Mt. Brilliant Brings International Flair to Keeneland

by Jessica Martini 
Greg Goodman’s Lexington-based Mt. Brilliant Farm will offer eight yearlings during Book 1 of next week’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The octet, split between the Gainesway and Lane’s End consignments, has a decidedly European flair. Two of the yearlings are out of mares Goodman purchased at the Tattersalls December sale, while the stallions represented include Sea the Stars (Ire), Fastnet Rock (Aus), High Chaparral (Ire) and Galileo (Ire). 

“We’ve been buying mares here in America and also in Europe,” Goodman said. “We really felt like there were some great pedigrees over there and some great horses that we could breed over there for a few years and then bring the mares back here and breed them to a few American stallions. And we actually sent one of our mares, Justenuffheart (Broad Brush), over there to breed to Galileo.” 

Goodman’s name first appeared on the docket at Tattersalls in 2011, but he and his team were already familiar with the scene at the Newmarket auction. 

“We bought three mares at Tattersalls in 2011–we had bought a few mares privately over there, but that was the first time we had bought at Tattersalls,” Goodman confirmed. “We actually went to Tattersalls for the two years before that to try to get a feel for the market. We went over there, not planning on buying anything, but just to get a feel for how things work.” 

Goodman said he had found more consistency when buying mares in Europe. 

“They weren’t a lot cheaper [in Europe], but they weren’t scattered,” Goodman explained. “It wasn’t like, here is one for $10 million and here is one for $5 million. It was more, $1 million, $1.5 million and $2 million.” 
Asked if he found more mares in his price range in Europe, Goodman added, “Not necessarily more to choose from, maybe a little less competition. So less money, but more in the range. When you got on a horse, you knew what you were going to have to pay for it. You knew that you weren’t going to be wasting your time. You could figure out what they were worth easier. Not that they were that much cheaper, it’s just that they were more consistent.” 

Among those initial purchases from 2011 was Dress Uniform (Red Ransom), a full-sister to G1 Epsom Oaks winner Casual Look. In foal to Invincible Spirit (Ire), Mt. Brilliant acquired the mare for 360,000gns ($586,278). She foaled a filly by Invincible Spirit in 2012 and was bred back to Sea the Stars. The resulting filly, one of only two by Sea the Stars in the catalogue, will sell next Thursday through the Gaineseway consignment as hip 598. 
Goodman returned to Tattersalls in 2012 to obtain Desert Classic (Green Desert) for 875,000gns ($1,479,004). The mare sold carrying a full-sibling to Wrote (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), who only months before had won the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. That High Chaparral colt sells through Lane’s End as hip 576. 

Farm manager Jody Alexander said the team targeted several things when picking out European mares for Mt. Brilliant’s commercial broodmare band. 

“We look for maybe a little bit stronger bodied mare then some of the European mares might have,” Alexander explained. “I don’t mean that in a negative way, but if we bring them back and start breeding them here, we want a foal out of those that are going to be appealing to American buyers and not just the Europeans.” 

Pedigree updates like Wrote’s Breeders’ Cup victory also help. 

“We knew some of the offspring out of those families were racing here in the States,” Alexander offered. “So we thought people would be more aware of them. That made mares more appealing to us because we figured if we brought the mare to the States, people would be more familiar with the family.” 
Goodman added, “We are looking for mares that would work with American stallions, as well as European stallions. We’re looking for body types that will fit in America.” 

He added, “They have a little more of the distance pedigrees over there, so we could breed some of the speed from here into them.” 

While the issue of raceday medications looms large over the American breeding industry, Goodman admitted there was an additional benefit to offering yearlings by mares who were bred and raced in Europe. 
“This is my personal opinion, but I do believe that we have to change our rules on medication,” Goodman said. “We have to have uniform rules. People talk about the United States having uniform rules. I think our rules need to be uniform with the rest of the world. And I do think that having some mares that didn’t race on Lasix and having their progeny is definitely an advantage. It was part of the thought process [of buying in Europe], not the whole thought process, but part of it.” 

Also included in Mt. Brilliant’s September offerings is hip 268, a daughter of Fastnet Rock (Aus). The yearling is the first foal out of So Stylish (Johannesburg), an Irish stakes-placed three-quarter sister to multiple Group 1 winner One Cool Cat (Storm Cat). She will be consigned by Lane’s End. On behalf of Mt. Brilliant, Lane’s End will also offer hip 747. The yearling is an Irish-bred colt by Galileo (Ire) out of the late Justenuffheart (Broad Brush), dam of champion Dreaming of Anna (Rahy) and multiple graded stakes winners Lewis Michael (Rahy) and Justenuffhumor (Distorted Humor). Justenuffheart was sent to Ireland where she foaled a Distorted Humor colt in 2011 and Galileo colts in 2012 and 2013. 
With a broodmare band of 33 head, Mt. Brilliant currently has five broodmares in Europe. 

“We brought several of them back here,” Goodman commented. “But we have four in Ireland and one in England. I think we’ll keep them in both places. Our intention is to leave some there and bring some back here.” 
Goodman is also looking to expand his shopping sprees to the Southern Hemisphere. 

“We actually even tried Australia this year,” he revealed. “We had a mare picked out and she got sick at the sale, so we ended up not bidding on her. But I think we will definitely go back again.” 
Mt. Brilliant, which has about a dozen horses in training in the U.S., also has four racing in Europe and six in Argentina. 

The farm will also be represented at the Tattersalls October sale. 

“We are actually selling two yearlings in Europe this year at Tattersalls,” Goodman said. “We are selling a Galileo out of our mare Famous (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) [lot 287A], who is a full-sister to Mastercraftsman (Ire). And we’re selling a Pour Moi (Ire) colt out of O’ Bella Ballerina (Fusaichi Pegasus) [lot 429].” 

Mt. Brilliant will be selling for its second year at Tattersalls. 

Goodman said, “We gave it an attempt last year, but it didn’t end very successfully–I do think you have to maybe build up a reputation there. We offered three yearlings last year and sold one of them and kept two of them. But both of them that we kept, we were interested in keeping.” 

Goodman said early feedback on the Keeneland September yearlings has been positive. 

“I will know better next week,” he laughed when asked how the stock has been received. “I am hoping they all sell and they all sell for a lot of money. The people that have been to the farm to look at them, I think have all been pleased. We’ve actually talked to a lot of people. We thought really long and hard about whether we should send these horses back to Europe to sell or if we should leave them here and sell them here. After talking to enough people, we made the decision that we were just as well off selling them here as we would have been there.” 

Mt. Brilliant’s Book 1 contingent also contains hip 748, a full-brother to recent GIII Monmouth Oaks winner Cassatt (Tapit). The yearling, consigned by Lane’s End, is out of Justenufftime (Giant’s Causeway), a daughter of Justenuffheart. On behalf of Mt. Brilliant, Gainesway will offer hip 99, a son of Tapit out of GISP Morena (Per) (Privately Held); hip 163, a filly by Bernardini out of stakes winner Private Gift (Unbridled); and hip 239, a War Front filly out of Shades of Grace (Seeking the Gold). 

The Keeneland September sale begins Monday. Sessions Monday through Thursday begin at noon. After a dark day Friday, the sale resumes Saturday at 10 a.m.