By Christina Bossinakis
Colts have dominated much of the activity at the top of the leaderboard at the Keeneland September Sale in Lexington. However, the fairer set had their day Tuesday with fillies filled five of the six top slots, headed by a daughter of Nyquist who brought $375,000 from Legion Bloodstock, buying on behalf of the new venture Icon Racing.
Icon Racing is a partnership launched by MLB All-Star and World Series-winning Jayson Werth, who made racing's headlines earlier this spring with a horse he co-owned, Dornoch (Good Magic), winner of the GI Belmont Stakes before adding the GI Haskell Invitational Stakes.
“It's basically his friends and family that he's bringing into this,” said Legion Bloodstock's Kristian Villante. “Before, he ran under his Two Eight [Racing] banner, but the Icon venture is new so we're shopping for that. It's something new that he has going forward that he's pretty excited about.”
The leading yearling of the Book 4 finale was consigned by St George Sales. Offered as Hip 2611, she is out of Raise the Flag (Awesome Again).
“From a physical standpoint, the first time we saw her, she was a queen to us,” explained Villante. “She was the one we really wanted today.”
He added, “We showed her to Jayson and his son Jackson, they loved her too. Really the whole team really loved her.”
The Mar. 9 foal is a granddaughter of GI Coaching Club American Oaks heroine My Flag, herself a half-sister to Grade I winners Makers Mark and Traditionally. That daughter of Easy Goer is also responsible for juvenile champion filly and MGISW Storm Flag Flying (Storm Cat).
“We have been focusing on horses with physicals first and not necessarily on pedigrees. But in her case, she was an opportunity to get the physical and she also has the pedigree from one of the best Phipps families,” explained Villante. “It's a great producing family top to bottom.”
“Nyquist kind of speaks for himself with the fillies he has gotten over the last few years.”
Jayson Werth at the Keeneland September Sale
In regard to the final price on the day's top yearling, Villante added, “The price was where we kind of pegged her, but she was the one that Jayson and the whole team really loved so we are really happy to add her to the horses that we have put together here.”
During the eighth session, Legion signed for four yearlings in total–a pair secured for Icon and an additional two on behalf of Bob Hahn. On Tuesday, Icon also purchased Hip 2469, a colt by Raging Bull (Fr) for $75,000. The son of Hearts of Red was consigned by Four Star Sales.
“We are looking for athletes naturally, with Jayson being an athlete himself,” Villante said. “It's not so much about the pedigree but more about the physical, that's what he likes. We try to identify horses that look like those we can bring to the races.”
Through Book 4, Icon purchased four yearlings individually, including a Maclean's Music colt [Hip 816] for $260,000 and a Yaupon filly [Hip 498] for $190,000.
“We purchased both colts and fillies here for the new venture Icon,” confirmed Villante. “In Book 1, we bought a Yaupon filly and then we added a couple of colts that [Werth] partnered on with one of our clients, Hoolie Racing [Andrew Hudson].”
He explained, “We have been focusing on physicals first and foremost and then bringing the pedigree in after that to help determine how far we're going to stretch on each horse.”
In tandem with Hoolie Racing, Werth partnered on an additional two yearlings–a colt by Charlatan for $350,000 [Hip 1856] and a colt by McKinzie for $160,000 [Hip 1330].
“We really liked the McKinzie,” said Villante. “He was the star for us on that day. He actually came in under budget which was nice. We also bought a Charlatan for Hoolie and Icon. They were both beautiful colts that the physical came first with them but they also both have the pedigree that suggests they will go two turns.”
Who will train Werth's initial purchases for the new Icon partnership?
“We haven't decided on trainers at this point, but right now they will go to Travis Durr Training Center and then we can make decisions on trainers when they get further down the line,” said Villante.
According to Villante, the market has proven tough for the most sought after prospects, regardless of their placement in the sale.
“We tried for about 40 horses here for [Jayson] and we only got a few, but we stuck to our guns,” he admitted. “Sometimes at the price point that we are at, and if we can't get them at that price, we move on to the next. But we are very happy with the group he's put together at this sale and, hopefully, we can have some luck for him.”
And while some owners might be content to watch from the sidelines as the team is recruited, Villante affirmed that Werth is certainly not one of them.
“He's had a lot of success in a short time in the industry and he wants to keep that going,” he said. “He's very passionate. He's been here the last week going through everything with us and he's been very involved with the whole thing.”
“Jayson loves the industry and loves the game so he has been very involved in [the management] of this venture. We all put our heads together, but ultimately it all falls upon Jayson and with what he wants to do with things. We put in our two-cents, but he really is he manager in all this. We're just part of the team and we are thankful to be part of it.”
At the conclusion of Book 4, a total of 1740 yearlings sold for gross receipts of $382,469,500, up 4.52% from 2023. The average closed out at $219,810 (+8.42%) with a median of $150,000 (+20%). For the eighth session, 286 yearlings sold for $20,827,500, down 3% from one year ago. The day averaged $72,823 (+2%) with a median of $55,000 (+10%).
Taylor Made Sales Agency was the session's leading consignor by selling 32 yearlings for $2.54 million.
Selling resumes Wednesday at 10a.m.
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