Japanese Mare to Feld & Sagamore

Kevin Plank's Sagamore Farm added one of January's more unique offerings yesterday when farm advisor Bob Feld went to $335,000 for Evening Sky (Jpn), a recently imported daughter of leading Japanese sire Heart's Cry (Jpn). The 6-year-old sold in foal on an Apr. 28 cover to the expat Empire Maker. Taylor Made Sales Agency offered her as Hip 270. 
“We had one of our best mares pass away this year, and we really wanted to concentrate on bringing a deep family back to the farm,” said Feld. “And it's hard to beat this family.” 

Despite being bred in Japan and representing the rare Heart's Cry to sell here, Evening Sky has an American pedigree top and bottom. And as Feld said, it's a good one. The granddaughter of Sunday Silence was produced by Eventail (Lear Fan), a stakes-winning half-sister to Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady (Dehere). That brilliant mare is the dam of champion Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) and the GISW Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy), and is the granddam of pro-tem champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway). 

Evening Sky is herself a half to GSW & GISP Straight Story (Giant's Causeway) and a full to SP Mobile (Jpn), a half-million dollar earner in Japan. Their sire Heart's Cry is coming off an outstanding year in Japan as the sire of the international Group 1 winners Just a Way (Jpn) and Admire Rakti (Jpn), as well as the Japanese Classic winners One and Only (Jpn) and Nuovo Record (Jpn). 

“There's nothing wrong with Heart's Cry, but [the purchase] was made based more on the bottom side,” said Feld, who added, “When you see Sunday Silence and Roberto in the first three generations, it's kind of unique, and we liked the idea of bringing some of that blood back to the States. She was a nice mare with no major faults, and had a nice, big walk on her. She's very classy and carried herself very well; she didn't turn a hair.” 

Sadly, Sagamore's promising young producer Vienna Affair (GB) (Red Ransom) died in 2014, that after her first two foals became stakes winners. They included the homebred 3-year-old filly Daring Dancer (Empire Maker), whose wins included the GII Lake George S. and GIII Appalachian S. That Evening Sky was in foal to Daring Dancer's sire was a bonus, said Feld. 

“We love the fact she's in foal to Empire Maker,” he said. “We thought we might get pressed because of that, and it was a little bit out of the range we wanted to pay, but not too far.” 

Feld said mating plans for Evening Sky were undecided. 

Taylor Made consigned Evening Sky on behalf of Masa Otani, a successful Japanese businessman based in Singapore. Otani purchased Evening Sky in 2013 while she was carrying her first foal, a filly by Falbrav (Ire). He bought her from Shadai Farm, who purchased her dam Eventail from Gallagher's Stud for $925,000 at the 2006 Keeneland November Sale. 

“Mr. Otani bred a few mares to Empire Maker last year, and chose this mare to come over because of her pedigree,” said Polo Green Stable's Nobu Araki, who serves as Otani's U.S. advisor. “If he didn't sell her, he was happy to get a foal by Empire Maker out of her, especially with that family just getting better and better. And he kept the filly by Falbrav.”