Nyquist

Keeneland has cataloged 79 lots, including mares in foal to such noteworthy stallions as Not This Time, Nyquist, Practical Joke and Yoshida (Jpn), for its December Digital Sale, to be held Tuesday, Dec. 15 as part of Keeneland's Digital Sales Ring platform. The December Sale catalog is available at keenelanddigital.com. The catalog features 41 broodmares or broodmare prospects, 12 yearlings, eight weanlings, six racing or broodmare prospects, two racing or stallion prospects, one stallion prospect, six stallions, two shares and one breeding right. Online bidding opens at 10 a.m. ET...

This business about sire lines has been driving your correspondent a bit nuts for the past 40 years, dating from when he first came to understand the realm, initially through the discourses of the great analyst Dr. Franco Varola and the estimable author Abe Hewitt. In those days we all not only relied on the historical database of a rather limited number of stallions but also on the patience needed to assess the long-term impact of form, function, and pedigree. You had Phalaris and Swynford, then Nearco and Hyperion, then...

Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stables's Vequist (Nyquist) put an exclamation point on a very strong freshman season for her sire (by Uncle Mo)--a winner of the track-and-trip GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2015--while posting a mild 6-1 upset in Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The market's fifth choice behind the unbeaten foursome of 'TDN Rising Star' Princess Noor (Not This Time), GI Frizette S. victoress Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief), local GI Darley Alcibiades S. heroine Simply Ravishing (Laoban) and 'Rising Star' Girl Daddy (Uncle Mo) broke alertly and...

The bloodstock industry in Kentucky is heavily weighted to the commercial marketplace, and when the first yearlings of a stallion sell well, sometimes even experienced commercial breeders can get momentarily caught up in the euphoria. A breeder called me after the Fasig-Tipton October Sale to say that he was going to breed to such a stallion next year. That's great, I told him, if he had a strong opinion on the horse, but I reminded him that he breeds to sell and he'd be breeding to a fourth-year sire, meaning...

You can't really resent someone hoarding the ammunition, if he only needs it because he's being forced to play Russian roulette. That's pretty much how things are for all those new, unproven stallions who corral such huge books of mares. Yes, I remain ever aggrieved on behalf of those quiet achievers who never get commercial traction, despite results that will almost invariably prove beyond their emerging rivals. But I do feel increasing sympathy for the young guns, because their margin for error is zero. They have to land running, or...

8th-Churchill Downs, $86,435, Msw, 10-31, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:11.33, ft, 3 1/2 lengths. MINUTE WALTZ (f, 2, Nyquist--Is It Safe, by Yes It's True) began to repay her $425,000 price tag at Keeneland September with a sharp debut score Saturday. Racing in a three-wide sixth off a blazing first quarter in :21.34, the 4-1 shot was at least four wide as she swept up to take on the leaders turning for home. The bay struck the front in early stretch and rolled clear to win by 3 1/2 lengths over...

Dr. Mike Cavey and his wife Dr. Nancy Temple have proven the old adage of quality over quantity. At their Respite Farm in Paris, Ky, the couple have been able to do a lot with a little, producing two champions and a Grade II-winning top young sire from a broodmare band of just seven. They will offer four weanlings from their boutique breeding operation at the upcoming Keeneland November Sale. Cavey and Temple hit their first home run with a family they developed for five generations out of the first...

Stud fees have been announced for Darley's U.S. stallions in 2021, with leading sire Medaglia d'Oro set to stand for $150,000. He stood the 2020 season for $200,000. He is currently the number one yearling sire in North America by both average and median and was represented by four million dollar-plus offerings in 2020, the same number he was represented by in 2019. "These are trying times breeders are facing," said Darley Sales Manager Darren Fox. "We gave great consideration to this when setting our fees to reflect the economic...

by Dan Ross and Jessica Martini CYPRESS, CA - With numbers predictably down against a backdrop of pandemic and economic uncertainties, a total of 166 yearlings grossed $3,735,700 during the Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings Sale held Monday at Los Alamitos Race Course. The average of $22,504 was down 15.9% from last year's inaugural Fasig California Yearling sale and the median dropped 30.0% to $10,000. "Statistically it was in line with what we've seen at the Kentucky sales and the Ocala sales," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said at the close of...

7th-Keeneland, $69,943, Msw, 10-17, 2yo, f, 7f, 1:29.66, ft, 1 1/2 lengths. THINKING (f, 2, Nyquist--Critikal Reason {SP}, by Aptitude) was rated a 4-1 chance to improve off a debut sixth to next-out GIII Matron S. victrix Royal Approval (Tiznow) at Kentucky Downs Sept. 9 and made a successful transition to the main track to graduate at second asking Saturday at Keeneland. One of the first into stride from her high draw, Thinking raced in a share of third and three wide down the backstretch before and chased outside dueling...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 3rd-BEL, $70K, OC ($80K), 3yo/up, 1m, post time: 1:28 p.m. ET Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer (Speightstown) makes his belated first start of the year. The Shug McGaughey trainee has been off since winning his fourth straight (from five attempts) in Aqueduct's nine-panel GIII Discovery S. Nov. 30. His third dam is MGSIW My Flag (Easy Goer), who in turn produced champion juvenile filly Storm Flag Flying (Storm Cat). TJCIS PPs 7th-KEE, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f 184 ft., post time: 4:24 p.m. ET...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 8th-Belmont Park, Msw, $63k, 2yo, 1 1/16m, post time: 4:14 p.m. Bridledwood Farm and Don Alberto's homebred CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (Tapit), a full-brother to multiple Grade I winner Constitution, debuts for trainer Todd Pletcher. Bridlewood and Don Alberto partnered to purchase the gray colt's dam Baffled (Distorted Humor), in foal to Tapit, for $3.5 million at the 2016 Fasig November sale. Don Alberto bought out the parnership for $1.8 million at last year's Fasig November sale. The mare's yearling filly by Medaglia d'Oro sold to Mandy...