Small Consignments Bring Quality Yearlings to July Sale

A quartet of consignors—Blue Heaven Farm, Foundations Farm, Red Gables Stud, and Winchester Equine—are among the operations hoping that the time-tested principle of quality over quantity returns big dividends during The July Sale, Fasig-Tipton's selected yearlings sale in Lexington July 13. Each of the consignors has brought small but select drafts (one or two horses) to Lexington this week, and collectively, the group of sellers is excited to share their precocious yearlings with the market and they are hopeful that positive energy around the barns over the weekend translates to strong trade in the auction ring Tuesday. Blue Heaven Farm, family-owned and operated in Versailles, Ky., by Bonnie Baskin and her son, Adam Corndorf, will be represented in the ring by Hip 225, a bay filly by Union Rags out of the graded 1-winning Game Plan mare Mistical Plan. The Blue Heaven Farm homebred is a half sister to three winners, including Delta Outlaw, an earner of $272,603. "We don't sell in this sale very often, but this filly is really forward physically and mentally," said Corndorf, general manager of Blue Heaven Farm. "She checks all the boxes for this sale. We also thought that pedigree-wise she might stand out a bit in that she is by an established high-end stallion with a good bottom half of the pedigree, and this sale can often times have a lot of young, first-crop stallions. "Her dam was a fantastic racehorse," Corndorf added. "She was just so versatile. She has a wonderful disposition, and she has been an excellent sales mare. She is super reliable." Blue Heaven Farm has made headlines in recent years campaigning Canada's 2019 Horse of the Year Starship Jubilee, a multiple grade 1 winner of $2,093,069 whom they bought privately following the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale in 2018. While Blue Heaven Farm typically targets the Keeneland September Yearling Sale with most of their young stock, Corndorf believes the precocious filly is properly placed. "Any time we can thin out our Keeneland (offering) and find good spots for horses, either at Saratoga (The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) or here in July, it makes it easier for us in September," Corndorf noted. As for what he expects to see in the market, Corndorf said, "At the end of the day, you can't just rely on the economic indicators, you have to have a nice horse. It is cliché, but the good horses will continue to sell well, and the ones that people don't like will continue to struggle." Kevin and Kathy Wallace's Foundations Farm will offer two yearlings—Hip 87, a homebred colt from the first crop of Accelerate, and Hip 312, a colt by Bernardini that the couple acquired for $55,000 at last year's Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. "The Accelerate is a really nice horse," said Kevin Wallace of the half brother to stakes winner Wallace out of the winning Tale of the Cat mare Tales of Paradise. "He has a wonderful physical on him, a great mind, and I think he is a racehorse. "The Bernardini has turned out to be a really neat horse," Wallace said of the colt produced from the Tiznow mare Tiz a Chick, a full sister to grade 2 stakes winner Tizahit, the latter the dam of grade 1 winner Come Dancing. "He is a nice one. He is a March foal, so he should be an early 2-year-old. Actually, both of them look like they are going to be early 2-year-olds." Anticipating a healthy sale on Tuesday, Wallace was encouraged by traffic in the barns on Saturday morning, the positive buzz signaling an industry shaking off the effects of the pandemic. "Last year was turmoil because of COVID," said Wallace, who shared that Foundations Farm sells between eight to 12 head a year. "Everything was up in the air last year and no one knew what was happening. It was kind of hard on small people like us. We don't have special horses to make a million dollars or anything; we just want to earn enough to keep going. There is a nice buzz (on the grounds). Everyone seems to be positive in their way of thinking. The 2-year-olds had a decent year, and that should help. It's really nice to see everyone here working and showing and getting this game going again." Veteran horseman William Snowden of Winchester Equine has his hopes riding on Hip 275, a homebred filly by Street Boss out of the multiple stakes-placed Heatseeker mare Seeking the Light. "She is an extremely attractive filly—she is a January foal—and Street Boss is having what some would say is a career year with three grade 1 stakes winners in the last 12 months. He is a very versatile and useful stallion for mid-market breeders," said Snowden, who bred the filly in partnership with Godolphin. "The filly is striking. I raised her mother and her grandmother. It's been such a wonderful family. She was accepted into the sale before we even got her out of the barn. It's so humbling. "We have had quite a few people stop by the farm to see her, and if they are right, I think she will give a fair account of herself," Snowden added. "She is lovely and from a strong female family. There is a foundation for precocity here. She is very straightforward, and she should be well-received." Snowden indicated that Seeking the Light has a Street Boss full sibling to Hip 275 at her side and was bred back this year to Kitten's Joy. "She has a bright future," Snowden said of the mare. As far as what he expects to see from the market, Snowden said, "I think the market is going to be good for the right horses. I don't think much has changed. I think there is a lot of money out there. People are wanting to get involved, whether through partnerships or on their own. I am always concerned with the middle- and lower-bracket horses because we need to have them to fill races everywhere. "This sale is always a nervous sale because somebody has to be first," he added. "I was told by knowledgeable people that they (Fasig-Tipton) were very selective on the horses they took this year. Hence, I expect (the catalog to feature) good athletes; they should be good physicals. If you have the right one checking the boxes by the right horse, I think there is fair trade. We're eternal dreamers, hopeless romantics, and coming out of COVID there is definitely some excitement." Tanya Johnson, under the banner of Red Gables Stud which she started in 2007, is offering a dark bay or brown colt (Hip 202) by Creative Cause out of the stakes-winning Street Sense mare Lexington Street, a half sister to stakes winner Whirlin Curlin. Bred in Florida by Bridlewood Farm, the colt hails from the family of multiple graded stakes winners Nannerl and Magicalymysterycat. He was a $27,000 RNA at this year's Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale and was subsequently bought privately for an undisclosed client of Johnson's following the trip through the ring at Keeneland. "He is a very strong, mature-looking horse," said Johnson. "He has more of a Street Sense physical to him rather than Creative Cause. He is the kind of horse that will appeal to pinhookers and to people who want to race. "The July sale is perfect to bring just one horse," Johnson added. "Everyone here wants to see everything, so you know they are going to get looked at no matter what. Following the 2-year-old (sale season), I think everyone is a little more confident than last year. I just hope the market this year is stronger than last year."