Three Chimneys' Volatile Off to Good Start at Saratoga

Of first-crop stallion's Volatile  's six winners from 20 starts, two have come at Saratoga Race Course—a small sample size to be sure but also encouraging for Three Chimneys, where the son of Violence   stands for $15,000.

"It's really exciting for a horse that was super fast but not particularly precocious," said Three Chimneys' COO Chris Baker. "His 2-year-olds are doing it at the right venues in advance of the sales." 

Three Chimneys' homebred Reliable Source , out of the unraced Broken Vow mare Repeta , is Volatile's latest winner, taking a July 28 maiden special weight at Saratoga by 2 1/2 lengths. Bred by Three Chimneys and now trained by Steve Asmussen, Reliable Source was a $250,000 RNA at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

"We liked her well enough that if someone wanted to buy her from us, they needed to value her well above what we valued her at," said Baker. "When that didn't occur in September, we were happy to put her in training. She's athletic, and she's from our first-crop stallion that we believe in. She's out of a mare that's proven to be a great producer of runners by a variety of sires, so it was a pretty easy choice. I think the market liked her, but maybe not as much as we did. For a $17,500 stud fee, $250,000 is a lot of money. A price greater than ten times the stud fee would have a lot of people saying, 'Yeah, I'm out.' " 

Repeta is the dam of grade 3 winner Mucho Del Oro  (by Mucho Macho Man  ) and grade 1-placed stakes winner Funtastic Again  (by Funtastic  ).

Bradley Thoroughbreds, agent, had no hesitation in bidding up to $315,000 at that same sale for what would be Volatile's other winner at Saratoga this summer, Incentive Pay . Out of the Distorted Humor  mare Distinguishable , the chestnut colt is owned by Klaravich Stables and won by 2 1/2 lengths July 20 on debut. 

"(Trainer Chad Brown) works Books 1 and 2 really hard at Keeneland, and every once in a while, when we don't quite find everything we want, he tells me to give him a call if he sees anything later in the sale," Bradley said. "I called him about three horses in Book 3, he looked at them, and said, 'Let's try for this one.' " 

Bred in Kentucky by Kathryn Nikkel, Old Dominion, and Turtle Creek Farms, Incentive Pay was consigned by Four Star Sales. 

"Did you see him in the paddock?" asked Bradley after the horse's race. "He was the same way at the sale, just chill. Those horses in Book 3 especially have to be shown a lot, and he was a class act the whole time.

"He's beautiful and balanced," Bradley continued, "and he looks like a two-turn horse." 

"Buying offspring of first-crop stallions has been a successful approach for Seth and me," said Brown, referring to owner Seth Klarman. "Both of our Preakness winners are by first-crop stallions."

Brown and Klarman won the 2017 Preakness (G1) with Cloud Computing  , owned in partnership with William Lawrence, from the first crop of Maclean's Music  , and repeated in 2022 with Early Voting  , from Gun Runner  's first crop. Gun Runner also stands at Three Chimneys, for a private fee. 

"Buying the offspring of first-crop stallions fits into Seth's approach to buying horses and building his portfolio," Brown said. "He likes to find value. He's not going for the sale-topping, million-dollar horse. That's not part of our plan. Oftentimes, good individuals from first-crop sires provide opportunity in our price range." 

Brown also noted that it was Bradley and Nick de Meric, who provided early training for Incentive Pay, who were responsible for connecting him with Klarman. 

Volatile's Saratoga winners offer impressive updates to the gray/roan colt on offer at this week's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. Bred by Three Chimneys Farm, he is out of the Smart Strike mare Bush Pilot  and a half brother to grade 1-winning millionaire Gun Pilot , who Baker said is expected to run in the Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Aug. 24. Consigned as Hip 240 by Taylor Made Sales Agency, he earned an A+ rating in BloodHorse's Auction Edge sales preview. 

"Volatile has been super consistent across all of his books," said Baker. "He's had decent numbers from different demographics of mares, and he's thrown good, correct, athletic-looking physicals. His foals are good-minded and good to deal with.

"Now, it looks like some of those consistent looks are consistent with athletic performances, and that's what he really needs."