OBSMAR21 – Hip 461 – American Freedom / Divine Happiness, by Divine Park
Clark Shepherd (Shepherd Equine Advisers), bloodstock agent for Highlander Training Center (Larry Hirsch), purchased this American Freedom colt at the 2021 OBS March Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale from the consignment of Pick View LLC for $260,000.
The American Freedom colt shared the fastest quarter-mile time of :20 4/5 on his breeze day. He is part of the first crop of his Airdrie Stud sire and was bred in Kentucky by Brereton Jones.
“I only got the one (American Freedom) and if they’re anything like him the sire’s got a real shot,” said Pick View’s Joe Pickerell. “This is one of those good Airdrie families that just keeps producing. The half sister (Perfect Happiness) just topped the Keeneland digital sale and is now with Brad Cox, so we would hope for some black-type in the near future out of Perfect Happiness. And this horse trains with every indication of having that kind of talent as well. After buying this colt and getting him into training, we tried to buy several American Freedom—they’d be yearlings now—foals of last year and just couldn’t seem to get anymore bought, but I kind of wish we did now.”
Hip 461 was previously purchased by Marquee Bloodstock for $110,000 out of Airdrie’s consignment to the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase.
“We were very pleased with his work. He’s been a top-level kind of colt all year and we had high expectations for him coming in,” Pickerell said. “When they show up and work the way they’ve been doing it all year, it’s rewarding.
“(He’s) just very athletic, does his job really easily. Not a horse that you have to overtrain. He gets a lot out of his training and he’s progressed naturally and handled everything we’ve thrown at him to this point.” – Blood-Horse
OPTIMAL Mating Analysis
Horses bred on OPTIMAL Matings have proven to possess more potential to become superior racehorses. In fact, most will break their maiden in the first two starts. Combined with a good physical, good vetting and a price that falls within a budget, OPTIMAL Matings help to focus on buying or breeding better racehorses.
2 Sire Families (3L, 9F) & 6 Running Families (3L, 2F, 1X, 1A, 1C, 2N)
Key Linebreedings – American Freedom / Divine Happiness, by Divine Park
- 4×4 Mr. Prospector – gender-balanced through daughter Preach and son Chester House
Similar Breedings
- Pulpit over With Approval
- Grade 1 Stakes Winner
- Speech (Mr. Speaker o/o Freud mare)
- Grade 3 Stakes Winners
- Church Service (Pulpit o/o With Approval mare)
- Sistas Stroll (Stroll o/o Bernstein mare)
- Grade 1 Stakes Winner
Whether you are new to the game, experiencing more losses than wins or just looking for a new approach, I am confident that I can help you breed or buy a better racehorse. To find out more about OPTIMAL Matings and how they can help your program, please subscribe to my Blog/News page HERE to receive future information on complimentary mating recommendations, sales short lists, stakes winner pedigree analysis, news on personal client success and any other random thoughts or ideas that I may have. Also, receive a complimentary copy of my report “Blind Luck or Designed Luck? – How A Kentucky Derby Winner Was Bred” sent directly to your inbox.
For inquiries or more information about Shepherd Equine Advisers, please contact Clark Shepherd at 859-321-6618, or by email at clark@bloodstock-agent-ky.com.
I would love to hear any comments or questions that you may have. Please submit them below. Maybe we can address them in a future post!