The month of August was monumental for the connections of 4-year-old fillies Seismic Beauty and Hope Road as they both earned their first grade 1 victories. Additionally, those updated credentials could not have come at a better time for their breeders as both offer siblings in the sales ring on opening day of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Sept. 8.
Seismic Beauty's triumph came at the start of August with a pacesetting victory in the 1 1/16-mile Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1) at Del Mar. Setting the pace is something that her yearling full sister could do at Keeneland as she enters the ring early Monday afternoon as Hip 5.
"People in Book 1, they'll be ready," said her consignor, Scott Mallory. "This filly is nice enough and has enough pedigree that if they want to buy her, they're going to buy her."
Bred in Kentucky by Determined Stud, the Uncle Mo filly is the fourth foal out of the stakes-placed Medaglia d'Oro mare Knarsdale. Seismic Beauty was the first foal from the mare and so far has a record of 4-2-1 from seven starts while earning $476,840 for owners MyRacehorse and Peter Leidel. In addition to the Hirsch, she won the Santa Margarita Stakes (G2) this spring at Santa Anita Park.
The second foal, a 3-year-old Bernardini colt named Cincazul, has won two of his three career starts in Ohio. Knarsdale's 2-year-old Essential Quality filly—My Steel Magnolia—has been working steadily this summer at Belmont Park ahead of her debut.
"It's an exciting family," Mallory said. "Especially (Hip 5) being a filly, she has some residual value already and she's only the fourth foal out of the mare."
Mallory raised the filly on offer Monday at his farm and has seen positive signs in the filly's development as she approached the sale.
"She's a very forward filly," Mallory said. "She looks fast, she's a very pretty filly. She's a little speedier looking, actually, than Seismic Beauty—and Seismic Beauty has plenty of speed to her. This filly has a great attitude, she's very intelligent."
Matt Dorman purchased Determined Stud in Maryland in recent years and has been steadily growing his operation. Also keeping horses to race, Mallory said it's a hard filly for Dorman to sell, but the upside to do so with the recent catalog update is a perfect opportunity as a "beautiful" Charlatan filly currently sits by the mare's side.
"(Dorman's) gotten a nice band of broodmares together," Mallory said. "(Knarsdale) is out of the first group he bought, and she's kind of turned into the backbone of the farm right now."
READ: Dorman Steps Into Breeding With Determined Stud
VanMeter Sales Offers Uncle Mo Half to Hope Road
Another mare who's become a solid backbone for a breeding and racing operation is Marley's Freedom. Campaigned by Cicero Farms, she won the 2018 Ballerina Stakes (G1) among six graded triumphs. The Blame mare has seen her career almost perfectly replicated by her Cicero-bred and -raced daughter, Hope Road. Like her mother, Hope Road won the Ballerina at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 23 for her first top-level score.
"The one thing that's so cool for the breeders (Ron and Barbara Perry) is that they're small breeders," consignor Headley VanMeter said. "A grade 1 winner producing a grade 1 winner is an incredible feat in itself, but to see (them both win the Ballerina) is storybook."
VanMeter Sales hopes Monday will be the next page in that story for the Perrys as they send the Uncle Mo half brother through the ring as Hip 34. Unfortunately, as a colt, he won't be able to follow the family tradition of winning the Ballerina, but he does hold several similarities to his mother.
"Physically, he's got a really pretty top line," VanMeter said. "He's a really nice mover just like his mother. I do think Hope Road has a little bit more size, which she probably gets from her Quality Road line. But physically, Marley put a lot of herself into this colt."
VanMeter has worked with the colt directly since October and has seen a change in the colt's mentality as they began preparing him for the sale.
"He's thrived on the prep process, kind of went from a boy to a man once we really started prepping him," VanMeter said. "He relished the work and he's taken everything in stride. He's well put together and he's a fast-looking horse."
Hope Road was the first foal out of Marley's Freedom and the only one to hit the track so far. Both seemed to flourish with age, and VanMeter hopes the same will prove true with the Uncle Mo colt.
"Time has been his friend," VanMeter said. "Both racemares really loved work and loved running. He certainly started to thrive as soon as we started asking him to do a little bit more. Hopefully, he takes after his mother and sister once he hits the racetrack, in that sense."
