Rift Valley

2nd-AQU, $70K, Msw, (S), 3yo/up, 6fT, 12:50 p.m. ET RIFT VALLEY (Pioneerof the Nile), the $600,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling topper in 2018, debuts for Shortleaf Stables and Jimmy Jerkens. The bay has posted four bullet moves on his worktab, including a four-furlong breeze in :47 1/5 (1/8) at Belmont Oct. 27. Rift Valley, produced by a daughter of MGISW Educated Risk (Mr. Prospector), hails from a deep Phipps family, including champion Inside Information. TJCIS PPs

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - A year ago, Jonathan Thorne sent a son of Pioneerof the Nile through the sales ring at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Yearlings Sale and watched as the youngster sold for a sale-record $600,000. It was a gratifying moment for the longtime New York breeder who has been on the front lines of the evolution of the state's breeding program. Thorne returns to the New York sale with a five-horse consignment in 2019. "I was just really fortunate enough to breed a horse and raise him and...