In the fall of 2015, Corinna Wildermuth and partner Lauren Roche purchased a yearling filly named Shirocca for $67,856 at Germany's Baden-Baden Premier Yearling Sale. After their search for a modestly priced broodmare prospect in the United States became hard to find, Wildermuth returned to her native Germany to pick one out herself. Shirocca proved to be a good investment when her McKinzie colt sold for $235,000 to En Fuego Stables Nov. 9 during Book 3 of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
Hip 1602 was bred by Areion Thoroughbreds (Roche and Wildermuth), named after four-time German champion sire Areion, who sired 53 black-type winners, and the Greek mythology horse "Arion," the offspring of Poseidon and Demeter. Hip 1602, which brought the top price for a weanling at Saturdays session, was consigned by War Horse Place, where Areion keeps their two broodmares. The bay colt is the third foal from Shirocca, dam of two foals of racing age, both winners.
Shirocca is by So You Think, the winner of 10 group 1 races across two hemispheres with earnings of $8.6 million. Standing at Coolmore Australia for an advertised fee of AU$77,000, he has sired more than 30 grade/group 1 winners worldwide.
"I always loved So You Think," Wildermuth said. "We saw that filly (Shirocca), and she was also out of a full sister (Swish) to Breeders' Cup (Turf) winner Shirocco. We said, 'Hey that's it, it's a German family, a Breeders' Cup winner in New York, let's pursue this one.' That's how we ended up with this filly.
"I think the mare's probably a little bit more turf pedigree and stamina," Wildermuth said about Shirocca. "So, we're trying to also get a little speed or dirt sires, while also trying to figure out what really matches up with the mare physically. So, we ended up on McKinzie.
"He had three-digit Beyers, and when we saw him when we inspected him at Gainesway, we really liked his physique, and we could see him as great match with the mare. We're super happy."
McKinzie stood his first year at stud in 2021 at Gainesway for $30,000, and will stand in 2025 for an advertised fee of $75,000. He has two grade 1 winners from his first crop in Chancer McPatrick, winner of the Champagne Stakes (G1) and Hopeful Stakes (G1), and Scottish Lassie, winner of the Frizette Stakes (G1) by nine lengths.
McKinzie also was responsible for the second- and third-highest-priced weanlings at Saturday's session. Hip 1861, a McKinzie colt out of the stakes-winning Speightstown mare Hip Hop N Jazz, brought a final bid of $210,000 from Kinsman Farm. Eaton Sales, agent, consigned.
And earlier Hip 1795 from Gainesway's consignment, a McKinzie half brother to stakes winner Britain's Kitten, brought $195,000 from Big Bear Bloodstock.
Wildermuth said Shirocca is back in foal to French-bred stallion and former Chad Brown trainee Sacred Life , who will stand the 2025 season at War Horse Place near Lexington for an advertised fee of $2,000.
"We're excited about that breeding," said Wildermuth. "He was a good horse, he ran against Raging Bull here in a grade 1 at Keeneland. I just feel like he's a good racehorse, and we're trying to find stallions that work with the more 'turf-ish' pedigree."
Wildermuth was quick to credit the care her horses receive at War Horse Place from the owner Dana McCreary and her team. Farm manager Rafael Zambrano in fact prepped McKinzie as a yearling when he was yearling manager at Summer Wind Farm, which bred McKinzie.
Background
When asked how Wildermuth got into racing, she said it was the great mare and 2010 Horse of The Year Zenyatta who reignited the spark of her childhood love of horses.
"The thing that really got me hooked to horse racing is Zenyatta; kind of that race at Santa Anita, 2009 Breeders' Cup; oh my god, she starts out in the back and then rolls them up."
Fast-forward a few years later and Wildermuth and Rouche are part of a group that owned multiple graded stakes winner and Breeders' Cup participant Dacita, who earned $1.5 million on the track for trainer Brown and owners Sheep Pond Partners and Bradley Thoroughbreds.
"The first one we invested in went to the Breeders' Cup, so you start out at the top, and you think it's like that all the time. Then we were kind of hooked," she said.
Future Goals
Wildermuth does not plan to expand her broodmare band, but one goal is to follow her horses and do right by the equines that have enriched her life.
"You can call us, we want to do right by the horses," she said. "We don't want to just breed a horse and then that horse falls through the cracks. We're always trying to make sure they come back to us. They will always have a home, because we've had some heartache."
Wildermuth is currently working with a group to implement change and follow the aftercare of horses when their time on the track is up.
"We've had our ups and downs and today, we're the highest, really high. We're also aware that at some point, the low is going to come, but it's an exciting industry. Keeneland has done really great as a sales company, and the new leadership has taken it to a new level."
