Astute attendees at the Year Nineteen New Year Sale may have witnessed Stride of Perfection owner Amber Black selling three horses - City of Ruins, Lady Pegasus, and Valaska - but also acquiring two new ones. [Even more astute racegoers may have realized that Prometheus has been put out on mysterious loan to another barn for Year Nineteen.]

To hear Amber Black describe it, one of these purchases was completely on purpose, and the other completely "accidental". We'll start with the purposeful purchase - four-year-old mare All In.

This stunning chestnut grade four is a sprinter-miler type, running six to nine furlongs over the dirt. One look at this pedigree is enough reason to figure out why Ms. Black couldn't resist picking this horse up - she's by Gamble On Peace, a known personal favorite, and out of Cry Out Chaos. To boot, SOPS hadn't possessed either of these bloodlines in their stock prior to this purchase. Take the clearly untapped potential of this horse, and you have a winning combination. On the ground, this mare is described as being a bit of a diva, with a penchant for temper tantrums and the need to abide by a strictly regimented schedule. People might remember the commotion this horse would start before all of her races; All In is prone to cause a whole bunch of black-market bets to be exchanged on whether she'll throw a paddock tantrum or not before each of her races. This mare had some light HoTY experience as a juvenile and was a solid but unexemplary performer in Year Eighteen. It is clear that SOPS is seeking to turn the mare around.

Their other purchase, Paragon, was acquired on impulse. Salesgoers may remember how the horse was nearly a no-sale, the auctioneer stood there in silence for about thirty seconds looking for bids, and suddenly Ms. Black broke free of the restraining arm of Ms. Krystal Yhate to raise her hand and bid for the horse. The fiery bay four year old is grade five and runs nine to twelve furlongs over both surfaces - perhaps replacing some of the versatility lost by Prometheus's leasing to another barn. Paragon also hails from lines that SOPS does not have, being by Aces Diamond Rio and out of Utopia. It's clear that Ms. Black is engaged in one of her bloodline collection schemes with this one, though Ms. Black claims that she can simply identify a good project when she sees one. The horse is described as territorial in the barn and somewhat like a volcano that varies between states of dormancy and eruption in terms of his moods, but Ms. Black had nothing but fond words to say about this horse. Despite his grade five status, Paragon didn't finish out of the money throughout his classic season, and Amber believes she's sitting on a big usurper for Year Nineteen.

There you have it - SOPS's two new acquisitions for the beginning of the year. Their first starts have not yet been declared, but doubtless they will both put on a show!