By Jessica Martini
When Kentucky breeder Todd Frederick sold a Congrats filly for $60,000 as a short yearling at the 2016 Keeneland January sale, he admitted he was satisfied, but certainly not over the moon, with the transaction. With that yearling now an OBS March sale topper and a 'TDN Rising Star,' Frederick will be looking for a bigger result when he sends Diamondsandpearls's half-sister by Orb (hip 136) through the ring during the second session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale next Tuesday.
“We were hoping for a little more, but we were satisfied,” Frederick said of the 2016 sales result. “Were we overly happy? No, but we were satisfied. We were looking to get some of our money back in a quick return on the investment that we made, so that was the decision we made at the time.”
Frederick purchased Azalea Belle (Dixie Union), with Diamondsandpearls in utero, for $75,000 at the 2015 Keeneland January sale. After he sold the filly at Keeneland January, he watched as the filly went on to sell for $250,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale eight months later and then again for a sale-topping $1.7 million at this year's OBS March sale. Diamondsandpearls was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' after her debut win at Santa Anita in July and goes postward as an exciting prospect in Saturday's GII Sorrento S. at Del Mar.
Frederick admitted he had mixed emotions about the juvenile's accomplishments.
“We were happy to see her go on and sell for good money and, so far after one race, be successful on the track,” he said. “Obviously we own the mare, so we are happy to see her foal do well. But of course, we wished we owned her as a 2-year-old and sold her for $1.7 million.”
Frederick and his brother Chad, owners of the Kentucky-based Frederick and May Construction company, maintain a commercial broodmare band of nine head owned in various partnerships. The mares are based at their father Barrett's Windwoods Farm in Scott County. Also partners on Azalea Belle are Ramiro Salazar, in charge of Windwoods' boarding operation, and his wife Denise, who operate as Phoenix Farm and Racing.
“My grandfather before me and my father and now myself and my brother, we've been involved in racing for years and years,” Frederick explained. “My father has raced some and my brother and I have one horse on the track now that is not doing very well–nothing like Diamondsandpearls–but the focus of the operation is breeding broodmares and selling weanlings and yearlings.”
Frederick was shopping for broodmares at the 2015 Keeneland January sale and the unraced Azalea Belle, then seven and carrying her fourth foal, fit the bill.
“She was just a big, correct, fairly young mare that of course was in foal to Congrats who was starting to make a good name for himself as a sire,” Frederick said of Azalea Belle's appeal. “That was how we ended up with her; we liked her physically and we liked who she was in foal to.”
The partnership sent Azalea Belle, who is out of graded stakes winner Westerly Breeze (Gone West), to visit 2013 GI Kentucky Derby winner Orb (Malibu Moon) in 2015.
“We really liked Orb,” Frederick said of the mating decision. “He's a Derby winner and I've always liked Malibu Moon. I have another horse in foal to Malibu Moon now and we sold a weanling [hip 1154] by Orb out of another mare that we have for $270,000 [at the 2015 Keeneland November sale]. So we just liked him. And we like Claiborne Farm–they've always been fair with us.”
Frederick sees similarities between Diamondsandpearls and the Orb filly who sells on day two of the Saratoga sale next week with the Warrendale Sales consignment.
“Size-wise they are comparable,” he said. “This filly, to me, is a little more robust. She has a little stronger looking shoulder and hip on her and she's probably not as tall, but there are a lot of similarities there.”
Azalea Bell produced a filly by Constitution this spring and was bred back to GI Preakness S. winner Exaggerator. Both weanling and mare have been entered in the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
“Right now we have entered the weanling in Keeneland November,” Frederick said. “We don't know if we'll sell her or not, but, in this business, we always want to leave our options open and on the table. And we would love to keep the mare, but if Diamondsandpearls goes on to do some great things, we would be open to selling her in November, as well.”
The dark bay Orb yearling will mark Frederick's first offering at the Saratoga sale, but the Kentuckian will have to experience the milestone remotely.
“I wanted to come and be present at Saratoga,” Frederick said. “But my son is in college at U.K. and I'm trying to get him moved in, so that's a time that I've got to be around here. But I would have loved to be there.”
The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale opens its two-day run Monday with bidding scheduled to begin at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion at 6:30 p.m.
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