Yaupon to Spendthrift Farm Upon Conclusion of Career

Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Yaupon  , winner of the Aug. 28 Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, will stand at Spendthrift Farm for the 2022 breeding season. 

The Uncle Mo   colt will be pointed to the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar as a primary goal before retiring at year's end. A stud fee will be determined at that time.

The Heiligbrodts retired champion male sprinter Mitole   to Spendthrift after his 2019 Forego and Breeders' Cup Sprint scores.

"We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Bill and Corinne (Heiligbrodt) on their newest grade 1 winner, Yaupon," Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said. "Obviously, the last time they won the Forego at Saratoga it was with Mitole, so we are hopeful Yaupon can close out his racing career in similar fashion.

"Aside from being extremely fast, Yaupon is one of the best-looking sons of Uncle Mo you will find anywhere. When breeders come out to the farm and see a fast Saratoga grade 1 winner by Uncle Mo that is as beautiful as he is on the end of a lead shank, we believe we will get a lot of (mares for his first book)."

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Yaupon has won six of his eight races, including the first four starts of his career in 2020. After winning on debut at Churchill Downs and capturing a Saratoga allowance race, the dark bay colt reeled off back-to-back graded victories by open lengths, including the Amsterdam Stakes (G2) at Saratoga over grade 1 winner Basin  in 1:08.50 for six furlongs. Yaupon also won the Chick Lang Stakes (G3) at Pimlico Race Course on Preakness weekend by four lengths in 1:09.10, a performance that would make him the betting favorite in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland, where he finished eighth. 

After running eighth in the Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored By Gulf News (G1) at Meydan Racecourse at the beginning of the season, Yaupon entered the second half of his 4-year-old season fresh. He returned to Pimlico July 4 to take the Lite the Fuse Stakes before Saturday's triumph as the favorite in the storied Forego. Making his first start at seven furlongs, Yaupon led gate to wire in 1:21.74 in the Forego, defeating five grade 1 winners and earning a 103 Beyer Speed Figure.

"Yaupon is an absolutely stunning physical with an unbelievable pedigree, and he might have been one of the fastest horses we have ever seen at a 2-year-old in training sale," said Bill Heiligbrodt. "Last year, after four straight wins and two graded stakes, we thought he had a very good chance to win the Breeders' Cup, and he ended up being the favorite in the race. But a very rough trip nullified any chance.

"After his most recent victory in the Forego, we look forward to returning to the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. Corinne and I have been racing horses since the 1980s and have been lucky to be represented by a lot of nice horses. Yaupon is our best ever when you combine speed, pedigree, and conformation."

Bred in Kentucky by Betz, Lamantia, CoCo Equine, Magers, and Burns out of the grade 1-placed Vindication  mare Modification, Yaupon was a $255,000 purchase by East Hickman Bloodstock from Wavertree Stables' consignment to the Ocala Breeders' Sales' June 2-Year-Olds & Horses of Racing Age Sale in 2019. With six wins from eight starts, he has banked $703,264 to date.