Short yearlings by first-crop sires will continue to command attention during Book 2 of the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale Jan. 11-12.
Though the stallions are unproven commodities in terms of their progeny racing, the produce records of the dams of some of these yearlings are established. A select group of yearlings by first-crop sires are out of dams who have already produced stakes winners.
One yearling loaded with black type is Hip 1151, a bay Tiz the Law filly bred in Kentucky by Charles and Caroline Hynes and consigned by Hunter Valley Farm. Out of the 22-year-old, grade 2-placed Carson City mare City Sister, Hip 1151 is related to two stakes winners: Dixie City (Dixie Union), winner of the 2010 Demoiselle Stakes (G2), and Win The Star (War Front ), a winner at the listed level in Canada. Dixie Union is also a stakes producer, as the dam of Korean champion Blue Chipper (Tiznow), who traveled to America to finish third in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Santa Anita Park in 2019.
Two stakes-placed runners out of City Sister include Mo City (Uncle Mo) and Union City (Dixie Union), dam of graded stakes winner and sire Unified and another black-type horse.
Additionally, two other fillies produced by City Sister have become black-type producers: Saintly Sister (Saint Liam) and Reemeya (Bernardini).
"She's a nice filly," Fergus Galvin, managing partner at Hunter Valley Farm, said of Hip 1151. "A lot of quality, correct, scopes nice, has a lovely pedigree. We're certainly looking forward to her.
"Her first dam takes up the whole page," Galvin added. "So she has plenty of residual value along with being a nice physical to go with it."
Tiz the Law, a son of Consitution, was one of the top 2-year-olds of 2019 and 3-year-olds of 2020, taking the 2019 Champagne Stakes (G1) as a juvenile and adding the Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1) the following year as part of a delayed Triple Crown series caused by the onset of COVID-19. Runner-up to 2020 Horse of the Year Authentic in the Kentucky Derby (G1), he retired with a record of 6-1-1 in nine starts and earnings of $2,735,300 for owner Sackatoga Stable and trainer Barclay Tagg.
"He was a very, very good racehorse," Galvin said. "We've sold quite a few of them. Big fan of them. They're very athletic—that's one thing that really stands out about them. They have a precocious look to them, quite a few."
Grovendale Sales also sells a nicely bred filly in Hip 1547, a daughter of Global Campaign. Bred in Kentucky by Grovendale Farm and Connie Brown, she is out of a stakes winner in addition to being a half sister to one. Out of the dual black-type-winning Dynaformer mare Dyna's Destiny, who also placed in the Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland in 2015, she is a half sister to Ms Peintour (Paynter), who captured the 2020 Astra Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita after picking up an initial graded placing when third in the Honeymoon Stakes (G2T) there a couple of years earlier.
The dam has produced four other winners from her 10 of racing age.
James Keogh of Grovendale Sales said she vets "really, really" well and is among his top Book 2 yearlings, a group he feels is headed by Hip 1458, a Vekoma filly out of a half sister to grade 1 winner Lady Tak that he calls a "star" and "one of the best on the day."
While Dyna's Destiny and Ms Peintour were most successful on turf, Global Campaign excelled on dirt, winning the 2020 Woodward Stakes (G1) as his top achievement. The son of Curlin concluded his career with a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) that year for owners Sagamore Farm and WinStar Farm. The Stan Hough trainee retired with a 6-0-2 mark in 10 starts with earnings of $1,321,080.
Initially at stud for $12,500, Global Campaign—a half brother to hot young stallion Bolt d'Oro —stands the 2023 season at WinStar Farm for an advertised fee of $10,000.
Keogh calls Hip 1547 "quite athletic, quite typical of what Global Campaign is getting. A very, very solid sort—athletic with plenty of leg and a good walk to her."
Galvin is also keen to sell a Global Campaign yearling, Hip 1114, a bay colt out of the young Bernardini mare Bemus Point.
"We like him quite a bit," he said. "He's an attractive colt. Great mover. Covers a lot of ground on the move."
Also out of a stakes-producing mare is Hip 1254, a bay colt by Higher Power bred in Kentucky by Watershed Bloodstock. The Paramount Sales-consigned yearling is out of the winning Grand Slam mare Grand Portege, a dam of three winners, including stakes winner Florida One (Birdstone) and the stakes-placed Grand Journey (Giant's Causeway). Another of Grand Portege's 10 foals, Tizasong (Tiznow), is the dam of the stakes-placed Spicy Marg (Into Mischief ).
"He's a good-sized colt born in mid-May," Paramount Sales' Lesley Campion said. "He's a solid type with a great topline just like his sire and out of a graded stakes-producing daughter of blue hen Oatsee."
The latter is the dam of Preakness Stakes (G1) and Metropolitan Handicap (G1) winner Shackleford (Forestry) and three other graded-stakes winners.
Higher Power (Medaglia d'Oro) took the 2019 Pacific Classic (G1) for owner Hronis Racing and trainer John Sadler at Del Mar and also placed in the Breeders' Cup Classic that year at Santa Anita. He went to stud in 2021 at Darby Dan Farm after a 10th-place finish in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
His advertised stud fee this year is $10,000, as it was in 2021.
