![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/A-St-George-284x300.jpg\")
Collateral form lines suggest Tappan Street must be one of the best three-year-old colts in the US. The son of Into Mischief was a decisive winner of the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park in March, beating Sovereignty into second. The runner up has since gone on to notch his own impressive victories in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.<\/p>\n
Tappan Street hasn\u2019t been able to confirm his greatness, though, as he has been sidelined due to a condylar fracture to his right front leg sustained in the build-up to the Kentucky Derby in April. He is reportedly recovering well at WinStar Farm, which jointly owns him with China Horse Club and Cold Press Racing, and could be back later this year.<\/p>\n
The sleeping giant was bred by the Corndorf family\u2019s boutique Blue Heaven Farm in Kentucky but has a strong connection with Europe, as he was sold by Irish native Archie St George and wife Michelle to his owners for $1 million at the exclusive Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been kind of bittersweet seeing Sovereignty do what he\u2019s done this season, as Tappan Street had the measure of him in the Florida Derby,\u201d says Archie St George. \u201cBut look, Sovereignty has obviously improved and is a brilliant horse, so who knows whether our horse would beat him again?<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m delighted for the owners as they put a lot of money into our game,<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cFingers crossed we see more of him, and that he returns in the same form. There could be more to come, Archie St George: vendor of Tappan Street as he\u2019s lightly raced. Either way, he\u2019s proved he\u2019s top-class and that\u2019s what you want when you sell a million-dollar horse. I\u2019m delighted for the owners as they put a lot of money into our game, and they really deserve success, so it\u2019s wonderful to see them get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
St George is also full of praise for Tappan Street\u2019s breeders, who produced the colt out of Virginia Key, a dual-winning and Grade 2-placed Distorted Humor half-sister to Grade 1 Del Mar\u00a0 Debutante Stakes heroine Grace Adler.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thrilled for Adam Corndorf and his family and team,\u201d he says. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have this claim to fame without them. We actually only prepped and sold Tappan Street as they had a fire in the yard and lost a barn that year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were delighted to help out and glad that everything ended well. It\u2019s been such a big thrill, as Adam is a good friend, his daughter is in the same class as our daughter, and we\u2019ve been fortunate enough to work with him for five or six years now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tappan Street is one of six seven figure yearlings sold by St George Sales since the operation was launched in 2011. Many of the other millionaires were high-rolling pinhooks made with partners, including St George\u2019s childhood friend Roger O\u2019Callaghan of Tally-Ho Stud in County Westmeath.<\/p>\n
The Keeneland September Yearling Sale of 2023 was a particularly memorable one for the St Georges and their fellow investors, as it was the scene of two colts who made enormous profits: an Into Mischief half-brother to stakes performers Lady Kate, Prince Of Arabia and Princess Theorem bought for $550,000 and resold to Coolmore for $1.8 million, and a son of Not This Time and the\u00a0 Exchange Rate mare Foreign Affair bought for $375,000 and resold to West Point Thoroughbreds and Talla Racing for $1.05m.<\/p>\n
\nWe\u2019re lucky to have Roger and the O\u2019Callaghan family as partners<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The son of Into Mischief was named Bernard Shaw and placed with Aidan O\u2019Brien, and won a Dundalk maiden by nine lengths and finished third in both the Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown and Star Appeal Stakes back at Dundalk.<\/p>\n
St George Sales maintained momentum with its trades at Keeneland September last year, selling a Not This Time colt out of the stakes-winning Indian Charlie mare Believe In Charlie to SF\u00a0 Bloodstock, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables for $1.15m, having sourced him as a foal for $240,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do put down quite a bit of money on foals, but it\u2019s been built up gradually over the years,\u201d says St George. \u201cRoger and I went to Headfort School in County Meath together and we\u2019ve been\u00a0 friends since, he\u2019s godfather to our daughter. We\u2019re lucky to have him and the O\u2019Callaghan family as partners, as their record of success speaks for itself and, just as importantly, they get it. They\u00a0 know the industry inside-out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey know you have to take the rough with the smooth in this game. They understand what can go right and what can go wrong. So when things do go well we really value it, and when things go badly we regroup and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s St George Sales pinhooks \u2013 often signed for under the name Brookstone Farm, the home of the St Georges\u2019 operation located on a part of the historic Overbrook Farm near Lexington \u2013 include a son of blue-chip sire Quality Road and Ashland Stakes dead-heater Rosalind bought for $425,000. He is bound for Keeneland September.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was an expensive horse but we really liked him,\u201d says St George. \u201cHe\u2019s by a good sire and out of a good mare, and he has the power and size you would expect from Quality Road and Broken Vow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nFlightline had it all<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
St George Sales has a draft of around 65 yearlings this season, also including an \u201cexciting\u201d Vekoma half sister to Breeders\u2019 Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Valiant Force and a first crop Flightline colt out of German-bred Beverly D Stakes scorer Dalika, both being offered on behalf of the farm\u2019s loyal clients Bryant and Joan Prentice. The debut lots by unbeaten world champion Flightline should light a fire under the yearling sales in Kentucky this year, and St George has a fascinating insight into them.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlightline had it all \u2013 race record, pedigree, physique \u2013 and really captured everybody\u2019s imagination, so there will be a big buzz about those yearlings,\u201d he says. \u201cHe hasn\u2019t necessarily stamped his stock, though. The ones I\u2019ve seen are a variety of sizes and colours, but the one thing I\u2019ve noticed about all of them is that each and every one has an excellent mind, just like their father.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re also strong like Flightline, but there\u2019s a lot of the dams about them. Then again, considering he has covered the best mares in America, Brookstone Farm sits on a parcel of land on the historic Overbrook Farm it might not be the worst thing in the world if the progeny throw to their dams. The same was said about Frankel in the early days and look what happened: he turned out to be the best sire in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
St George Sales got the North American yearling sales season off to a solid start, selling a Practical Joke filly to Justin Casse for $250,000 and a Corniche colt bound for Wesley Ward for $200,000 at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was plenty of activity and a lot of buyers around, so it\u2019s encouraging for the rest of the year,\u201d says St George. \u201cSaratoga will test the market, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds that the increasing internationalisation of racing is cause\u00a0for optimism in the North American market.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world has become a much smaller place,\u201d he says. \u201cEuropeans have had a lot of success with yearlings bought in Kentucky, especially the breeze-up trainers. There was a bit of a lull ten or so years ago. Maybe medication issues scared some people away, but that\u2019s been tackled now, or maybe it was a period in which our sires didn\u2019t fit European racing. That\u2019s just the way it is sometimes.<\/p>\n
\nsales in Kentucky become more global than ever, and that can only be a good thing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cBut then we had War Front and Scat Daddy come along. It took a little while for Scat Daddy to get recognition, but when he did it was a massive lift for the industry. Now we have Scat Daddy\u2019s son Justify, who looks like having a big influence on the breeding world. There\u2019s also been the mainstays like Hard Spun and Speightstown.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Breeders\u2019 Cup meeting is truly international, with a race for every category of horse, and Aidan O\u2019Brien clearly badly wants to win the Classic. Similarly, the Japanese are bringing some serious horses over for the Kentucky Derby now.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the other side, Americans are desperate to win at Royal Ascot, with Wesley Ward having blazed a trail and encouraged others to follow his lead. It\u2019s all helped sales in Kentucky become more global than ever, and that can only be a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man who preaches the virtue of international competition in Flat racing from his base in Kentucky was actually born into a National Hunt background in County Kilkenny.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents bred jumps horses and I was riding almost before I could walk,\u201d recalls St George. \u201cI had aspirations of being a jump jockey when I was a kid. I\u2019d like to say the reason it didn\u2019t happen was because I grew too much, but the truth is that I just didn\u2019t have the talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nI was extremely fortunate to be able to go around with one of the best judges of foals in the world<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
He climbed the career ladder thanks to some helping hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was lucky enough to work for Edward O\u2019Grady and Flash Conroy in my teens and early 20s, and that gave me a great foundation,\u201d he continues. \u201cI still look to them as mentors. Edward gave me a valuable insight into a racing yard and Flash taught me what to look for at the foal and yearling sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent ten years with Flash, and count myself extremely fortunate to be able to go around with one of the best judges of foals in the world. He was even kind enough to lend me money to invest in a few pinhooks with him, and we managed to sell the Railway Stakes winner Formosina and make a nice bit of money on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlash did all the work, of course! He picked him out, but he let me be involved and have some of the glory. That\u2019s how kind he is, and I\u2019m proud to say we\u2019re still good friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
St George was given an early introduction to the American bloodstock scene when he spent\u00a0a couple of summers working for powerhouse consignors Eaton Sales on the recommendation of the late Lady Vivienne Lillingston, his godmother, and her son Luke, the renowned bloodstock agent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ended up working for Eaton Sales for ten years,\u201d he says. \u201cThey were one of the largest consignors in town back then, so I saw everything from $5 million yearlings to $1,000 yearlings, which was useful for my education.<\/p>\n
\u201cTom VanMeter was helping to run Eaton Sales at the time and he was very good to me. I look upon him like my American father. I also got to meet some of the most skilled and powerful players in the world. The experience I gained and the connections I made there were amazing. They set me up for life. St George Sales will present a draft of around 65 yearlings at this year\u2019s auctions<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was meant to be two years in America but I\u2019m still here 25 years later.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the most important person St George was introduced to in Kentucky was undoubtedly his wife Michelle, who grew up in Pennsylvania and spent six years with Gainesway before joining Eaton Sales as a farm manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe met in 2008, went out on our own with St George Sales three years later and bought Brookstone Farm five years after that,\u201d says St George. \u201cWe do everything together, and I wouldn\u2019t be able to do anything without her.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s absolutely the key to the operation. They say behind every great man there\u2019s a great woman, and while I wouldn\u2019t necessarily call myself great I would definitely say that I have a great woman behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The winning relationship has built strong relationships with leading breeders and buyers and become renowned for presenting beautifully turned out yearlings in that relatively short space of time.\u00a0 Tappan Street won\u2019t be the last Grade 1 winner to emerge from their St George Sales consignments<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
CROSSING THE DIVIDE
\nFive Kentucky stallions making an international name for themselves.
\nJUSTIFY<\/p>\n2015 Scat Daddy \u2013 Stage Magic (Ghostzapper)<\/strong>
Stands at Ashford Stud.
2025 fee: $250,000
Justify needs little introduction as the 2018 North American Triple Crown winner who provided Coolmore with City Of Troy, writes Nancy Sexton.<\/strong><\/p>\nCity Of Troy, the 2023 champion two-year-old who added the Derby, Eclipse Stakes and Juddmonte International at three, was the standout performer of Justify\u2019s second crop, a group that also\u00a0 included Coolmore\u2019s top-flight filly Opera Singer. They represent the fruition of unrelenting support by Coolmore, who has sent Justify numerous high-performing Galileo mares. Yet it isn\u2019t all about Coolmore since his third crop is headed by this year\u2019s 2,000 Guineas winner Ruling Court, bred by Nursery Place Farm and campaigned by Godolphin.<\/p>\n
Justify\u2019s first three crops are so far responsible for eight Group or Grade 1 winners, six on turf and two on dirt.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
NOT THIS TIME<\/p>\n
2014 Giant\u2019s Causeway \u2013 Miss Macy Sue (Trippi)<\/strong>
Stands at Taylor Made Farm.
2025 fee: $175,000
One of the most impressive aspects to Not This Time is his ability to upgrade mares, borne out by the fact that 39 of his stakes winners were bred off fees no higher than $15,000. There has since been a glimpse of what he is capable of via his first $40,000 fee, the source of 11 stakes winners \u2013 and counting \u2013 including last year\u2019s Norfolk Stakes winner Shareholder.<\/p>\nAlong the way, there has been seven Grade 1 winners ranging from top three-year-old Epicenter to the exceptional turf sprinter Cogburn, who holds the world record of 59.08 seconds for 5.5f, and champion turf male Up To The Mark, whose Grade 1 wins were achieved from a mile to 1m2f. Turf or dirt, short or long \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter when it comes to Not This Time and it will be fascinating to see what he can achieve once his first six figures kick in.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
KARAKONTIE<\/p>\n
2011 Bernstein \u2013 Sun Is Up (Sunday Silence)<\/strong>
Stands at Gainesway Farm.
2025 fee: $15,000
Karakontie possesses one of the standouts of 2025 in top turf filly She Feels Pretty, who recently supplemented her resume by winning the New York Stakes at Saratoga, her fourth win at Grade 1 level.<\/p>\nThat filly\u2019s achievements alone would make his current fee of $15,000 a value play but she is one of 22 stakes winners overall for the stallion.<\/p>\n
Niarchos homebred Karakontie, a relation to Miesque, plied his trade in France, where he won the Poule d\u2019Essai des Poulains. In keeping with that profile, he has gone on to enjoy his share of success as a stallion in Europe, notably as the sire of stakes winners Kenzai Warrior and Cigamia.<\/p>\n
Gainesway is also home to another top turf miler in Raging Bull<\/strong>, a three time Grade 1-winning son of Dark Angel who is already off the mark with his first two-year-olds.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
OSCAR PERFORMANCE<\/p>\n
2014 Kitten\u2019s Joy \u2013 Devine Actress (Theatrical)<\/strong>
Stands at Mill Ridge Farm.
2025 fee: $45,000
The heir apparent to Kitten\u2019s Joy, Oscar Performance has swiftly become a consistent source of turf class in the US, his first two crops highlighted by the Grade 1 Belmont Derby winner Trikari alongside Grade 2 scorers Andthewinneris and Red Carpet Ready.<\/p>\nHe\u2019s a fair source of juvenile talent \u2013 second-crop representative Endlessly was a dual Grade 3 winner at two \u2013 but it\u2019s also notable how well a number of his better horses take their racing. They include Trikari, Red Carpet Ready and Grade 3 winner Tumbarumba (a veteran of 22 starts), whose consistency have seen them put together records of five wins apiece.<\/p>\n
The Kitten\u2019s Joy sire line has long been associated with turf but before anyone pigeon holes Oscar Performance as such, it should be pointed out that he is also capable of throwing a high-class dirt horse, Red Carpet Ready being a case in point.<\/p>\n
From an European perspective, it\u2019s also worth bearing in mind that this four-time Grade 1 winner raced Lasix free throughout his own championship racing career.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
VEKOMA<\/p>\n
2016 Candy Ride \u2013 Mona De Momma (Speightstown)<\/strong>
Stands at Spendthrift Farm.
2025 fee: $35,000
Barely does a day go by when Vekoma, the 2020 Grade 1 Carter Handicap hero, isn\u2019t represented by a winner. He is the dominant leader when it comes to the second-crop stallions, his prize-money total of approximately $6.5 million for the year enough to push him within the top 12 US stallions overall. That\u2019s quite an achievement considering that Vekoma is still working with only\u00a0 two\u00a0crops bred off no higher than $20,000.<\/p>\nAll told, that first crop of runners has so far yielded 12 stakes winners led by the Saudi Derby hero Golden Vekoma and Grade 2-winning filly Five G. The bulk of them have come on dirt but in keeping with the record compiled by Candy Ride, he is also capable of producing a talented turf runner, the Grade 1-placed Vixen being a case in point.<\/p>\n
Vekoma stood for a career-high of $35,000 this season but by all accounts was in such demand that several breeders were happy to pay more just to gain access.<\/p>\n
Young guns\u2026.<\/p>\n
Champion Flightline<\/strong> leads the way among a particularly deep group of American first-crop sires. Never challenged in six victories, four at Grade 1 level, Flightline duly covered an exceptional first book of mares at a first-year fee of $200,000 at Lane\u2019s End Farm. Three of the resulting first crop were offered at last month\u2019s JRHA Select Sale in Japan; led by a colt out Grade 2 winner\u00a0 Selflessly, who sold for 190,000,000yen (\u00a3960,000), they realised an average of \u00a3794,000.<\/p>\n
Four-time Grade 1 winner Life Is Good<\/strong> was also well supported in his first season at $100,000 at WinStar Farm while Coolmore\u2019s Grade 1-winning quartet of Corniche, Epicenter, Golden Pal<\/strong> and Jack Christopher<\/strong> are others to boast deep representation at the upcoming yearling sales. Golden Pal as a brilliantly quick turf sprinter possesses some of the attributes to appeal to Europe,\u00a0 particularly the pinhooking community.<\/p>\n
Early Voting<\/strong>, the 2022 Preakness Stakes winner, was another to start his stud career at Coolmore\u2019s Ashford Stud. As one of the first sons of Gun Runner to stud, he was a popular recruit before fertility problems prompted his removal from service. However, following a course of revolutionary treatment, he was returned to stud and now stands under the management of Taylor Made Stallions.<\/p>\n
Darley offers a pair of Grade 1 winners in Mystic Guide<\/strong> and Speaker\u2019s Corner<\/strong> while Juddmonte is home to Mandaloun<\/strong>, a homebred son of Into Mischief who was awarded the 2021 Kentucky Derby.<\/p>\n
Of the other Grade 1 winners with first yearlings on offer, it wouldn\u2019t be a surprise to European buyers return home with yearlings by either Olympiad or Aloha West<\/strong>. Gainesway Farm\u2019s Olympiad<\/strong>, the Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, is a son of Speightstown, a stallion who has enjoyed plenty of success in Europe, while Breeders\u2019 Cup Sprint winner Aloha West, who stands at Mill Ridge Farm, is by another internationally versatile sire in Hard Spun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Collateral form lines suggest Tappan Street must be one of the best three-year-old colts in the US. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-341380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115021967834715999","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}