First-crop sire Shancelot the speedy son of Shanghai Bobby is off to a promising start with his early runners. He has three winners from eight juveniles that have hit the track; including the highly regarded Bob Baffert trainee Midland Money and Perfect Shapes who broke her maiden on debut at Keeneland to become her sire’s first winner.
Hidden Lake Farm will sell three yearlings by Shancelot Aug. 11-12 in Fasig-Tipton’s New York-Bred Yearlings Sale. The yearlings were among the foals produced from a group of mares that Hidden Lake cooperated on with Crawford Farms. Crawford campaigned the horse to a 3-2-1 record in six starts and has supported the stallion early in his stud career. Shancelot stood for an advertised fee of $5,000 in 2024 at Buck Pond Farm, where he has stood since his retirement.
“They (Crawford Farms) recognized the value in New York, and sent all the mares up to foal in New York, and we had some really nice babies. We have three of them (in the sale), all out of really nice race mares,” said Chris Bernhard of Hidden Lake Farm. “They’re excited. They raised him (Shancelot) and had some fun with him, and decided to hold on to him.”
Perfect Shadows breaks her maiden at Keeneland
Bernhard said the yearlings look like they’ve inherited Shancelot’s brilliant speed, which he showed in winning the 2019 Amsterdam Stakes (G2) at 3 in 1:14.01, about a fifth of a second off Quality Road ‘s track record of 1:13.74. He was also runner-up in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G1) and finished second to Mitole in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) in 2019.
Hip 434 has an opportune update from her full brother Ecoro Azelwho became a first-out winner July 27 in Japan. The sale filly is out of the stakes-placed Twirling Candy mare Cicada’s Song who is a half sister to multiples stakes winner El Dinero .
“They’re racy-looking; they look like they’re going to be fast,” Bernhard said while looking at Hip 434.
Bernhard’s other offerings include Hip 323, a filly out of the stakes-producing More Than Ready mare Show Me the Carats. From eight foals of racing age, she is the dam of four winners, including New York stakes winner Evaluator and $345,238 earner Click here
Hip 598 is a filly out of the grade 2 stakes-placed Flatter mare Queen of Beasts and represents an already successful cross. Midland Money, a debut winner Bill Childs bought for $650,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, is out of the winning Flatter daughter Magnolias in Bloom. Hip 598 is the first foal out of Queen of Beas, who was third in the 2019 Eight Belles Stakes (G2) and is a full sister to multiple stakes winner Flattering Bee and half to stakes winner Doctor Jeff .
Bernhard is optimistic about selling at the New York-bred sale after talking to many people who struggled to buy during Fasig-Tipton’s The Saratoga Sale, its select yearling sale held Aug. 5-6. He said a lot of 2-year-old pinhookers got shut out.
“We’ve already shown 25-30 times, and the weather is miserable. There is such a strong audience of New York trainers that attend these 2-year-old sales. You can get a New York-bred, whether it’s a Kentucky -sired New York-bred or a New York-sired New York-bred to go over there. You’ve got the restricted company, and large purses for New York-breds,” said Bernhard. “I’m excited to see how it shakes out.”
The sale kicks off at Fasig-Tipton’s Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Aug. 11 at 7:30 pm ET with hips 301-400. The second and final session will begin Aug. 12 at 12:00 pm ET, with hips 401-600.
Shancelot at Buck Pond Farm
