Top 20 Yearlings

Now that all the yearling sales are done, I really need to focus on one group of horses. I considered many different strategies and approaches. This list is summary of my ten best:

1. Honor Code – Ermine Slippers by El Prado, c – 2/17, $40,000 – I wrote an entire post on this horse on 10/15/2020. I think the sire in undervalued, and the dam is exactly what I am looking for. The nick is A+. This horse moved to the top of my list after talking to the Centennial folks about Honor Code. Buyer = S. Schwartz
2. Summer Front – Summer Flirt by Bernardini, – f – 3/10, $50,000 – B nick, – This is my best turf horse. I could not find a Point of Entry I liked, so Summer Front was my second choice. Bernardini is a top quality broodmare sire and the second dam was an amazing stamina producer. Buyer = WSS Racing
3. Midnight Storm – Kuhlu by Ghostzapper – f – 5/31, $35,000 – A++ nick, – My favorite freshman sire is Midnight Storm. He was durable, and was a source of stamina on dirt and turf. The dam and 2nd dam were solid producers, and the 2nd dam was by Hansel. The late birthday keeps the pinhookers away. buyer = John Davison
4. Lemon Drop Kid – Gotcha Last by Pleasant Tap – c – 4/18, $40,000 – A++ nick, – The more I thought about, the more I like the idea of LDK. He is the ultimate old, boring sire. The mare was a solid runner, and produced two million dollar winners, including freshman sire American Freedom. buyer = Black Stone Farm
5. Classic Empire – Miss Mambo by Kingmambo – c – 4/11. $100,000 – I though Classic Empire would be too expensive, but this one is too good to pass up. The mare by the great Kingmambo was 2nd in the 1000 Guineas, and the 2nd dam is by the stamina sire Strawberry Road. The nick is a D, but I just have to try this stamina combination. Buyer = John Oxley, named Classic King
6. American Freedom – Purple Rose by El Prado – f – 4/5, $24,000 – American Freedom is a grandson of AP Indy. I love the stamina pedigree of the dam. The 2nd dam was runner up in the Personal Ensign. The nick is an A. buyer = Cool Hill Farm
7. Cairo Prince – Flying Spur by Giant’s Causeway – c – 2/13, $60,000 – Cairo Prince produced some good horses from below average mares. Now he is getting better mares, like this one that was 3rd in the Kentucky Oaks. The 2nd dam won 4 grade 1’s, and $965,000. The nick is a A. buyer = Al Fried
8. Gormley – Voodoo Lounge by Pleasant Tap – c – 5/9, $60,000 – B+ nick – Gormley is my favorite new speed sire. The dam produced 6 solid runners from 7 foals, and is by top broodmare sire Pleasant Tap. buyer = 5 O’Clock Somewhere
9. Bernardini – Composing by Touch Gold – f – $60,000, A nick. The mix of an AP Indy sire with a Storm Cat mare is classic breeding. The mare produced a $100,000 winner, and the 2nd dam in multiple G1 winner Lazy Slusan. buyer = Jerry Romans
10. Connect – Vindy City by Vindication – c – 2/4, $120,000 – A nick, This is the best idea from any partnership. I was very close to buying 5% from West Point. Connect is an interesting freshman sire (a son of Curlin) and Vindication adds Seattle Slew blood. This is the same cross as Exaggerator. buyer = West Point

Summary:

6 colts, 4 fillies / 6 plodders, 4 speed oriented sires / 5 from freshman sires / maybe 4 that have a chance to be turf horses / Roughly a $60,000 average

I could not be more excited about this group. It is a perfect example of my selection strategy. I am not sure they will be good 2 year olds, but they should improve with age.

Second 10:

1. Unified – Eleganter by AP Indy – c – 5/12, $50,000 – Unified is more of a miler (a son of Candy Ride), but we add some stamina on the dam side. This is a Cox/Crow type of horse.
2. Mastery – Golden Production by Exchange Rate – f – 2/1, $60,000 – This is my attempt to recreate Union Rags. Their is bunch of stamina pedigree in the 2nd dam
3. Hard Spun – Wave the Flag by Empire Maker – c – $140,000, Donegal, B+ nick – There is lots of stamina pedigree (Nureyev and Alleged) in the dam. Donegal gave him a nice write up. Great “heart score”
4. Orb – Place of Honor by First Samurai- $29,000, the second dam is $1,500,000 winner My Flag. B+ nick
5. Frosted – Settling for Gold by Seeking the Gold – f – 4/12 – $100,000 – The second dam by Pleasant Colony is the producer of Tonalist. Frosted was “on sale”.
6. Dialed In – Awesome Frances by Awesome Again – c – 4/27 – $27,000 – Bought by Antonio Sano who also bought another Dialed In named Guenavara.
7. Air Force Blue – High Maintenance by Danehill – c- 4/18 – $35 Ironhorse – A very solid Danehill mare
8. Practical Joke – Be Fair by Exchange Rate – c – 1/26 – $80,000 – This is another Union Rags attempt, the dam was a solid distance horse, and the 2nd dam produced $1,000,000 router Macho Again.
9. Union Rags – Wait Til Dawn by Giant’s Causeway – f – 2/27- $75,000 – the 2nd dam by Thunder Gulch is a sister to Spain.
10. Point of Entry – Quiet Royal by Royal Academy – c – 5/7 – $65,000 – The dam was multiple graded stakes placed, and produced a graded winner by Dynaformer. Lots of fancy Euro-pedigree in the 2nd dam.

This group is a little more speed oriented, but they all have interesting pedigrees on the dam side.