Fasig-Tipton photo
By Sarah Mace
Juddmonte went to $750,000 for a New York-bred Curlin filly who emerged as the top-selling female in Monday evening’s opening session of the elite Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale in Saratoga Springs. In the same session two other New York-bred fillies brought robust prices: a bay by Will Take Charge, who went to Three Chimneys for $225,000, and a Shanghai Bobby yearling, who was purchased by Bradley Thoroughbreds, Agent, for $175,000.
The Curlin filly topper (Hip 34) is a beautifully put-together dark bay individual bred by Newtown Anner Stud and consigned by Blake-Albana Thoroughbred Services LLC. She is out of Purple Cat, a winning 9-year-old Kentucky-bred Bluegrass Cat mare with plenty of pedigree. A $550,000 yearling herself at the 2009 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, Purple Cat was trained by John Terranova and won two of five career starts going a mile on dirt before moving on to broodmare duties for Newtown Anner Stud.
Fasig-Tipton photo
Purple Cat is a half sister both to Sky Diva (Sky Mesa), winner of the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes and third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and to Quick Little Miss by Freud, a multiple stakes winner as a juvenile. The sale filly’s third dam, Irish-bred Gather the Clan, is the producer of a pair of graded winners, led by $1.9 million-earner and multiple Grade 1 winner Pure Clan. This is also the family of multiple graded stakes winning filly Finley’sluckycharm. Purple Cat has had two foals to start, currently has a 2-year-old colt by Tiznow and foaled a full brother this year. She was bred to Dialed in in 2017.
“She’s a real classic filly, a real athlete,” Juddmonte Farms’ Garrett O’Rourke told the TDN. “Looks like something that could be a real [Grade 1 Kentucky] Oaks filly and, thinking long term, a mate for Arrogate.”
O’Rourke continued, “I was pushed to my very, very limit [on price]. I thought I’d get her for a little less, but you know when they are that nice, you have to be prepared to go for a little bit extra. I thought she was that nice. She is a very special filly.”
Consignor Hanzly Albina said, “[The price was] definitely in the wheelhouse [of what we expected]. When you get up in these big numbers, it is really hard to pin down an exact number. We have had a lot of vetting action on this horse. A lot of the big players as you would expect at this level. I knew she was a very good filly.”
The second top-selling New York-bred of the session was a Will Take Charge filly (Hip 102), who sold to Three Chimneys Farm LLC for $225,000 from the consignment of Sequel Bloodstock. Bred by Chester and Mary Broman, she is out of Whichwaydidshego (Storm Cat), a productive member of the Bromans’ broodmare band who was purchased by Chester Broman for $425,000 at the 2009 Keeneland November sale. A daughter of a stakes winner and a winning half-sister to the multiple Grade 2 winner Fed Biz, she issues from the family of Minardi, Tale of the Cat and Johannesburg.
Whichwaydidshego has produced multiple stakes winners Mark My Way (Noonmark), Hard to Stay Notgo (More than Ready) and Haul Anchor. She foaled a colt by Malibu Moon on April 16 and has been bred to Will Take Charge.
The last of the trio of New York-bred filly sellers on Monday was Hip 53, a dark by by Shanghai Bobby bred by Kingsport Farm LLC in partnership with Hidden Lake Farm LLC and David Campbell. Consigned by Hunter Valley Farm, Agent, she was hammered down to Bradley Thoroughbreds for $175,000.
Hidden Lake Farm and Kingsport Farm bought the filly’s dam, Saravati (Giant’s Causeway) in foal at the 2015 Keeneland November sale for $40,000. Saravati is a placed half sister to multiple Grade 1 winner and $2.1-million earner You, who is herself a graded stakes producer. Saravati’s first foal Mask Zorro by Roman Ruler went on to become a group winner in Japan. She was bred to Runhappy this spring. The filly sold to Hunter Valley earlier in the year for $280,000 as the topper of the opening book of Keeneland’s January sale.
The sale resumes Tuesday evening with Hips 113-227 on the docket. The following New York-breds will be offered (listed by Hip # and dam):
116 – Akilina
133 – Auspicious
145 – Bourbonstreetgirl
152 – Carmandia
164 – Cocoanut Row
171 – Dade Babe
185 – Final Escrow
187 – Force of Humor
197 – Graciously Soft
