Breezes for Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale to Take Place on Monday

In advance of the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale on Apr. 13-14, the breezes will be held over the Rowley Mile at Newmarket beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Monday morning. Tattersalls has ensured that there are multiple options to view the breezes, including live vide coverage streamed directly to the Sale Day Live page on the Tattersalls website: www.tattersalls.com. In addition, the breezes may be viewed on the Tattersalls YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Tattersalls1766/ or on the Tattersalls Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Tattersalls/.

Replays of the breezes will also be available for viewing on the Tattersalls website shortly after each breeze. The catalogue features 169 2-year-olds, with all lots eligible for the £250,000 Craven Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus, as well as the £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus. In the last five years, the sale has produced 49 stakes winners.

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Niall Brennan Stables Keeping the Stars Coming

Niall Brennan is riding high heading into this week's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale as this year, a pair of his program's graduates have developed into two of the hottest colts in training early on in the season.

Just last weekend, Godolphin's 'TDN Rising Star' Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) was much the best in the G1 Dubai World Cup and trainer Mike Stidham said after the race that the 4-year-old colt is just going to get better.

Meanwhile, another Godolphin homebred in Eclipse Champion Essential Quality (Tapit) looks to maintain his undefeated career in this weekend's GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland in his final prep looking towards the first Saturday in May.

“I'm very humbled and blessed to have some of the Godolphin horses every year,” Brennan said. “They're very well raised and obviously all have wonderful pedigrees. It's great working with [Godolphin USA President] Jimmy Bell and [COO] Dan Pride. They give you a lot of leeway in developing these young horses. There's no pressure to move them along in the program. Anything that needs time, we just back right off.”

A regally bred 'TDN Rising Star', Essential Quality thrived on the patience given him at Brennan's training center in Ocala.

“Essential Quality just kept getting better and better,” Brennan recalled. “The more we did with him, the stronger he got. The more he liked it, the more competitive he got. The good horses do that. I know when Brad Cox got Essential Quality and he put in his first works at Keeneland, he did everything right and it turned out that he just kept getting better and better and thankfully, he has stayed healthy. That's part of the key when you've got these really good ones, you just pray they stay healthy.”

After securing his Eclipse title last year with a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and then taking the GIII Southwest S. in his sophomore debut, the gray colt heads into his final prep sitting at or near the top of most every Derby poll.

“He was an exciting colt, but we treat them all the same here,” Brennan said. “We don't ever think, 'well this one is going to win the Derby.' I mean, you can't get like that. You just take it day to day and watch for the ones that continue to improve and do very well.”

At Wednesday's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale, Brennan has one filly in his consignment that he believes has done just that.

Hip 126, a Curlin filly bred by Mike Ryan and the late Gerry Dilger, was given all the time she needed to reach her best before going through the sales ring.

“I think she was a little bit immature as a yearling and [Ryan and Dilger] felt like a little more time would only be beneficial,” Brennan noted. “They always loved her.”

The February-foaled chestnut is a daughter of GSW and GISP Above Perfection (In Excess {Ire}), the dam of 2017 GI Kentucky Derby winner and WinStar sire Always Dreaming (Bodemeister), 2009 GI Spinaway S. winner Hot Dixie Chick (Dixie Union) and GIISW Positive Spirit (Pioneerof the Nile). Hot Dixie Chick has since produced the stakes-winning 'TDN Rising Star' and Sequel New York stallion Union Jackson (Curlin), as well as a recent addition to the TDN Oaks Top 10 list in GIII Honeybee S. runner-up Pauline's Pearl (Tapit), who is entered for Saturday's GIII Fantasy S.

“It's a collector's pedigree,” Brennan said. “It's without question, the best pedigree in the book. At the 2-year-old sales, you rarely find a filly with her pedigree, so I would seriously think people would be lined up to get at this filly. She's a lovely physical and a real Curlin. She's got a tremendous way of going on the racetrack with a great presence, great mind and great demeanor. She's the whole package. You don't find many like this, truthfully.”

At Monday's under tack show, the filly breezed in :10 1/5.

“When you see her on the track, she just gives you goose pimples,” Brennan said. “But to see her walk home after she breezes, she's like an older horse. I've been lucky to be around a lot of really good horses as 2-year-olds and there's only a few in every crop that have a chance to be very special, and she's certainly one of them.”

Brennan's three-horse consignment at Gulfstream also includes Hip 134, a Flatter filly out of the stakes-placed mare Ire (Political Force) that breezed in :10 2/5, as well as Hip 137, a full-brother to 2016 GI Spinaway S. winner Sweet Loretta (Tapit).

“This horse has grown a lot and he's a good size. He's a stretchy colt with a lot of scope to him,” Brennan said, referring to hip 137. “There's a lot of potential here. It's a very good pedigree and he's a horse that will only improve, no question. He has the ability and the athleticism to be here at this stage, but in his mind, he's going to continue to get better and better as he learns what this whole game is about.”

The son of the stakes-placed mare Ithinkisawapudycat (Bluegrass Cat) breezed in :10 3/5 on Monday.

Brennan said he is optimistic going into this week's juvenile auction following a successful OBS March Sale earlier this month.

“We were very happy with the OBS sale,” Brennan noted. ” The one thing that was the common denominator, the one opinion that all the buyers looking around had said, was that there were a lot of nice horses. Accordingly, I think the results showed that, because it was very strong, it was very fair at the top end but there was a good depth to the market with a lot of people trying to buy horses. It wasn't just that they landed on a few, so I think the market spread out really well.”

He continued, “It bodes very well for the sales coming up that many people are excited about having racehorses. Obviously people were locked down all last year with COVID and couldn't operate as normal. I think some people are more anxious now to get out and get back to living their lives. They want something for this summer and fall and then hopefully into next year as Derby dreaming has started already.”

Last year, 2016 GI Kentucky Derby winner and Darley stallion Nyquist, a graduate of Brennan's program, led his freshman class of sires with GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies champion Vequist and another Grade I-winning juvenile in Gretzky the Great.

The son of Uncle Mo was a successful $230,000 yearling turned $400,000 pinhook at this sale for Brennan and his partners in 2015.

“As I'm reflecting back, I'm just very humbled to have been around so many good horses over the years,” Brennan said. “With Nyquist, he was a pinhook for Mike Ryan, myself and our partnership, so that's even more gratifying because you're involved the whole way. We loved him all along and the fact that he went on to be what he became wasn't a surprise to us. Obviously he's gotten off to a great start at stud.  They're very consistent and they're very like him.”

Eight second-crop sons and daughters of Nyquist are set to go through the sales ring this week at Gulfstream. Hip 28, the first foal out of the Smart Strike mare Spinning Wheel, led Monday's under-tack show after firing a bullet :9 4/5 work.

One freshman sire that Brennan has high hopes for this year is yet another graduate of his program in 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner. The young sire led his class last year by average yearling sales price.

“He was immature as a 2-year-old,  but he was still very athletic,” Brennan recalled. “He had tremendous athletic ability and the will to do it. He was the whole package, he just wasn't filled out into that package yet.”

While it wasn't until the end of Gun Runner's sophomore campaign that he scored his first of six Grade I victories, Brennan said that of the Gun Runner progeny he has seen, they seem to be developing much earlier than their sire.

“I've been impressed with them so far,” he said. “Like him, they love to train and they've got the right attitude. I'd say the only difference I've seen is that they are more mature in their bodies at this stage. They've all got more substance and more strength than their daddy. It bodes well for him because he got better and better as he got older. I think that's what the Gun Runners will do. They can have speed, but I do think they'll stretch out without any problem.”

Five sons and daughters of the Three Chimneys sire are slated to go through the ring at Gulfstream including Hip 100, a half-brother to GISW Finley'sluckycharm (Twirling Candy).

“Good horses excite you, no question,” Brennan said. “It's fun every spring to look at the new crops from freshman sires and see if some of them have that same consistency. Obviously, they have to get lucky and get to good homes to get a chance, but there are several exciting young sires again this year.”

The Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale begins this Wednesday at 2 p.m. Tune in to watch live at https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/live/.

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Juvenile Sales Put Fourth-Book Sires Back on the Map

By the time a stallion's fourth book opens, the team behind him is usually pulling out all their stops to fill those pages. But perhaps no marketing technique in their repertoire can have quite the same effect as just one big price tag when the stallion's first crop of juveniles go to market.

At last week's OBS March Sale, three first-crop juvenile sires were represented by youngsters that surpassed the $500,000 mark in the sales ring, and representatives from each of their respective farms said the phone has been ringing off the hook for breeding contracts since.

The first young sire to score a half-million-dollar sale was Lane's End's 'TDN Rising Star' Unified, when Hip 163, a Wavertree-consigned colt out of Promise Me a Cat (D'wildcat), hammered home for $530,000. The $190,000 KEESEP graduate had clocked the fastest quarter mile of Thursday's breeze show, going in :20 2/5.

Lane's End's Bill Farish said that since the colt's headline-worthy sale, Unified's book has received a major bump in numbers.

“We've gotten over 30 new contracts and they're still coming in,” Farish said. “So he's going to end up with a really nice book of mares. He's getting very close to full.”

While Unified was busy in his first two years at stud with a combined 254 mares bred, he only managed a 68-mare book in 2020, a number sure to be surpassed this year after his first crop's splash at OBS.

Six of his juveniles went through the sales ring in Ocala, including two additional six-figure colts. A $19,000 FTOCT graduate, Hip 110 returned to the auction ring to sell to Spendthrift Farm for $400,000. Later that day, Hip 159 went for $120,000.

While Unified's $43,390 average at the yearling sales last year kept him just short of the top 10 first-crop yearling sires, a $231,000 average coming out of the OBS sale has him in the early running for the leading 2-year-old sales average within his class.

“They certainly looked, as yearlings, like they would be good 2-year-olds,” Farish said. “But once you get a saddle under them and they get into training, you can tell a lot more about if that's a genuine thing or not. It certainly looks like Unified is answering the questions the right way.”

A second first-crop juvenile sire garnered attention before the sale began when Hip 531, a son of Spendthrift's Gormley, fired a :9 4/5 bullet at the breeze show. On the second day of the sale, the $160,000 Fasig-Tipton Select yearling pinhook for Eddie Woods's Quarter Pole Enterprises went for $550,000 to Breeze Easy LLC.

“I got calls from several people about that horse,” Spendthrift's Mark Toothaker said of the youngster. “I had heard Eddie reviewing his group before the sale and he talked highly of him before he ever breezed, so that lets you know you're seeing some nice things moving towards the sale.”

Toothaker said that he, too, has been busy taking calls from breeders interested in sending mares to Gormley.

“I think we've done about a dozen seasons off of the sale,” Toothaker said. “We're hoping that he can follow it up with another strong sale in Miami [at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale, Mar. 31] to really get us some momentum, but we definitely picked up some business. It isn't to the point yet where we're full and trying to turn people away, but it certainly has helped.”

Toothaker added that Gormley's success at OBS is also reflected in the attention he's received from Share the Upside investors.

“One of the things we've seen is that some of the people who had not named a mare on their free spot now have called and have named a mare,” he said. “So we have picked up some business with the sale, but it has also stimulated our breeding right holders to go ahead and breed a mare to him this year. We've been reaching out to folks to make the pitch that, 'Hey, this horse is right there for leading freshman sire. Wouldn't you want one in foal to him?'”

Eddie Woods-consigned colt out of Green Eyed Cat (Tale of the Cat) one of three juveniles to reach six figures for Spendthrift's Gormley. | Photos by Z

Gormley was represented by eight juveniles at the OBS Sale. Of the seven sold, three reached the six-figure mark. Another Eddie Woods trainee, Hip 371, brought $250,000 while Hip 234 went to Patrick Biancone for $130,000. Gormley's $153,857 average from the sale increased off his $37,544 yearling average last year.

“When you sell them as yearlings, there's a missing piece in the equation,” Toothaker replied when asked on what changed as Gormley's first crop matured from yearlings to juveniles. “They can look fast as yearlings, but when you go through the ring as 2-year-olds they have to be fast. I think Gormley just separated himself out. [Last year], everyone looked at him as a horse with a modest stud fee and he probably sold his yearlings where they should have sold. Then when they had a chance to perform on the track, that changed the metrics and he increased his average dramatically.”

Breeding a combined 307 mares in his first two years, Gormley bred 72 mares last year off a $7,500 stud fee.

Both Toothaker and Farish spoke about the major impact a strong showing at the early juvenile sales can have on a stallion's book in his fourth year at stud.

“The 2-year-old sales are big help,” Toothaker said. “They get your name out there and it makes people take a second look. That's all you're asking, is to still be in the game.”

“When you have a fourth-year sire, nowadays with the large books it gets tougher and tougher to find mares until breeders have something to believe in because it's a big risk to breed to a fourth-year sire if you're not very encouraged by what you're seeing,” Farish echoed. “When they have good results at the sales it can really make a difference.”

Both Gormley and Unified will have to contend with a third major player for leading freshman sire status.

Practical Joke made a major splash at last week's sale with a $750,000 sales topper and four more juveniles reaching six figures, and while Coolmore's Adrian Wallace said the farm has received inquiries about the Ashford resident over the last few days, his book was full before the sale began.

“Yes, we've gotten calls on Practical Joke this week, but unfortunately we've been unable to fulfill their requests because Practical Joke is the worst-kept secret out there,” he said. “His 2-year-olds have been doing very, very well and they have been from the beginning, so most people were aware that the horse has been full before we got to see the results from the March sale.”

Practical Joke's leading sale at OBS was Hip 311, a filly out of Peruvian champion Valiant Emilia (Per) (Pegasus Wind). A $120,000 KEESEP purchase for Top Line Sales LLC, the daughter of the buzzed-about sire brought $750,000 after breezing in :9 4/5.

Wallace reported that Gabriela Alvarez-Calderon of Teneri Farms already has Valiant Emilia slated to return to Practical Joke again this year.

The son of Into Mischief has maintained a large book in his first few years at stud, seeing 220 mares in 2018 before filling a 200 and 188-mare book the following two years. His $120,243 yearling average last year placed him amongst the top five first-crop yearling sires.

Last week, he saw seven youngsters go through the ring with five selling to average $296,000. Hip 113, a colt out of SW Mystic City (City Zip) brought $210,000 while four hips earlier, a filly from the Old South Farm consignment sold for $200,000.

“Not a single race has been run yet and we're very mindful of that, but nevertheless it's good to see them in demand and gallop out so well at the breeze sale, and then see a continuation of what they achieved as yearlings,” Wallace said.

Practical Joke filly goes for $750,000 to top the OBS March Sale. | Photos by Z

While Practical Joke didn't necessarily need the added boost of a near-million-dollar sale in order to fill this year's book, Wallace said the added publicity does nothing but help in kicking off this young sire's fourth year at stud.

“It makes them relevant,” Wallace replied when asked what a successful sale helps achieve for a young stallion. “The first-season sires, as most people are aware, are the ones that are easy to sell. They're the ones people put their faith in and they're fresh in people's minds, possibly because they could be the next biggest thing but also because they've never done anything wrong. There's less risk involved.”

He continued, “By the time you get to the fourth and fifth year, the talking stops and the advertising stops, so it very much depends on how they sold as yearlings and how the 2-year-old buyers perceive them. If you're lucky enough to have a horse that's well-received in the marketplace, then it's all well and good.”

One first-crop juvenile Ashford resident that did reap the benefits of a solid OBS Sale was Cupid. Off a $46,786 yearling average last year, the son of Tapit was represented by two six-figure juvenile sales in Ocala, and Wallace reported that his fourth book has increased by 20 mares in the past week.

Both Farish and Toothaker echoed that several of their first-year juvenile sires cashed in on the results of last week.

Spendthrift's Lord Nelson averaged $103,937 at OBS with Hip 67, a colt out of SP Luna Dorada (Seeking the Gold) selling for $385,000.

Toothaker said the son of Pulpit had 15 slots remaining going into last week, and those spots have since been filled.

“We've been saying here for a month that we felt like with a good showing from Lord Nelson and Gormley there at OBS, it would probably finish Lord Nelson off and spark a fire underneath the breeding right holders on Gormley,” he explained.

Meanwhile Lane's End's Connect had three six-figure sales, including Hip 503, a colt that sold for $290,000 to Narvick International.

Connect has a really good group going to Gulfstream, and from what I'm told an even better group going to the April sale,” Farish said. “He's picked up some mares, not as many as Unified, but I think his better ones are in the sales to come.”

Farish can remember another stallion at Lane's End from not too long ago that saw an explosion in demand after his first juveniles went through the sales ring.

“Stephen Got Even had a 2-year-old bring $2 million and change that Sheikh Mohammed bought,” he recalled. “His book jumped by over 100 when that happened. It was absolutely amazing. It has to be genuine when that happens because everybody down there in Ocala is too savvy, so it has to be real and that certainly set his book on fire, and Unified has had a similar reaction.”

Wallace said that Munnings is one Ashford sire that comes to mind as one who saw a jump in demand after his first juvenile sales, while Toothaker reported the same of Goldencents at Spendthrift.

Looking at the bigger picture, Farish said that for now, his sale's team must hold their breath as the whims of the market help decide the size of their stallions' fourth book, but in the future, The Jockey Club's 140-mare cap could change this trend.

“What we've seen in the last 10 years is that it's tougher and tougher to fill any stallion that is not a first year or proven,” he said. “When you're in that crucial second-through-fourth year, it's very competitive because the first-year and proven stallions are getting so many mares that it doesn't leave room for the unproven stallions. With the mare cap, all those mares are going to have to go somewhere. They're going to have to go either to additional new stallions or the second-through-fourth-year horses and hopefully smooth out that transition.”

Taylor Made's Midnight Storm (average $190,000, top price $240,000) and Airdrie's American Freedom (average $123,666 average, top price $260,000) were also in the top five first-crop sires by average.

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