By Bill Finley
You don't have to look very hard at the catalogue page for Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to realize that she will offer a rare opportunity to buyers when she goes on the auction block at Fasig-Tipton's November Sale. The attributes start with her pedigree; she's by Galileo and continues with her race record, she's a two-time Grade I winner. And that's only part of the package–she's in foal to Quality Road.
“She's going to appeal to anybody who wants to own the best,” said Fasig-Tipton President and CEO Boyd Browning. “She's the type of mare that you could look back five years from now, 10 years from now, 50 years from now and say 'The whole breeding program that I have was influenced by the acquisition of a mare the quality of Photo Call.'”
Her credentials on the racetrack alone make her a very valuable commodity. She's a two-time Grade I winner with victories in the GI Rodeo Drive S. and the GI First Lady S., where she defeated Tepin (Bernstein). Add in that she is not only one of three Galileos in the sale, but his fastest-winning daughter in the U.S. by virtue of her 109 Beyer figure in the First Lady. In fact, the only Galileo filly or mare to run faster in the U.S. was Photo Call's three-quarter sister Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who earned a 113 running second to Enable in last year's Breeders' Cup Turf.
“It's very unusual to find a Galileo who is a multiple Grade I winner here in the United States,” Browning added. “She has a brilliant race record and is just an exceptional offering in terms of having that racetrack performance and being by Galileo.”
After starting her career in Ireland, Photo Call was shipped to the U.S. and turned over to trainer Graham Motion. Owned by Patrick Cooper and partners, she won the GIII Violet S. in 2015 and followed that with a win in the GI Rodeo Drive S. With the Grade I win enhancing her value, the connections decided to cash in and she was bought by Vinnie and Theresa Viola's St. Elias Stable for $3 million at the 2015 Keeneland November sale.
Rather than retire her, they brought her back and turned her over to Todd Pletcher for a 5-year-old campaign, and were rewarded with the victory in the GIII Orchid S. and the First Lady. In the First Lady, she led every step of the way to win by 2 3/4 lengths, and Tepin was never able to catch her.
“You had Tepin in that race and she's 2-5 and you're thinking nobody is going to beat Tepin,” said Denali Stud's Craig Bandoroff, who will consign Photo Call at the November Sale and who also sold her in 2015. “She showed her versatility. She got speed on the front end, she set the pace and it wasn't like she just held on. She won it handily and impressively.”
Photo Call was retired after a try in the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Mile and bred. She has two foals on the ground, a yearling filly by War Front and a weanling colt by Uncle Mo. The Violas have kept the yearling and plan on racing her next year in Europe with John Gosden. They haven't decided yet if they will keep or sell the Uncle Mo weanling.
Craig Bandoroff explained that the Violas decided to sell Photo Call because their current focus when it comes to breeding is producing dirt horses, and because they're staying in the family by keeping the War Front filly. That and they found the right time to sell.
Adding the win in the First Lady for the Violas made an already valuable horse worth even more. So, too, did the success of some close relatives since the Viola's purchase. She is a three-quarter sister to Magical and Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Magical has won four Group 1 races in Europe, including the recent QIPCO Champions S. and was second in the 2018 GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Her full sister, Rhododendron won the GI Dubai Fillies' Mile in 2016, the G1 Prix de l'Opera in 2017 and the G1 Lockinge S. in 2018.
“She ties into one of the best families in the studbook,” said Conrad Bandoroff, Craig's son and a Denali vice president. “She's from the family of champion Rhododendron, as well as champion Magical, who is a three-time Group 1 winner this year and ran second behind Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the Breeders' Cup Turf last year. She's off to a great start with two very high quality individuals, and with this Quality Road that she's carrying there really are endless possibilities.”
That she is now in foal to Quality Road is still another reason why she figures to be much in demand at the sale.
“I think Quality Road is kind of the perfect match also for a filly or a mare of the quality of Photo Call,” Browning said. “Quality Road can get you a top-notch colt or top-notch filly. He can get you a grass performer, he can get you a dirt performer. They go long, they go short. He really is an extremely versatile top notch stallion.”
Considering that Photo Call's biggest victories came on the grass and that she is by Europe's greatest sire, she very well could be heading overseas after the sale. But Americans looking for a dirt horse might also be in on the bidding as Quality Road has produced such dirt stars as Dunbar Road, Roadster, Bellafina and City of Light. Buyers from other countries, like Japan, might also get involved.
“Being one of the most accomplished daughters of Galileo in North America, and tying into that great family that she has, a family of two European champions, obviously she's going to have some tremendous European appeal,” said Conrad Bandoroff. “And Galileo is having success as a broodmare sire in Japan as well. So, she's a mare that really has appeal to all corners of the globe, whether it's Europe, Japan, or here in the United States. We would have every hope that she's going to become a benchmark mare for whoever buys her.”
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