Foals by G1-Winning Mares on Offer Day 1 of Keeneland

Every Tuesday, BloodHorse unveils a Maiden Watch column covering lightly raced 2- and 3-year-old maiden winners who deserve attention as those with a strong probability of developing into graded stakes winners. The horses selected are based off BloodHorse analytics—research that shows a higher probability of graded success for horses meeting certain criteria.

One of those three key pieces of criteria deciding these Hot Prospects is having a graded/group-winning dam, and that is a first box already checked to the highest level for several yearlings on offer during Day 1 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Sept. 14.

Open Book 1 and take Hip 158, for example. The chestnut son of Curlin   is out of Cavorting . The daughter of Bernardini was a six-time graded winner on the track, but more importantly was three-times triumphant in grade 1 company at distances of 7 furlongs, 1 1/16 miles, and 1 1/8 miles.

Every aspect of the Thoroughbred industry has turned to gold for Cavorting. In addition to her racetrack success, the Stonestreet Stables mare is a grade 1-winning producer thanks to the success of Clairiere🔥 , herself a multiple grade 1 winner and a full sister to the Curlin colt set to go through the ring Monday. All four of Cavorting's foals to race have won, with La Crete🔥  picking up a stakes win and Judge Miller  earning grade 2 placing.

Further, Cavorting has been represented strongly in the sales ring. Her 2023 foal, Courting🔥 , a full brother to Hip 158, topped the 2024 September Sale at $5 million, and her yet-to-race 2024 Gun Runner   foal, Dream More , brought $1.5 million last year.

The other two criteria for BloodHorse's Maiden Watch are a sibling being a graded/group winner, which this colt has checked emphatically thanks to Clairiere, and selling for $500,000 or more at auction, which recent family history suggests he'll smash Monday afternoon.

Safe to say, the Curlin colt is primed for success when Juan Aguilar and Sarah Sutherland's Heartwood Farm consignment turns him over to the new buyer.

Heartwood Farm succeeds the long-standing Indian Creek operation that consigned Courting and Dream More each of the last two years, Aguilar and Sutherland being central members of the management team for many years. The two broke off on their own in the spring and got off to a strong start last month at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale, when selling the sale-topping son of Into Mischief   for $4.2 million in addition to another Into Mischief colt for $3 million.

READ: Aguilar, Sutherland Launch Heartwood Farm

"We've been blown away with how kind and supportive everyone has been," Sutherland said of the reception to Heartwood Farm. "We got started up in New York, and it was sort of that sense of your first time. There's some familiarity, but some newness to it, and it feels very much the same here. It's something we've done before, but it's also new. When you're doing it for yourself, it definitely feels different in a great way."

Also a little different is this son of Curlin in comparison to his expensive full and half brothers.

"Each one has been extremely high-quality and super type. This colt's no different," Sutherland said. "I wouldn't say he's just like his full brother that was here two years ago—and he's certainly different from the Gun Runner we had last year—but I think he's powerful, forward, and quite sharp for being a younger yearling.

"He's an April foal, but he's got that switched on, down to business mentality. I think he could be one that is a lot of fun and potentially an early type for a Curlin. He's exciting, definitely different from the other two, but in his own good way."

In addition to the strength of the female family line in the racing, breeding, and sales industries, this chestnut colt also holds sire power in the form of dual Horse of the Year Curlin.

There are few things that Curlin has not done as a stallion, and that list got shorter this spring when his son Golden Tempo🔥  swept the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1). Those victories came on the heels of Journalism🔥   winning the 2025 Preakness Stakes (G1) among a trio of grade 1s, not to mention many other graded winners by himself or through his daughters.

Golden Tempo's success, bolstered by the presence of two dual Breeders' Cup-winning sons—Cody's Wish🔥   and Elite Power🔥  —in the sale with their first crop of yearlings, has Sutherland theorizing there will be even more renewed interest in Curlin offspring.

"He's just a horse that continues to remind us how good he is," Sutherland said of the stallion who stood at Hill 'n' Dale Farms for a $225,000 fee in 2026. "He's going to be a horse who is relevant for a very long time. He's holding his own with the young guns."

One of those young guns is Not This Time  , a stallion who is also represented on Day 1 of Book 1 with offspring out of grade 1-winning mares.

The stallion was raised at Taylor Made Farm, and has stood there since beginning his stallion career in 2017. At that time, he stood for a $15,000 fee. However, his foals made it to the track and started winning on every surface and at every distance. He rose through the sire ranks to where, currently, he ranks No. 1 on the general sires list with progeny earnings of over $25.4 million in 2026—threatening to end Into Mischief's seven-year streak atop the standings as he leads by $3.6 million.

Still, Taylor Made president and CEO Mark Taylor believes the best is yet to come for Not This Time. Given his success, Not This Time's stud fee has ballooned to $250,000 in 2026. The foal crop of 2023, this year's 3-year-old crop, were the first to be conceived at a fee over $40,000 as the stallion carried a $45,000 fee in 2022. The 2024 crop was conceived at a $135,000 fee. This year's yearling group was conceived in 2024 at a $150,000 fee.

As the stud fee goes up, so does the quality of mares, and Taylor believes this group of yearlings come from the best collection of mares yet.

"Now, in his current 2-year-old crop, you got an upgrade in the quality of mares for sure. This particular (yearling) crop that we're dealing with now is even better," Taylor said. "He's done everything you could possibly ask a horse to do. His versatility is just legendary. On one card you can see horses running a mile-and-a-half on grass, you can see 2-year-olds breaking their maiden going 5 1/2 on the dirt, you can see horses like Magnitude going a Classic distance against older horses. He really can take owners everywhere in the world on any surface at the highest level. He's a very unique stallion in that regard."

Speaking of higher quality matings, Taylor Made-consigned Hip 20 is out of dual grade 1 winner and Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Serengeti Empress . Bred in Kentucky by Serengeti Empress' owner Joel Politi, the colt bleeds Taylor Made. He was born and raised on the farm just like both of his parents.

Taylor said Serengeti Empress was one of the most talented horses the farm has ever raised, and she has become one of the biggest stars in their broodmare barns. Her first foal to race, Invictus🔥  (Into Mischief), is a four-time winner and stakes-placed. She also has an unraced 2-year-old Curlin colt named Kilimanjaro . This bay colt carries some of her in him and some of Not This Time.

"He's a very nice combination of the sire and the dam," Taylor said. "He's got Not This Time's very distinct black color, but he's got some of the mares angles. Beautiful shoulder to him, very well balanced, and he moves very well. He's a nice horse. I think Serengeti Empress is one of the most talented horses that we ever raised, and it's gonna be exciting to see this guy when he hits the track."

The colt was born in May, but Taylor has seen him continue to develop.

"I think his best days are ahead of him," Taylor said. "He keeps growing, he keeps filling out, he keeps maturing. I would have to say that every month, he just keeps getting better and better."

Another Not This Time yearling out of grade 1-winning mare sure to get interest is Hip 118. The bay filly bred by Whisper Hill Farm and consigned by Gainesway is out of dual grade 1 winner American Gal .

The winner of the 2017 Test Stakes (G1) and 2018 Humana Distaff (G1) has produced one winner from two starters and has an unraced 2-year-old full sister to this filly. American Gal, by Concord Point, is a full sister to stakes winner Americanize and half sister to stakes winner Gata Brazil  (Into Mischief) and grade 3-placed Magic Tap🔥  (Tapit  ).