Beginners' luck for Charles and Susan Chu with first horse they bred

Taiwan natives Susan and Charles Chu have leaped from early success as racehorse owners in America to high-dollar commercial breeders who were selling and buying during the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale.

Perched in the front row while holding up her cell phone to record sale ring action, Susan Chu watched enthusiastically on Tuesday as an American Pharoah colt bred in the name of the couple's Baoma Corporation elicited spirited bidding prior to selling for $800,000 to Coolmore's MV Magnier and Peter Brant's White Birch Farm.

"We're very proud of him. This is actually our first baby," Chu said of the colt, who also is the first foal produced by Grade 3 winner Super Majesty, by Super Saver, and is from the family of Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Dancing In Silks.

"I cannot breathe," Chu added, her voice shaking slightly. "It's so difficult to describe how this feels. We really hope he can be successful in his future career."

During the previous day's opening sale session, Baoma sold a Pioneerof The Nile colt of the stakes-placed Medaglia D'Oro mare Party Starter for $250,000 with Magnier also signing that ticket.

Both colts were consigned by Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency. Donato Lanni, Hill 'n' Dale's director of bloodstock services, selected a filly in the first Saratoga session for Baoma, signing the ticket for a $750,000 daughter of Into Mischief from the prominent family of Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Status and recent Grade 2 winner Dunbar Road.

"That one is beautiful. I am so happy about that one," Chu said of the filly, who was bred by Mt Brilliant Broodmares and consigned by Lane's End.

Lanni is helping the Chus coordinate their breeding programme, which Susan Chu said she has come to enjoy as much as anything in the sport. Since the Chus raced 2016 American champion sprinter Drefong just a few years after buying their first thoroughbreds, that is a big statement.

"We've 25 mares now, and I really love breeding the horses. Every time when I go to the farm to see the new foals and watch them running with their mamas, that is joy - not just passion, but pure joy. I love it, I really love the breeding," said Chu.

Long involved with showjumping, Susan Chu and her husband became involved in racing after watching I'll Have Another win the 2012 Kentucky Derby. The couple has a home in Massachusetts, although Charles Chu, a design engineer, has spent much time in China, where his business manufactures GPS navigational systems.

Drefong has been their most prominent runner to date. Following the conclusion of his racing career, the Chus sold the son of Gio Ponti to the Shadai Stallion Station in Hokkaido, Japan, where Susan Chu visited him last summer.

She noted with pride that foals from Drefong's first crop sold well at the Japan Racing Horse Association Select Sale last month, with a colt out of champion Admire Groove's daughter Admire Sceptre, by King Kamehameha, commanding a price of ¥250 million (£1,938,000/€2,104,000) from Toyo Mokuzai.

Bob Baffert trained Drefong for the Chus and he will also train the Into Mischief filly, Susan Chu said. Baffert, who also attended the Saratoga Sale, joked with Chu that she had "sold your Kentucky Derby winner" after the hammer fell on the Baoma-bred American Pharoah colt.

"He's just so sweet and so smart," Chu said of the colt. "Like Bob Baffert said, he is just like a pet - he is just like his father. We love American Pharoah so much."

Lanni found Super Majesty at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton February Sale, paying $475,000 for the then broodmare prospect, and she was bred to American Pharoah soon afterward. The resulting colt - as Chu described him, the first for the Baoma breeding programme - was foaled on February 8 the following year.

The Chus plan to sell five more yearlings at the Keeneland September sale, and Susan Chu said "we hope each one can find a good owner and a good trainer so that they can become very successful."

While she noted that she and her husband are relatively new to racing, her longtime connection to showjumpers has given her a deep appreciation for horses in general that has only increased since she has become involved in racing and breeding.

The Chus have also campaigned Graded winners Faypien, Chitu and Lord Simba, and they were honoured as America's New Owner of the Year for 2017.

"When you are watching the thoroughbred, you know it is the best, most beautiful animal in the world," said Susan Chu.

More from the Saratoga Select Sale:

Curlin yearlings helps Saratoga Sale reach record heights again

Juddmonte go to $600,000 to secure flashy Tiznow colt with stallion potential