After the Auction: Brown Eyes Blue

As an avid fan of sales with possible aspirations to become an adviser/bloodstock agent, auctions are one of my favorite topics to write about on Past the Grandstand. This is the third edition in a blog series called "After the Auction" that will feature horses I selected in sales that have found success after the sale. *Note: If an "After the Auction" features a two-year-old, it will also be listed as a "Juvenile Spotlight."

Everything about her screamed top selection, which was why hip #148 of the 2012 Keeneland April Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale became my second top filly selection of the auction. The Big Brown filly landed in the hands of Twin Creek Racing for a price tag of $180,000 and was sent to trainer Dale Romans.

On Saturday, June 30, 2012, the filly, who had been given the name Brown Eyes Blue, made her debut, going six furlongs over the main track at Churchill Downs. The bay filly broke sharply, going to the lead under Shaun Bridgmohan. The filly held a 1 ¼-length lead on the others, setting the first quarter mile in 21.80 seconds.

Continuing to display her speed, Brown Eyes Blue maintained her advantage on the field as the two-year-olds rounded the turn. Despite a rally from Alluring Lady, Brown Eyes Blue proceeded to lead the twelve-horse field into the homestretch, lengthening her lead. Alluring Lady continued to close, but Brown Eyes Blue crossed the wire with nearly two lengths between her and the runner-up, becoming Big Brown’s first North American winner.

Not only did the efficient 10-second furlong work the filly posted at the preview show for the sale impress me, but Brown Eyes Blue’s pedigree did as well. Big Brown, spectacular winner of the 2008 Kentucky Derby (GI) and Preakness Stakes (GI), has quickly proven to be a productive sire. In fact, his very first starter was a winner. Big Brown is a son of Boundary, who also yielded the successful sire Pomeroy. As a son of Boundary, Big Brown is a grandson of Danzig, a highly influential stallion. Danzig himself was an incredible sire of sires, producing such productive studs as Chief’s Crown, Danehill, Exchange Rate, Langfuhr, and War Chant.

Brown Eyes Blue is the first foal out of Golden Lips, a Live Oak Plantation homebred. Golden Lips is a half-sister to the multiple graded stakes-winning Hotstufanthensome, the graded stakes-winning Silver Charades, and the multiple black-type-winning Tacit Agreement. Through her dam, Brown Eyes Blue is a direct descendant of the Reine De Course mare Golden Trail, who produced several stakes performers, including the graded stakes-winning Java Moon.

Brown Eyes Blue’s broodmare sire is Silver Ghost, the sire of 49 stakes victors. Silver Ghost is also the damsire of the graded stakes-winning half-brothers Chelokee and Salute the Sarge. The Big Brown/Silver Ghost cross on which Brown Eyes Blue is bred is similar to that of the grade one winners Pomeroy and Minardi, who were bred on the same Boundary/Mr. Prospector sire line cross.

Brown Eyes Blue's impressive work prior to the auction displayed the same athleticism she showed when winning her debut. The filly, thanks in large part to her agility and remarkable pedigree, could certainly become a top racehorse and perhaps even one of the leading juvenile fillies in the country. Just like others horses I have followed from before their racing career began, Brown Eyes Blue has proven how great of an experience it is to discover a horse before it even begins racing.



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