Quickly, though, Sadler's carefully curated
approach brought dividends.
Hronis regards Lady of Shamrock—a
"fairly inexpensive" purchase in 2011—as
the foundation of the brothers' current rac-
ing operation. A maiden winner pre-sale,
Lady of Shamrock ended up with two GI
victories in the bag and nearly $1 million
in the bank. At the 2013 Keeneland No-
vember Breeding Stock Sale, she left the
ring with a $2 million price tag. Every pen-
ny was re-invested. "Everything she did we
put right back in the business," Kosta said.
"That was the horse that no doubt pushed
us towards expanding."
Since then, there's been a string of big
names, many, if not all, acquired on the val-
ue end of the scale—like Iotapa, claimed
for $50,000 before going on to amass
more than $1 million in purses. Stellar
Wind had won only a maiden at Laurel
Park when they purchased her privately.
She subsequently won nearly $3 million
before going through the 2017 Novem-
ber sale for $6 million. Hard Aces. Talco
(Fr). Vagabond Shoes (Ire). Elektrum (Ire).
All of them reasonably purchased graded
stakes winners.
Then along came Accelerate.
