By Katie Petrunyak
The highly-anticipated first foal out of champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) arrived on Feb. 12 this year and is now thriving at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. Jeff Bloom stopped by the farm in the midst of Triple Crown season to visit the Curlin colt and his Eclipse Award-winning dam.
“He is what you would expect to see out of a champion and by a champion,” Bloom said after inspecting 'Baby Bisou' for the first time. “I think he takes after his mom quite a bit, but certainly there are some components of Curlin there as well.”
Bloom picked out Midnight Bisou for $80,000 at the 2017 OBS April Sale. Campaigned by Bloom Racing Stable LLC and Allen Racing LLC, with Madaket Stables LLC later joining in the partnership, Midnight Bisou was never out of the money in her 22 career starts as she collected five Grade I victories and earned Eclipse honors for champion older dirt female in 2019. At the end of her racing career, she sold for $5 million at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars Sale when co-owner Chuck Allen bought out the partnership.
Bloom, who now has a hand in managing Midnight Bisou's broodmare career, said that a good deal of thought was put into their superstar's first mating.
“At the end of the day, I couldn't think of a better match to send her to than Curlin, who of course has not only a remarkable race record, but his success as a stallion speaks for itself,” Bloom explained. “The resulting foal is exactly what you would hope for. He has a great body and really the kind of personality that you like to see. It's early in the process, but he's got the look of a champion.”
Bloom added that the Curlin colt, who will be offered for sale at future auction, inherited one of Midnight Bisou's best qualities.
“This colt has a presence about him,” he said. “That's one of the things that I've always said about Midnight Bisou. It's that intangible factor. She's got that presence. You can't train it and you can't teach it. They either have it or they don't. I can say that I certainly see that quality in the colt.”
This year, Midnight Bisou was bred to champion sire Tapit.
Bloom said he can't resist stopping by Hill 'n' Dale any time he is traveling in Kentucky, and he reflected on what it means to him to be involved in this chapter of Midnight Bisou's career.
“I drive the folks crazy here at Hill 'n' Dale by visiting all the time, but it's hard not to,” he explained. “Midnight Bisou has meant so much to myself, my family and my partners with what she did for us on the racetrack and what she did for us in terms of bringing us into so many great opportunities and situations. Fortunately, I get to manage her career as she goes through this next stage. It's a thrill of a lifetime each and every time I'm out here getting a chance to visit with her and now with her offspring. It's the next page in the book, so to speak.”
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