Epicenter Yearlings Step into Spotlight at Keeneland September
It’s set to be a big first week of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale for Champion 3-Year-Old Epicenter with 31 by the stallion set to sell in the first two books.
The first Epicenter through the ring is offered as Hip 29 by Woods Edge Farm during the first session of the sale.
Bred by Tony Holmes and sold for $300,000 as a weanling at Keeneland last year, the colt is a half-brother to stakes winner Concept and two other winners out of two-time winner Majestic Jewel. Majestic Jewel is one of six winners out of her own dam alongside dual Grade I winner Evening Jewel and stakes winner Deep Jewelry. Majestic Jewel is a half-sister to the dam of Grade I winner Denman’s Call with another daughter producing stakes winner Roo’s Valentine with seven stakes performers overall out of Jewel of the Night’s daughters.
Coming into the ring with yet another big update is Hip 392 offered by breeder Machmer Hall.
The filly is the third out of Super Saver mare Lake Falcon. Unraced herself, she is a half-sister to three winners out of stakes winner Sluice – whose pedigree has been in the spotlight this year. That mare’s Grade I winning daughter Mushka is the granddam of Sovereignty. Before the catalog was released, Sovereignty had already won the Grade I Kentucky Derby and Grade I Belmont Stakes then added to his 3-year-old resume with Grade I Travers and Grade II Jim Dandy victories.
Mushka is also the dam of the stakes placed Whenthedawenbreaks while another of Lake Falcon’s half-sisters is the dam of stakes winner Friend ofthe Devil. This filly’s third dam is also a Grade I winner in four-time Grade I winner Lakeway, who produced four stakes performers and three stakes producers.
Lake Falcon produced a Practical Joke colt this year.
Hip 434’s 2-year-old Justify half-sister To a Flame gave her a notable update just before the sale with a third place finish in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies Stakes.
Offered by Denali Stud, this Epicenter colt is a half-brother to six winners out of Group I placed Moth, who produced her first stakes performer with To a Flame. Bred by Coolmore, this colt’s dam is a Galileo full sister to stakes winner Dirgam and Group III-placed Spin. Moth’s dam Pieds de Plume also produced Group III winner Hearthstead Maison, stakes winner and Group I-placed Rave Reviews, and stakes winner Fermion.
Hailing from the family of Group I winner and leading sire Groom Dancer, the colt’s third dam is the bluehen mare Featherhill. That mare has plenty of stakes updates under her name through the generations as this colt hits the ring.
A half-sister to active Grade I winner Raging Sea is the dam of the Paramount Sales offered Hip 662.
The colt is the second foal out of the Candy Ride mare Constantina, whose first sold for $350,000 last year. Bred by Doug Branham, Andre Lynch, and Pat Durtschi, the colt’s second dam also produced dual stakes placed Welcoming, who went on to produce stakes placed Reconcile, among five winners.
The colt’s third dam is Grade III winner Welcome Surprise, a half-sister to champion sire and racehorse A.P. Indy, dual Grade I winner Summer Squall, and stakes winner Eavesdropper among others.
Another coming into the ring with close updates is the Hunter Valley Farm-consigned Hip 743.
The colt’s 2-year-old Wootton Bassett half-brother Flushing Meadows already had his second in the Group III Anglesey Stakes on the page, but he added a second in the Group III Tyros Stakes to his name as well after the catalog was finalized. The Coolmore-bred colt out of Group III-placed Hence is also a half-brother to Justify’s Group III placed Gasper de Lemos among the three winners from three to race out of his dam.
Out of the stakes placed Aleagueoftheirown, Hence is a full sister to three-time Group I winner Alice Springs, Group II placed Criteria, Group III placed Kingston Jamaica, and stakes placed Crocodile Rock. Alice Springs is also a proven broodmare as the dam of Group II-placed Prettiest.
Hence had a Justify filly this year.
One of Epicenter’s final Book 2 offerings is Hip 835, a filly offered by breeder E.H. Beau Lane out of More Than Folly.
She is a half-sister to two winners from three to race out of a full sister to the Grade II winner Mary’s Follies. Mary’s Follies is a dam of champion Regal Glory and to American Pharoah’s champion Café Pharoah and stakes winner Luxor Café in addition to the multiple Grade III winner Night Prowler. Mary’s Follies is one of six winners out of Catch the Queen, who is out of four-time stakes winner Wave to the Queen.
More Than Folly had a Golden Pal filly this year.
The Keeneland September Yearling Sale runs from September 8 to 20 with Book 1 starting at 1p.m., Book 2 at 11a.m., and the rest of the sessions at 10a.m. ET.