Up to the Mark Sibling Gets Boost for F-T October Sale

Hip 134 of The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale got the best kind of catalog update Oct. 7 when the McKinzie   colt's half brother notched a grade 1 win in the Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland. That half sibling, out of the unraced Ghostzapper   mare Belle's Finale, is Up to the Mark  , who is now in the conversation for Horse of the Year. As one of only two North American runners with three grade 1 victories on the season (the other being Pretty Mischievous ), Up to the Mark would have a good case should he annex one of the Breeders' Cup grass races—the Turf (G1T) or the Mile (G1T)—and especially so if Arcangelo  fails to deliver as the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) favorite. 

The consignor of Hip 134, Taylor Made, stands Up to the Mark's sire, Not this Time. 

Belle's Finale was purchased by Ramspring Farm for $70,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November Sale. She is set to sell at The November Sale, as is her Maxfield   weanling colt. Clay Patrick of Ramsping told BloodHorse the McKinzie colt is a fast learner, like he has seen in all of Belle's Finale's offspring.

"He's a real nice individual," Patrick said. "He's a good-looking colt with a good head on his shoulders. 

ROLLINS: Up to the Mark Casts Spotlight on Ramspring Farm

Belle's Finale is out of Capote Belle , a grade 1 winner in the 1997 Test Stakes who faced older males as a 3-year-old filly in that year's Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), finishing seventh.

Another sibling to an active grade 1 winner in the October Sale's first session is Hip 333, a Justify   colt that is a full brother to Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) heroine Aspen Grove . Owned by Glen Hill Farm and Mrs. John Magnier, Aspen Grove was the first foal for Data Dependent , from Triple Crown winner Justify's first crop. Thanks in part to the support of Magnier and the Coolmore partners, Justify's runners have proven as adept on turf, if not more so, as on dirt.    

Hip 133 is consigned by Blandford Stud in Paris, Ky. 

"He's a very attractive colt," said Blandford's Padraig Campion. "He looks like his father, which is a very positive thing. He moves well, he's got a great attitude about him, and he's a really nice horse."

Just in the past few weeks Campion has seen the colt flourish, adding muscle to an already chiseled Justify physique.

"He looks more of a finished article now," Campion said. 

Data Dependent has had four foals. In addition to Aspen Grove, the other of racing age, a No Nay Never  colt named Edwardian, won in July at 2 for trainer Aidan O'Brien.