By T. D. Thornton
A pair of Grade I-winning distaffers who raced in the colors of John C. Oxley will be up for auction at Sunday's Fasig-Tipton November sale in Lexington, and Pretty City Dancer (Tapit) and La Coronel (Colonel John) both figure to be attention-getters based on striking physical attributes that rival their deep credentials on paper.
Hip 122, Pretty City Dancer, is in foal to Medaglia d'Oro.
“Pretty City Dancer I have always considered royalty,” Oxley told the TDN. “She's by Tapit and a half-sister to [GISW] Lear's Princess (Lear Fan). She has always had that 'star presence.' What makes her special is exactly what breeders are trying to find these days, and that's precocity.”
Mark Taylor, the vice president of marketing and public sales operations at Taylor Made Sales Agency, will consign both 4-year-old fillies.
“Pretty City Dancer, it's cliché, but she's the whole package,” Taylor said. “If you look at her, you can see why she was an expensive [$825,000 KEESEP] yearling. She's just an absolutely beautiful Tapit–just a beautiful head and eye on her; so much class. And then she goes and did what you would hope she would do: She won a Grade I at Saratoga [the 2016 Spinaway S.], and now she's coming through in foal on an early cover to Medaglia d'Oro, who's had a career year. She's the whole package for anybody that wants to play at the very top end of the game, and she's one of those horses that's just a privilege to sell.”
Hip 213, La Coronel, is a “real stunner” according to Oxley.
“The attribute that made her successful was her sheer determination,” Oxley said. “She closed and won, she was the pace and won, and she has a huge turn of foot. She always gave it her best. Her win at Keeneland in the [2017] GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. was very gratifying for me because we knew she had that Grade I talent and deserved that win.”
Added Taylor: “Anybody that hasn't seen this filly, they have to come see her. La Coronel is just absolutely a picture. If there's a better-looking filly or broodmare prospect going through, I want to see her. She's just a real beautiful dark bay, a lovely neck and shoulder on her, perfect balance, big hip, and very correct–just a specimen.”
From an outcross sire line, La Coronel has major graded stakes winners under her first six dams.
“La Coronel comes from a very good, deep family that just keeps producing year after year,” Taylor said. “She's out of a Chester House mare, so I really like getting [2002 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and dam of Empire Maker] Toussaud back in there on the bottom side. This filly was precocious. She won the GIII Jessamine S. at Keeneland at two, came back and won the GI QEII at three, and is approaching a million dollars in earnings. She's just a very, very top-class racehorse, and then she's got the physical. It's hard to surpass Grade I performance on the track, but her physical is even better. It's phenomenal.”
When asked for his assessment of the current Thoroughbred marketplace ahead of the November sales period, Oxley quipped that it certainly “seemed very strong this year when we were trying to buy yearlings.”
Oxley added that “the top of the market is very healthy across the board. I've really enjoyed the yearling market over the past couple of years, so I'd like to subsidize that with a couple of these mares when I can.”
Taylor credited Oxley and Mark Casse, who trained both fillies, with “doing the heavy lifting” that will make the duo an A-list consignment.
“They picked them out and turned them into Grade I winners,” Taylor said. “And now we get the privilege of showing them around to the top buyers from around the world.”
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