Blue Heaven's Breeding Program On Right Track

With yearlings bred by Blue Heaven Farm accepted to The Saratoga Sale for the third consecutive year, the program put together by the nascent nursery near Versailles, Ky., is on the right track.

The Blue Heaven-breds in The Saratoga Sale were sired by Bernardini , More Than Ready , and Empire Maker , reflecting the farm's philosophy of breeding mares to commercially viable and successful stallions at a price point below the very top of the market while taking an occasional chance with a young, unproven sire.

"In our opinion, when you are not high-volume, you have to breed to high-end established stallions or some of the more appealing first-crop stallions," said Adam Corndorf, Blue Heaven's vice president and general manager. "We are priced out of the super high-end stallions."

Established eight years ago by Bonnie Baskin, who founded and ran several successful biotech companies before pursuing her passion for Thoroughbred horses, the 191-acre Blue Heaven is a boutique commercial breeding operation overseen by farm manager Jamie Corbett and Corndorf, the owner's son who was an attorney and investment banker before he embarked on a second career in the horse business. After a stint as a groom and hotwalker for Todd Pletcher, Corndorf strengthened his learning curve by working with yearlings and breeding stock at Taylor Made Sales Agency.

In a short period of time, Blue Heaven-breds have made their mark on the track, including grade 3 winner Dynamic Impact, multiple stakes winner Maple Forest, and stakes winners Heartwood, Filare l'Oro, and Desert Alley.

Although Blue Heaven is represented in the catalog by three yearlings it bred, only one will go through the ring in their name after one was withdrawn and the other was sold by an owner who bought it as a weanling.

On behalf of the breeder, St George Sales is offering Hip 32, a More Than Ready colt out of the Malibu Moon  mare Magical Dream, who is an unraced half sister to multiple grade 1 winner Dream Rush, the dam of grade 1 winner Dreaming of Julia and stakes winner Atreides .

Hip 89, an Empire Maker filly produced from two-time Canadian champion Roxy Gap, had to miss the sale and will be raced by Blue Heaven.

"The Empire Maker filly is not going to make this sale," Corndorf said. "The good news is we hope to capitalize on her residual value and put her in training ourselves. We are a commercial breeding operation and look to sell everything we can, but for one reason or another, we end up keeping some from time to time."

The third Saratoga yearling bred by Blue Heaven is Hip 43, a Bernardini filly out of grade 1 winner Mistical Plan who is consigned by Four Star Sales. The filly was purchased as a weanling by Glencrest Farm for $230,000 out of the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

The sale of the filly as a weanling reflects a different direction for Blue Heaven, which has usually sold at yearling sales.

"Historically, we have sold yearlings, but (we) have gotten more into selling them as foals because it seems like right now, buyers are willing to pay great prices for foals, and from our perspective, a lot of things can happen from the time they're foals until they are yearlings. If we have a forward-looking foal that looks commercial, (selling weanlings) is something we are going to continue looking to do," Corndorf said of the weanling market.

Magical Dream, the dam of the More Than Ready colt, typifies the type of stock Blue Heaven has acquired in putting together a broodmare band that generally totals 14-15 head. She was purchased for $210,000 from the Hill 'n' Dale Sales consignment to the 2014 Keeneland November sale while in foal to Pioneerof the Nile . The resulting colt was sold at Saratoga for $300,000 as a yearling.

"Our broodmare band is a diverse mix, with some mares that are lighter bred that were strong racehorses," Corndorf said. "Then we have some that were light on the racetrack but are stronger and deeper in family. We always want mares that are good-looking and correct and big and strong. Magical Dream has become more impressive in the breeding shed. We bought this mare knowing that she was unraced but from a very strong live active family, and we've done well with her."

Consignor Archie St George said Blue Heaven has achieved a lot in a short period of time, including the sale of a Medaglia d'Oro  filly out of Roxy Gap for $625,000 at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

"It's quality over quantity," said St George. "I'm privileged to work for them. Their mares are good, and they raise a good horse. They have mares in foal to and yearlings and weanlings by some good stallions. It's a lovely farm, and horses seem to do very well there. Their program works. Hopefully, it lasts a long time. "

While Corndorf is pleased that Blue Heaven's yearlings and weanlings are well-received in the marketplace, he is just as pleased with how well horses bred by the farm have fared on the track.

"We want to sell foals and yearlings well, but our bigger-picture goal is to be producing horses that are successful on the track, to strengthen our broodmare families over the course of the next few decades," he said.