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Another son (hip 45) from the first crop of Horse of the Year Flightline broke the seven-figure mark when Japan's Naohiro Sakaguchi went to $1,700,000 to secure the half-brother to GSW Promise Keeper (Constitution), SW/GSP Wicked Awesome (Awesome Again) and GSP War Stopper (Declaration of War). Bred by Rock Ridge Thoroughbreds, the colt was consigned by Warrendale Sales. His first dam is a half-sister to GI Lane's End Breeders' Futurity Stakes winner Great Hunter (Aptitude) while another half-sister produced MGSW/MGISP Owendale (Into Mischief). Rock Ridge purchased the mare for $200,000 as a broodmare at KEENOV in 2015.

The post Another Flightline Colt Breaks Seven Figures, Bringing $1.7m appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

A record-shattering total of $25,385,003 was wagered on Saturday's 12-race card at Kentucky Downs, a press release from the track said late on Saturday.

Six of the races were stakes. Each race featured at least 10 starters, and 10 races had 11 or more.

The previous Kentucky Downs wagering record was the $21,184,941 wagered last year on the corresponding day, reflecting an increase this year of more than $4.2 million.

The post Kentucky Downs Smashes Single Day Mark With Over $25 Million Wagered On Saturday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

LEXINGTON, KY – Domestic and international shoppers galore were steadily making their way through the sales barns on a blissful Sunday morning in the Bluegrass–the quiet before the storm–a day before bidding opens for the 12-day Keeneland September Yearling Sale in Lexington. Following a competitive 2-year-old sales season this spring, the yearling auctions opened with strong demand across town in July and continued in upstate New York last month, leaving consignors optimistic of a strong market a day before the industry's bellwether yearling auction begins.

“I think everybody on the sales grounds feels very positive about the market after a very strong Saratoga,” said Four Star Sales Kerry Cauthen. “I think we all sit here and look at the tea leaves and feel like we would expect this to be a very good sale, too.”

Buyers will have plenty to look at over the next two weeks, with 4,692 yearlings representing the largest Keeneland September catalogue since 2010.

“That really comes back to the breeders,” Keeneland's Senior Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach said of the larger catalogue. “The breeding industry is so sophisticated. The breeders are really experts at what they do. They are quicker to cull mares than they would have been in the past. The stallions are extremely strong and deep, especially when you include the yearling first-crop sires. There is a tremendous wealth of good, quality horses.”

The depth of quality offerings through the auction led the sales company to eschew the auction's traditional final Book 6 section and instead designate the final four days of the auction as Book 5A and Book 5B.

“We just want everyone to know any connotation that might be associated with Book 6 just doesn't really apply this year,” Breathnach said of the distinction. “There really is depth and quality all the way through the 12 days.”

Of the paradox of an expanding September catalogue with a declining foal crop, Breathnach said, “The commercial breeders are very active, as well as at a high level. So that side of the industry is holding up better, maybe, then the breed-to-race side. So the decline of the foal crop is probably more from that sector than commercial breeding. And then I feel, hopefully, [the larger catalogue] is an endorsement of our sale, that the market here has been so strong. We have set record averages the last four years and two record medians and three of the top four grossing sales, so I would like to think that there is some recognition of that.”

During last year's September sale, 2,735 horses grossed a record $411,749,500, while the average was a record $150,548 and the median was a record-tying $70,000.

Asked if he thought the 2025 auction could surpass those lofty standards, Breathnach said with a laugh, “That would be a brave claim. So we will let the horses do the talking on that.”

Consignors watching the foot traffic at the sales barns Saturday and Sunday certainly found reasons to expect another strong renewal of the September sale.

“It's been great activity,” said Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency. “It's been very busy. We actually ran some metrics on it and we were about 15% up on shows at the end of the day yesterday and today has continued to be very busy. That doesn't always translate into the sale being any better than last year, but you like to see the foot traffic and we are very happy.”

Taylor said he was seeing a diverse group of buyers on the sales grounds, including some who may be planning on staying longer than they traditionally have.

“There are definitely a lot of Japanese buyers around,” Taylor said. “We have all of the major players domestically and there are a lot of Europeans. The Europeans players, from what I see, have expanded to where they like to stay longer. They have sales that are going on in Europe that some of them have to get back for, but a lot of them are inquiring about when we are moving horses in. They want to get their eyes on more flesh before they get out of here. I think American-bred runners are doing great internationally and they want the Kentucky-bred product that we have on display here.”

Headley VanMeter will present his first Keeneland September consignment under his VanMeter Sales banner, starting off Monday with a pair of well-bred colts.

“It's really special to be here at Keeneland September and in Book 1,” VanMeter said amongst the dappled sunshine in front of his Barn 15 Sunday morning. “This is why you breed horses. This is why you want to get involved in the game. It's really cool to be up here with these two colts that we raised on the farm. The Uncle Mo colt out of Marley's Freedom is out of a Grade I winner and a half-brother to a Grade I winner, so pedigrees don't get much better than that. And of course, we have the Flightline colt who is a half-brother to Golden Pal.”

Following its Book 1 offerings, VanMeter Sales will be back in action from Book 3 through the end of the auction.

“Traffic has been really steady,” VanMeter said of the activity he has seen so far. “There have been a lot of familiar faces and there are some new ones coming. It feels like the atmosphere over the next couple of days will be really good.”

The Keeneland September sale will open with a pair of Book 1 sessions–Monday and Tuesday–beginning at 1 p.m., and will continue with Book 2 sessions Wednesday and Thursday beginning at 11 a.m. Following a dark day Friday, the auction continues through Sept. 20 with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

While the competitive top end of the market on offer during the auction's first four days can be expected to be reliably strong, consignors hope a trickle-down effect of buyers shut out in Books 1 and 2 will carry the auction into its second week.

“I think when you have a very strong Book 1 and Book 2–I watched it happen all through last year–you have those people who wanted to participate in Book 2 and they might not get to participate until Book 4,” Cauthen said. “When that happens, it carries all the way through.”

What makes the Keeneland September sale special, according to Taylor, is the sheer numbers that present buyers with boundless opportunity.

“Keeneland September is a different animal–the volume is just a completely different thing,” Taylor said. “I think we have seen a lot of strength for select sales. Saratoga was extremely strong, but that's a really strong group of hand-picked physicals. So you are going to see more opportunities for buyers to find value here. You also have a lot more by each stallion. A lot of times, in the era we are in of big [stallion] books, on a given day, you might have 20 by that sire selling, maybe 30. So if you are willing to do your homework, and look and give each one a chance, you might be able to find a really good deal. That is what I am encouraging people to do. To keep working. There is quality in quantity, both at Taylor Made and the sale as a whole. Those top horses are going to be competitive, but there is going to be some value. There always is at Keeneland September. There are a lot of incentives to be buying horses and there is no place in the world like Keeneland September if you are looking for yearlings.”

That potential was on display at the Taylor Made consignment last year when a colt by Into Mischief sold for $650,000 to Spendthrift Farm. Now named Ted Noffey, the colt gave his half-sister by Munnings who sells with Taylor Made Monday an update with his win in the GI Hopeful Stakes last week.

“You love a timely update and with Ted Noffey the timing couldn't have been better,” Taylor said. “And the way he won was just breathtaking. It's really cool to think he was just walking around right here in this barn this time last year, a totally unproven horse who never had a saddle on him and Spendthrift stepped up and took a shot. They have developed him beautifully and it looks like he is going to have a spot in their stallion barn. We raised him on the farm for Marie Jones and she has a great program. We were always biased towards him. We loved him.”

Taylor Made is also riding the wave of success of Not This Time and will offer 10 yearlings by its all-conquering stallion during Book 1.

“Not This Time is on such a roll right now,” Taylor said. “And we are blessed to have quite a few of them in our Book 1 consignment. It's just one of the most fun times I've enjoyed in the horse business, selling this many Not This Times.”

Hips one through 183 will be offered during Monday's first Book 1 session of the Keeneland September sale, with hips 191 through 374 scheduled to be offered Tuesday.

The post ‘No Place in the World Like Keeneland September:’ 12-Day Bellwether Auction Begins Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Kentucky's HBPA teamed with Kentucky Downs to present $100,000 checks to three industry non-profit organizations during Saturday's card at the turf track in Franklin, Kentucky, the horsemen's outfit said via a Saturday press release.

The assistance will provide funding to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, Stable Recovery and the Kentucky Racing Health and Welfare Fund. The local HBPA chapter and the track donated $50,000 each.

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When Practical Joke and Life Is Good–both by Into Mischief and out of Distorted Humor mares–each racked up multiple Grade I victories and retired to major stallion farms in Central Kentucky, the cross they share surely earned a second look. After three 3-year-olds of 2025–Eclipse champion Citizen Bull, Patch Adams, and Tappan Street–added another five combined Grade I victories to that same cross in the last 11 months, anyone savvy enough to have a yearling on offer at Keeneland's September sale on the 'Midas Touch' nick looks positively inspired.

Three of Into Mischief's Book 1 yearlings are out of Distorted Humor daughters. Warrendale Sales consigns the only colt, hip 90, who is the sole member of the trio slated to go through the ring Monday. Mulholland Springs and Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services will both send fillies Tuesday (hips 201 and 336, respectively).

“He's a lovely colt,” said Hunter Simms, a partner in Warrendale and the operation's director of bloodstock services, about hip 90. “He's bred on that really good Into Mischief/Distorted Humor cross that's produced a bunch of Grade I winners and he has the physical to boot as well. He's a nice package and we're really excited to offer him here.”

Bred by Pitlochry Partners LLC in Kentucky, the March colt is out of Repartee, who has already produced Canadian champion Munnyfor Ro (Munnings). Repartee's black-type winning dam is a half to GI Ashland Stakes winner Little Belle (A.P. Indy), who produced GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes winner Dickinson (Medaglia d'Oro). She shares a third dam with this year's GI Gamely Stakes winner Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}). That third dam is, of course, the tremendous Flagbird, a half to Broodmare of the Year Prospectors Delite, and a daughter of the wonderful Up the Flagpole. This particular branch of the long-time Phipps family became a Farish family and traces directly tail-female to 1961 Broodmare of the Year Striking, who was a granddaughter of La Troienne.

With that stellar family under his girth, what's the physical of the colt like?

“He looks a lot like Into Mischief and has a great walk to him. He's correct,” said Simms. “In trying to match up the physical of the stallion with the physical of the mare, they were well rewarded with the horse that they got. He vets well. It's only Friday afternoon, but he's been well received for the viewers we've had come through here so far.”

Simms said Pitlochry Partners is a group of people with a handful of mares who “like to offer everything for sale. It was always the plan to sell here at Keeneland.”

He added, “They had a good sale up north a little while ago and I think September will be just as strong, if not stronger, with the international participation as well.”

With outs taken into consideration, a group of 303 elite yearlings is currently scheduled to go through the Keeneland sales ring Monday and Tuesday as part of Book 1. It will be no surprise to learn 29 of them–nearly a whooping 10% of Book 1–are by six-time leading sire Into Mischief, who secured his 26th and 27th Grade I winners last weekend at Saratoga and is poised to add another title this year. The upwardly trending Not This Time matches Into Mischief with 29 lots, as does the much-anticipated first-crop yearling sire Flightline, but no other stallion has more.

Knowing Warrendale's offering is bred on Into Mischief's well-proven cross with Distorted Humor gives Simms optimism for the colt's chances to make a little noise in a Book 1 often known for fireworks.

“We have high hopes and hopefully we tick all the boxes for everybody and we have a fun time,” said Simms. “He's a nice horse and we're excited to showcase him here this week. Fingers crossed he jumps through all the hoops for all the buyers in Book 1 and we can have a fun afternoon.”

The Keeneland September sale kicks off Monday at 1 p.m.

The post ‘Excited to Showcase Him’: Warrendale has Only Colt Bred on Red-Hot Cross in Book 1 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

In a continued effort to lure horses from out of state, Santa Anita will once again offer the “Ship and Win” program for the track's Autumn Meet, which kicks off Friday, Sept. 26. With seven 'Win and You're In' events for this year's Breeders' Cup, which will be held at Del Mar Oct. 31-Nov. 1, the five-week meet features increased overnight purses compared to last year and a comprehensive stakes schedule.

“The Ship and Win program has continued to attract significant numbers of horses to the Southern California circuit,” said Santa Anita's Director of Racing and Racing Secretary Jason Egan. “With the best weather and [a] great facility at which to race and train, we feel we've got the best turf racing in the nation. The Ship and Win program provides tremendous incentives for those considering stabling here in California year-round.”

Horses from out of state who made just one start at the Del Mar Summer Meet will remain eligible for the Ship and Win purse bonus provided they did not make an additional start elsewhere. In dirt races, eligible Ship and Win horses who finish first through fifth will receive a 50% purse bonus. In turf races, eligible horses who finish in the top five will receive a 40% purse bonus. These bonuses are applicable for one start only and do not include stakes races. New Ship and Win horses making their initial California starts will also receive a guaranteed $4,000 in addition to the purse bonuses.

Santa Anita's Autumn Meet closes Sunday, Oct. 26. For more information, visit santaanita.com/ship.

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A cool $15.6 million in prize money is up for grabs Saturday afternoon at Kentucky Downs, as a 12-race program features no fewer than five graded events each worth at least $2 million at distances from 6 1/2 to 12 furlongs.

The GII Kentucky Turf Cup wraps up the main events on the afternoon, and a field of 11 will head to the post for a circuit of the undulating turf course, with a berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf on the line.

Fort Washington (War Front) is arguably the 'form' horse of the race with three victories from his last four starts, all with Classic-winning jockey Junior Alvarado at the controls. Winner of the GIII Canadian Turf Stakes and GIII Dinner Party Stakes, the 6-year-old entire was too late when dead-heating for fourth in the GII Wise Dan Stakes June 28, but successfully stretched out to 10 furlongs to narrowly defeat Grand Sonata (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GI Arlington Million last time. On pedigree he's a candidate to see this out, but will need a trip from an awkward gate.

Grand Sonata returned 15-1 to those who believed here last year, but is winless in eight tries since, including a second consecutive runner-up effort in the GII United Nations Stakes prior to his effort at Colonial last time.

If it's a class-dropper you're after, perhaps Utah Beach (English Channel) is your animal. Victorious in the GIII Elkhorn Stakes and GIII Louisville Stakes, both over this trip, the gray exits an even fourth to El Cordobes (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the GI Sword Dancer Stakes Aug. 9. Also coming in from the Sword Dancer are the fifth-placed El Rezeen (English Channel) and Vote No (Divisidero), seventh after uncustomarily making the running at Saratoga.

The $2.5-million GIII Mint Millions Invitational has attracted its defending champ as well, with Goliad (War Front) making the trek in from California for Richard Mandella. The veteran made every pole a winning one beneath Flavien Prat to return a crisp $20 bill to his backers last September, but he's been shut out in his three appearances since.

Cairo (Ire) (Quality Road) never truly factored in the Arlington Million a few weeks ago, but he was a cracking third when last seen over the mile in the G1 Queen Anne Stakes, the traditional opener of the Royal Ascot meeting on June 16. Yes, he was 100-1 that day, but he encounters nothing the quality of Docklands (GB) (Massaat {Ire}) or Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) in this bunch.

Brilliant Berti (Noble Mission {GB}) would be an auto-include at anything near his 8-1 morning line and arguably even at half that price. Winner of last year's valuable and age-restricted Gun Runner Stakes at this meeting, the Klein runner is two-for-four this term, including a defeat of the reliable Lagynos (Kantharos) in the May 1 Opening Verse Stakes and a last-out success in the Wise Dan.

Sophomore males and fillies run for $2-million pots in the GI Franklin-Simpson Stakes and GII Music City Stakes, respectively.

The former features Round 2 of the head-to-head battle between Juddmonte's Spiced Up (Quality Road) and Governor Sam (Improbable), after the Bill Mott trainee flashed home to defeat Governor Sam on the square in the GIII Mahony Stakes over 5 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga Aug. 10. 'TDN Rising Star' Shisospicy (Mitole) is the 3-1 pick in the Music City as she looks to bounce back from a down-the-field finish when pitched in against the boys in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot June 20. Tabiti (GB) (Kingman {GB}) was third in the 25-runner Sandringham Handicap at the Royal Meeting on June 20 and came out of that to share the spoils in the G3 Oak Tree Stakes at Goodwood July 30. Kilwin (Twirling Candy) heads back to the grass after winning the June 8 Leslie's Lady Stakes and GI Test Stakes on the main track.

Also on the program is the GIII Ladies' Marathon Stakes over the not-so-marathon distance of one mile, 2 1/2 furlongs.

Where it comes to 2-year-old racing, it's perennially an embarrassment of richest for trainer Bob Baffert, who will field three of the seven runners in Saturday's GI Del Mar Debutante,a race he's already won on 11 occasions since Batroyale in 1995.

Baoma Corp's Himika (Curlin) really has no business being this effective at abbreviated trips, but the $900,000 OBS April purchase became a 'TDN Rising Star' when galloping by six on five-furlong debut June 12 and she barely broke a sweat when sailing home by better than four lengths in the GIII Sorrento Stakes going three-quarters of a mile Aug. 10.

Juan Hernandez rode Himika in those two starts, but opts for fellow 'Rising Star' Explora (Blame) in the Debutante. The $350,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic breezer also has a pedigree that screams the farther, the better, but she was electric in graudating by 4 3/4 lengths going 5 1/2 furlongs here on Aug. 17. The quick-ish back-up might feel like a negative, but she won the debut with a minimum of fuss and has worked twice since.

Richard Mandella won this two years ago with Beholder (Henny Hughes)'s 'Rising Star' daughter Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) and gives it another go with the same stallion's Bourbon and Ginger, who carried Mirco Demuro and the Spendthrift silks to a half-length debut score over Grandma Mary (Bolt d'Oro) going 5 1/2 panels here on Aug. 2.

In the afternoon's other graded event at Del Mar, Medoro (Honor Code) , who returned from a December layoff to win the July 20 Osunitas Stakes, looks very tough to go past in the GII John C. Mabee Stakes, though Graham Motion's East Coast shipper Gimme A Nother (SAf) (Gimmethegreenlight {Aus}) is in with a puncher's chance.

World Beater (Oscar Performance) helped make for a very successful Saratoga meeting for Jim and Dana Bernhard's Pin Oak Stud, and having given last weekend's GIII Nashville Derby a miss, looms the one to beat in Saturday's GIII Old Dominion Derby. The nine-furlong contest takes the place on the calendar previously occupied by the Virginia Derby, which was relocated to this track's March meeting as a Kentucky Derby points race.

A $105,000 Keeneland September graduate, World Beater has amassed a record of 3-2-1 from six starts on the turf, including the May 31 Audubon Stakes at Churchill and the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational either side of a runner-up effort to Nashville Derby fourth Test Score (Lookin At Lucky) in the GI Belmont Derby.

The appropriately named Thirteen Colonies (Hit It a Bomb) merits a small look off a second in Saratoga allowance company behind Simulate (Kitten's Joy), who returned to complete the exacta in the GII Secretariat Stakes here Aug. 9.

The afternoon's ninth and final graded stakes is the GIII Singspiel Stakes at Woodbine.

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As I begin my tenure as chair of The Jockey Club, I look to the future with optimism and gratitude for the work already done by so many in our sport. Together, we have elevated safety, strengthened aftercare, and built partnerships that once seemed unlikely. Now, we have the opportunity to take the next step: ending horse slaughter, so that the pipeline that undermines public trust and jeopardizes our horses is finally closed.

Long before this conversation reached industry headlines, The Jockey Club was working with animal-welfare experts to raise standards. The creation of the National Horse Racing Advisory Council in 2016 with Humane World for Animals (then the Humane Society of the United States) provided a bridge between racing professionals and advocates. That collaboration sent a clear signal: We are prepared to lead, to evolve, and to ensure our practices reflect the dignity of the horse. It was a forward-looking effort then, and that spirit of leadership and collaboration continues to guide us today.

Yet the challenge of the slaughter pipeline has persisted. While we have made significant progress in caring for Thoroughbreds during and after their racing careers, the existence of this pipeline puts horses at unnecessary risk, undermines our progress, and clouds perceptions of our commitment to the animals at the very heart of our sport.

The Jockey Club has long supported the SAFE Act (see Chris Heyde's op-ed in the TDN), legislation that would permanently ban horse slaughter in the United States and end the export of horses for slaughter abroad. With our guidance, many leaders across racing have joined in this call from racetracks, breeders, jockeys, owners and beyond demonstrating that this is not a divisive issue but a unifying one, rooted in our respect for the Thoroughbred.

As chair of The Jockey Club, I will continue and deepen this commitment. Our industry can thrive only when it reflects the values of care, integrity, and accountability. By ending slaughter, we will remove a shadow that has lingered for too long and allow our investments in aftercare and second careers to reach their full potential.

This is a moment to celebrate how far we have come and to finish the work together. Passing the SAFE Act will honor the horses who define our sport and strengthen the foundation for racing's future.

–Everett Dobson became The Jockey Club of America's 11th chairman this summer.

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Wagering increased compared to a year ago in August despite a reduction in the number of race days during the month, according to information released by Equibase on Friday.

Total wagering of $1,204,428,838 on races during the month represented a 3.13% increase over the same period from 2024, while available purses of over $153 million were higher by 7.24%. The figure of over $145 million for paid purses in August was also up by 6.33%. As for the total number of race days, they decreased from 416 to 400 (-3.85%) and the number of U.S. races was lower from 3,232 in August 2024 to last month's tally of 3,181 (-1.58%).

Average field size in August was down a touch from over a year ago when it was 7.21, and checked in at an average of 7.19 runners, a decrease of 0.28%. However, average daily wagering increased by 7.25% to $3,011,072, and the average available purse number per race day was up 11.53% to $382,641 from the figure of $343,072 in 2024.

When it comes to the year-to-date figures, through August of 2024 wagering on U.S. races came in at $8.082-billion, while this year the amount is $7.942-billion (-1.73%). Those numbers include worldwide commingled wagering on U.S. races.

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The bargain purchase of a Blame filly 10 years ago has yielded Ron and Barbara Perry's Cicero Farms a pair of GI Ballerina Stakes victories, but when Marley's Freedom produced a colt in 2024, the Perrys made the decision to go to market. The yearling by Uncle Mo (hip 34) will go through the sales ring during the first session of the Keeneland September Sale Monday with the VanMeter Sales consignment.

“I want to be sure he has the best opportunity to be a superstar,” Barbara Perry said of the decision to put the colt in the sale. “Plus, it's what I promised my husband I would do. I did tell him, if he let me keep Marley, I would sell the first boy. I should probably couch that with, 'But it has to be at the price I want.'”

Cicero Farms purchased Marley's Freedom for $35,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September sale, but Perry admitted she hadn't been shopping for a dirt sprinter when she made the final bid on the Blame filly.

“I had wanted a Blame filly for a while,” she explained. “The Blame fillies were running very, very well on the turf. And I love turf racing. I am learning to love dirt racing, as well. But from the time I was young, I've always been fascinated by the turf races. When I was very young, my dad took me back East. I don't remember where we went–I think it was Belmont–and I remember standing on the rail and hearing the horses run by. The grass was six or seven inches long and they were just swooshing through it. It was so amazing. I thought I want one of them.”

In 18 lifetime starts, Marley's Freedom never raced on the turf, but she was a six-time graded stakes winner while sprinting on the main track. Her biggest victory came in the 2018 GI Ballerina Stakes.

“It was very, very cool,” Perry said of the couple's first top-level victory. “It was amazing. And I remember saying to [trainer] Bob [Baffert], 'I don't know how to pick a horse.' And he said, 'What are you talking about?' I said, 'I bought a turf router that became a dirt sprinter. People shouldn't ask me what I think.'”

Marley's Freedom attracted her share of admirers, forcing the Perrys to decide whether to add her to their fledgling breeding operation or sell the future broodmare to the highest bidder. It was an easy decision for Barbara, but it took a little convincing for Ron.

“My husband was very excited about having people talk about our horse and selling her at auction,” Perry recalled. “And I had a meltdown on him. I said, 'I am going to tell you what. You need to prove to me that whatever we would sell that filly for, it would make a difference in your daily life. And if you can't do that, then you need to shut up and let me have my filly. I did all the research. Most dirt sprinters sell for around a million and a half dollars and they go to Japan. And at a million and a half, you are not going to buy a new house, nothing is going to change in your daily life, Ron. We were already breeders. So why would we sell the best broodmare prospect we have. That doesn't make any sense.”

Marley's Freedom | Sarah Andrew

Perry chose Quality Road for Marley's Freedom's first mating.

“I asked Bob to critique Marley and he said, 'If she had more leg, she'd be perfect,'” Perry said. “So one of the reasons I picked Quality Road was because he was slightly taller than her and had a nice leg underneath him. And I thought if he can put that leg under the baby, then I would get a horse that would be built similarly to Marley with some leg.”

The resulting foal was the now 4-year-old filly Hope Road and, with help from a global pandemic, the Perrys had a very close bond with the filly.

“During COVID, we drove across country in our SUV with the cat,” Perry said. “We stayed in a bed and breakfast where we would have them deliver our meals to the porch and then bring it in our little room. We spent a whole month there so we could be with Marley and her baby. I have pictures of my husband sleeping with Hope in the stall as a foal. I held her in my lap when she was born.”

Despite the connection, the couple decided they should test the market–and do a trial run for future sales offerings–with their Grade I-winning mare's first foal.

“The idea of selling her was not high on my list, but I also thought we had to see what it was like,” Perry admitted. “We really hadn't tried to sell. We had always in the past bred to race. We had some here and there that we would sell, but we really didn't have the experience of selling a quality horse. So in a way, it was putting our training wheels on and seeing what it was like. Even though you have a trusted group that you are working with in your sales guy and prep people, until you experience it and go through it, you really don't know.”

The test run failed to result in a sale when Hope Road RNA'd for $575,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale.

“She didn't ship well to Saratoga, so I didn't think she showed that well,” Perry said. “She was thin–she had lost weight. It happens with some fillies, they don't handle that Saratoga trip. And everyone had told me, 'If you don't get what you think she's worth as a broodmare out of a Grade I winner, you shouldn't undersell her.'”

Hope Road joined the Cicero Farms racing stable and soon proved the decision to keep her was a sound one. She won a pair of graded races last year and hit the board in three straight graded races this winter and spring before retracing her dam's hoofsteps to Saratoga to earn her own Ballerina Stakes victory by two lengths Aug. 23. The filly was the third daughter of a Ballerina winner to take the Saratoga event.

“I am normally a super statistical person and if I would have looked at the fact that Marley is the third mare in 47 years that's produced a filly to win the Ballerina, and the first one in 20 years, I am pretty sure I would have said, 'Oh no. Let's not do that. That's just a dumb idea.' But because I didn't have the opportunity to do that, it really didn't dawn on me how special it was. Then I really started to look at the statistics when I got home. And to have it be the same trainer and same owner, that didn't happen with the other two. That's unbelievable.”

Marley's Freedom's daughter Freedom Song (Medaglia d'Oro), now three, was injured as a yearling and will join the Cicero broodmare band next year. The 11-year-old mare produced a colt by Violence this year and was bred back to Not This Time, but all eyes will be on her yearling colt next Monday at Keeneland.

“He is, I think, well put together,” Perry said of the yearling. “A lot of Uncle Mos are really big bodied. He has a big body, but he has substantial bone underneath him. He's got really nice legs on him. He's a typical Uncle Mo. He moves very, very well. He's not super big. He's a nice medium sized horse. To me, he looks like a lot of the nice Uncle Mos that I see that are good, quality racehorses. When I am talking about quality racehorses, I am talking about graded stakes racehorses.”

Hip 34 | Amy Lanigan

Perry admitted it won't be easy to watch Marley's Freedom's colt go through the sales ring next week.

“Ron might have to lock me in the women's restroom,” she said with a laugh. “It's going to be pretty difficult because it's going to be like selling part of the family. But we have already told [consignor] Headley [VanMeter] that we would be happy to stay in for a leg. So if that happens, we wouldn't lose.”

While Cicero Farms is now old hat at campaigning Grade I-winning fillies, Perry said the prospect of orchestrating the career of a potential stallion was intimidating.

“What happens after he wins that first big race? I don't know all of the things that those guys who consistently go to the Derby know,” she said. “Like WinStar, Spendthrift, Starlight, SF Racing, Zedan, all of those. They have been doing it a long time. They know how to handle a stallion and know when to make that deal. These guys do this for a living. I am not competition for them.”

Perry, a student of Federico Tesio, is content to continue to cultivate the success she sees possible with Marley's Freedom and her daughters.

“I am breeding Marley to make her a blue-hen mare,” Perry said. “That has been my goal since the day I got her.”

Pointing to Blame's blue-hen dam Liable, Perry added, “If you take a look at the big blue-hen mares, in time, thank you Mr. Tesio, you will find they end up being the ones that produce more blue hen mares.”

So, while still spending long hours at the couple's Commercial Energy, Perry has developed her own detailed system of determining matings.

“I spend hours, days, of obsessing over female family pedigree and how it matches up,” Perry said. “And what the female family produced and what did those lineages look like and if I can find those same lineages that are prominent in the sire. And then I look for that sire and have it match up physically with the horse. So, yes. I go down a massive rabbit hole. My goal is always to breed a good racehorse, a graded stakes racehorse.”

While the Perrys might be about to part with Marley's Freedom's first colt, Barbara said there are two mares she has no plans to part with. Ever.

“I don't think I could ever sell Hope,” she said. “Hope, Marley and I might be in the same little nursing home together.”

The Keeneland September sale begins with the first of two Book 1 sessions Monday starting at 1 p.m. Book 2 sessions Wednesday and Thursday begin at 11 a.m. Following a dark day Friday, the auction continues through Sept. 20 with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

The post Perrys Pirouette into Keeneland September with Uncle Mo Half-Brother to Ballerina Winner Hope Road appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.