Volatile Leads First-Crop Sires at July Sale by Average

Three Chimneys Farm's grade 1-winning sprinter Volatile  got an early jump on this year's class of first-crop yearling sires at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, where he led his peers with a $145,000 average from five sold.

"We were very pleased with the weanlings and foals we saw last year because what we were seeing so closely resembled the sire," said Rebecca Nicholson, director of stallion nominations at Three Chimneys. "Like him, they look super speedy with plenty of size and scope.

"Because he was an $850,000 yearling purchase, we were confident they would continue to develop the right way as yearlings," she continued. "For the sales ahead, what we've seen looks solid, and he was very well supported by us with many of our better mares, so there are a lot of well-bred yearlings out there."

Volatile's top seller at the July Sale was Hip 235, a gray/roan filly consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency that trainer Ken McPeek bought for $285,000. The filly is out of the Thunder Gulch stakes winner Whisper to Me, who is the dam of Canadian grade 2 winner Overheard (Macho Uno). The mare has produced seven foals to race that are all winners.

Also among Volatile's July yearlings were two more that brought six-figure prices: Hip 215, a filly out of Algorithms daughter Table Manners that Four Star Sales sold to Three Chimneys for $170,000; and, Hip 140, a colt out of the Malibu Moon mare Palma that Paramount Sales sold to Starlight Racing and Harrell Ventures for $135,000.

Volatile is a 7-year-old son of Violence  out of the Unbridled's Song stakes winner Melody Lady, who is a daughter of multiple grade 1 winner and multiple stakes producer Lady Tak. Three Chimneys bought Volatile at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $850,000 in partnership with Phoenix Thoroughbreds III. The colt was sold by Hill 'n' Dale Farms, which stands Violence, and bred by Hill 'n' Dale and Stretch Run Ventures.

With trainer Steve Asmussen, Volatile won five of six starts and captured the Aristides Stakes and Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at 4. Volatile sustained a hairline fracture in his right front cannon bone after the Vanderbilt that forced his retirement in 2020. He was retired with $341,040 in earnings.

Volatile entered stud at a fee of $17,500 and this year stood for $12,500. His books have been solid with 181 mares bred in 2021 and 157 mares bred in 2022. Nicholson said the appeal of his first two foal crops kept Volatile popular with breeders this year, when he attracted a book of 165 mares.

Volatile has two cataloged for the upcoming Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, the boutique select sale in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. They are Hip 19, a filly out of the Malibu Moon mare Clarendon Fancy, whose first two runners include a stakes winner and stakes-placed winner. The filly is part of Wynnstay Sales' consignment. The other Volatile Saratoga entry is Hip 94, a chestnut colt out of the Eskendereya daughter Light of the Nile, who is a half sister to the late Pioneerof the Nile, the sire of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah . Three Chimneys bred the colt and is offering him through Denali Stud's consignment.

Five other first-crop yearling sires were represented by six-figure averages at the July Sale from two or more sold. They are: WinStar Farm's Improbable ($137,500 from two sold), Gainesway's Spun to Run  ($118,750, four sold), Spendthrift Farm's Vekoma  ($107,143, seven sold), Gainesway's McKinzie  ($106,667, six sold), and Spendthrift's Thousand Words  ($102,400, five sold).