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SportsTranscript
00:00To a consigner, there's no better news than a Grade 1 update, and John Stewart of Bluegrass
00:05Thoroughbred Services got just that last week with Forte's win in the Grade 1 Hopeful.
00:10We caught up with John about the half-brother to the TDN Rising Star, who's by Uncle Mo
00:15and sells this week here at Keeneland September on Monday as HIP 11.
00:19Well, I'm from the smallest county in the state of Virginia, Clark County, and this
00:24lady bought a farm in Clark County when she retired from being a Washington lawyer.
00:31So I've gotten to know her pretty well, and this mare, Queen Caroline, was her first yearling
00:38purchase.
00:39She raced it.
00:40Michael Matz trained the mare.
00:43She won stakes, and she gave a lot of thought to the breeding, and bang, she comes with
00:49a Grade 1 two-year-old winner, first foal.
00:54This Hopeful win impressed me because the horse looked like he would go two turns.
01:01This HIP 11 is a medium-sized, typical, what I would say, blame arch type.
01:13He's very correct.
01:14A really nice horse.
01:17Forte we sold as a weanling.
01:22He was a pretty tall, athletic colt, flashy, like a violence would be.
01:29Because this is out of a blame mare, you don't have the flash.
01:32But they're similar types.
01:34They're athletic, good, correct horses.
01:38Everybody's seen the horse.
01:39Now that we're within a day of the sale, the vetting starts, and you see who may really
01:46be interested in them.
01:48I'm not going to sleep well tonight.
01:53Well, it's pretty exciting.
01:55Not many people get a chance to breed a two-year-old Grade 1 winner and sell them.
02:01What I thought was interesting was the people that bought them bought a lot of colts that
02:06year.
02:07And this was the least expensive colt they bought.
02:11And bang, he's the best one they got.
02:13Reminds me of the story at Saratoga, I sold the sales top for one year.
02:18Only time I ever did it.
02:20And in the stall next to her, I sold the lowest priced horse in the sale for $40,000.
02:27And stellar wind turned into $9.5 million.
02:30The other filly broke her maiden.
02:32The question is, how long has Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services been around and what does it do?
02:39And my mother founded the first bloodstock agency in America with Tyson Gilpin in 1958.
02:47So I may unfortunately be the oldest second generation.
02:52And now the third generation, my son Sandy's taking over our little agency.
02:57We basically have a half dozen really good clients that we sell for and manage their
03:01horses.