Clarkland Farm looking for Leslie's Lady to light up the bid board again

There’s a special air of déjà vu floating around Barn 5 at Keeneland these days.

One of the most talked about entries in the world’s largest yearling sale that opens on Monday is housed in this barn, inhabiting Stall 29 just as her half-brother did three years ago.

That colt, Mendelssohn, went on to top the sale on a $3 million bid from Coolmore’s MV Magnier prior to validating himself as a Grade 1 winner and earner of over $1.3m, and he now is vying to continue the legacy of his late sire, Scat Daddy, at Ashford Stud.

Yet breeder Fred Mitchell of his family’s Clarkland Farm muses that the yearling filly, who also claims phenomenally successful sire Into Mischief and multiple champion Beholder as half-siblings, might be an even better individual.

“She might be the best foal the old mare has ever had,” Mitchell said, watching proudly as the filly paraded before potential buyers with her ears pricked as he referred to her dam, America’s 2016 Broodmare of the Year Leslie’s Lady, a daughter of Tricky Creek.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt at all that the filly is by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, currently North America’s leading freshman sire with offspring winning on both turf and dirt, in Europe and the US.

Even Keeneland officials are taking special note of the filly, who is catalogued as hip 498 while set to go to the ring on Wednesday during the third and final session of Book 1.

“I’d be hard pressed to get past the American Pharoah half-sister to Beholder and Into Mischief. What a fabulous filly she is,” said Bob Elliston, Keeneland vice president of racing and sales, while noting her first among outstanding offerings.

“She’s certainly one yearling that everybody is looking at.”

Mitchell said the filly already has revealed flashes of what she might be able to do on a racecourse.

“She’s been in a paddock right below my house, so I sit out on the deck and watch her at night," he said. "I watch her run against the other fillies, and she’s got probably as much sprinting speed as Beholder had growing up, and then when she stretches out, it’s a sight to see her move.

“She’s got a lot of her mother in her and she shows a lot of characteristics like Beholder, in her head and her muzzle, and there are a lot of American Pharoah features about her too. There are a lot of good features from both sides.

“She looks almost like a big strong colt, and the way she moves at the farm, she may be able to run against the colts. She’s laid back, but she’s also got a lot of spunk to her.”

Many major buyers had already inspected the filly by the morning of the second day she was being shown at Keeneland, and Mitchell said he was reminded of the time Mendelssohn was on the sale grounds.

The colt handled himself well during the gruelling inspections, always looking bright and alert when he was brought out of his stall.

The American Pharoah filly is dealing with the sale pressure in a similar unflappable way.

“She’s the same every time she comes out,” Mitchell said as a small crowd huddled around the filly. “When Mendelssohn was growing up, he didn’t show me what this filly or Beholder did, but he proved on the track how good a horse he was.

"The buzz was out when we had him here as a yearling - the talk was that he was the best yearling on the grounds. But I think this filly is a better individual than either one of them.”

Remarkably, Leslie’s Lady produced the filly at age 22, delivering her without incident on April 25, 2018. Perhaps even more remarkably, considering her age, she foaled another filly this year on May 6, by Not This Time, and she is back in foal, carrying another filly to the cover of Kantharos.

While the American Pharoah filly would be regarded as a precious gem by any breeder, Mitchell noted that he and his family primarily breed to sell. The sale of Mendelssohn boosted Clarkland’s fortunes to the point where the Mitchells were able to plan for their retirement years and also add more broodmares to their band.

The yearling filly may be another such boon. At this point, she also could be the last opportunity for buyers to obtain a young offspring of Leslie’s Lady, who has been a dream of a broodmare.

Purchased for $100,000 at the 2006 Keeneland November sale, Leslie’s Lady has produced seven foals that Clarkland has sold as yearlings so far for a combined total of $4.7m.

“She is one you would like to keep as a broodmare and to race, but we’re in the business to sell,” Mitchell said of the American Pharoah filly. “We are going to keep the last foal ‘Leslie’ had and the mare is back in foal, carrying another filly, so we’ll keep it, too. So, this will be the last one we will offer for sale out of Leslie’s Lady.

“Unless something changes, I’ll probably never breed her again. She’s been good enough to us,” he added. “She’s all dappled out now and doesn’t look like an old mare. She looks like she’s 12 or 14 years old.”

For those that may not be able to afford the American Pharoah filly, there are two other yearlings in Book 1 that are out of daughters of Leslie’s Lady and may possibly be less costly.

Hip 336, consigned by co-breeder Brereton Jones’s Airdrie Stud, is a bay colt from the first crop by champion and Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist out of unraced Daisy Mason, a 2007 daughter of Orientate and Leslie’s Lady. Daisy Mason has already produced stakes winner and Graded stakes-placed Harry’s Holiday and multiple Graded stakes-placed winner Remedy.

Clarkland’s American Pharoah filly is due to be preceded in the sale ring by hip 497, a Bridlewood Farm-bred chestnut filly by Speightstown out of Leslie’s Harmony, a six-year-old daughter of Curlin and Leslie’s Lady.

Offered by Clarkland at the 2014 Keeneland September sale, Leslie’s Harmony was purchased by Bridlewood for $1.1m. She placed in two starts at three and has produced three foals to date, including a two-year-old colt by Uncle Mo and a 2019 colt by Quality Road; she has been bred back to Union Rags.

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