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We’ve mentioned before the need to be flexible when it comes to breeding plans, for a variety of different reasons. In this particular instance, we’ve had to call it off with I’m Engaged and Jimmy Creed after her owners acquired another mare who is a great fit with that initial intended mate — and rather than put all their eggs in the same basket (even if Jimmy Creed’s basket is one that we believe in), the more prudent path is to diversify. Therefore, I’m Engaged will now visit Collected at Airdrie in 2021.
We were huge fans of Collected upon his retirement for the 2019 breeding season and sent Paluxy Princess his way that first season. After 9 of his first weanlings averaged almost $60,000 last fall, he remains a horse that we have enormous faith in, for a variety of reasons:
First, Collected is a drop-dead gorgeous specimen — he’s medium-sized, incredibly well-balanced and masculine with a lovely neck and shoulder, plenty of bone, and a correct front end (not always a given with offspring by his sire, City Zip). His resemblance to the successful racehorse and sire Blushing Groom (who appears in the 4th generation of Collected’s pedigree, as does his half-sister Allicance (the 4th dam of Collected), meaning Collected is inbred 5×5, sex-balanced, to their dam Runaway Bride) is uncanny and has been remarked upon plenty. Collected and I’m Engaged make an excellent, like-to-like physical match, and their foal will be inbred 5×5 to Blushing Groom, and thus line-bred 6x6x6 to Runaway Bride.
Collected also ran to his looks, showing all of the versatility for which City Zip was known — a debut winner and Grade 3-placed sprinting on turf at 2, Collected stretched out to win a trio of Triple Crown preps as a 3-year-old in the Grade 3 Sham, the Grade 3 Lexington and the Sunland Park Derby, then after a subpar effort in the Preakness he was given time off and returned at 4 to reel off smashing victories in the Santana Mile, the Grade 2 Californian, the Grade 3 Precisionist (by 14 lengths, earning a 111 Beyer) and the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at a mile-and-a-quarter over his Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Arrogate (earning a 115 Beyer). He subsequently finished 2nd in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and although his 5-year-old campaign did not stack up, he had already done plenty to assure himself a place at stud, with 8 wins in 15 starts and $2.9 million in earnings.
Collected’s sire City Zip passed in 2017 after a somewhat rags-to-riches stud career (to exaggerate it slightly) during which he moved from New York to Kentucky and got a plethora of good horses across the distance and surface spectrum. And while City Zip has a couple of sons that have done quite well with the opportunities so far presented to them (like Run Away and Hide), Collected was by far the highest-profile stallion prospect by his sire to head to stud after coming to hand once City Zip’s worth had finally been realized (though in the interim, Improbable put together an Eclipse caliber campaign in 2020 and retires for this spring at a $40,000 fee).
In addition to his top-class sire-line, Collected has a well-cultivated female family as referenced above, and he outran the distance limitations suggested by a pedigree containing City Zip over Johannesburg, Danehill and Lyphard — which also might have suggested more turf than dirt, in contrast with Collected’s actual race record.
And finally, Collected stands at a farm in Airdrie that knows how to make a good stallion.
We already mentioned how nice this pairing is physically, but Collected also suits I’m Engaged for plenty of pedigree-related reasons, too: (1) she’s a half-sister to the grade 2 winner Fiery Pursuit, by Collected’s grandsire Carson City, (2) City Zip rates an A++ nick with I’m Engaged’s sire Broken Vow, having produced a pair of graded stakes winners (namely Caribou Club and Stays In Vegas) from just 5 foals to race, all of which are winners and 4 of which have black-type(!), and (3) the Carson City/Private Account cross is good for an A nick, having produced 11% stakes winners to runners.
All of which makes us very excited to be able to send I’m Engaged back to Airdrie this spring to visit Collected after she delivers her 2021 foal by his barnmate Include.
I’m Engaged’s half-sister by Carson City, Fiery Pursuit, wins the G2 Louisville Breeders’ Cup
Collected wins the Grade 1 Pacific Classic over Arrogate & Accelerate
Collected wins the Grade 2 Californian
Collected wins the Grade 3 Precisionist by 14 lengths, over Accelerate
Collected wins the Grade 3 Lexington