By Jessica Martini
Ken McPeek's string of success with graduates of the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearling Sale continued in 2018 and 2019, with a pair of the trainer's 2017 purchases earning graded stakes victories. Cairo Cat (Cairo Prince), purchased from Maureen Merkler's Clifton Farm for $130,000 in 2017, won last year's GIII Iroquois S., and Harvey Wallbanger (Congrats), a $50,000 acquisition, was victorious in this year's GII Fasig-Tipton Holy Bull S.
“For decades, Fasig-Tipton has done a really good job bringing athletes to this auction,” McPeek said of the July sale. “It's not necessarily a hot pedigree sale, but it's a great place to find runners.”
Among McPeek's most successful July purchases was multiple Grade I winner Take Charge Lady (Dehere). Acquired for $175,000 in 2000, the bay mare won the 2002 GI Ashland S. and 2002 and 2003 editions of the GI Overbrook Spinster S. and earned over $2.4 million on the racetrack. Sold for $4.2 million at the 2004 Keeneland November sale, Take Charge Lady has produced champion Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) and Grade I winner Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy), as well as the dam of champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway) and this year's GI Arkansas Derby winner Omaha Beach (War Front).
“More than anything, the [July] focus is on physicals,” McPeek continued. “And that's really been my niche anyway. The sale probably leans more to the physical and the conformation than it does to the pedigree. And a lot of those horses make their own pedigree when they make the racetrack.”
The new sire showcase used to be a staple of the July sale and, while the freshman class no longer has its own section, first-crop sires remain a draw of the July sale.
“I tend to look at the young stallions really closely,” McPeek said.
The veteran horseman struck for one of those yearlings by a first-crop sire in 2017 and was one of the first on the Cairo Prince bandwagon with a yearling out of La Belle Cat (Tale of the Cat).
“Cairo Cat went through the ring really early at that sale,” McPeek recalled. “I think he was the first Cairo Prince to sell at auction. He was just a big, handsome colt and obviously was a very good 2-year-old.”
Off since his Iroquois win last September, Cairo Cat is on his way back to the races with a pair of three-furlong works at Churchill in June.
“He's getting ready to run again,” McPeek said of the sophomore. “He may very well surface in the [July 26] Curlin S. at Saratoga. I think that's a good first start for him if everything goes right.”
The 2019 July sale will boast a strong bench of first-crop sires, with 25 stallions represented by their first yearlings at auction in the catalogue this year: Air Force Blue, Ami's Holiday, Anchor Down, Brody's Cause, California Chrome, Cinco Charlie, Exaggerator, Firing Line, Frosted, Hit It a Bomb, Jess's Dream, Laoban, Mosler, Mshawish, Not This Time, Nyquist, Outwork, Runhappy, Social Inclusion, Speightster, Tamarkuz, Texas Red, Tourist, Upstart and Vancouver (Aus).
One of the yearlings from Outwork's first crop, a daughter of La Belle Cat (Tale of the Cat), is a half-sister to Cairo Cat. Despite the connection to his graded stakes winner, McPeek was pragmatic about the offering.
“I always look, but I do believe that it's hard for lightning to strike twice in the same spot,” McPeek said.
The Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearlings Sale will be held Tuesday at the company's Newtown Paddocks, with bidding beginning at 10 a.m. Fasig-Tipton will host its July Horses of Racing Age Sale Monday beginning at 4 p.m.
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