Bradley Weisbord and Liz Crow’s ELiTE Sales presents a stellar draft yet again at Fasig-Tipton’s Night of the Stars on Monday, November 3 - a draft that features multiple stakes winner Spaliday (USA) (More Than Ready {USA}), who combines a recognisable pedigree with the sort of race track performance that lends herself to breeding top Australian sprinters.
The daughter of 11-time winner and three-time Grade 1 winner Dayatthespa (USA) (City Zip {USA}), Spaliday descends from stakes-producing Smart Queen (USA) (King Pellinore {USA}), who is the second dam of Spanish Pipedream (USA) (Scat Daddy {USA}). Brought to Australia by SF Bloodstock, Spanish Pipedream got her broodmare career off to a jumpstart courtesy of her first foal, G3 Blue Diamond Preview (fillies) runner-up Latizia (Capitalist).
Sired by prominent broodmare sire More Than Ready (USA), Spaliday is well set up to be an asset to any broodmare program that she ends up in.
The late More Than Ready (USA) | Image courtesy of Vinery Stud
“Spaliday was a top level performer on the turf,” said Weisbord. “Obviously she's out of a champion grass mare, won the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare turf, who was very highly accomplished, made over $2 million on the track, and was very versatile with her distances.”
“Spaliday was a top level performer on the turf.” - Bradley Weisbord
Her dam Dayatthespa has continued the theme of her family turning out high quality stakes performers, and has had five foals to race, with her three winners also featuring Grade 3-placed Tenbury Wells (USA) (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}).
Bradley Weisbord | Image courtesy of Elite Sales
Not a one hit wonder
“Spaliday herself was a three time stakes winner - she wasn’t just a one hit wonder,” Weisbord said. “Her best win was the G2 Sands Point Stakes at Belmont, beating a pretty good field there, going a mile and eighth on the turf. She has a great turn of foot. She won from last that day.”
Spaliday won the first two of her three stakes wins in her 3-year-old year, which commenced in February and culminated with her Grade 2 triumph at Belmont in mid December. The G2 Sands Point Stakes was an audacious victory from the filly, who was last as the pack straightened and found her feet to win by a length at the line.
Spaliday | Image courtesy of Fasig-Tipton
“She had a very, very good last quarter and eighth coming home in 11 seconds, she was five wide and came running home like a wild horse.”
“She (Spaliday) was five wide and came running home like a wild horse.” - Bradley Weisbord
The filly would put in a similar effort in the Listed Miss Liberty Stakes this season, rounding the final turn at the rear of the pack and digging deep to put two and a half lengths on her nearest rival to win. It’s this tenacity matched with her pedigree that makes Spaliday a particularly exciting breeding prospect going forward.
“She also won the Boiling Springs and the Miss Liberty, and any time you can offer a daughter of a champion, that's also a Grade 2 winner, who is a very good physical by More Than Ready, you know that you have something that’s going to be very attractive to a wide market,” Weisbord said.
The best place to sell
“We have a very, very strong Night of the Stars draft, probably one of the strongest ever, and we've topped this sale three of the last six years with good horses,” Weisbord said.
The theme will hopefully continue on Monday for Weisbord’s operation, with a draft of 10 mares and one weanling going through the ring. Alongside Spaliday, ELiTE will offer Grade I winners Randomized (USA) (Nyquist {USA}) and Excellent Truth (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}), as well as blue hen Puca (USA) (Big Brown {USA}) on behalf of John Stewart’s Resolute Racing.
“So I expect a very good Monday night where we will be offering Puca. As the dam of three consecutive Grade 1 winners and with a good breeding history, I expect her to top the sale. I think she's going to bring north of five, six million dollars on Monday night.”
It’s selling lots like Puca on the international stage to the right buying bench that makes Fasig-Tipton’s Night of the Stars such an essential selling platform for Weisbord.
“They gross close to $100 million in one night, which would be pretty much be the highest-grossing sale for one night anywhere in the world every year,” he said. “I don't know what the exact numbers are, but they'd sell more $1 million mares than anybody else in one night, and I expect nothing to change this year.”
“(Night of the Stars) gross(es) close to $100 million in one night, which would be pretty much the highest-grossing sale for one night anywhere in the world every year.” - Bradley Weisbord
He continued, “I think Spaliday is probably closer to a $500,000, $600,000 mare, but she'll appeal to a lot of people. She appeals to anywhere, any mare buyer in the world, being that she's a turf stakes-winning daughter of More Than Ready, a dual hemisphere stallion - she can stay in America. She can go to Japan. She can go to Australia. She can go to New Zealand. She can go to South America.
“She (Spaliday) appeals to anywhere, any mare buyer in the world, being that she's a turf stakes-winning daughter of More Than Ready.” - Bradley Weisbord
“She's very versatile in that she's going to appeal to a lot of different buyers. She will be well represented on Monday and she will be on the market for a realistic price.”
