The progeny by McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds' freshman sire Solomini has been attracting serious attention during the 2-year-olds in training sales.
Ahead of next week's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in Timonium, Md., the 8-year-old son of Curlin is tracking as the second-leading sire of his freshman class by average juvenile price at $166,333 from nine sold.
Spendthrift Farm's Omaha Beach has maintained his spot at the top of the standings with a $257,043 average. Closely ranked in third is WinStar Farm's Audible at $163,083 with Spendthrift's Mitole and Vino Rosso filling out the top five with averages of $156,800 and $118,265, respectively.
Solomini's highest-priced juvenile so far brought $700,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Caliente Thoroughbreds sold the colt (Hip 1109) out of the Flatter mare Timberlea to bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, who bought him on behalf of Dr. Ed Allred and Jack Liebau. The stallion has been represented by two others that sold for $200,000 or more.
In the Midlantic Sale, being held May 22-23, Solomini could be represented by as many as 10 hips, as of remaining entries in the sale at 2 p.m. ET May 20.
Jimbo and Torie Gladwell's Top Line Sales has Hip 285 in the sale, a filly by Solomini out of the Competitive Edge winner Maru. The filly's third dam is Star of Goshen, the dam of multiple grade 1 winner and prominent sire Pioneerof the Nile.
"She is probably the best filly we have," Torie Gladwell said of 285. "She has a top stride length, is built well, and seems to like her job."
The filly worked in :10 2/5 during the sale's under tack show.
As a racehorse, Solomini was among the best of his generation at 2. He won his debut for Zayat Stables and trainer Bob Baffert at Del Mar and followed with three placed finishes in grade 1 stakes—seconds in the FrontRunner Stakes (G1) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and a third in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G1). At 3, Zayat raced Solomini with longtime partners Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor. The colt placed in three more graded stakes that year with a second in the Rebel Stakes (G2), a third in the Arkansas Derby (G1), and a third in the Affirmed Stakes (G3). He was retired at 4 with a 2-4-5 record from 16 starts and earned $834,993. He was trained later in his career by Steve Asmussen.
David McKathan with Grassroots Training and Sales said the Solomini colt (Hip 360) he has in the Midlantic sale, and out of the Americain daughter Peeress, seems to have inherited his sire's precociousness.
"As a yearling, we liked that he was quick-looking, which was what we're looking for as pinhookers," McKathan said. "We also liked that he was New York-bred. He's just an athletic horse that looks like he wants to be early."
Peeress is out of the grade 2 winner Raw Gold (Rahy), which makes Peeress a half sister to grade 3-placed multiple stakes winner Kadira (Kafwain) and group 2-placed stakes winner Our Channel (English Channel). The immediate family also has produced grade 1 winners Paola Queen and Point Ashley.
McMahon of Saratoga bought Solomini after his racing career for $250,000 and nearly lost him. The young stallion had been included in the collateral used by Zayat Stables to secure more than $24 million in loans from MGG Investment Group. MGG tried to recover Solomini after Zayat defaulted on its loans. A Fayette County (Ky.) circuit court judge sided with the farm and dismissed all claims against the stallion in June 2020, after Solomini had completed his first year at stud.
"This definitely affected the horse," Joe McMahon told BloodHorse after prevailing in court. "There were some people that wanted to buy shares that didn't and some people didn't breed to him because they were concerned."
Partners and syndicate members supporting the horse were resolute, and he bred 123 mares his first year. Solomini entered stud at $6,500, and his fee remains at that level this year.
"He was a very popular horse and who knows how well he would have done if we didn't have this cloud. The good news is the cloud is gone," McMahon said.
The other Solomini progeny entered in the Midlantic sale, all New York-breds, are as follows:
- Hip 25, f. dkb/b, Solomini—Arch Royal, by Arch, Kings Equine, agent, :10.3
- Hip 102, f. ch, Solomini—Chocolate Smoothie, by Ghostzapper, Golden Rock Thoroughbreds, agent, :10.4
- Hip 150, f. dkb/b, Solomini—Electric Boots, Bellamy Road, Julie Davies, agent, :10.4
- Hip 219, c. ch, Solomini—Holly's Star, by Dublin, Pike Racing, agent, :10.3
- Hip 259, c. ch, Solomini—Literary Lady, by Birdstone, Pike Racing, agent, :10.1
- Hip 376, c. ch, Solomini—Private Escort, by Dance With Ravens, Julie Davies, agent, :10.3
- Hip 388, f. ch, Solomini—Raging Diva, by Corinthian, Little Farm Equine, agent, :10.3
- Hip 506, f. ch, Solomini—Sweet Queen, by Twirling Candy , Woodford Thoroughbreds, agent, :10.1
