Fate and/or luck, take your choice, often spells the difference between great success and epic failure.
In the case of Imagination, some silence at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale turned out to be quite fortunate for "The Avengers" and company.
That silence came after the group put in a bid of $1,050,000 for a son of Into Mischief out of the Empire Maker mare Magical Feeling.
"Had someone bid again, we'd be at home Saturday," said Tom Ryan of SF Racing and SF Bloodstock. "That was our final bid."
So, as a result of that good fortune at the sale, the ownership team will be at Pimlico Race Course May 18 trying to become the first connections to win back-to-back editions of the Preakness since The Thoroughbred Corp in 2001-02 with Point Given and then War Emblem.
"It would be tremendous to win the Preakness again, but it will not be easy," Ryan said. "I've never known a grade 1 that was an easy race."
The 2023 Preakness was surely a challenging test as $4.8 million earner National Treasure prevailed by a head over Blazing Sevens for trainer Bob Baffert and the ownership combo of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan.
They return Saturday for the 149th Preakness with Imagination, the 3-1 second choice in the revised morning line whose ownership group is sans Schoenfarber and has added Dianne Bashor and a separate line for Ryan.
A year ago, they entered the Preakness with a colt who was viewed as an improving 3-year-old that would benefit from the experience gained in a fourth-place finish at the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and six weeks of rest for Baffert, then a seven-time winner of the Preakness.
Now in Imagination, they have a runner who has received similar talk about his potential and was an even better second by a neck in the Santa Anita Derby.
"I think Imagination is far from the finished article. But he's certainly acting like a horse who is ready and who can progress. He's a very nice horse," said Ryan, managing partner of the group. "We try to buy these classic horses and what Imagination has done is a bonus because we feel now is the time when a horse like him can excel."
In his six-race career, Imagination has two wins and four seconds with a March 3 win in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) under European legend Frankie Dettori, who will be aboard Saturday bidding for his initial American classic win.
In three of those losses, including the Santa Anita Derby, Imagination lost by a neck, illustrating the promise the people around him see.
"He's training nicely and any time you can give Bob six weeks to prepare for a race, it's an edge," said Jack Wolf, a founder and managing partner of Starlight Racing. "Bob never ceases to amaze me with how well he trains his horses."
Baffert, now a record eight-time Preakness winner, said Imagination has the potential to win a classic like the Preakness if he continues to move forward.
"He's going to have to bring his 'A' game and improve off the Santa Anita Derby," Baffert said. "But he's getting better. I'm bringing a nice horse there. I'm excited about it. It should be a good, competitive race."
Should Imagination complete the double for the connections, he would join Prince of Monaco and become a second grade 1 winner from their haul at the 2022 yearling sales. A Speightstown colt, Prince of Monaco, who is back in training and preparing for his 2024 debut, was purchased for $950,000 at the 2022 The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale, and won the 2023 Del Mar Futurity (G1).
Grade 1 wins are hardly a rare phenomenon for the group, which was started by SF, Starlight, and Madaket and dubbed themselves "The Avengers."
Buying about 25 yearlings per season, all from a successful stallions with classic pedigrees that get Baffert's stamp of approval, their best purchase was Authentic , who was bought for $350,000 at Keeneland in 2018 and won the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) in 2020 en route to Horse of the Year honors and a stud deal with Spendthrift Farm that topped $36 million.
"Bob is a master at developing a horse. He has an incredible ability to look at a horse as a yearling and know if he'll be a good 2-year-old or will develop at 3 or be a sprinter or miler," Ryan said, adding praise for bloodstock agents and selection team members Donato Lanni and John Moynihan.
They have a highly successful business model, but what may be their most amazing accomplishment in a sport loaded with diverse opinions is keeping so many different people happy and on the same wave length.
"There's an important element of putting the group together and keeping us together. You need to hit targets like major grade 1 races," Ryan said. "We do have an interesting international cast of characters but we are like-minded. We all understand what our mission is. We all enjoy racing and respect our track record. We've been doing this a while and try to be as transparent as we can with our partners and be successful as well. That keeps everyone happy."
Suffice it to say, adding back-to-back Preakness wins would surely keep a large group of people extremely happy and thankful that fate gave them some silence at the Keeneland sale.
