Owner Bob Edwards Reflects on Tattersalls Trip

For Bob Edwards and his e Five Racing Thoroughbreds stable, the opening weekend at Keeneland was not the best of times.

Edwards' multiple grade 1-winning filly Rushing Fall was a 6-5 favorite Oct. 5 in the $400,000 First Lady Stakes (G1T) but never fired and wound up fourth, 5 1/4 lengths behind, finishing worse than second for the first time in 11 career starts.

Now she'll be given a rest until she returns for her 5-year-old campaign in 2020.

Two races later on the same card, his undefeated grade 1-winning 3-year-old Valid Point, a Scat Daddy colt whom he owns along with bloodstock agent Mike Ryan, took on older rivals for the first time in the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) and was the 2-1 favorite, but ran into some traffic issues in the stretch and checked in 10th.

He will also get some time off with the $300,000 Hollywood Derby (G1T) Nov. 30 at Del Mar shaping up as his next major target.

Undaunted by the sting of two beaten favorites in grade 1 stakes, it did not take long for Edwards to find success, satisfaction, and several exciting reasons for optimism about next year and beyond.

Just a few days after his rough afternoon at Keeneland, Edwards and Ryan were part of an American armada that journeyed to Newmarket, England, for the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. The group had a profound impact on Book One of the famed United Kingdom auction.

With Edwards and Ryan joining Peter Brant, Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables, trainers Chad Brown and Todd Pletcher, WinStar Farm, and BSW Bloodstock in playing active roles at the sale, Americans accounted for about 10% of the 552 yearlings sold in Book One. A Tweet from the Tattersalls Twitter account proclaimed that nearly 50 yearlings were purchased by U.S. horsemen who intend to race them at American tracks when they turn 2 or older.

Edwards accounted for six of those purchases as he spent 1,260,000 guineas (US$1,620,775) on six fillies, with Ryan serving as his agent.

"All in all, as a group, the American contingent bought some nice, quality horses and they're all going to run against each other here in the United States," Edwards said. "With much more emphasis being placed on turf racing here in the United States, the Tattersalls sales give us the opportunity to pick up some horses with pedigrees that might fly under the radar in Europe but can be quite successful here."

Reflective of the talent pool at Tattersalls, Brown won the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) with Klaravich Stables' Newspaperofrecord, who sold for 200,000 guineas ($278,019) at the 2017 sale. She has earned $795,750 with three wins in six starts.

Pletcher, who was involved in two purchases, noted the increased interest in turf racing back home, including this year's launch of the Turf Triple series in New York for 3-year-old colts and fillies.

"Turf racing has become more than 50% of the races at Saratoga, so there's a good reason to be involved in sales (like Tattersalls)," Pletcher said.

Pletcher's duo included a Galileo colt who is a half brother to grade 1 winner Materiality and grade 2 winner My Miss Sophia out of the Langfuhr mare Wildwood Flower. He went to Aquis Farm and John D. Gunther, who bred the filly, for 325,000 guineas ($419,428). Aquis Farm and Pletcher also teamed on a Fastnet Rock filly out of the Galileo mare Wannabe Special for 110,000 guineas ($141,961).

Pletcher said both yearlings are bound for Payton Training Center in Ocala, Fla., which is operated by his father, J.J.

Seeing a large cluster of Americans at a European sale only confirmed to New York Racing Association senior vice president of racing operations Martin Panza that NYRA's decision early this year to initiate lucrative turf triples for 3-year-olds has resonated with horsemen and complements the sport's increasing interest in grass racing. The six races at 1 3/16 miles and beyond that comprise the Turf Trinity for males and Turf Tiara for fillies offer a combined purse of $5.25 million.

"When you put up $5 million-plus in purse money for those races, it makes a difference," Panza said. "When you see Arlington shifting the Secretariat (G1T) to a mile and (look at) our races, it shows how powerful turf racing is becoming here in America."

Currently the only races in NYRA's Turf Tiara and Turf Trinity series that are graded are the Belmont Derby (G1T) and Belmont Oaks (G1T), yet as an added benefit to the connections of yearlings purchased this year, the Saratoga Derby, Saratoga Oaks, Jockey Club Derby, and Jockey Club Oaks will be eligible for graded stakes status in 2021, when those horses turn 3.

Among his purchases, Edwards had to dig the deepest in his pockets for a Dubawi filly who cost him 450,000 guineas ($577,359). She is out of the group 1-placed mare Glorious Sight, who is a daughter of Singspiel and from the same family as group 1 winners Hydrangea and Hermosa.

Yet he only needed a bid of 320,000 guineas ($412,975) to take home the filly he coveted the most at the sale, a daughter of Cable Bay out of the Selkirk mare Tebee, who is a half sister to Hertford Dancer, winner of the Lingfield Oaks Trial.

"She was my pick of the week," Edwards said. "She's really well-bred. She was stunning, dappled out. She looked fast and has a great mind to her. A lot of people came up to me afterwards about her. A lot of trainers would have loved to keep her over there."

Edwards also believes he came away with a bargain in a Medaglia d'Oro  filly out of the Arch mare Sigurwana that cost him 130,000 guineas ($167,771). Edwards said she has a body that reminds him of the champion filly Songbird.

"There some pedigrees, like Medaglia d'Oro, that the Europeans are not big on—but I am, and you can get a great price on them," Edwards said.

Beyond that, Edwards picked up an Iffraaj filly for 150,000 guineas ($192,453). Out of the Oasis Dream mare Hana Lina, her family includes the two-time champion Dylan Thomas.

He also headed home with a Ballardo filly out of the Fuisse mare Gallice for 110,000 guineas ($141,132) and a Sea the Stars filly out of the Muhtathir mare Autumn Leaves for 100,000 guineas ($129,055).

Though his fillies are steeped with turf in their pedigrees, Edwards would not be surprised if some of them prove to be quite useful on dirt.

"Some of the turf sires can also throw dirt runners," Edwards said. "You look at some of the pedigrees the Japanese take home, they run them on dirt. We don't, but maybe it's another part of the equation that maybe people are not paying attention to."

As for the star of Edwards' stable, he said that considering how remarkably successful Rushing Fall has been in three seasons of racing under Brown's care, there was no sense of disappointment about the daughter of More Than Ready 's loss at Keeneland, where she had been 4-for-4, all in stakes. In 11 career starts, Rushing Fall has eight wins and two seconds, and all four of her 2019 starts have come in grade 1 stakes. Aside from wins in the Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1T) at Keeneland and Longines Just A Game Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park, she was second to the champion turf mare Sistercharlie in the Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course.

Bred by Fred W. Hertrich III & John D. Fielding and purchased for $320,000 by Ryan from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, Rushing Fall owns four grade 1 wins, including a victory in the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T), and has earned $2,013,000.

"I can't be disappointed in a horse that has won two grade 1's this year and has run in nothing but grade 1's all season. There could have been a ton of things going on Saturday. She breezed really well and was training good but it wasn't her day. They all can't be her day," Edwards said. "Coat-wise she looked great but she looked maybe a touch off in her hind. I didn't know if that would play into it because she has such tremendous heart, but she didn't fire. She didn't have the kick she usually has, but she's been to four Super Bowls in a year. How would Tom Brady feel?"

Edwards said he could envision Rushing Fall starting her 2020 campaign in the Jenny Wiley, just as she did earlier this year, and perhaps it may end there as well in next year's Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) at Keeneland.

"She'll be with Ian Brennan at Stonestreet. He knows her and will take great care of her. We'll turn her out for a while and get her to Chad at Palm Meadows when the time is right and depending on what Chad is thinking, maybe we'll debut her at Keeneland. She likes Keeneland," Edwards said. "We'll let her take us to where we need to go. Chad does a phenomenal job with her. He's nursed fillies back from not just an off day but an off year. There's nobody better in the business when it comes to maintaining a horse's longevity than Chad. The Breeders' Cup is a little shorter when they have it at Keeneland (1 3/16 miles in the 2015 Breeders' Cup) so maybe that can be a goal."

As much as Rushing Fall would be a coveted broodmare prospect, Edwards says he's having too much fun watching her race to ponder retiring her.

"Absolutely she'll be back next year," he said. "Racing's fun, and the best part of it is having a horse who can get you into the winner's circle. That's the goal. It's exciting. It's fun. It keeps our family engaged. It keeps people who love the game engaged. She can be a great story next year and she's earned the right to keep running."