Half Brother to Secret Circle Sells for $410,000

A Pioneerof the Nile colt that is a half brother to Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner Secret Circle  was the top hip of six consigned by Summerfield as agent for Stonestreet Bred & Raised Sept. 15 during the sixth session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

The bay colt (Hip 1334) brought $410,000 from SF Bloodstock, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables, with SF's Tom Ryan saying Stonestreet will also be involved in the partnership. 

"They're the breeders of this horse, which always helps," Ryan said. "Stonestreet are one of the better breeders in the country."

The colt will go to trainer Bob Baffert, who also trained Secret Circle. Ryan said based on appearances it looks like the colt will have no problem going two turns.

"He's by Pioneerof the Nile—he's been a great loss to the industry as we all know—and he's a half to a Breeders' Cup winner already," Ryan said. "He's out of a Dixieland Band mare, and Bob, Donato (Lanni), Frankie (Brothers)—everybody thought highly of this horse."

The colt's dam is the multiple stakes winner Ragtime Hope, who is a half sister to Dogwood Stakes (G3) winner Really Polish.

"Earlier in the year he was a little immature so we decided to move him back a little bit and then he came on," Summerfield's Francis Vanlangendonck said of the yearling. "The theory behind that is if he doesn't come around the way we think, we're still fine being a little later in the sale, but if he does we're even better. The horse really came around. He's better than my expectations. He is a very nice horse."

The Pioneerof the Nile colt was the biggest sell of the day for both Summerfield and Stonestreet.

Summerfield also sent two colts by leading sire Into Mischief  and bred by Stonestreet through the ring Sunday.

Hip 1340, a bay colt out of Spinaway Stakes (G1) winner R Heat Lightning (by Trippi), brought a final bid of $370,000 from Federico Barberini. His half brother, Aster Pegasus, is a grade 3 winner in Japan.

Golden Star Farm went to $300,000 for Hip 1537, a bay colt out of multiple stakes-placed Clay's Rocket (by American Chance). He is a half brother to stakes winners Laurie's Rocket and Greeley's Rocket, and his dam is a half sister to Frizette Stakes (G1) winner Adieu.

"You don't see a stake in the United States that doesn't have one in it," Vanlangendonck said of the stallion's progeny. "They're awful good racehorses. They have the will to win, which is the bottom line to any stallion. If they want to run, you can do a whole lot more with them. They don't even have to be as athletic as the horse next to them, they just want to get it done."

Gross receipts for Stonestreet's Sunday consignment with Summerfield totaled $1,445,000.

Adding to that number was Hip 1650, a Curlin  filly out of the stakes-winning Kantharos  mare Katie's Kiss that Mike Ryan bought for $360,000 as agent; Hip 1625, an Honor Code  filly out of multiple stakes-placed Hi Beautiful (by Snow Ridge); and a half sister to stakes-placed Malibu High that sold for $5,000 to Travis Murphy. Hip 1456, a Street Sense  colt out of multiple grade 3 winner Wild Gams (by Forest Wildcat) was a $120,000 RNA.

"Obviously Stonestreet does a great job. They raise them right and they prep them correctly. When we get them we know everything about them," Vanlangendonck said. "They don't hide anything. They're really crystal clear on that, they want to do the right thing. And they have done a great job.

"(John) Moynihan's done a great job of buying mares, mating them, and putting them physically together, so they have a good team that does that. So when we get them, they're prepped. They look great, so it makes our job a lot easier. Deciding where to put them, they're very good at positioning them in the sale and they've got a good pulse on the market on where to put them, so it makes our job real easy."