Gems can be found buried in the second week of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. They may be concealed by an unfashionable sire, immaturity, or have a family that has gone quiet of late, but the will to compete and the talent are there waiting to be discovered.
Airdrie Stud is hoping the handful of yearlings by its private stallion Biogenic that are selling in Book 6 will be among these rough-cut gems.
A son of three-time leading North American sire Tapit out of Airdrie homebred and Canadian Horse of the Year Biofuel, Biogenic grew up at Airdrie radiating potential. Expectations were being realized when owner/breeder Brereton Jones lined up a lucrative private sale for the young colt, but Murphy's Law intervened. A few days before the deal was to close, Biogenic ran into a post in his paddock, fracturing his shoulder and ending the deal. Clouds obscured Biogenic's once bright future.
Jones still believed in the horse and embarked down the long road of rehabilitation. The shoulder healed and eventually Biogenic was sent to trainer Larry Jones to see whether the colt's potential could finally be realized.
"I measure heart size and air flow factors on all my horses and, believe me, he was cut out to be a good horse. Genetically, he was supposed to be somebody," Larry Jones recalled. "He had a ton of talent."
Unfortunately, the colt never showed his best in the afternoons. He made three starts, one for Larry Jones and two for trainer Graham Motion, and at best finished third in a maiden special weight at Laurel Park. Brereton Jones accepted the horse's physical limitations and brought him back home to give him another opportunity to prove himself, this time as a stallion.
"My dad has followed his instincts his entire life, and those instincts have led him to be successful," Airdrie's Bret Jones said. "Really, in anything he's put his mind to, he's trusted his gut, and he has been right more than he's been wrong. He has always loved this horse and believed he deserved the opportunity at stud. I believe there will be a good story that comes out of his runners."
Bret Jones said he and his father are quite happy with the four Biogenic first-crop yearlings entered in the Keeneland September sale.
"He is a big, two-turn, classic-type horse, and that is what he is throwing," Jones said. "He is getting horses with size that looked like they'll stretch out.
"We wanted to have some in other people's hands, and we'll be retaining some ourselves to race. We know that we are up against it numbers-wise, but we are looking forward to showing them off."
The Biogenic yearlings being offered during the Sept. 24-25 sessions at Keeneland:
- Hip 3766, a filly and first foal out of Make It Run (Creative Cause ) consigned by Legacy Bloodstock. The filly's second dam, Source of Humor, is a full sister to both grade 1 winner Commentator and grade 3 winner Savvy Supreme.
- Hip 4079, a colt out of Hidatsa consigned by South Point Sales Agency. The colt's dam is a winning Proud Citizen mare who has produced stakes-placed winner Hidatsa Park (Divine Park). The mare is a full sister to grade 3 winner Motovato.
- Hip 4186, a colt out of Proud Commander consigned by South Point Sales Agency. The mare is by Proud Citizen and out of the immediate family of grade 1 winner Currency Swap, grade 3 winners You'renotlistening and Chanteline, and multiple stakes winner Your Bluffing.
- Hip 4222, a colt out of She's Got Pride consigned by St George Sales as agent. The colt is the first foal out of the winning Proud Citizen mare. She's Got Pride is out of the winning Forest Wildcat mare Wildandfabulous, who produced four winners from four to race and is a half sister to grade 2 winner and producer Spectacular Moon (Migrating Moon).
Larry Jones said he looks forward to seeing a few Biogenic progeny in his stable.
"He had a great manner for a Tapit. They can be a little hot-blooded, but Biogenics was not that way. I have thankfully because of Fox Hill Farm been around several Tapits, and I really liked this horse," said Jones, who trained grade 1 winner Joyful Victory, grade 2 winner Coup de Grace, grade 3 winner Cassatt, stakes winner Southern Girl, and grade 1-placed winner Normandy Invasion—all of them by Tapit.
"I get a lot of RNAs from 'Brere' Jones. If he can sell them, I don't get them," Jones quipped. "I hope to get some RNAs by this horse because I want to train them."
