Lady Aurelia to be Offered at Fasig-Tipton November

Lady Aurelia, the first U.S.-based horse to earn a Cartier Award as a European champion, will be offered at Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale Nov. 4 in Lexington.

Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency will consign the 4-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy on behalf of Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Farm and co-owner Peter Leidel. 

"Lady Aurelia is the embodiment of Stonestreet's breeding program," Banke told Fasig-Tipton. "A brilliant filly out of a champion, she took on all comers across the globe at the pinnacle of our sport. The first American-trained Cartier winner when she was named 2-year-old filly of the year, her talent and raw speed were breathtaking."

Lady Aurelia is out of 2003 Puerto Rican Horse of the Year D' Wildcat Speed, by Forest Wildcat.

Trained throughout her career by Wesley Ward, Lady Aurelia showed brilliance from the start. Following her 7 1/2-length debut win at Keeneland in April of her 2-year-old year, her chart comment read, "was unchallenged while shattering the track record."  

Making the trip to Royal Ascot for her second start, Lady Aurelia blistered the field by seven lengths in the Queen Mary Stakes (G2), a performance that led jockey Frankie Dettori to say, "To win a sprint by seven lengths at Royal Ascot—I've never seen anything like that, especially from a 2-year-old." She followed her Queen Mary win with a commanding gate-to-wire victory in the Darley Prix Morny (G1) at Deauville that August.

With a return to racing in the spring of her 3-year-old year, Lady Aurelia claimed the Giant's Causeway Stakes at Keeneland, then bested males in Royal Ascot's King's Stand Stakes (G1) before she was beaten a nose in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes (G1) at York. On the board in eight of 10 starts, Lady Aurelia was a stakes winner in three countries. During her final season in 2018, she finished second in the Giant's Causeway and seventh in the King's Stand before she was retired from racing.

"Lady Aurelia is the embodiment of equine royalty," consignor John Sikura of Hill 'n' Dale told Fasig-Tipton. "Her performances were historic and her wins emphatic at the highest levels of racing. She is a grand physical specimen, and Scat Daddy is arguably the most successful international sire we have seen in more than a decade. She is the rarest of champions, and we are honored to represent her this November."

Added Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr.: "Lady Aurelia is a truly special offering based upon her accomplishments around the world, highlighted by two wins at Royal Ascot. She has the potential to become a broodmare of historic proportions."

"The racetrack successes of the horses we breed and raise are both our reputation and legacy," Banke said. "We are a commercial breeder and were lucky enough to stay in after her sale as a yearling and enjoy her success with our partners. We remain involved in the family through her dam and a half sister, and I look forward to watching Lady Aurelia take her many talents to her broodmare career."