‘Crown Jewel of Whitney Breeding Program’: Pretty Birdie to be Reoffered at Keeneland January

[Wandering Eyes]

When graded-stakes winner Pretty Birdie (Bird Song) went through the sales ring at Keeneland in November as part of the dispersal of the estate of the late John Hendrickson, she sold for $1.1 million to Stonestreet, but after the mare was observed cribbing at her new home, the sale was nullified and breeders will get a second chance to bid on the 5-year-old at next week's Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. Again consigned through Antony Beck's Gainesway, she will go through the ring as hip 453 during Monday's first session of the three-day auction.

“She was over at Stonestreet for about a week and I got a call from John Moynihan,” Gainesway's Brian Graves explained. “We had never seen her crib before. It's pretty minor, but it does exist. And so, dealing with an estate for the Whitneys and John Hendrickson, they couldn't really come to a resolution about how to fix it from a price perspective. I think the estate just felt more comfortable letting the natural market in January dictate the outcome.”

Pretty Birdie, who will sell without reserve, won the 2021 GIII Schuylerville Stakes and was second in the following year's GII Eight Belles Stakes. She is in foal to Candy Ride (Arg).

“I would think that every significant breeding operation in the U.S. will take a very serious look at Pretty Birdie,” Graves said. “And I would think that she would appeal to Japanese buyers. She is the full package. She was brilliantly fast at two when she won the prestigious Schuylerville. She has exceptional looks and balance to her. She is a the perfect prototype of a mare. She is drop-dead gorgeous.”

Pretty Birdie | Keeneland

Pretty Birdie's dam Bird Sense (Street Sense) is a half-sister to graded-placed Bird Maker (Empire Maker). Her fourth dam, Dear Birdie, produced champion and GI Kentucky Oaks winner Bird Town, as well as GI Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone.

“She represents four generations of Whitney blood, tracing back to Birdstone and Bird Town,” Graves said. “She is the crown jewel of the Whitney breeding program. And she is really a serious collector's item.”

Of the mare's cribbing, Graves said, “Horses in new settings, meeting new friends, can be a little anxious. Maybe she figured that out in that time period. When we turned her out with her buddies here, she went in the middle of the field and ate grass. But watching her very closely, if the pack goes up in the corner, she will chew on the fence a bit and every now and then, she will kind of crib on it a bit. It's nothing major, but for all the parties involved, this was the best resolution. The Whitneys are high-class people and at the end of the day, they just want the buyer to be 100% happy. There is no argument, this is the best resolution to a problem that popped up. We will announce her as a cribber.”

Gainesway will offer three horses on behalf of Hendrickson's estate at the January sale. In addition to Pretty Birdie, the consignment will also include a short yearling filly by Vekoma (hip 288), as well as Pow Wow Wow (Indian Charlie) (hip 1203). The 15-year-old mare was not bred last year, but her now 3-year-old Captain Cook (Practical Joke) was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following a 9 1/4-length maiden score at Aqueduct Dec. 28. He had sold for $410,000 the month before at the Keeneland Horses of Racing Age Sale.

“Captain Cook was impressive breaking his maiden last week,” Graves said. “That mare is now middle aged, but she has something serious on the horizon for herself.”

Captain Cook | Coglianese

Hendrickson died suddenly in August, five years after the passing of his wife, philanthropist and longtime breeder Marylou Whitney.

“John did an amazing job picking up where Marylou left off,” Graves said. “She was such a class person, very dear to the Becks. She introduced Antony to his wife. The Becks bought the farm from the Whitneys and we basically boarded and raised her horses from that day forward. And when she was gone, John did a lot of things in her honor to continue the things she started, with backstretch workers and hospitals for employees at the track there in Saratoga. It's just a big loss in general. And it's sad to see these horses go.”

The Keeneland January sale will be held next Monday through Wednesday, with sessions beginning each day at 10 a.m.

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