Perhaps Fasig-Tipton will decorate its sales ring with some black-eyed Susans for the 104th edition of The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale, Aug. 4-5 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The official flower of the Preakness Stakes (G1) would be appropriate as half or full siblings to the past three winners of the Baltimore classic will be offered Monday and Tuesday at the select sale for yearlings. The ties are deep as those three winners themselves also sold as yearlings at the Saratoga Sale under the same consignors who will offer their siblings early next week.
Hip 10, Dynasty, full brother to National Treasure
The first of the trio scheduled to go through the ring is Hip 10, named Dynasty, a full brother to 2023 Preakness winner National Treasure , who went on at 4 to win the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) and Metropolitan Handicap (G1) to earn 2024 champion older dirt male honors.
Dynasty, a bay colt born Jan. 19, 2024—eight days before National Treasure's Pegasus score—was bred by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds. The colt is being consigned by Bridie Harrison, who has handled Blum's horses for some 40 years.
"Regardless of breeding, he's been one of the top foals at the farm from that class," said Jonathan Harrison, son and assistant of Bridie. "He's always been one of our nicer individuals, never mind his pedigree."
That pedigree, of course, is formidable. Dynasty is a son of Quality Road —Treasure, by Medaglia d'Oro . National Treasure is the first classic winner for his sire and one of four winners for his dam, including stakes winner Ultimate and grade 1-placed Pirate.
Harrison said Dynasty is a little longer, maybe a tick taller than National Treasure. Beyond that, he said they have very similar minds.
"They're both just quiet, easygoing horses," Harrison said. "I don't know how much that has to do with performance on the track, but I think it helps them with getting going right. I think it helps in being able to train them, being able to mold them the way you want; versus them doing what they want.
And interest has been steady at Barn 4.
"(Buyers) definitely know that he's here," Harrison said. "They're well aware, absolutely."
As a yearling of 2021, National Treasure was purchased by the partnership of SF, Starlight, and Madaket (Donato Lanni, agent) for $500,000 out of this sale.
Hip 165, half sister to Journalism
Denali Stud's Conrad Bandoroff found out moments before this year's Kentucky Derby (G1) that Denali would offer Journalism's half sister at this year's Saratoga Sale as agent for the yearling's breeder, Don Alberto Corporation.
That news brought some added excitement to this year's Triple Crown races for Bandoroff, who watched Journalism claim runner-up finishes in the Derby and Belmont Stakes (G1) around a Preakness in which he claimed victory by overcoming a seemingly impossible stretch deficit to post a clear win over Gosger.
"I was at the Preakness and it was just jubilant; just elation," Bandoroff said. "Journalism just has this refusal to lose. He just has the heart of a champion. You can never count him out because he just finds a way to win.
"I think that fortitude is something that the mare has passed down to all of her offspring. If the filly has an ounce of the heart that Journalism has, then she's got some career in front of her."
Journalism is a son of Curlin while this yearling filly, consigned as Hip 165, boasts another current stalwart stallion in Into Mischief , the reigning six-time leading sire in North America who is well atop the 2025 general sires list. Journalism is the first starter for his dam, Mopotism, a grade 2-winning daughter of Uncle Mo who also placed in multiple grade 1 races.
READ: Mopotism, G2 Winner and Dam of Journalism, Dies at 11
On an Aug. 2 morning that saw Journalism's trainer, Michael McCarthy, visit the popular bay filly, Bandoroff noted her striking resemblance to her classic-winning half brother.
"Her pedigree obviously speaks for itself but she's also a physical standout," Bandoroff said. "She has a lot of the physical characteristics of Journalism. She's got the shoulder, the girth, the head; I mean they're eerily similar. It's really uncanny. She might have a little more size and scope but at this stage it's fair to call them carbon copies.
"She's a lovely filly and one of my favorite attributes about her is that she has this class and this presence about her. She's regal, very intelligent, and just has this air and presence about her. I think she knows she's special."
As a yearling of 2023 Journalism was purchased for $825,000 out of this sale by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners.
Hip 209, half to Seize the Grey
Price Bell of consignor Mill Ridge Sales noted that promoting a half sibling to a classic winner always makes his job easier. The connections just celebrated the two-year anniversary of eventual 2023 Preakness winner Seize the Grey securing his maiden win second out in a July 29 maiden special weight race conducted, appropriately enough, at Saratoga.
"That dream with him started right around this time of year and he defeated Dornoch in that race," Bell said. "Anyway, it's amazing to be back with this filly this weekend and try to repeat the magic."
Both Seize the Grey and the yearling filly, consigned as Hip 209, are out of Smart Shopping, a stakes-placed daughter of leading sire Smart Strike. While Seize the Grey is a son of the late Arrogate, the filly is a daughter of first-crop yearling sire Life Is Good . Both Life Is Good and Arrogate are out of Distorted Humor mares.
Before she produced a classic winner, Smart Shopping already had established herself as special at Mill Ridge. For Bell, the yearling filly's story is that of her breeder, Audie Otto, under the Jamm Ltd banner started by her late mother, Audrey "Tolie" Otto.
"Audie's mother and my grandmother (Alice Headley Chandler) were the best of friends, and Audrey's mother, Tolie, with (Headley Bell's) help, bought Smart Shopping's mother (Shop Again) in 2007, in foal with her second foal. She was a good producer. She produced (grade 1 winner) Power Broker and had another stakes winner and a couple of really good sales horses.
"They opted to keep Smart Shopping and race her, Tolie and Audie together, which is amazing. Brendan Walsh trained her and she had a lot of ability. We really thought she was a proper horse. So we have always believed in Smart Shopping, believed in the family."
That belief would pay off in Seize the Grey, who brought $300,000 from MyRacehorse at the 2022 edition of this sale. Bell said the yearling filly appears to be keeping with family tradition.
"This filly has just been beautiful, certainly from day one," Bell said. "You remember her because you just saw her come in from the fields, or you'd see her in the fields and just watched her develop."
