An active family and a March cover to a hot stallion generated profits for those associated with Calmate, who sold for $650,000 to Jody Huckabay as agent, during the Nov. 5 third session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
The 4-year-old daughter of Vekoma , purchased for $190,000 by the partnership Natalma at last year's Keeneland November sale, is a winning half sister to Litmus Test, who won the 2025 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) a month after her acquisition. She was sold Nov. 5 in foal to Nyquist , the fourth-ranked stallion in North America.
Hunter Valley Farm consigned her as Hip 771, whose dam, Study Hard (Malibu Moon), is a full sister to graded stakes winner Sweet August Moon.
Litmus Test was a well-established juvenile last November, winning at first asking at Del Mar in the summer before finishing fourth in the Del Mar Futurity (G1), third in the Breeders' Futurity (G1), and fourth again in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).
But he had not yet captured a graded stakes race, which the colt did by 1 1/4 lengths in the 2025 Los Alamitos Futurity at Los Alamitos Race Course for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and his ownership partners, a group headed by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables.
"When Litmus Test went on a month straight after the sale, it all looked fantastic," Hunter Valley Farm co-founder and co-owner Adrian Regan said of the partnership that pinhooked Calmate. "We decided to take a punt and go with Nyquist, who obviously is one of the best sires in America, if not the world at the moment. She was a beautiful quality mare, and the price was more than we thought she'd bring, and I was just glad it worked out for all the partners."
The foal Hip 771 is carrying will be closely related to Litmus Test, as he is also by Nyquist.
Litmus Test recently resumed working at Los Alamitos after being freshened following a fifth-place finish in the Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita Park in June.
That start followed a 17th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs, a seventh-place finish in the Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park, and a show effort in the Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn in his first outing after the 2025 Los Alamitos Futurity.
