Tales from the Crib: Sainthood

Like Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Super Stock and Tampa Bay Derby (G2) hero Helium, Sainthood was sold as part of the Taylor Made consignment on behalf of their breeders. But Taylor Made President Duncan Taylor was involved in the partnership that bred Sainthood, Edward Taylor and Bill Nichols’ Springland Farm, and the yearling was initially purchased for one of Taylor Made’s investment entities. Moreover, the colt’s sire, Mshawish, stands at Taylor Made Stallions, and dam Lemon Hero was the veteran of several sales under the company banner.

Sainthood is from the first crop of Mshawish, a versatile son of Medaglia d’Oro and a Thunder Gulch mare from the family of 2003 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) champion Halfbridled. Mshawish began his career in France, where he captured a listed stakes at Deauville and finished fourth in the 2013 French Derby (G1). Also fourth in that summer’s St. James’s Palace (G1) at Royal Ascot, Mshawish progressed into a successful Dubai Carnival campaigner in 2014, notably taking the Zabeel Mile (G2).

Transferred stateside to Todd Pletcher, Mshawish won three straight turf stakes, capped by the 2015 Gulfstream Park Turf H. (G1), and in 2016, he added the Donn H. (G1) on the Gulfstream dirt. Thus he joined the exclusive club of horses to win Grade 1s on both surfaces. Those races were subsequently converted into the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and World Cup Turf (G1), respectively. 

Lemon Hero, a daughter of 1999 Belmont (G1) winner and 2000 champion older male Lemon Drop Kid, herself scored on both dirt and turf albeit at a less exalted level. But she did go very close in the 2012 Manhattan Beach, a turf sprint, beaten just a neck by future Grade 1 vixen Byrama – the dam of Derby rival Known Agenda.

A May 15 foal, Sainthood first went through the ring as a newly turned (i.e., “short”) yearling at the 2019 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. 

He caught the eye of Katie Taylor, who handles investor relations for Taylor Made’s Bloodstock Investments. The strategy is to buy youngsters for resale at later auctions – i.e., “pinhooking” – and Sainthood shaped as a likely type. 

One notable success story for the Bloodstock Investments business model is Improbable. Purchased for $110,000 and resold for $200,000, he became a Grade 1 winner at two, fourth as the favorite in the 2019 Kentucky Derby, and ultimately the champion older dirt male of 2020. 

Sainthood was listed as sold for $100,000 to The Legend Stables. He was actually scooped up as part of the portfolio for Bloodstock Investments VI.

As Katie Taylor recalled, the dark bay colt was “fuzzy” at the sale, making him look stockier and potentially more like a sprinter. As the seasons changed, and he shed his winter fur, the yearling presented a different appearance.

“Here was this sleek, two-turn horse underneath,” Taylor said.

Sainthood was like Improbable in that both were unremarkable, in the good sense that they didn’t bring attention to themselves for the wrong reasons.

“He just didn’t do anything wrong,” Taylor noted. “He had his stuff together for the most part.

“He was pretty easy to deal with, friendly, got along fine with all the other colts. He was a younger horse but definitely held his own with all the other colts.”

When offered later that year at Keeneland September, Sainthood attracted a top bid of $90,000, below his reserve price. He tried next at the OBS October Sale in Florida, where Carrie Brogden of Select Sales handled the consignment (see his walking video here.) The market prompted an adjustment in his reserve, and he was sold to Sitak Stable for $62,000.

Part of Sainthood’s challenge was timing, the circumstances of the day he toured the ring, but the larger obstacle was that he just didn’t stand out from the crowd. 

“He was a plain brown wrapper – solid, good, correct,” Taylor noted, but it’s hard to break through when buyers are looking for a “stunner.”

Sainthood went to Niall Brennan Stables for his early education, like Derby favorite Essential Quality and fellow contender Highly Motivated. Brennan’s past pupils include Derby stars Orb (2013) and Nyquist (2016). 

The yet-unnamed juvenile was entered in the 2020 OBS Spring Sale, originally scheduled for April but postponed to June due to COVID-19. He was withdrawn from the sale and acquired privately by WinStar Farm and CHC (China Horse Club) Inc. – two of the partners in Improbable as well.

Shipped back to Kentucky, newly named Sainthood was a regular presence on the worktab at Keeneland last spring and then at Churchill Downs into early summer, until he was sidelined. He reappeared with trainer Todd Pletcher’s string at Palm Beach Downs in November.

Sainthood was ready to debut in a Gulfstream Park sprint Jan. 9, when just missing after a protracted duel with well-regarded Lamutanaatty. He shipped to Fair Grounds for a 1 1/16-mile maiden on the Risen Star (G2) undercard, and showed even more resolve to prevail in a tight finish. That might have portended a crack at the Louisiana Derby (G2).

Instead, Sainthood ventured to Turfway Park for the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3). If not for costly trouble, he might have grappled with the victorious Like the King rather than settling for a late-running second.

Still, Sainthood’s lone stakes attempt was enough to earn him a spot in the Kentucky Derby. Never worse than second and with a taste for battle, this “plain brown wrapper” has a chance to reveal himself at Churchill Downs.