Shadwell Pays Big for Curlin Colt from Proven Family

Shadwell Estate Company certainly got a ton of bang for their buck at the Sept. 9 opening day of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum's racing outfit picked up five yearlings during the first session for total receipts of $3.06 million. 

Topping the day's purchases was Hip 162, a chestnut colt by Curlin  bred and consigned by Hinkle Farms. The colt is the third foal out of the Giant's Causeway mare Transportation, who was purchased by Hinkle Farms for $370,000 with the colt in utero at the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. 

"It's totally unexpected," said Henry Hinkle. "We're very lucky that we bought her in foal to Curlin, who is obviously a great sire. He's having a great year at stud, and they're just in great demand. He looks like he'll be a sire of sires, too. We are just extremely fortunate that we were able to buy the mare and that she had such a nice foal." 

Part of an active family both on the track and in the breeding shed, the colt's second dam, Alternate, was a multiple graded stakes-placed runner who earned just over half a million in 23 starts. The daughter of Seattle Slew was retired in 2004 and is the dam of stakes winner Interrupted and Oaklawn Handicap (G2) scorer and sire Alternation . Higher Power, her 4-year-old colt by Medaglia d'Oro , recently earned his first grade 1 win when he took the $1 Million TVG Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar by a dominating 5 1/4 lengths. 

Off to a strong start at stud, Alternation is the sire of this year's Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner, Serengeti Empress. 

"I think having Higher Power on the page helped, and I don't think we can underestimate the success that Alternation is having at stud," Hinkle said. "People are looking for colts out of sire families, and now Alternation is a classic sire of the Oaks winner this year. But the fact that Higher Power is now a grade 1 winner certainly helped. 

"We are obviously thrilled with the result and excited that he will be going into great hands with Shadwell," Hinkle said of Hip 162. "He was just a really nice colt, he developed nicely, and he never made any mistakes. He was a clean, straightforward colt. He had a great walk, he was a great mover, and obviously he had a great conformation. He was one of those kind of dream colts that doesn't come around that often." 

With only two yearlings entered in the first session of the September sale, the Hinkles were handsomely rewarded for their efforts. The second of their entrants, a Tapit  colt out of the Forestry mare Seeking Gabrielle, scored the highest price of the day when he was purchased by Godolphin for $2.5 million. 

"Hopefully, today validates that we're doing some of the right things in raising our horses and the way that we prepare them for the sale," Hinkle said. "We do only hand-walking and a lot of it. I think it pays off because our horses, when they get here, they're fit. It means a lot in that way. It also means a lot that you have to keep reinvesting in this business to stay current and keep your bloodlines alive. We'll be able to come back in November and hopefully reinvest in some more nice mares to add to our broodmare band." 

Early in the session, Shadwell went to $800,000 for Hip 76, a Curlin filly consigned by Denali Stud. Bred in Florida by Bridlewood Farm, the filly is out of the unraced Tapit mare Serena's Harmony, a half sister of multiple grade 1 winner and sire Honor Code . 

Hip 52 set Shadwell back $575,000. Consigned by Bedouin Bloodstock, the Speightstown  colt was bred in Kentucky by SF Bloodstock out of the Broken Vow  mare Rosalind, winner of the Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1). 

A colt by Kitten's Joy  consigned by Brookdale Sales, agent, as Hip 117 went to Shadwell on a final bid of $325,000. The chestnut was the third foal out of the Street Cry mare Street Interest. The colt's third dam was grade 1 winner Shared Interest, dam of King's Bishop Stakes (G1) victor and sire Forestry. The colt was bred in Virginia by Morgan's Ford Farm and Ken and Sarah Ramsey. 

Completing the day's purchases was Hip 147, a $310,000 filly by European powerhouse sire Lope de Vega. Consigned by Paramount Sales, the filly was the only yearling in Book 1 sired by the group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) winner. She was bred in Ireland by Rockhart Trading out of the Oasis Dream mare Thai Haiku, dam of Rathasker Clodovil Irish E.B.F. Garnet Stakes winner Sarrocchi.