Strong Selection of Cody's Wish Yearlings at Saratoga

The same enthusiasm buyers showed last fall for the first foals by Darley Stallions' first-crop yearling sire and 2023 Horse of the Year Cody's Wish is expected to carry through unabated into Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale. The select yearling sale being held Aug. 10-11 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. will present the first sizable offering of Cody's Wish progeny for the year. Only one filly out of stakes winner Takechargedelilah was offered during Fasig-Tipton's The July Sale by St George Sales and sold for $220,000 to agent Dylan Venosa. As of Aug. 7, seven yearlings by Cody's Wish are entered in the Saratoga sale, including a dark bay/brown filly (Hip 137) out of Always Twinkling, a half sister to 12-time graded stakes winner Skippylongstocking, who added a grade 1 to his résumé this year in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1). Hunter Valley Farm consigns Hip 137, who was bred by Jeff and Melissa Prunzik. "Obviously, this filly wouldn't be going to Saratoga unless she fits the bracket up there," said Adrian Regan with Hunter Valley. "We definitely believe she fits the bill and hasn't even reached her peak yet. There's much more to come from her." Always Twinkling is an unraced daughter of Take Charge Indy, and Hip 137 is her first foal. Besides Skippylongstocking, the mare also is a half sister to graded-placed stakes winners Moonlite Strike (Liam's Map) and Olivia Twist (Mshawish). About Cody's Wish, Regan said his first foals made a strong impression as weanlings last year. "We loved the foals we saw last year. They were among the ones that really stuck out in our mind, the ones we saw at the sales and have at the farm," he said. "And you know, with Cody's Wish's race record and his physical, he's not a hard one to be swayed by." Hunter Valley is also breeder of record for Hip 64 in the Saratoga sale, a bay filly out of the Gun Runner graded stakes winner Runaway Wife. Hunter Valley purchased Runaway Wife in foal to Cody's Wish for $450,000 at Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale in 2024. The farm then sold the Cody's Wish filly for $235,000 during the 2025 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale to BCW Bloodstock. Now the filly will be back in the auction ring as part of Wynnstay Sales' consignment. "The mare was stabled beside us at Fasig-Tipton with Tommy Eastham (Legacy Bloodstock) and was one that really caught our eye," Regan recalled. "She had a lovely physique, a good-walking and correct mare with a lovely head and big hips." Runaway Wife produced a good-sized filly by Cody's Wish that inherited a correct conformation and fluid walk. "Like our Always Twinkling filly, you could see there was more to come from her (Hip 64) and you need to see that when you sell them as foals," Regan said. "I do remember with that foal was her mind, it was fantastic through the prep and the sale. It's something we are seeing in all the Cody's Wishes that their demeanor is pretty classy." Zach Madden with Buckland Sales also is high on Hip 4, a bay Cody's Wish colt out of the Awesome Again daughter Kite Beach, who is the dam of grade 1-placed, multiple grade 2 winner Tarifa (Bernardini). The colt will be the first of the Saratoga sale's Cody's Wish offerings to enter the ring. "He is a remarkable physical. He's just a 100% athlete," Madden said. "He is very well made and masculine but not coarse. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't very, very excited about him." Madden also said he has been impressed with Cody's Wish's progeny overall. He consigned as a weanling the filly out of Always Twinkling that Hunter Valley is selling at Saratoga as Hip 137; she sold for $440,000 at the Fasig-Tipton's November sale. "That filly we sold in November, she never flipped a hair," he said. "Obviously, these foals are being raised by experienced horsemen who know how to raise these foals, but the Cody's Wishes all seem to be very sensible and put up with the rigors of the sale, which I think speaks well of how they will handle breaking and training. "And physically, Cody's Wish is a big, good-looking horse and seems to be throwing himself," Madden continued. "They all seem to have a lot of leg, and I don't think I've seen a small one yet. These are two-turn dirt horses that a majority of people are looking for." The other Cody's Wish yearlings in the Saratoga sale include the following: Hip 50, bay colt out of grade 1-placed winner Pride of the Nile (Pioneerof the Nile), who was raced by West Coast Stables. She was sold at the 2023 The November Sale for $1.025 million to agent Jim Schenck out of Gainesway's consignment. This colt is consigned by Lane's End as agent. Hip 53, dark bay/brown colt out of grade 2 winner Pure Silver (Mission Impazible) and bred by Twin Creeks Farm, which also bred and raced Pure Silver. The colt is consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency. Hip 74, gray or roan filly out of She Gogo (Arrogate), whose second dam is Quiet Dance, the dam of Saint Liam, Funtastic, and Quiet Giant (dam of Gun Runner). This filly is consigned by Heartwood Farm as agent. Hip 214, a bay colt out of Haraawa, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro who is the dam of grade 1-placed stakes winner Munnys Gold (Munnings). Haraawa is out of the immediate family of 1999 champion 2-year-old colt Anees. The colt is consigned by St George Sales as agent. Regarding expectations for the Saratoga sale overall, Madden said he is optimistic the result will be strong and subject to the same dynamics seen at all sales for years. "I think if you have the goods, then you will reap the benefits of that," he said. "If you have something that is questionable, then a lot of people are going to pass. Overall, most everyone I've talked to is expecting the sales to be strong at Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland. I think the beat's going to go on."