After the Auction: Cadron

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. “After the Auctions” 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.”

Each year, Bob Baffert unveils a contingent of gifted two-year-olds “where the turf meets the surf, down at old Del Mar.” With the names of grade one winners like Behaving Badly, Bob and John, Congaree, Indian Charlie, Midnight Lute, Midshipman, Point Given, Power Broker, Rolling Fog, Silver Charm, and Vindication on that list, one better take notice when a Baffert trainee debuts at Del Mar.

Among Baffert’s first-time starters this year at the seaside track is Cadron – a filly that sold at the OBS March Sale earlier this year as one of my selections for $370,000. A half-sister to one of my Keeneland April Sale selections from last year, Brown Eyes Blue, Cadron was sent off as the heavy favorite in a seven-horse field in maiden special weight going five furlongs over Del Mar’s synthetic track.

Setting a brisk pace while being pressured by the second betting choice, Cadron began to draw clear around the far turn and carried that lead into the stretch. Although her final winning margin was cut short to a neck after the closing finish of a longshot, Cadron displayed professionalism in just her first start, suggesting their is plentiful room for improvement.

Pedigree Analysis

Cadron is sired by Broken Vow, a terrific sire of fillies who has yielded the likes of the grade one-winning females Cotton Blossom, Sassy Image, and Unbridled Belle. A son of Unbridled, Broken Vow shares his sire with numerous spectacular stallions, including Empire Maker and the late Unbridled’ Song.

The dam of Cadron is 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, Cadron is a direct descendant of the Reine De Course mare Golden Trail, who produced several stakes performers, including the graded stakes-winning Java Moon.

Cadron’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 Broken Vow/Mr. Prospector sire line on which Cadron is bred has produced a high percentage of winners, including the graded stakes winner Jimanator, as well as six additional stakes winners.