Hips to Watch—Keeneland September Day 1

With so many siblings and half siblings to top-class runners and so many yearlings sired by the world's leading sires, winnowing down the list of top horses to watch to light up the Keeneland September sale bid board can be a daunting task.

However, a good starting point is to look at offspring of leading sires Tapit  , who has 53 cataloged throughout the sale, War Front   (33), and Medaglia d'Oro   (57), among others.

"We have five or six Tapits that are nice horses that could really do well," said Duncan Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency. "Those (Tapit yearlings) are all horses that before you go look at them you could say 'that could be a million dollar horse' because at this point he is not breeding to bad mares. They are all top mares."

Chief among the Tapit offerings on Day 1, Sept. 12, are Hips 22 and 161. Consigned by Mill Ridge Sales, agent, Hip 22 is out of the stakes-winning Wild Again mare Shop Again, the dam of two stakes winners including grade I winner Power Broker  . The bay filly foaled Feb. 6, 2015, was bred in Kentucky by Jamm.

Bred in Kentucky by Helen C. Alexander, Stuart E. Huston, and Gainesway Management, Hip 161 is a colt produced from the unraced Thunder Gulch mare Alittlebitearly, the dam of Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) and William H. Haskell Invitational (gr. I) winner Bayern  . Consigned by Gainesway, where Tapit stands for $300,000, the gray or roan colt is from the extended female family of champion Althea.

Medaglia d'Oro yearlings selling Sept. 12 include Hips 48 and 141. Hip 48 is a colt bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings and consigned by Taylor Made. The colt is out of Smart Strike's stakes-winning daughter Spring Party, a half sister to grade I winner Emcee and to the dam of grade I winner Constitution.

From the consignment of Craig and Holly Bandoroff's Denali Stud, Hip 141 is a bay filly whose dam is the German stakes-winning and group I-placed mare Wild Wind. The filly was bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys, which had purchased Wild Wind for the U.S. equivalent of $1,518,805 at the 2012 Arqana December sale.

The first dam of Hip 191, a Giant's Causeway   colt consigned by Valkyre Stud on behalf of Kentucky breeder Oakbrook Farm, takes up the entire catalog page, and for good reason. The May 18, 2015, foal is out of Cryptoclearance's graded stakes-placed mare Ava Knowsthecode. Among the yearling's half siblings are grade I winner and millionaire Justin Phillip  , grade I winner Greenpointcrusader, grade II winner and sire Keyed Entry, and grade III winners Algorithms   and Successful Mission.

Also with a loaded first dam is Hip 99, an Awesome Again   filly from Taylor Made. The May 2 foal bred in Kentucky by Diamond A Racing is a half sister to millionaire Paynter, winner of the Haskell Invitational (gr. I) who ran second in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I). The filly's dam, Tizso, is a full sister to leading sire Tiznow and grade II winners Budroyale and Tizdubai.

One of the top War Front   yearlings on offer Monday is Hip 78, who has been named Rumors of War and is part of the Lane's End consignment. Three-time grade I winner Sweet Lulu, was purchased by breeder Summer Wind Farm for $3 million at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale while carrying the colt en utero.

HIPS TO WATCH—KEENELAND SEPTEMBER YEARLING SALE DAY 1

Hip--Description/Consignor

20—C., Giant's Causeway  —Shandra Smiles, by Cahill Road/Warrendale Sales, agt.

22—F., Tapit  —Shop Again, by Wild Again/ Mill Ridge Sales, agt.

48—C., Medaglia d'Oro  —Spring Party, by Smart Strike/Taylor Made Sales Agency, agt. for Stonestreet Bred and Raised

78—Rumors of War, C., War Front  —Sweet Lulu, by Mr. Greeley/Lane’s End, agt.

99—F., Awesome Again  —Tizso, by Cee’s Tizzy/Taylor Made Sales Agency, agt.

137—C., Tale of the Cat  —Whatdreamsaremadeof, by Graeme Hall  /Brookdale Sales, agt. for CASA Farms

141—F., Medaglia d'Oro  —Wild Wind, by Danehill Dancer/Denali Stud, agt.

153—C., Into Mischief  —Advance Party, by Empire Maker  /Gainesway, agt.

161—C., Tapit  —Alittlebitearly, by Thunder Gulch/Gainesway, agt.

191—C, Giant's Causeway  —Ava Knowsthecode, by Cryptoclearance/Valkyre Stud, agt. for Oakbrook Farm