'You have elite power' - son of Curlin and Beholder heading to Baffert after $4 million sale in Saratoga

After hip 165, a son of multiple champions Curlin and Beholder, brought $4 million during the second session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale on Tuesday, Spendthrift Farm's general manager, Ned Toffey, had just one question.

"Who got him?" he asked.

He quickly got his answer: Donato Lanni signed the ticket on behalf of Zedan Racing, and the pricey chestnut will be trained by Bob Baffert.

Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Spendthrift Farm, the colt was expected to bring a hefty price, and the sales pavilion on East Avenue in Saratoga Springs was filled with spectators anticipating the excitement. The bidding did not disappoint.

Beginning at $500,000, it jumped immediately to $1m. When it got to $3m, the auctioneers began to coax the bidders, nudging them higher, until the hammer dropped at an even $4m. Despite having been advised to avoid spooking the horse, who had been antsy in the ring, the crowd burst into applause.

Air Zedan, Bob Baffert and Donato Lanni at the Saratoga SaleCredit: Fasig-Tipton Photos

"I wasn't even paying attention [to the colt rearing in the ring]," said Taylor Made's vice-president of sales Frank Taylor. "I was watching the number. 

"The horse was just a magnificent horse. He was beautiful, and I've never sold a yearling, or Taylor Made hasn't, that has so much stallion power. Into Mischief, Beholder's half-brother, has been the leading sire in America four years in a row. So when you have that sire power, and the father of the yearling is Curlin, you have elite power. If he wins a Grade 1, it's a $75 million syndication." 

Baffert said watching the colt in the ring reminded him of watching Beholder regularly on Santa Anita Park's backstretch for five years. 

"It's very rare that you find a horse with that kind of pedigree," said Baffert. "I was stabled over next to Richard Mandella, and I used to watch Beholder go by my barn every day, and she was a handful, and he looks like he's a handful, too. 

"But with a pedigree like that, you have to take a swing at it if you want to play at the top level, which Zedan likes to play." 

The sale-topping Curlin colt: "The horse was just a magnificent horse"Credit: Fasig-Tipton Photos/Z

Baffert had to bid from the second level of the pavilion, and, flanked by Amr Zedan, he was immediately swarmed by media and fans, taking pictures and video and recording his comments. 

"Like the boss said, it's very difficult to find this kind of bloodline," said Zedan. "We've done quite well with the two-year-olds, and coming in here and seeing that quality, I took some time to actually look at him and really appreciate who he is as an individual. But when you have Mr Baffert in your corner, I just follow him blindly. He's the best in history, and he doesn't need my testimony to that." 

The colt was bred by Spendthrift, which campaigned Beholder to Eclipse Awards in four consecutive years. The Henny Hughes mare retired in 2016 following a nose victory over Songbird in the Breeders' Cup Distaff with lifetime earnings of $6m. In 2022 she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility. 

A two-time Horse of the Year, Curlin is ranked second among North American stallions in earnings and has ended the last five years in the top five on the general leading sires list. He stands at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa for $225,000.  

On having to go to $4m to get the colt, Zedan said: "Spending that kind of money, it's a lot. But from an operational standpoint, from the portfolio we've got, it's a well-hedged, well-calculated venture. It's not like we're shooting from the hip.

"We just hope [the colt] makes us proud and he becomes a stallion that would be as impactful as his predecessors, and his mother and father and cousins and everyone else."

"I felt pretty confident he'd be $3 million," said Toffey. "We felt like he was worth every penny. Our reserve was in the $3 million range, and we couldn't be happier. Beyond that, all that matters is how much people want to fight over him. He was certainly nice enough to fight over."

Zedan Racing also went in a protracted bidding battle for hip 228, a colt by leading sire Into Mischief out of the American Pharoah mare All American Dream, ultimately winning the dual at $3.2m.

Bred by Jeff Drown and Don Rachel and consigned by Indian Creek, the bay colt quickly reached seven figures. Then blow by blow he had his price climb to $2.5m, where the bidding stalled and the hammer was seconds from falling. Buyers were not ready to let the colt go, and a flurry of bids pushed the final price to $3.2m.

The Into Mischief colt out of All American Dream is another to go the way of Zedan Racing, this time for $3.2 millionCredit: Fasig-Tipton Photos/Z

The ink was barely dry on the receipt for Zedan's $4m purchase when his agent Lanni signed the ticket for a second seven-figure purchase. It bought the son of a mare whose second dam was Dream Supreme, a multiple Graded stakes-winning millionaire who earned Grade 1 wins at Saratoga in the 2000 Test Stakes and Ballerina Stakes.

"This was a pretty exceptional horse," said Lanni. "He had the best of both, the Into Mischief look and the American Pharaoh look, and he was such a cool individual. It's really rare to find a horse that has that cool, so we couldn't go home without him."

The colt will be trained by Baffert. He was the third Into Mischief colt to bring seven figures at the sale.

The busy scenes at the Saratoga SaleCredit: Fasig-Tipton Photos

On his first trip to Saratoga, Zedan certainly made his presence known.  

"If you're going to play the game and you want to buy the top end," said Lanni, "you're going to have to stretch, and we stretched. The first time we saw him, Bob was like, 'Oh my God.' So that was it. He loved this horse, and he was adamant that we not go home without him."

One of the last eight horses to go through the ring, the price was an exclamation point on a second session that saw eight horses sell for $1m or more. While the first session at times lacked the kinds of prices that bring gasps from the crowd, the second session was punctuated with regular bursts of activity that resulted in prices that pushed buyers' limits and thrilled consignors and breeders.

"It's a typical Saratoga," said Lanni. "Everybody's here and everybody's ready to buy good horses."

"We've experienced some magical nights in Saratoga in the past," said Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning. "You've heard me talk about the Saratoga magic, but we haven't seen anything like tonight. It was spectacular, from the first share in the ring to the very conclusion of the sale. 

"It just goes to show you what happens when you have the opportunity to sell exceptional physical horses that have outstanding pedigrees to an unbelievable group of buyers.

"It's a special place, and it was truly an unbelievable night. I hope Mr Zedan returns to Saratoga - his first trip to Saratoga had quite an impact on the sale overall - but it wasn't a one-man show. 

"As you go through the results, you can see the consistency of the bidding throughout the night; at times, the auctioneers and bid-spotters had trouble keeping up with the bidding. It was hard to keep up and had an unbelievable energy, atmosphere and results tonight."

Lanni was the day-two leading buyer with his two purchases for gross receipts of $7,200,000. He also was the sale's leading buyer with a total of five yearlings as agent for gross figures of $9,225,000 at an average price of $1,845,000.

This year the second session recorded 77 yearlings traded of the 100 on offer for gross receipts of $43,585,000, up 14.6 per cent over 2022. A record average of $566,039, a 10.2 per cent increase, and a rise in the median to $400,000, up 6.7 per cent, was attained. There were 23 horses who failed to meet their reserve, representing a 23 per cent RNA rate.

The buyers' balcony at the Saratoga SaleCredit: Fasig-Tipton Photos

Over the past two days of selling, 153 yearlings of the 203 through the ring were sold for gross figures of $74,780,000, posting an 11.7 per cent increase over the record-breaking previous year. An average price of $488,758 was a rise of 4.4 per cent and the median of $375,000 was unchanged from 2022.

Taylor Made Sales Agency finished day two selling 11 of its 14-horse draft for gross receipts of $10,420,000 at an average of $947,273 to be the session's leading consignor. Over the two days Taylor Made sold 24 horses for a gross of $14,320,000 and an average of $596,667 to be the sale's leading consignor.

For all the latest North American bloodstock and racing news, visit Bloodhorse