For Venezuelan Breeders, An Aspiration Fulfilled
Longtime Venezuelan breeder Eduardo Celis dreamed about becoming the first to sell a Venezuelan-bred yearling in the United States. As dreams go, it was relatively modest. But Celis was fiercely proud of his country and the horsemen who plied their trade there, often with little international recognition. Celis passed away a year ago without having achieved his dream, but yesterday at Keeneland September, his family made sure it didn’t go unfulfilled. Early in the session, the Celis family sold a Kitten’s Joy colt it bred in Venezuela under the banner Agrofinca Los Caracaros C.A. for $120,000. Hill ‘n’ Dale Sale consigned the colt as hip 853; Lizzy Croteau signed the winning slip.
The Celis family, including Eduardo’s widow Olga and her sons Rafael and Carlos, was well-represented at September. In all, four generations of the family were on hand to watch the colt sell.
“It was his dream to bring a colt or filly here to Keeneland to sell….” said Olga.
“…and his dream came true,” his grandson, Luis Celis, finished with a smile.
The Kitten’s Joy colt was in utero when Agrofinca Los Caracaros purchased the mare Quiet Alice (Quiet American) for $72,000 at the 2012 Keeneland November Sale. The mare subsequently shipped to South America.
“We have about 48 mares at Los Caracaros, about 35 of which were purchased from U.S.,” explained Luis of the family-run operation, which is located on 200 acres near Valencia, a city in northern Venezuela.
The colt wasn’t the only foreign-bred horse at September. There were also horses bred in Chile, Turkey and Japan. And while it’s hard to say the colt is definitively the first-ever Venezuelan-bred yearling to sell in the U.S., sale officials at Keeneland said they couldn’t recall an instance.
Asked how they decided to send this colt in particular back to the States, Luis explained, “He has a full-sister [Famous Alice], who runs in California, who is graded placed, and who just ran fifth in the GI Del Mar Oaks. And he’s a son of Kitten’s Joy, last year’s champion sire here.”
The 3-year-old Famous Alice, trained by Tom Proctor, has been first or second in 5 of 7 starts and earned over $120,000.
Giving an assist to the Celises is Julio Rada, a U.S.-based bloodstock agent.
Eduardo Celis was raised around horses as a child in Venezuela, and when he retired from running a successful beef and dairy operation, he bought a few mares and began a Thoroughbred operation. Today, the Agrofinca Los Caracaros is one of the most successful breeding outfits in Venezuela. Among its best runners is Tato Zeta (Ven) (Thunder Gulch), the country’s all-time leading-money earner. The farm also stands several stallions, including Evolutionist (El Prado {Ire}–Dream Supreme), a stakes-winning half to GISW Majestic Warrior and to a Tiznow colt who sold for $1.35 million earlier this week at Keeneland.
The Celis clan will soon be heading back to Venezuela, where they will hold their annual farm sale of yearlings in October. Until then, they can take pride in making a patriarch’s dream come true.
“It met all our expectations,” Olga said of the experience. -LM