Courtlandt Farm Takes Home $500,000 Pair

Having a 2-year-old jump up and win a grade 1 the weekend before a yearling sale is the kind of update every stallion farm wants for its stallion. That's exactly what happened for Nyquist, who picked up his first top-level winner in the form of Vequist, who blew away the field to win the Spinaway Stakes (G1) Sept. 6 at Saratoga Race Course by 9 1/2 lengths. As as bonus, Nyquist was also the sire of Lady Lilly, who finished third in the same race. With those facts in mind, Ernie Retamoza entered the Fasig-Tipton ring during the Sept. 10 session of the Selected Yearlings Showcase with the determination to buy a daughter of the Darley stallion even if he had to stretch. Several bids and $500,000 later, Retamoza was more than happy to sign the winning ticket on Hip 487 on behalf of Don Adam's Courtlandt Farm. "A first-year sire like that that has done what he's done over the summer—that makes you pay attention to a filly like this," Retamoza said. "She's a great physical and met all the criteria. We were thinking we'd have to stretch a little bit on her, but thankfully it stopped." Bred in Kentucky by Todd Frederick, Chad Frederick, and Phoenix Farm and Racing, Hip 487 is out of the unraced Dixie Union mare Azalea Belle, who has already produced stakes-placed winner Aurelia Garland. The filly was offered to the sale by Warrendale Sales, agent. Sharing top billing with their Nyquist filly Thursday was Hip 560, a $500,000 daughter of Darley stallion Medaglia d'Oro from the consignment of Gainesway, agent. Bred in Kentucky by Debby Oxley, the filly is out of the Bernardini mare Darling's Darling. Her second dam, Darling My Darling, ran second in the Frizette Stakes (G1) and produced grade 1 winner Heavenly Love and grade 2 winner Forever Darling. "She was just a beautiful filly, and she fits the profile of the kind of fillies Mr. Adams is looking for," Retamoza said. "I think we're done for today. We're pleased with what we did here." Earlier Thursday, Courtlandt Farm went to $190,000 for Hip 348, a filly by Lane's End's Twirling Candy out of Shaaraat (by Distorted Humor). Bred in Kentucky by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, she was consigned to the sale by her breeder. During the opening session Sept. 9, Courtlandt purchased Hip 264 for $280,000. A son of WinStar Farm's Distorted Humor, the colt was bred in Kentucky by Edward Seltzer out of Mylitta (Sky Mesa) and was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent. Total receipts for Courtlandt's four yearlings came to $1.47 million. "We're thankful to have (bloodstock agents) Mike Cline and David Ingordo do some looking before we arrived," Retamoza said. "That made my job a little easier. We just had to go through some of the better ones and decide the value. I think these are all horses that Mr. Adams is going to love to put in his race program and hopefully be successful. We will get them home and under tack and see where they are next spring."