Taylor Made Offers Power Mare Duo at Fasig-Tipton Sale

A pair of mares with connections to contenders on this year's Kentucky Derby (G1) and Kentucky Oaks (G1) trails stand to be among the starring attractions at the upcoming Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale Feb. 3. Both mares—Allez Lele, a half sibling to Jan. 18 Busanda Stakes victress Running Away, and late supplement Athenian Beauty, the dam of Jan. 25 Southwest Stakes (G3) winner Speed King—will be consigned under the Taylor Made Sales Agency banner. Given the recent success of their families, these mares are entering the market at a time when dreams of roses and lilies stir on the minds of all those involved in the racing industry. Athenian Beauty (Hip 413), out of the graded stakes-placed and and graded stakes-producing mare Im Out First, comes from a live family. She is a half sister to multiple stakes winner Im a Dixie Girl, who is the dam of multiple grade 1 winner and sire Mor Spirit. Taylor Made consigns the mare who is offered in foal to Crestwood Farm's Caracaro, the grade 1-placed son of the late Uncle Mo, for owner Ted Bowman. Speed King is off to a strong start on the Kentucky Derby trail after earning 20 points for his wire-to-wire victory in the $1 million Southwest Stakes. The son of Volatile had everyone talking from the moment he was born at Elm Tree Farm near Paris, Ky. "That video that Jody Huckabay (Elm Tree Farm) did, they said that Speed King was one of the nicest Volatiles that was presented out of that crop," said Taylor Made's Alex Payne. "I know that (Athenian Beauty) throws very good-looking babies, because he was gorgeous." See the Volatile Colt That Has Everybody Talking Speed King sits second on the leaderboard for Kentucky Derby contenders with 25 points, behind champion 2-year-old male Citizen Bull who has 40. The colt is trained by Ron Moquett for Triton Thoroughbreds (Bowman) and now has $669,000 in career earnings. Moquett and Bowman are hoping for another grade 1 win together, as the same team paired up in 2006 with Seek Gold to win the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) at Churchill Downs. Speed King's next probable stop is the Rebel Stakes (G2), with the Arkansas Derby (G1) being the main goal before the Run for the Roses. "He ran a 93 Beyer (Speed Figure) in the Southwest this weekend," added Payne. "And his only defeat was a second to Coal Battle in the Springboard Mile Stakes, who has now come back to win the Smarty Jones Stakes. This horse (Speed King) has big opportunities. "It's the right time to sell, see if you can get some people out there and some people out there dreaming of owning a dam of a (Kentucky) Derby horse. It's a lot of excitement, it pumps up the consignment." Taylor Made will be consigning Allez Lele (Hip 193) for William Daugherty, Bill Daugherty, and Bill Barr's BlackRidge Stables. The young mare, a daughter of Strong Mandate and black-type producer Allez Marie, was privately purchased largely in part to her excellent conformation. "She's a very, very good physical," said Taylor Made's Jeff Hayslett. "That's a high criteria for BlackRidge—strong conformation, well proportioned, just good old-fashioned good-looking. And that's what she is." Allez Lele gave birth to a healthy filly last year by Constitution, the sire of the mare's stakes-winning half brother Legalize. "She's a very nice filly," Hayslett said of the Constitution yearling. "We'll be having her most likely pointed for either the Saratoga (sale at Fasig-Tipton) or a Book 1 or Book 2 Keeneland September Sale, that's how highly we think of her. "We'll show photos of her to potential buyers at the sale. It's a very good-looking family. That's one of the drivers of letting this mare go to a public auction rather than a digital platform." Allez Lele is currently back in foal to Constitution. The WinStar Farm stallion completed his best year in 2024, landing fifth on the North American general sires list with $15.3 million in progeny earnings. Running Away, Allez Lele's Munnings half sibling, cast her name in the spotlight last fall with a sparkling five-length maiden victory at Churchill Downs for trainer Wesley Ward. The promising filly didn't disappoint in her stakes debut, rolling home a gate-to-wire winner in the $125,000 Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack, collecting 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. According to information supplied to Taylor Made, Running Away is targeting the April 4 Ashland (G1) or April 5 Gazelle (G3) stakes as her next start. "You look at the mare's family, you see Summerly, a Kentucky Oaks winner herself (as her second dam), and then the mare's half sister pointing toward the Kentucky Oaks," Hayslett said. "It's a loaded family. Our marketing piece for this mare is essentially 'Family on Fire.'" In addition to Running Away, Allez Lele's half brother Legalize, a $500,000 2-year-old purchase in 2023, captured the 2023 Sugar Bowl Stakes at 2 and is currently in training with Cherie DeVaux as he readies for his 4-year-old campaign. The mare's yearling half sibling, a colt by Munnings, recently brought $320,000 at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton December Digital Sale. "The gentlemen that own (Allez Lele), BlackRidge Stables, are very conscientious and very good businessmen and when the market says the time is right, they go," Hayslett said. "And that's what they're doing here. We think she's a mare that should very much hold her own in the marketplace. "When you sell horses it's called checking the boxes, and she checks them all."