Curlin Colt Sails to $2M Early in Saratoga Sale

Bidding from his customary spot on the second-level balcony of the Humphrey S. Finney sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, flanked by owner Amr Zedan and trainer Bob Baffert, nailed the first seven-figure yearling to sell at this year's Fasig-Tipton The Saratoga Sale Aug. 10. Hip 19, a Curlin colt out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Merlazza, inspired a spirited bidding war early in the opening session, ending when the hammer fell at $2 million. The dark bay or brown colt is from the consignment of Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, agent, and was bred in Kentucky by Curlin Syndicate and Don Alberto Corporation. Lanni signed the ticket on behalf of Zedan. At this sale last year, the duo purchased the sale’s third-highest seller, a Gun Runner colt that went for $2.9 million. "He's a horse that the whole team liked," Lanni said. "Bob (Baffert) loved the horse. He was a really nice colt by Curlin. There's not going to be too many of those Curlins left, unfortunately. He's getting a little older, and he's been a great sire. He had the Derby winner this year. This colt is very mature, very athletic, and he looks like he'll stretch out." The colt's third dam, Crystal Current, is a full sister to grade 1 winner Majestic Warrior (A.P. Indy), and his fourth dam is the dual grade 1 winner and millionaire Dream Supreme (Seeking the Gold). Hill 'n' Dale’s director of bloodstock Jes Sikura beamed, even looking a little awestruck as he discussed the colt and the price. "We really, really liked him. He showed great this week," he said. "He's a beautiful-moving colt. I don't know if we expected him to go quite that high, but we thought that he was going to surpass our expectations. This is to a little bit of a different level." "You never know what they're going to bring," Lanni said, "but the good ones always seem to cost a lot. There was a lot of competition for the horse. He impressed us from the very beginning. At Saratoga, you have so much time to look at the horses and find a reason to get off the horse, but we just stayed on him." Both Lanni and Sikura commented on the energy and traffic in the pavilion and on the sales grounds. "We had really strong traffic at our consignment," Sikura said. "This is the most momentum and energy I've seen here. We're happy that this colt fell into that momentum." "There's very strong energy," Lanni said. "It's been a good year, and there are a lot of people here. There's good horses all around."