2024 Midshipman - Desert Rendezvous

Why We Bought This Horse

UPDATE 4/26/24: Desert Rendezvous foaled a healthy colt, who we have nicknamed "Doublemint".

• Rendezvous was covered on May 9, 2023, by Midshipman and WVS purchased her at the Keeneland November 2023 sale.   Our anticipation is that this foal will be Maryland-bred.
• This is a 2023 Individual Foal Offering and is subject to the WVS Individual Foal Program Addendum to the Wasabi Ventures Stables Thoroughbred Management Agreement.   
•   Highlights of the program:
  • Fixed Price on the Offering - No Ongoing Bills
  • Limited Exposure - Like WVS Racing Programs, there is no chance for Future Expenses. If the Foal offering loses money, WVS absorbs those costs
  • Finite Time - The Foal Offering will be liquidated sometime in its yearling year, so you know when an offering ends.  Because you are not buying the mare, you have a finite time period of commitment (e.g. 6 to 18 months)
  • Reduced Risk - WVS will only open a Foal Offering once a mare has checked in foal to the chosen stallion
  • Perpetual Breeders Bonuses - Even after the foal is sold, a Club member can continue to earn breeding bonuses for the racing life of the horse.
  • You can watch a video about this program by visiting here. 

The BASE PRICE of this foal is $42,100

• Mare Lease $20,000
• Stallion Fee - $0
• Vanning Expense - $2,000
• Boarding Fee Estimate - $13,000
• Insurance - $4,500
• Vet Estimate - $2,000
• Registration Fees (Jockey Club and State Fees) - $600

Desert Rendezvous was bred by the multiple Eclipse Award-winning Godolphin, a worldwide powerhouse in the breeding and racing industry, and she is from a typically deep and active female family.

Her sire, Hard Spun, was a tough and durable campaigner who is now consistently among the leading stallions in the country, having sired the likes of G1Ws Spun To Run, Aloha West, Hard Not To Like, Questing, Wicked Strong, Silver State, etc. As a broodmare sire, he is already responsible for the dams of 40 stakes winners, including Eclipse Champion and leading young sire Good Magic, G1W Danon Smash, 2023 multiple graded winner Webslinger, etc.

Placed two times at around a mile on turf during her own five-race career for trainer Michael Stidham, Desert Rendezvous is out of the G2W Sahara Gold, by Seeking the Gold. As such, Desert Rendezvous is a half-sister to the multiple G1W Better Lucky (dam of two black-type runners already, with Quality Road and Essential Quality foals in the pipeline), to G3W Sahara Heat, to stakes winner Final Frontier, to the dam of G3Ws Prevalence and Estihdaaf plus SW Libreta and 2023 multiple stakes-placed Loyal Company, and to the dam of 2023 G3-placed Groveland as well as to the dam of Panamanian champion Outskirt Lady.

Desert Rendezvous's second dam, Desert Stormer, won the Breeders' Cup Sprint-G1 over males and is the granddam of G2W/G1P Casino Host.

Desert Stormer's full-sister Desert Stormette is the dam of SW Desert Gold (by Seeking the Gold and thus closely-related to Sahara Gold, and who produced G1W White Moonstone) and the granddam of G2W and exciting young sire Independence Hall plus his G3W half-brother Black Onyx.

Desert Rendezvous herself has produced the following:

• 2021 Favorite Haunt (gelding by Ghostzapper). Raced twice at 2YO for trainer Michael Stidham.
• 2022 (colt by Ghostzapper). Retained by Godolphin.
• 2023 (filly by Connect). Retained by Godolphin.

Wasabi acquired Desert Rendezvous for $40,000 at the 2023 Keeneland November Sale carrying a foal by the veteran value sire Midshipman. (edited) 

In addition to her typically deep and high-class Godolphin female family, Desert Rendezvous was acquired carrying a foal by one of our favorite proven Kentucky value sires, Midshipman.

A winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile-G1 and Eclipse Champion 2YO, Midshipman has carved out a successful stallion career at Darley by siring precocious and versatile runners like he was himself, with his best runners including the Chilean Triple Crown winner Fortino and G1W Royal Ship (also a graded winner in the USA), as well as graded stakes winners like Dearest, Lady Shipman (the dam of Golden Pal), Special Reserve, Princess Warrior, Fun and Feisty, etc. He is also the sire of 2023 juvenile stakes winners Amidst Waves and Ship Cadet.

When mated to Hard Spun mares like Desert Rendezvous, Midshipman has accounted for the likes of the aforementioned G2W Special Reserve, as well as the very fast SPW Queen of Shades. With Danzig-line mares more broadly he has also sired the additional SWs Allied Air Raid and Navy Armed Guard. And his 2023 juvenile SW Ship Cadet, mentioned above, is out of a mare by Harbor the Gold, a son of Seeking the Gold (who is Desert Rendezvous's broodmare sire).

Physically this pairing should work well as well -- both Midshipman and Desert Rendezvous are strongly-made, medium-sized horses, and he should add just a bit of substance to her foal while complimenting all of the speed and versatility in her pedigree very nicely!