Golden Brown: $22,000 Yearling to Haskell Invitee

When the buying team for a New Jersey-based partnership shopped the 2016 Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale, they came away with, coincidentally, a New Jersey-bred who is a son of deceased sire Offlee Wild.

Purchased by trainer Pat McBurney for $22,000 from Brookdale Sales, agent for breeder Esther de Jong, the colt now named Golden Brown seeks his fourth victory when he faces a competitive group of 3-year-olds in the July 29 betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park.

With three wins and three second-place finishes from seven starts and earnings of $209,500, the sleek, dark bay colt earned an invitation to the Haskell with a victory in the Kent Stakes (G3T) at 1 1/8 miles at Delaware Park for owners ABL Stable, Dominic Bossone, Peter Donnelly, and Jacob Schnoor Jr. In the Haskell, at 1 1/8 miles on dirt, Golden Brown will face a field that includes Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) runner-up Good Magic, Preakness Stakes (G1) runner-up Bravazo, and Ohio Derby (G3) winner Core Beliefs.

"He's been good to us so far," McBurney said of the local horse's chances Sunday. "It's pretty exciting for us. There are some very nice horses in here, and we're hoping he can run long on the dirt as he's shown in two turf races. This race works out well for us going into a fall campaign, so we're happy to be here."

McBurney said when he and the rest of the buying team attended the Fasig-Tipton sale, they went through the usual paces of inspecting the yearlings for conformation and then determined which ones they likely could afford, based on pedigree. For those meeting that criteria, there was a second look to confirm their interest, and then John Forbes researched the family's race history, including speed figures.

From the last North American crop of Offlee Wild, who relocated to Turkey following the 2014 breeding season and died in 2016, Golden Brown is out of the hard-knocking Chester House mare Suzee Sunrise, who had 14 wins and earned $374,077 while making 60 starts over the course of seven seasons on the track.

"The mare was a solid race mare who earned a lot of money the hard way, and she was definitely a fast horse," McBurney said. "He wasn't a big, robust horse and looked like he had some growing to do, but with his family, we thought he'd be in the $40,000 range. I think being a New Jersey-bred in a Kentucky sale kept his price down, which worked out well for us since we're from New Jersey and have no problem with him being a New Jersey-bred."

While McBurney believes the buyers got a bargain in Golden Brown, Brookdale Farm's Joe Seitz said the consignor and breeder de Jong were pleased with the price.

"I think he was well-sold and well-bought," Seitz said. "He was of medium size, very strong, correct, and attractive. He had a lot of bone, good feet, a lot of quality, and a lot of substance, and looked like a durable, correct, athletic horse. His mother was a very sound, durable, tough race filly, so it shouldn't be any surprise that Golden Brown is so honest and tough and competitive. We would all like to have a barn full of Suzee Sunrises on the farm."