Summer Wind Brings Quality to Saratoga Sale

Jane Lyon brings a select few of her Summer Wind Farm homebreds to The Saratoga Sale each year and is represented this season by a son of Tapit   (Hip 92) out of grade 3 winner Feathered  and a Quality Road   filly (Hip 155) out of More Hennessy , the dam of 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) winner Hootenanny  .

The boutique atmosphere of this selected yearling sale has always drawn Lyon in, as has Fasig-Tipton's impeccable client service. 

"Saratoga is a very special sale for me. In the beginning, I had one horse. I was relatively new, no one knew me," Lyon said. "(Fasig-Tipton president) Boyd Browning treated me like every other important breeder. It has meant the world to me."

Lyon and her late husband James 'Frank' Lyon Jr. became familiar faces on the Thoroughbred scene after starting their operation with a few broodmares in 1995. Known for building a program that gained universal industry respect, Lyon has seen the product of her passion continue to grow. She carried on adding to her broodmare band after Frank's death in 2015, developing a remarkable nursery of celebrated female families at Summer Wind in Georgetown, Ky. 

"In the last five years, we have grown substantially," she said. "We used to have about 10 broodmares; I ended up buying a lot of mares and additionally have kept a lot of my fillies. This year we had 28 foals and are expecting 30 next year.

"The majority of my foal and yearling crop are entered to sell each year, and whatever doesn't end up selling for various unforeseen reasons, I end up keeping to race."

Lyon's broodmare lineup includes the remarkable blue hen Littleprincessemma , dam of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah  , grade 1 winner Chasing Yesterday , grade 1-placed American Cleopatra , and group 3-placed St Patrick's Day  . Chasing Yesterday has come home to Summer Wind, joining More Hennessy, Feathered, grade 3 winner Gloryzapper , and Love Me Only , a half sister to Giant's Causeway  and dam of group 2 winner Storm the Stars .

The cream of Lyon's crop arrived safe and sound Aug. 4 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in time for the sale's 100th edition, which will be conducted Aug. 9-10. Hip 92 sells the first night of the sale and Hip 155 the second night. Both are consigned by Lane's End.

"These are homegrown yearlings for Jane. She takes a lot of pride in that," said Allaire Ryan, sales director at Lane's End. "Her horses are like family to her; they learn how to eat carrots from day one. We are proud to have them as part of our consignment."

First up is the Tapit colt out of the Indian Charlie mare Feathered, who is also the dam of Flightline  (Tapit) a $1 million graduate from this sale in 2019 and an impressive maiden special weight winner this spring in California.

"This colt is different from his brother physically," Ryan said. "He's a more typey version of Tapit—a lot of depth and natural substance. He has a super mind, is laid back, takes everything in stride. He is a professional in how he shows and how he presents himself."

The Quality Road filly is one of Lyon's favorites. 

"From day one, she has been the best foal, against some stiff competition," Lyon said. "She has been outstanding, everything about her—how she presents herself, her look. We might be a touch prejudice, but we can't fault her."

"Physically, this filly is all Quality Road; she's got a big and scopey walk with a nice frame, a lot of depth in her shoulder and girth," Ryan added. "She's a classic-looking, two-turn filly. What elevates her is her class factor. She's intelligent, carries herself the same whether it's at 8:00 a.m. or 4:00 p.m., and moves effortlessly—with a big step and overstride. She's easy on herself. She's a special one to have in the consignment for sure."

Summer Wind Farm acquired the filly's dam More Hennessy for $1.5 million in foal to Galileo  in 2015 at The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's marquee breeding stock sale, from the consignment of Eaton Sales. The mare has nine foals on the ground, six of them runners, and four of them winners, including Hootenanny. In addition to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Hootenanny won the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot and was runner up in the Darley Prix Morny (G1) and King Edward Stakes (G2T).

Lyon said her buying model evolved over the last decade, focusing on acquiring more established mares, and More Hennessy was part of that shift.

"Frank was alive when we purchased her, so I had his blessing," she said. "This was when I tried to start buying broodmares who had already produced stakes winners."