Justify high on the list as Don Alberto finalises 2019 breeding schedule

In the slightly more than five years since Liliana Solari and her son, Carlos Heller, acquired the former Vinery stud in Lexington, they have assembled a northern hemisphere broodmare band under their Don Alberto Corp banner that is one of the most diverse and brilliant in the Americas.

At least 15 mares purchased for $1 million or more and about a dozen Grade/Group 1 winners, including champions Unique Bella, Dacita and Wapi, reside on the lush grounds of Don Alberto, an increasingly significant complement to the owners’ programme in their native Chile that spans hundreds of horses.

As part of a continuing drive for elite success, Don Alberto plans to breed about 115 mares from its Kentucky base this year, and the growing international powerhouse will be a strong supporter of Triple Crown winner Justify in his first season at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud.

Fabricio Buffolo, Don Alberto executive director, said the farm plans to send Justify at least six of its best mares, including Graded winner and producer La Cloche, a $2.4m acquisition; homebred Rubilinda, a multiple stakes winner by Frankel; Look At Me, a multiple Group-placed daughter of Danehill Dancer and Henrythenavigator’s full-sister Queen Cleopatra; Reach The Stars, a Galileo half sister to champion Escena, and Marie Madelaine, winner of Chile’s prestigious Group 1 Las Oaks.

Triple Crown hero Justify surveys the scene at Coolmore's Ashford StudCredit: Edward Whitaker

Acknowledging that Don Alberto is following Coolmore’s stated intention of sending some of its outstanding turf mares to Justify, Buffolo noted that the mating of great dirt runners to accomplished turf mares has produced some of the world’s outstanding sires, from Sadler’s Wells to Deep Impact.

“I believe we’re going to see growing numbers of turf mares being bred to American stallions. I’m a big believer in the mix of dirt and turf bloodlines,” Buffolo said. “Well-established sire lines have been developed by combining American and European bloodlines – there are so many examples of that kind of cross.

“And I’m sure Justify probably could’ve been a fantastic turf horse, since he’s by Scat Daddy,” he added of the late international sire sensation, who led all sires in Chile four times in addition to his successes in Europe and North America.

With La Cloche, Don Alberto is seeking to duplicate Ghostzapper, who is the broodmare sire of Justify, in a 3x2 cross, similar to the way champion Enable is 3x2 to Sadler’s Wells, Buffolo noted.

Rubilinda, produced by the stakes-placed Invincible Spirit mare Rubina in Kentucky after being acquired in utero for 475,000gns at the 2013 Tattersalls December sale, won three times, including two stakes at Belmont Park, and made history as Frankel’s first winner in the US.

Rubilinda: among six Don Alberto mares set to figure in Justify's debut bookCredit: Michele MacDonald

“She arrived at the farm recently and she goes to Justify – that’s a very exciting mating,” Buffolo said. “She was extremely talented. Everyone who saw her was very impressed with her. She started having minor problems, like tying up, and so we thought it was probably better to retire her, but we do think she was capable of more.”

Look At Me, now 11, won a Listed race in Ireland for Susan Magnier and her first few foals were bred by the Coolmore partners, including the stakes-winning Galileo filly Kind Of Magic. Acquired privately by Don Alberto, Look At Me is a full-sister to multiple Group 3 winner Francis Of Assisi and a half-sister to the dam of Group 2 winner and Derby runner-up Cliffs Of Moher.

Marie Madelaine, a six-year-old daughter of Ivan Denisovich, has become well known at Don Alberto’s farm in Lexington for being the turnout companion of US champion Unique Bella, while Reach The Stars, with her pedigree, is one of the most prized mares at the farm.

Another of the mares Don Alberto is sending to Justify is Singspiel’s stakes-winning daughter Andina, a 12-year-old who already has produced Grade 3 winner Andina Del Sur, by Giant’s Causeway.

Buffolo also indicated that the farm is likely to send three or four mares to Mendelssohn, another Grade 1 winner and Ashford first-season stallion by Scat Daddy.

Looking at other planned 2019 matings, leading US stallions Medaglia D’Oro and Tapit also will be welcoming multiple Don Alberto mares to their courts.

Unique Bella: the daughter of Tapit is due to visit Medaglia D'Oro for her first coverCredit: Michele MacDonald

Unique Bella, who is favourite to earn her second championship title when the Eclipse Awards are announced on January 24, will be visiting Medaglia D’Oro for her first mating. The champion female sprinter of 2017, she is a finalist for champion older dirt female of 2018.

“Medaglia D’Oro is such a consistent horse – he gets sales horses and he gets racehorses,” Buffolo noted. “He is getting older and she’s open, so she can go early to be bred. Hopefully, he’ll be around for quite a few years more, but we want to send her to him now. We’re going to learn more about the mare, as a producer, from her first foal.”

Another mare tentatively scheduled for Medaglia D’Oro this spring is Baffled, a $3.5m acquisition in partnership with Bridlewood Farm. A half-sister to Grade 1 winner Emcee, Baffled has already produced Grade 1 winner and young WinStar Farm stallion Constitution, a shuttler to Haras Don Alberto in Chile; Group 2 winner Boynton, and Grade 3 winner Jacaranda.

Buffolo said Baffled is currently in foal to Medaglia D’Oro and is believed to be carrying a filly.

Other Don Alberto mares booked to Medaglia D’Oro include Sweet Assassin, a Tapit full-sister to Grade 1 winner Cupid and a $750,000 broodmare prospect purchase who is carrying her first foal to the cover of Candy Ride, and Mi Vida, a stakes-placed Distorted Humor mare who has a three-year-old filly by Medaglia D’Oro named Gold Standard who brought $1.2m from Stonestreet Stables as a juvenile.

Mi Vida is a daughter of the stakes-winning A.P. Indy mare Crystal Current, a full-sister to Grade 1 winner and sire Majestic Warrior, and her second dam is Grade 1 winner Dream Supreme. Buffolo said Don Alberto has one of Mi Vida’s daughters, Mapit, a four-year-old by Tapit, in its broodmare band.

“What we are trying to do is develop our families,” Buffolo said, citing the breeding programs of Juddmonte Farms and the Aga Khan as models of cultivated breeding from outstanding families over generations.

In establishing its own breeding and racing program in the US, Don Alberto has often relied on Tapit, with that faith rewarded through the likes of Unique Bella, who was a relative bargain yearling purchase at $400,000.

Don Alberto plans to send three of its best mares to Tapit this season: Salty, a daughter of Quality Road who was a Grade 1 winner in 2018 and a $3m purchase at the Fasig-Tipton November sale; Ghostzapper’s daughter American Story, a $2.2m purchase in 2017 who is a half-sister to a pair of Grade 1 winners in Reynaldothewizard and Seventh Street and the dam of another, American Gal; and Siren Serenade, a 13-year-old by Unbridled’s Song and a $1.025m acquisition who is a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner George Vancouver and who is the dam of Grade 1-placed Luminance, a track record setter by Tale Of The Cat acquired by Don Alberto for $1m.

Among the other stallions Don Alberto has invested in and is supporting are Arrogate, Empire Maker and Tourist.

Luminance, who produced her first foal in 2018, a filly by Empire Maker, is currently in foal to Arrogate and will go back to Empire Maker.

Ciao Bella and Modeling are led from the snow-dusted paddocks of Don AlbertoCredit: Michele MacDonald

Buffolo said Don Alberto, who partnered with Gainesway Farm to bring Empire Maker back to the US from Japan, will send 20 to 22 mares to the son of Unbridled this season, including Argentine Group 1 winner Boca Inc, by Include; stakes winner Ciao Bella, a $1.6m acquisition by Giant’s Causeway, and Ciao Bella’s unraced homebred daughter Camilli, by Tapit.

“Empire Maker is a great horse to use. He did so well at the sales and that’s very encouraging. He’s so consistent in what he sires,” Buffolo said.

Juddmonte’s Arrogate, the champion son of Unbridled’s Song who raced to unforgettable wins in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup, will be visited by Don Alberto’s Modeling and Sacristy. Don Alberto owns a lifetime breeding right in Arrogate, Buffolo said.

Now nearly white, the seven-year-old Modeling, a daughter of Tapit and half-sister to Grade 1 winner Streaming whose second dam is Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour, was a $2.85m purchase when she was only two. She is currently in foal to Empire Maker and has a juvenile filly by Medaglia D’Oro.

“Arrogate is a horse who has good size and is rangy, while she is a little more compact. We’re hoping he can give her a little more scope,” Buffolo said.

Sacristy, a Grade 3 winner by Pulpit, is carrying a foal from Arrogate’s first crop and will return to him since “she is mid-sized and compact, and we think he is a good match for her,” Buffolo said.

Winner of the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Mile and a son of Tiznow, Tourist stands at WinStar Farm, which has partnered with Don Alberto on that stallion as well as on Battle Of Midway, the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile victor who has returned to racing after being found to be subfertile.

“We have quite a few foals by Tourist. Usually we send him eight to ten mares, and some are still to be finalized. He shuttled to Don Alberto in Chile and we are very happy with the foals we have by him. They are very nice with great physicals,” Buffolo said.

One of the Don Alberto mares who is tentatively set to visit Tourist this year is Angerona, a ten-year-old by Galileo who is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Toccet.

Of the many other distinguished Don Alberto mares, Grade/Group 1 winners Angela Renee, Cathryn Sophia, Constellation, Dacita, Paola Queen, Romana Ruler and Wapi are clear standouts.

Angela Renee: the $3 million purchase is scheduled to visit Quality RoadCredit: Michele MacDonald

Angela Renee, a $3m purchase who is a full-sister to Grade 1 winner and sire To Honor And Serve, produced her first foal in 2018, a colt by Empire Maker. She is in foal to Medaglia D’Oro and will visit Quality Road this spring.

Cathryn Sophia, the 2016 Kentucky Oaks winner by Street Boss who was purchased for $2.3m in partnership with Bridlewood Farm, produced her first foal, a Pioneerof The Nile filly in 2018 and is in foal to Medaglia D’Oro for 2019 on a late cover that might prevent her from being bred back in a timely manner.

Constellation, a daughter of Bellamy Road who cost $3.15m at Fasig-Tipton last November, is carrying her first foal to the cover of Curlin.

“She is going to Into Mischief – it’s speed to speed,” Buffolo said. “She and Paola Queen, [a daughter of Flatter], are both going to Into Mischief.”

Another winner of Las Oaks in Chile, Roman Ruler’s daughter Romana Ruler produced a Tale Of The Cat colt on southern hemisphere time in 2018 and is booked to Frosted this spring.

Dacita and Wapi are both Chilean champions bred in that nation and sired by Scat Daddy. Also a multiple Grade 1 winner in the US, Dacita is close to producing her first foal to the cover of Uncle Mo, Buffolo said of the $1.85m purchase, adding: “Then she goes to Quality Road, and that horse could suit her very well, providing some size and scope.”

Wapi, a strongly-made and attractive mare, was acquired in partnership with Three Chimneys Farm for $1.05m in 2017 and produced a Curlin colt last year before being bred back to Gun Runner.

“She’s a very nice mare. She had a really nice Curlin colt and she will go back to Curlin this year because we were very happy with her first foal. He is a really solid colt. You wouldn’t expect a first foal to be like that,” Buffolo said. “We can go to the sales with this colt or we would be very happy to race him. We will keep our options open and make the decision together with Three Chimneys.”

Joining with strong partners occasionally and keeping an open mind about possibilities seem to be key principles for Don Alberto at this stage of what has been rapid early growth.

The owners also keep a few mares in Europe, including Canadian Grade 1 winner Sarah Lynx, a daughter of Montjeu who is due to be bred this spring to No Nay Never. A $2.6m acquisition, Sarah Lynx has produced five foals for Don Alberto, including Saffira, a four-year-old Street Cry filly who placed on her debut at Brighton last September while carrying the Don Alberto silks for trainer John Gosden.

At this juncture, however, Don Alberto plans to concentrate on its horses in the Americas as its team continues to refine goals.

“Carlos and Liliana are extremely passionate about the horses and they want to see them and be part of all this – they enjoy spending time with the horses,” Buffolo said. “We still have a few mares in Europe to access the stallions there, but it makes it more difficult because [Solari and Heller] can’t visit with them as often. They have a big passion – they love the horses and want to be with them.

“It’s still a work in progress,” he reflected. “They really love the breeding and they love the racing. They love to participate in the sales, both as buyers and as sellers. So, we need to be open minded and just keep all the options open.”

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