Simply Ravishing was among the seven-figure purchases Tuesday at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale when she brought $1.7 million. Photo courtesy of Gainesway.
By Tom Law
Simply Ravishing, last year’s champion New York-bred 2-year-old filly, helped contribute to the stellar returns at Tuesday’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November mixed sale on a seven-figure bid late in the proceedings at the Newtown Paddocks in Lexington.
The Grade 1-winning 3-year-old daughter of former Sequel New York resident Laoban, selling as Hip 233, sold for $1.7 million to Katsumi Yoshida to be among the 26 broodmares, broodmare prospects or racing prospects that sold for $1 million or more during the sale. Consigned by Gainesway, agent, Simply Ravishing is out of the More Than Ready mare Four Wishes.
Bred by Meg Levy and foaled at Stonegate Stables in Fort Edward, Simply Ravishing was a $50,000 purchase by trainer Kenny McPeek for Harold Lerner at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale. She went on to win more than eight times that amount, starting with back-to-back victories in a turf maiden and the off-the-turf P.G. Johnson Stakes at Saratoga in her first two starts at 2.
Simply Ravishing won the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades last fall. Keeneland Photo.
Simply Ravishing burst on the national scene in her third start, taking the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland to punch her ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies there a month later.
Simply Ravishing’s story gained notoriety in the late summer and fall, after word passed through the industry how her dam, Four Wishes, was purchased by Levy on her birthday for $500 after being abandoned at a boarding facility. She finished fourth in the Juvenile Fillies and then fourth again in the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs to end her 2-year-old season.
(Read more about Simply Ravishing in the 2020 NYTB Awards Program, Page 12)
Yoshida purchased two other high-priced mares during Tuesday’s sale, going to $2.9 million for Princess Noor, $1.6 million for Duopoly, $1.05 million for Mongolian Changa and $775,000 to Heavenhasmynikki.
Espresso Shot, a three-time finalist for New York-bred championship honors, sold for the next highest price for a New York-bred at $300,000. Spendthrift Farm LLC purchased the 5-year-old mare by Sequel’s active stallion Mission Impazible. Consigned by Ballysax Bloodstock, agent for Final Furlong Racing, Espresso Shot was sold as Hip 163 as a racing or broodmare prospect.
Espresso Shot, winner here in the 2020 Staten Island division of the NYSS, sold for $300,000 Tuesday at the November sale. Susie Raisher/NYRA Photo.
Bred by Twin Creeks Farm, Espresso Shot was a $69,000 purchase by Final Furlong Racing at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. NY Final Furlong campaigned her with partners Maspeth Stables and Parkland Thoroughbreds and Espresso Shot compiled a record of 5-3-4 from 24 starts with $516,625 in earnings.
Trained by Jorge Abreu, Espresso Shot was a stakes winner at 2, 3, 4 and 5. She earned finalist honors in the New York-bred 2-year-old filly division after winning the East View Stakes at Aqueduct. She returned as a finalist at 3, a season that saw her win the Busher Stakes at Aqueduct and finish second in the New York Oaks at Finger Lakes.
Espresso Shot was also a finalist for champion female sprinter as a 4-year-old in 2020, after winning the Staten Island division of the New York Stallion Series. She won or placed in four of seven starts in 2021, including a victory in the Biogio’s Rose in March at Aqueduct and a third in the Iroquois Stakes on Empire Showcase Day at Belmont Park in late October.
Espresso Shot was one of five other six-figure New York-bred purchases Tuesday, along with a pair of weanling fillies that sold on back-to-back trips through the ring for $220,000.
Hip 46, a filly from the first crop of multiple Grade 1 winner Omaha Beach and half-sister to Espresso Shot, sold first to Sewanne Investments.
Bred by Final Furlong Racing and Maspeth Stable, foaled at Schuylerville Thoroughbred Farm in Fort Edward and consigned by Ballysax Bloodstock, agent, the filly is out of the winning Medaglia d’Oro mare Glory Gold. In addition to Espresso Shot, Glory Gold is the dam of recent Maid of the Mist Stakes winner Venti Valentine and New York-bred winners Goldtown and Hokulea.
Hip 47, a daughter of Practical Joke and half sister to stakes winner More Mischief, sold for $220,000 at Tuesday’s Fasig-Tipton November sale. Photo courtesy of Bluewater Sales.
Hip 47, a daughter of freshman sire Practical Joke and half-sister to multiple stakes winner More Mischief, sold to Scott and Evan Dilworth LLC.
Bred by Anlyn Farms, foaled at Irish Hill Century Farm in Stillwater and consigned by Bluewater Sales, agent, the filly is out of the Mr. Greeley mare Gracilia. More Mischief, winner of the 2020 Biogio’s Rose at Aqueduct and second in the 2018 Joseph A. Gimma Stakes at Belmont, was also bred by Anlyn Farms and sold as a 2-year-old for $350,000. Gracilia is also the dam of stakes-placed Myawaya and fellow New York-bred winners Decorator Jenn, Killala Bay, and Scalpeen.
