Most Thoroughbred breeders hope to produce group 1 winners and achieve international success, but few succeed—and even fewer have the Midas Touch.
David and Diane Nagle, however, continue to rank among the sport's most illustrious breeders with their Barronstown Stud. The couple, inducted into the Irish Racing Hall of Fame in 2019, will be represented by two standout yearlings by first-crop sire Justify Aug. 9-10 at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's sale of selected yearlings in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
First up is Hip 41, a striking bay colt foaled in Kentucky out of the 17-year-old Successful Appeal mare Appealing Zophie— the dam of 2017 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winner and exciting first-crop yearling sire Tapwrit, himself a $1.2 million graduate of The Saratoga Sale in 2015. Appealing Zophie is also the dam of the graded stakes-winning Candy Ride horse Ride a Comet, third last out for Mark Casse in the June 26 Wise Dan Stakes (G2T) at Churchill Downs for My Meadowview Farm and John Oxley. Inject, her 3-year-old filly by Frosted , has made her mark on the track for Louis Wright and trainer Brad Cox with a victory in the May 15 Goldfinch Stakes at Prairie Meadows and a third in the July 10 Victory Ride Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park. The mare has an unnamed 2-year-old Tapit filly, did not foal in 2021, and was bred back to Justify for 2022.
While Barronstown encompasses 500 acres between Wicklow and Kildare counties in Ireland, the Nagles have maintained a longtime association with John Magnier of Coolmore and keep a handful of mares in the United States at Ashford Stud. Appealing Zophie is among them and became a part of the Barronstown broodmare band in 2018 when she went through the ring for $1.2 million at The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's selected breeding stock sale, when consigned by Denali Stud for prior owner My Meadowview.
Eaton Sales consigns her yearling.
"He is everything you could want in a yearling representing the first crop by Justify," said Adrian Wallace of Ashford Stud. "A good combination of the mare and sire, he is rangy, correct, and oozes quality. He's a big horse but looks precocious. On the farm, he has been a very straightforward horse, has a good attitude, and prepped well."
Appealing Zophie's progeny have proven their worth both at public auction and on the track each year throughout the United States, as she did throughout her 2- and 3-year-old campaigns for Heiligbrodt Racing Stable. Winner of just shy of half a million dollars, Appealing Zophie clinched the 2006 Spinaway Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course and the 2007 Silverbulletday Stakes (G3) and finished fourth in the 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Churchill Downs.
Reiley McDonald of Eaton Sales said, "He is a strong, powerful, very American kind of dirt horse. He has the beautiful Justify topline, and amazing substance to go along with. Checking all the boxes, he looks like an early, two-turn, leggy type."
The Nagles' second yearling is a half sister to grade 1 winner Princess of Sylmar (by Majestic Warrior) consigned as Hip 204 by Paramount Sales. Out of the Catienus mare Storm Dixie, the filly went through the 2020 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale but failed to meet her reserve when the hammer fell for $370,000.
"She has the pedigree for Saratoga, an obvious choice to bring her here, being a half to a multiple grade 1 winner, and by Justify. She's a robust filly, good hip on her, very correct, well at the walk," said Lesley Campion of Paramount Sales.
Established in 1980, Barronstown is home to 29 winners of more than 44 group 1 or classic races in nine countries across three continents. Their standouts include champion Yeats, William Hill St. Leger Stakes (G1) winner Kew Gardens, and Comer Group International Irish St. Leger (G1) winner Flag of Honour. The couple possesses a vast amount of industry experience; David is known as a pioneer in the world of Thoroughbred auctioneering while Diane maintains an encyclopedic knowledge of pedigrees. Together, they have created a lasting legacy for the racing industry along with a curated group of broodmares producing the next generation of stars.
Generous (Ireland's Horse of the Year in 1991), Oratorio (a sire in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres), Even Song, Fine Motion, Hootenanny, Horatio Nelson, Imagine, Matiya, Septimus, Shahtoush, Simple Verse, The Last Lion, Torcedor, and Wind in Her Hair are among other notable products of the Barronstown breeding program.
"They have been friends of mine for decades; we have done business together for decades. They are phenomenal breeders, both are incredible horse people. Diane has the most amazing mind for pedigrees and the business of horses, is one of the more knowledgeable people in the business, and David is an accomplished horseman. Their breeding program has produced some many great horses," said McDonald.
