley. She also placed in the 2018 Regret Stakes (G3T) at Churchill Downs. This is her second foal.

Brian Graves, Gainesway's general manager, discussed the advantage of the colt's stacked bloodline.

"Quite frankly, he's one of the nicest yearlings that I have seen in my travels this year," Graves said. "Aside from the fact that he's by one of the world's hottest sires in Gun Runner... This colt physically as an individual is a free-moving type. (He) just has this jaw-dropping, unhinged walk to him that stands out among his peers.

"I think it's really hard not to like the horse. He's got all the leg, scope, long neck, and a deep girth."

The leading sire of 2-year-olds in 2021 and currently leading the standings again with his 3-year-old crop, Gun Runner's progeny have topped the board numerous times in 2022 with Cyberknife  taking the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1), Early Voting 's Preakness Stakes (G1) score, and Taiba  in the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1). There are nine yearlings by Gun Runner consigned to The Saratoga Sale; five colts and four fillies.

"Time and time again you see some of the best producers in the world that were good, fast, and precocious," Graves said. "The ability to put that speed in there, combined with the distance that the stallion can put in there, just makes a really outstanding prospect."

Another exceptional yearling comes from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment in Hip 127, a Curlin  colt out of the Bernardini mare Angela Renee.

Angela Renee was bred by Siena Farm in Kentucky. Earner of almost $600,000 on the track, she won the 2014 Chandelier Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park and was runner-up in both the 2015 Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) and the 2014 Adirondack Stakes (G2). Hip 127 is her third foal; among her produce is Gilded Age, third in the Withers Stakes (G3) this year and second in the July 29 Curlin Stakes at Saratoga Race Course to Artorious.

"It's such a great family that Angela Renee is from, and (the colt is) by Curlin," said Frank Taylor, vice president of sales at Taylor Made. "This horse is really a Derby-looking horse, two-turn, and we're very excited to have him up here. He's got conformation, athleticism, and the pedigree to be a classic horse."

In 2021, 40 of 54 Curlin yearlings on offer at public auction sold for an average of $409,400. Of those, 19 were colts and 21 were fillies. One yearling from the sire has been offered at auction so far this year, the $600,000 sale-topper sold to DJ Stable at The July Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale in Kentucky. There are eight yearlings by Curlin cataloged to The Saratoga Sale—five fillies and three colts.

By stalwart sire Speightstown, Hip 8 from the Baccari Bloodstock, agent, consignment has a most impressive dam in the Malibu Moon mare Life At Ten.

Winning more than $1 million, the multiple grade 1 stakes winner took the Ogden Phipps Handicap (G1), Beldame Stakes (G1), and the Delaware Handicap (G2), all in 2010. She ended her career with an 8-6-4 record from 22 starts.

Life At Ten is the dam of Singing Bullet, who placed in the 2017 Amsterdam Stakes (G2) and has earnings of $800,764. Hip 8 is the eighth of nine foals out of the mare, who was bred by Nickelback Farm.

"She's a very forward filly (and) looks a lot like her mother," said Chris Baccari of Baccari Bloodstock. "She has a lot of the same qualities. She's very strong with a really nice hind leg; she's a really good mover. Being by Speightstown, that's a little cherry on the top.

"The filly has both ends of it. She's got great sire power and a great female pedigree. She just looks like a straight racehorse; she looks like a colt.

Speightstown is a long-standing stallion, coming off of 2021 ranked in the top 10 as a general sire. Five of his progeny will go through the ring at The Saratoga Sale; four colts and the Life At Ten filly. Speightstown has 23 grade 1 winners worldwide, including Shirl's Speight  and Switzerland. Starting in the Aug. 6 Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course is Olympiad , who will seek to join his exclusive list of winners.