EGL-One almost had its first graded stakes winner when Storm Miami (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) led from start nearly to finish only to come up second best in the GII Glens Falls Stakes at Saratoga last Sunday, but the fledgling breeding operation of Eric Bensussen, his wife Gloria and brother Larry, will have another chance to hit a home run in upstate New York Tuesday when it sends a colt by Flightline (hip 177) through the sales ring during the second session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale. Consigned by Denali Stud, the yearling is the first foal out of stakes-winner Curlin's Catch (Curlin) and will be the first EGL-One-bred to be offered at the boutique auction.“It's a milestone achievement to have a horse in the Saratoga Select sale,” Bensussen said. “This is a dream come true for EGL-One.”The dream for Bensussen and his brother started back when they were kids, but fully blossomed thanks to their involvement with 2022 GI Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo).“We were part of the Donegal syndicate and when Mo Donegal had his run, it brought back all of these memories of when I was a kid,” Bensussen said. “My mom was into racing and my brothers and I kind of got into it. I was nine when I was reading the Racing Form. I just loved it. And when Mo made his run, it got me thinking.”While the racing success gave him the initial push, it was the breeding side of the business that ultimately hooked Bensussen, a native of Washington who co-founded the brand merchandising company Bensussen Deutsch and Associates.“To me, it would be great to race in the Triple Crown, but the bigger purpose for EGL is to create a champion, not necessarily racing the champion,” he said. “The creation means a little bit more to our team. It's a different perspective and a different purpose, but to us being a developer and a creator of something is more impactful than necessarily being the one that races a champion.”To that end, EGL-One began building a broodmare band in January 2023 and had its first few foals in 2024 before starting to hit its stride in 2025 when selling a colt by Epicenter out of Benvenutta (Tapit) (hip 630) for $675,000 to Pin Oak Stud at the Keeneland September sale. Benvenutta had been purchased with the colt in utero for $190,000 at the 2023 Keeneland November sale.At the following year's Keeneland November sale, EGL One through its bloodstock agent Amanda Gillman purchased Curlin's Catch, in foal to Flightline, for $375,000.“We loved the pedigree and her race record,” Bensussen said of the mare's appeal. “And the family has produced a lot of really good racehorses. Physically, she was very impressive. We wanted to have a Curlin broodmare of high quality. And then she was in foal to Flightline. The whole team said, 'OK, if we are going to get one, this is the one we want.' Sometimes, you go to an auction, you don't always get that luxury, but she fell into our hands. And we were ready to step up, too, because we loved her so much.”Curlin's Catch, winner of the 2021 Suncoast Stakes, is a daughter of Canadian champion Catch the Thrill (A.P. Indy), who in turn is a daughter of champion Catch the Ring (Seeking the Gold).Larry and Eric Bensussen with their Flightline colt | courtesy Eric BensussenThe mare's first foal impressed right from the start.“When he was foaled, I remember Conrad [Bandoroff] over at Denali calling me and saying, 'Eric, you may have a really good horse here. This colt looks the part,'” Bensussen recalled. “And every month we'd get the updates and go out and see him and he just got stronger and stronger.”Bensussen admitted it wasn't an easy decision to send the promising colt through the sales ring.“If I were racing to win the Derby, I would hold on to him,” he said. “But whoever acquires him, if they race him and he becomes a champion, I will be beyond…it might even be more than being the owner. We always want to win and we love racing, but the goal is to create a champion, for whoever owns and races him.”A competitive broodmare market has allowed the EGL-One partners the chance to enjoy the racing game.“What we've seen is the market has gone up significantly for high-quality broodmares,” Bensussen said. “So the concept is to race to develop a pipeline for additional broodmares.”“Everybody loves racing,” he continued. “So if there is a way to identify great pedigrees and physicals at a yearling or 2-year-old sale, and then race them and have fun with it, but with the intent that the pedigree is good enough and if we can build the racing resume to have them raise the quality of the broodmares, that's what will be the ultimate goal. But it is so much fun to race. We are totally smitten.”With the purchase of some yearling fillies last year, EGL-One expects to have a racing stable of four 2-year-old fillies this year.With an eye towards producing a broodmare from the racetrack, EGL-One purchased Storm Miami (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) for $155,000 at the Keeneland January sale this year. The 5-year-old mare, who broke her maiden going five furlongs at Naas in 2023, won a 1 1/16-mile allowance at Saratoga last summer before joining the barn of Amelia Green after the January auction.“Storm Miami is another example of how to find a horse at an auction that you absolutely love,” Bensussen said. “We loved the way she raced. Amanda Gillman loved the horse, so we acquired her. And once Amelia got a hold of Storm Miami, she developed. She was incredibly well-conditioned, but she noticed that she might want to go longer. In her first couple of races, she wasn't quite getting there, and we tried her going long and we unlocked a lot of talent and potential with her.”Stretched to 1 3/8 miles while making her graded stakes debut, Storm Miami finished second in the GIII Sheepshead Bay Stakes at Aqueduct in May. She finished third–disqualified to fourth–at that same distance in the July 13 GIII Richard G. Dick Memorial Stakes and found only Survie too good in the 1 1/2-mile Glens Falls Sunday.“That race was so exciting,” Bensussen said of the Glens Falls. “We thought at the sixteenth pole we had a chance, but I was so excited, high-fiving and hugging everyone, saying we were second in a Grade II at Saratoga, are you kidding? Where was that even on the bingo card? Never even thought of something like that. So it was really fun.”Storm Miami will ultimately find her way to the EGL-One broodmare band.“The goal was to race to improve her resume,” Bensussen explained. “We definitely want her to be part of the broodmare band. We are not sure when because she is still racing well.”EGL-One currently has seven broodmares, boarded at Denali Stud and at Hill 'n' Dale, but Bensussen expects that number to increase.“The goal is 12 high-quality broodmares,” he said. “Everything is about quality and about caring for the horses.”Care of the horses seems to always be paramount to Bensussen.“It's interesting, when you watch racing, you don't really have that great connection,” he explained. “When you own and get to know horses, the love and the connection between the animal and human is so incredible. That's been the biggest revelation and it has really added to our purpose. Not only do we want great quality broodmares that can create a champion, we want to do it the right way and treat them with the very best care.”He continued, “That's why I love what Amelia Green is doing on the racing side, her passion for caring for the horses. Her line is always 'A happy horse is the key.' So 'happy horse' is kind of our saying. She lives by that and we do, too. Denali takes great care of the broodmares and the foals and the yearlings, as does Hill 'n' Dale. They all have tremendous teams.”Curlin's Catch, meanwhile, produced a filly by Into Mischief this year and was bred back to Gun Runner.“Curlin's Catch is the best example of what we want to build,” Bensussen said. “We have other really great broodmares that are producing, but this is the ultimate goal, to have this kind of quality. We love horses and we want them well cared for and we want them to go to a good home. That's the key here.”Asked what it would be like to watch Curlin's Catch's yearling go through the sales ring Tuesday, Bensussen said, “A lot of nerves. I've got so many photos and videos of him as he developed. And it's bittersweet, but at the same time, if the right people buy him, I am going to be really excited for them and again to me, watching him race for someone will be an honor. I am OK with it. Because I want him to go to a good owner. That's our hope.”With an infectious enthusiasm, Bensussen admitted, “I am so new to this, I am excited about everything. The industry has it's issues, but man, it's the best sport. To me, it's my number one sport. Because it is the human with an animal, the jockey relationship, the trainer relationship, the grooms, everybody on the team plays a role in making a horse happy. And it's really important to everything that we do.”The Fasig-TIpton Saratoga Select Sale will be held Monday and Tuesday at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion. Both sessions begin at 6:30 p.m.The post ‘We’re Smitten’: EGL-One to Offer Its First Saratoga Yearling appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.