Leading the field

A CHANGING OF THE GUARD in the stallion barn and a re-evaluation of their goals in recent years has seen many changes at Taylor Made Farm.

The operation is now entering an exciting era and while the young roster sees only new addition Daddy Long Legs with runners on the track, this year’s sales has been one of the more important in the history of the operation’s stallion division. Each of the stallions are hitting a “first” in the sales ring – whether it was with first yearlings at Keeneland or first US mares selling in foal in November.

The farm’s trio of two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit), twotime Grade 1 winner Mshawish (Medaglia D’Oro), and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) runner-up Not This Time (Giant’s Causeway) have been well supported by breeders in their first three seasons at stud and were tested this year by the commercial market when their first yearlings hit the ring.

With strong support behind them, Taylor Made’s nominations manager Travis White expects that the stallions won’t only be a hit in the ring but on the track as well.

“In our opinion, each horse has the license to make it,” says White. “They’ve all gotten good support whether it’s us internally or shareholders we’ve brought in for each horse.

“We’ve got good nicks and breeders you want to be breeding to your horse have supported, both those who breed commercially and those who breed to race. I think we’ve got a good mix. And some of those guys will support the horses when it comes to buying as well.”

The leader of their roster at a fee of $35,000, California Chrome has done more than his share of the work in bringing potential breeders to the barns.

Over the stallion’s three years at the farm, the breeders have come to see him, but then also send mares to other stallions on the roster.

“He definitely brings in the phone calls then you have to work your sales angle,” reports Taylor. “He has definitely brought the phone calls and interest. People want to come out and see him.

"It just gives you an extra opportunity to talk to that person about a different horse and, if they’re looking at Chrome, we’ll try to pull out any other horses, too. They might learn something about that horse that they didn’t know prior to talking to us.

This year’s yearling market has been the first major test for that batch of stallions but when the last yearling goes through the ring in October, it won’t be the end of Taylor Made’s test for their roster.

Just weeks after Fasig-Tipton’s October Yearling Sale concludes, the breeding stock sales will see the debut of the first foals by the farm’s Grade 1 winner Midnight Storm.

It will also be the first major US test for Chilean champion first crop-sire Daddy Long Legs, who was brought back to the US in late 2018.

Standing for a season in Florida in 2016 before standing solely in Chile the past two years, Daddy Long Legs had just four foals from his first stallion foray in North America with that crop including the stakes-placed Montauk Daddy, who finished third in the Listed Skidmore Stakes at Saratoga in August.

While the powerful young stallion roster has helped bring mares to the breeding shed, Taylor Made’s vice president of marketing and public sales operations Mark Taylor also believes it has helped out at the yearling sales as well.

The group of promising young stallions brings in more buyers and being intimately familiar with them also helps the Taylor Made crew find the right fit for customers.

“Having three Taylor Made sires with first yearlings selling is a good thing from my perspective,” says Taylor. “We very much believe that Mshawish, Not This Time and California Chrome all have a big chance to succeed.

“Knowing each horse inside and out helps us as consignors tremendously. You can sell the yearling itself, but also use our unique insight of the sire to help the buyer see added possibilities for the future.

“The one challenge is trying to spread them out so we don’t have too many by one sire selling in the same session. This really isn’t just for our stallions, it applies to our whole consignment to an extent.”

TAYLOR MADE is known for its large consignments at all the major sales and Taylor admits that when they get to a bigger sale like Keeneland it can be challenging to make sure the right horse is in the right book.

“Within September each book is a sale in its own right,” he explains. “Huge groups of buyers rotate in and out of the market through the six books.

“In recent years the format has continually changed which adds a degree of difficulty to placement.

“You need to factor in sire quality and book size, pedigree, conformation, international appeal and vetting into the formula. It’s more art than science and our size helps us keep our finger on the pulse of the market.

"This really helps us get our customers in the books that fit. We also believe that a good horse can sell well in any book. It’s the middle tier and inferior horses that are the biggest challenge for sellers.”

However, finding the right sale for every yearling has been a successful venture for Taylor Made this year with the consignment selling 16 horses for an average of $108,750 at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale including a $200,000 Not This Time colt.

The stallion side of the operation was also celebrating with California Chrome and Not This time well received in Book 1 with California Chrome’s three offerings selling for an average of $201,665 and Not This Time’s three making up to $150,000.

Taylor credits the operation’s sales successes to a great group of clients who have sent them some of the top thoroughbreds in recent times for both yearling and breeding stock sales.

The operation’s yearling graduates include over 100 Grade or Group 1 winners with names such as Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) and European Horse of the Year Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) amongst them. The consignment is also closing in on its 200th million-dollar mare sold at breeding stock sales.

“In recent years horses such as American Pharoah and Roaring Lion were raised and consigned by our team,” he says. “It’s a tribute to the customers, our team and the buyers

that ultimately developed the potential. “In terms of fillies and mares off the track we are not far off selling our 200th million-dollar filly or mare sold. Icons such as Havre De Grace, Songbird, Ashado, Cash Run, Mariah’s Storm, Abel Tasman, Stopchargingmaria, Princess Of Sylmar are just a few to go through our hands.” But Taylor Made isn’t just focusing on providing quality horses to the North American market with the farm branching out to European sales over the past 12 months.

“We set a vision about every three years and we said we would like to become more global and look for opportunities,” outlines Taylor Made’s president and CEO Duncan Taylor.

“Last year we had some fillies and mares off the track that went to England and sold over there. We were pleased with the results and think that’s still an outlet and something we will continue to do if the pedigree is right and we think it is better suited for that market.”

That first foray into the European market proved to be successful at the Tattersalls December Sale with the six-strong draft led by Grade 3 winner Midnight Crossing bringing 400,000gns.

Nine months later the operation branched out into the French yearling market when their partnership with Haras de Gouffern saw five yearlings head to the Arqana August Sale for the joint venture.

While the recruiting for the first Arqana sale didn’t go as well as Duncan Taylor had planned with only one colt they shipped over from the US going through the ring, the four offerings they sent to the sale proved to be popular.

The two colts sold brought an average of €62,000 with a colt by Iffraaj topping the consignment when bringing €90,000.

Taylor already has thoughts on how to improve the US participation at the sale in 2020 with a focus of buying yearlings to send over to have results to show American owners who may be a bit more reluctant to ship horses over.

“I still like the idea, I just think that next year we’re going to have to start earlier and buy some of our own to show that it works before other US owners will step up and pull the trigger,” he said of selling in France.

“The owners were a little more reluctant to take a shot on taking a horse to France. When there’s change and people are used to doing things the way they are, it was just more difficult.

“There were several sires we looked at for the sale, especially Kitten’s Joy. With how Roaring Lion did last year I think his offspring would have been a really hot commodity to sell in Europe this year.

“I was actually trying to buy a Kitten’s Joy, but never could find the right horse that the people wanted to sell.

“I think that we will keep trying and it just makes sense to me. Every horse is a unique individual and fits a certain book or a certain country and you’re trying to get the right horse and put it in the right place where you have the most buyers who are willing to buy that kind of horse.”

With yearling sales nearly concluded, Taylor Made is starting to turn its focus to the November and December breeding stock sales.

Taylor Made has topped the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale by gross sales three of the last five years and sold the sale-topping mare at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale every year from 2014 – 2017 with the second most expensive mare in 2018. With a focus on quality both in the stallion barn and the sales ring, the future looks bright for Taylor Made.