Jeff and Chiquita Reddoch's Stonehaven Steadings is back with another strong consignment for the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, held Sept. 8-20 in Lexington. Their Book 1 contingent features sire power and strong physicals.
Aidan O'Meara, director of bloodstock at Stonehaven Steadings, is excited about all four of his offerings, especially Hip 252, a colt by red-hot sire Gun Runner , who was recently represented by Whitney Stakes (G1) winner Sierra Leone.
"He's probably as nice a physique of a horse that we've ever brought to auction here," O'Meara said. "He's a big beautiful horse who's really only started to come into himself the last few months."
The colt's 2-year-old half brother by Into Mischief sold as a yearling at last year's sale for $800,000 to Spendthrift Farm and Bregman Family Racing. Hip 252 is out of the stakes-producing Smart Strike mare Beckles Road.
Another horse both Aidan and his wife Leah O'Meara—who is the daughter of Jeff and Chiquita Reddoch, and in charge of investment opportunities at Stonehaven Steadings—are excited about is Hip 193, a colt from the first crop of 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline .
"The Flightline colt we have is one of those beautifully balanced horses that have that kind of way about them that's so well balanced, they don't look as big as they actually are," Aidan O'Meara said. "He's a very sharp horse. His mom—every foal she's had has been a beautiful baby. He might arguably be the nicest foal she's produced.
"We're big fans of Flightline, and we're delighted to get a horse of that caliber in the first crop. He's a horse we've got a lot of faith in and we've supported the first few years here, and we're delighted to be able to showcase a colt of his caliber."
Hip 193 is out of the graded stakes-placed mare True Feelings, making him a half brother to stakes winner Feeling Mischief and grade 3-placed Royal Act.
"He moves well, he's a pretty, classic type," echoed Leah O'Meara about Hip 193. "He's probably the best foal the mare has thrown, and that's saying a lot."
True Feelings' 2020 Justify colt was one of the top prices at the 2021 September Sale, selling for $1.55 million, and last year her Quality Road colt topped the September sale at $2.5 million.
Aidan, who was previously with Hill 'n' Dale Farm as their stallion manager, knows a thing or two about the breed-shaping sire Curlin , who is the sire of Hip 330. She is the third foal of the grade 1-placed Into Mischief mare Figure of Speech.
"She's got a little bit more of the Into Mischief coming through physically," he said about Hip 330. "But, she's a filly who's got her daddy's robustness in the mentality though."
Hip 330's half sister Meaning, by Gun Runner, sold during Book 1 at last year's September Sale for $440,000 to Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Bridlewood Farm. The 2-year-old filly has been breezing at Del Mar under the care of trainer Michael McCarthy.
"She's breezing like a legit filly there, so we're very hopeful, it could be a win-win for everybody to receive a big update pretty quick."
The last offering is a homebred for the O'Mearas and Stonehaven Steadings is Hip 152, a filly by Quality Road out of the graded stakes-winning mare Stunning Sky. This is the mare's second foal.
The O'Mearas are cautiously optimistic about the upcoming sale, which begins Sept. 8 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
"We're super humbled by this business all the time; we know there's a lot of quality horses here," Leah said. "We're not going to be bold to think that we've got anything that's going to outsell something else, but it is exciting. It's a great time to be a seller, and we're really pumped."
