MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2018 OSCAR PERFORMANCE SIZZLES IN POKER BOYD BROWNING ON Amerman Racing=s Oscar Performance (Kitten=s Joy), a three- THE SUMMER YEARLING time Grade I winner, returned to the races with a track-record setting victory in the GIII Poker S. at Belmont Park Sunday. Last SALES AND FRESHMAN seen fading to ninth after setting the pace in the GI Breeders= Cup Turf, the bay settled in mid-pack as Black Tide (Hold Me SIRE CLASS OF >18 Back) set a torrid pace. He rushed up into contention after a half in :44.73 and took charge after three-quarters in 1:08.36 and bound clear to the wire, completing the mile in 1:31.23. The final time bettered the mark of 1:31.63 set by Elusive Quality in 1998 and tied the world record time for a mile on the turf set by Mandurah on June 6, 2010 at Monmouth Park. AGreat performance,@ said winning trainer Brian Lynch. AAbsolutely thrilled with his comeback effort. He did it with authority and came back with a very fast time. That's a long- standing track record to break, so to have him do that off the layoff makes you look forward to the rest of the year.@ (Click to continue to p5) IN TDN EUROPE TODAY LAURENS PROVIDES GROUP 1 ENCORE Fasig-Tipton sales grounds | F-T photo Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) was dead game at Chantilly on Sunday, capturing the G1 Prix de Diane Longines in a tight finish. by Lucas Marquardt Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. Editor=s note: On July 10, the Fasig-Tipton July Sale of Selected Yearlings kicks off this year=s yearling marketplace in Lexington. There is cause for enthusiasm about this year=s first-crop sire ranks; the 2017 first-crop weanling sires are led by no other than American Pharoah, who looks to keep the current Triple Crown buzz going through the summer. (TDN Sales Statistics.) He is joined in the top 10 by a trio from Lane=s End Farm (Honor Code, Liam=s Map and Tonalist) and others standing in Kentucky, from WinStar to Hill >n= Dale to Claiborne to Airdrie to Three Chimneys. This is the first in a series of multimedia features Lucas Marquardt is producing for the TDN in the leadup to Fasig July. LM: In a nutshell, what does this freshman sire class look like? BB: I think, without question, it's one of the deepest and most exciting groups of freshman sires that have entered into the marketplace in probably a couple of decades. You've got tremendous quality at the top end, obviously highlighted by a stallion like American Pharoah--shameless plug, Fasig-Tipton graduate American Pharoah, Triple Crown winner--which is particularly exciting coming on the heels of this past weekend. Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Monday, June 18, 2018 Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Rachel McCaffrey Amie Morosco Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew Justify departed Churchill Downs on Sunday morning. The undefeated Triple Crown [email protected] winner arrived back at trainer Bob Baffert’s Santa Anita Park base Sunday evening. Social Media Strategist Coady Photography Justina Severni Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes [email protected] GAMBLE’S GHOST HOME FIRST IN TRILLIUM 7 Gamble’s Ghost (Ghostzapper) earned her fourth graded win Marketing Manager in Sunday’s GIII Trillium S. at Woodbine. "She's so honest and Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen shows up every time,” winning trainer Josie Carroll said of Director of Information Technology the 5-year-old mare. Ray Villa [email protected] SUPREME AURA WINS PEGASUS 1RR Bookkeeper Supreme Aura (Candy Ride {Arg}) outbattled Roaming Union Terry May (Union Rags) to win the Pegasus S. at Monmouth Park Sunday. [email protected] WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor TODAY’S GRADED STAKES Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] EST Race European Editor 3:10p Stockholm Stora Preis-G3, BRO Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 9 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • JUNE 18, 2018 Boyd Browning on the Summer Yearling BB: For over 30 years, there has been a close association and affiliation with the July Sale at Fasig-Tipton, and new sires, or Sales and the Freshman Class of >18 freshman sires. For many, many years we had a special (cont. from p1) showcase called The New Sire Showcase, which featured the Clearly there's been an immense amount of interest and yearlings by the first- and second-crop sires. There's always a popularity with American tremendous amount of interest and Pharoah. But it's certainly not a enthusiasm to see what's new. one-horse group. I mean, it is a People remember these great tremendously talented group of racehorses and they're really freshman sires that will be anxious and excited to see their offered this year. I think we'll yearlings. The success that we've look up 10 years from now and had on the racetrack by the say that there were several performance of the progeny of the successful stallions and several young stallions in recent years sure very important stallions that helps also. So the market certainly emerged from this crop of is always excited to see the future freshman sires. stars. I think there's always some LM: It is a catalog very heavy in intrigue by most astute observers freshman sires, which it always is. When you put together the and participants in the bloodstock market to say who is gonna catalog, what is the mindset on including a lot of young sires. be the next great sire. There's a little bit of an intellectual aspect Why so many of these yearlings, and why did these sires ended to that to say, "I really believe that this horse has the potential up in the catalog? to become a tremendous stallion." And you kind of want to get in on the ground floor and say, "I was there in the early days." TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 9 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • JUNE 18, 2018 And they're good-looking. That's the one thing that I think that we always say from our perspective is at the July sale, we're not just trying to find ordinary horses by freshman sires; we're trying to find good-looking yearlings. I think it's probably exciting if you're standing with one of these young horses that may not be an extremely high stud fee, but if you've got six, eight, 10 of them by your stallion, that means the market is likely to be receptive to the type of physical that horse is throwing. And we sure crave physical horses in the July sale. LM: This has been a sale that's always been popular with two- year-old consignors. Are you expecting those horses to be the kind of types that are good, early developing, 2-year-old new prospects? BB: One of the things that we're looking for in the July sale is precocious-type individuals, that look like they're going to run early. Those also happen to be very good candidates for two- year-old-in-training sales. I think there's always been a little fascination and a little desire from the pinhookers to search and buy the first-crop sires. There's not a trainer in the world who has had a bad one yet, or a bloodstock agent that has bought a bad one yet. So, I think there's always a little attraction for those horses which you haven't had a bad experience with. Clearly, we are trying to find mature, precocious individuals. We might be willing to forgive a little bit on the pedigree in certain instances as long as the physical is there. I think a lot of LM: The July Sale is exciting because it kicks off the yearling- times you might see people who will try to breed to a less- sale season. How do you think the market is playing at the expensive stallion if they've got a really good-looking mare who moment? might not have produced anything yet or might not be having a great run herself. But if she produces a good-looking individual, BB: I think there's always a great sense of anticipation for the you're probably more tempted to go to a younger, unproven July sale. The catalog this year is larger. It's just short of 350 stallion that'll throw a commercially desirable physical yearling. horses, compared to about 300 last year. We find the quality is at least as strong if not stronger this year, both in terms of physicals and pedigrees. So, I think that there's a great deal of enthusiasm and optimism from our perspective. The two-year- old sales this year have established that the market is similar.