What’s better than one Indiana-bred yearling? Two Indiana-bred yearlings! Our second is a filly by Sharp Azteca out of Sarah Elizabeth, by Sky Mesa. She was purchased a Keeneland September on Thursday afternoon for $20,000.
“As I have stated before,” said Marc Wampler. “I tried to approach this sale with a clear mental picture of the physical attributes I saw in Temple City Terror back in 2017 and apply that to our purchases this year. Especially when it came to the fillies. Not only because I felt like those physicals would make the best racing prospects but because they would most likely represent the best value as well.”
“Hip 3319, like our other filly purchase, hip 2362, ticked all the boxes I was looking for as I kept physical comparisons of Temple City Terror in mind. She is a leggy filly with a forearm to cannon ratio I associate with a low and long stride frequency. She has just enough strength where she needs it most, in her hips and gaskins, while the rest of her body has just enough strength to stay sound and not wear her down over the course of a 2-turn race. Speaking of 2-turn races, that’s what her body type suggests to me. The ground she stands over, deep girth, aforementioned forearm to cannon ratio, ectomorphic body type are all indicators of a horse that will be best suited running a route of ground. However, her paternal grandsire, Freud, is generally associated with top class sprinters, so it was a bit of a surprise that we had this route type filly from what I thought of as a sprint type sire line. When I got a chance to do a little further research though, I found that Freud has sired Graded Stakes winners from 5.5 furlongs all the way up to 12 furlongs. In addition, her sire Sharp Azteca, while technically a sprinter, was at his best at a mile. I also thought it was interesting that our filly resembles her sire, much more than her grandsire, as Freud is a very compact sprinty type and Sharp Azteca is a tall, scopey sort like his daughter (Hip 3319). My guess is there are aspects of Sharp Azteca’s female family (goes back to Halo through Saint Ballado – all stamina) that came through in him – and he is passing it along to his progeny. Since all top-class route horses still have to have speed (it’s hard to be competitive in high level route races just plodding along) I’ve always been a big fan of stamina body types with speed in their pedigrees and this filly fits that description to a tee.”
Sharp Azteca is a 5-time graded stakes winner by Freud. He posted a record of 8-5-1 and earnings of $2.4 million in seventeen starts. He excelled at a dirt mile and posted the fastest Ragozin speed figure (-2 ¼) at the distance in 2017. He won the Pat Day Mile, Cigar Mile and Kelso Handicap among others and was second in the Breeder’s Cup Mile at four. His first crop of foals are yearlings.
Sarah Elizabeth was unplaced in one start. She is the daughter of Sky Mesa, a top-100 broodmare sire in North America. What this filly lacks on the immediate bottom side of her pedigree, she makes up for in her physical.
As an Indiana-bred she is eligible for their very lucrative state program. Maiden Special Weights at Indiana Grand run for $36,000 this year with allowance races up to $40,000. There are multiple Indiana-bred stakes throughout the year with purses up to $150,000. He will be eligible for a 40% purse bonus in most open races at Indiana Grand.
A full share in the filly represents 10% ownership and costs $4,200. Expenses are $1,500 per quarter per FULL share beginning January 1, 2022, if necessary. Partial shares are available. Please contact Jared (606-922-9325) or Marc (859-312-6272) or email [email protected] to reserve your spot today.
