Million-Dollar Buy Imagination Tops Preakness Prices

If you wanted to get a contender into this year’s $2 million Preakness Stakes (G1), the most effective method was to buy a high-quality prospect at the yearling sales of 2022.

Of the eight horses expected to contest the Preakness Stakes May 18 at Pimlico Race Coursefive were six-figure (or more) yearling auction purchases.

Tea Into Mischief colt Imaginationwhich sold for $1,050,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, was by far the most expensive. Mugatua Maryland-sired but Kentucky-bred Blofeld colt who is yet to achieve black type, was the least costly, selling for a mother $14,000 at the 2023 Ocala Breeders’ Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.

Half the intact field sold at the Keneeland September Yearling Sale, while MyRacehorse’s Sixteen the Gray sold at the 2022 The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton’s select yearling sale in upstate New York, for $300,000.

Seize the Grey, by deceased Sir Arrogate, sold below the 2022 Saratoga sale’s average price of $468,217 and its median of $375,000.

Joe Moran, racing manager for MyRacehorse, said he and Roderick Wachman selected Seize the Gray for his potential as a two-turn, classic horse.

“He was definitely on the immature side at the sale. He wasn’t the biggest, most imposing horse at the time,” Moran said. “He didn’t stand out as the colt that caught everyone’s eye, but he was made well and was well balanced. We knew we were going to have to be patient.

“As a partnership, we have to buy things we can resell. We liked that he was by Arrogate, who it seemed was hitting on all cylinders at the time, and we didn’t have one yet. He turned out to be the first and only Arrogate we got. But the price was right, so it hit the nail on the head for us.”

Two Preakness contenders—Pennsylvania-based Withers Stakes (G3) winner Uncle Heavy and Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan—have no public auction record.

Tom Ryan, managing partner of SF Bloodstock and one of Imagination’s co-owners, said Imagination was an elite prospect from the physical and pedigree perspectives. When Imagination was offered as a yearling, his grade-2 winning Empire Maker dam, Magical Feelinghad already produced a pair of stakes winners, and his stallion Into Mischief had ascended to the top of the market as a then three-time leading North American sire.

“He was a scorpion physically, and his pedigree speaks for itself,” said Ryan, who added a focus on proven stallions, “takes some of the guesswork out” of the yearling evaluation process.

Ryan named veterinarian Dr. Michael Hore, bloodstock agents John Moynihan and Donato Lanni, and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert as key members of the sales team. Ryan said his group uses the same methodical approach to every auction purchase, regardless of price.

“What gives me confidence (to go to seven figures) is the team around us, from John Moynihan to Donato, and most importantly, the man tasked with training them,” Ryan said. “Bob knows exactly the style of Colt that fits into his program. A shared consensus view is a decisive factor.

“We look for a classic style of horse. Bob’s ability to identify talent is incredible. He and Donato work together so well. A lot of work goes into giving Bob a list of horses at a sale and then he and Donato can reduce it to the point that we feel comfortable bidding on those horses … The best way to do it is let the man who will train them pick them.

Imagination has numerous top-level owners—SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Robert E. Masterson, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, and Ryan. This ownership model allows big players to take more shots at elite prospects.

“Our partnership allows us to distribute our capital across a significant pool of racehorses,” Ryan said. “It’s very challenging to find a horse that is physically beautiful and blessed with the talent to win at the highest level.”

Bob Ehalt contributed to this story.