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Collected Filly on Top as Book 4 Concludes

Demand remained high as the Book 4 section of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale concluded with a daughter of first-crop sire Collected leading home a top one-two-three finish for Ontario-breds when selling for a session-topping $320,000 to Speedway Stables. Bloodstock agent Marette Farrell made the winning bid on behalf of Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner's operation and the yearling was bred and consigned by Dave Anderson's Anderson Farms.

“It's the greatest market I've ever seen in my lifetime,” Anderson said of the September sale. “I have never been so busy in Books 3 and 4 as I was in the last few days. And to see the people in the back ring, it's unreal. It's like Book 1 and 2. I've never seen anything like it. I think there is a lot of money out there and there are a lot of good opportunities. But people are breeding better horses. We've weeded out a lot of the riff-raff and people are realizing they have to have quality to play at the top and I think it's been pretty evident in the prices.”

A total of 643 yearlings sold in the two-session Book 4 for a gross of $48,361,500. The book average was $75,212 and the median was $52,000.

During the 2020 Book 4 section, conducted during the pre-vaccine pandemic, 509 yearlings sold for $23,882,500 for an average of $46,920 and a median of $30,000. The section's top-priced yearling was $320,000–one of 11 to sell for $200,000 or more during the two sessions. Thirty-nine reached that threshold this year.

For pre-pandemic comparisons, the 2019 Book 4 section saw 583 head gross $29,058,200 for an average of $49,843 and a median of $36,000.

Farrell agreed it's been pretty competitive through eight sessions of the 11-day auction.

“I haven't seen this kind of energy in a long, long time,” she said. “It's wonderful for the people in the business, but it's absolutely wild in the streets.”

The Keeneland September sale continues through Friday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

Collected Filly to Speedway

Collected carried the colors of Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner's Speedway Stables to victory in the 2017 GI TVG Pacific Classic and, with his first foals now yearlings, the partners were keen to support the stallion. Through bloodstock agent Marette Farrell, Speedway purchased a filly (hip 2622) by the Airdrie Stud stallion for a session-topping $320,000 Tuesday at Keeneland.

“We were thrilled to get her,” Farrell said. “I thought she was an absolute princess and an amazing mover. Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner wanted me to go out and find what I thought–and I hope I'm right–was the best Collected. And this is the one that I picked.”

The Ontario-bred yearling, bred and consigned by Anderson Farms, is out of the unraced Bezzera (Medaglia d'Oro). The mare is a full-sister to Canadian Horse of the Year Wonder Gadot and a half-sister to Grade I winner Hard Not To Love (Hard Spun).

Farrell acquired another daughter of Collected (hip 437) for $50,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Yearling Sale last month.

“We really do believe in Collected,” Farrell said. “We looked at every single one of them on the grounds. And I am excited about what he may do next year. He was a Grade I winner on the dirt, but he's from the Blushing Groom family that was all grass. Every one that I've seen is so powerful. They are all really beautiful movers. And I really think they are going to come out running as 2-year-olds next year.”

Farrell added that buying from regional programs with strong purse structures is an added bonus.

“When we bought the Collected filly, a New York-bred, we wanted to support some of the state-bred horses,” she said. “And the purses in Canada are amazing. It's nice to have the advantage of utilizing that.”

Dave Anderson purchased Loving Vindication (Vindication) for $180,000 at the 2011 Keeneland January sale and bred Wonder Gadot and Hard Not to Love out of her, in addition to the session-topping yearling's dam Bezzera.

“She comes from a wonderful family and I've been fortunate enough to breed some of them,” Anderson said. “I know what the good ones look like in that family. And she really emulated what those other ones looked like. I think Collected added a whole new dimension to the pedigree and brought a lot of great traits. She is just an unbelievable athlete.”

Also Tuesday, Anderson sold another daughter of Collected (hip 2501) for $150,000 to the bid of Matthew Dohman.

“They are athletes. Every single one of them,” Anderson said of Collected's offspring. “They are just such fluid, gifted movers. I am really excited about what he's going to do. They look like they might like some turf, they'll probably like the synthetic. And of course, he ran on the dirt. So, you can go anywhere with these.”

Through eight sessions, 35 yearlings by Collected have sold for $3,852,000. The stallion, who stands for $17,500, has had 16 sell for six figures.

Tuesday's three top-selling yearlings were all Ontario-bred fillies. Following hip 2622 was a pair of fillies from the Sam-Son Farm dispersal. Hip 2517, a daughter of Bernardini out of Siren's Song (Unbridled's Song), sold for $300,000 to bloodstock agent Ben McElroy and hip 2434, a daughter of Pioneerof the Nile out of Mythical Mission (Giant's Causeway), sold for $295,000 to CJ Thoroughbreds.

“I adored that Bernardini filly from Sam-Son,” Farrell admitted. “I thought she was lovely and quality. She deserved it. I hope they will all compete against each other down the line and we'll all remember this day.”

As a longtime Canadian breeder, Anderson took special pride in the trio of Ontario-breds who led Tuesday's session.

“At the end of the day, we worked very hard to rebuild this program in Ontario,” he said. “This shows you can raise a good horse North of the Border and play in the international market. But it's also a great fallback option to have all the added money in Ontario with the bonuses on purses and the breeders rewards.”

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Duo By Quality Road Headline Second Day Of Fasig-Tipton October Sale

Quality Road sired the top colt and filly during the second session of the 2020 Kentucky October Yearlings sale, held Tuesday in Lexington, KY.

A Quality Road half-brother to Grade 1 winning juvenile Gretzky the Great topped the session when he sold for $560,000 to Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners (video).

Offered as Hip 498 by Anderson Farms, agent, the bay colt is out of the multiple stakes placed Bernardini mare Pearl Turn. The purchase marks a return to the source for Eclipse, which owns runaway Grade 1 Summer Stakes winner Gretzky the Great – a graduate of last year's Kentucky October Yearlings sale – in partnership with Gary Barber. Both Hip 498 and Gretzky the Great were bred in Ontario by Anderson Farms.

The session's top filly was a daughter of Quality Road offered as Hip 389, the first horse through the ring on Tuesday.

Knights Bloodstock purchased the bay filly for $230,000 from the consignment of Claiborne Farm, agent. The filly is the first foal out of the stakes placed Sky Mesa mare Moonlight Sky, a half-sister to Eclipse champion Abel Tasman and a full sister to G3 Dogwood Stakes winner Sky Girl. Hip 389 was bred in Kentucky by China Horse Club International.

Hip 680, a colt by the late Pioneerof the Nile, also brought $230,000 during the session. Bruce N. Levine purchased the bay colt out of Savvy Supreme, a graded stakes-winning full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Commentator, from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent. Hip 680 was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm & JSM Equine.

During Tuesday's session, 241 yearlings sold for $7,996,700, good for an average of $33,181. The session median was $15,000. Through two days of selling, 489 yearlings have changed hands for a total of $16,390,500. The running average is $33,518.

The Kentucky October Yearlings sale resumes Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 10 a.m.

Results are available online.

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Little Brown Jug Win Caps Off Crazy Good 10 Days for Anderson

The 3-year-old pacing gelding Captain Barbossa didn’t look that good on paper in Thursday’s Little Brown Jug, one of harness racing’s most prestigious races. He was 0 for 11 on the year and 3 for 25 lifetime and was facing some of the best horses in his division. Even co-owner David Anderson conceded that victory seemed unlikely.

But Captain Barbossa came through, finishing second in the first heat and then winning the final by 1 1/2 lengths. He may not have been the best horse in the race, but he had the hottest owner. Since the first day of the Keeneland September sale, Anderson, a self-described “little guy from Canada,” is on a run he never could have imagined.

“I’m in quarantine now and I’m ready to bust out and buy a lottery ticket,” he said from his home in Ontario. “That’s how lucky I feel right now.”

It started on the first day of the Keeneland sale when his Anderson Farms sold a Medaglia d’Oro filly out of Orchard Beach (Tapit) for $1.6 million to Shadwell. It was the most ever paid at auction for one of his horses. Six days later, a horse he bred, Gretzky the Great (Nyquist), won the GI Summer S. at Woodbine, which is a “Win and You’re In” race for the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Then came his win in the Jug.

The streak of good results continued Sunday when another horse Anderson bred, Hard Not to Love (Hard Spun), was a late-closing second in the GII Zenyatta S. at Santa Anita.

“I’ve been around this business long enough and having grown up in it, I know the highs are so high and the lows can be so low,” he said. “When you are fortunate enough to have a run like I had you just kind of sit back and enjoy it. You always know what is around the corner.”

While luck is often involved when someone goes on a tear like this, Anderson’s streak is the result of years of planning. He took over Anderson Farms when his father, Bob, died in 2010 and hit the reset button. He sold every mare he had but one and would also decide to cut back on the farm’s Standardbred operation.

His plan was to focus on quality. He now has 25 mares, which, he says, is a threefold increase from what he had just four years ago.

The first foal out of Orchard Beach was bought for $1.1 million by Coolmore and became a Group III winner in England, so Anderson had high expectations when the dam’s latest yearling entered the Keeneland ring.

“When you get it to that level at Keeneland, where you have the biggest owners in the world in on her, it becomes a question of who wants her most,” he said. “Did I think she was a $1-million filly? Absolutely. She’s the best filly I ever raised and certainly the most athletic. I was very proud and very humbled and thrilled that Shadwell got her.”

Anderson sold nine yearlings at Keeneland for a combined $2,433,000. The hope is that one or more will turn out to be as good as some of the stars produced by Anderson in recent years. Hard Not to Love is a Grade I winner who has earned over $530,000. Anderson also bred Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d’Oro), the 2018 Queen’s Plate S. winner whose earnings topped $1.5 million.

“I don’t think of myself as being a big breeder,” he said. “I have a small broodmare band and we’re kind of grassroots people. We do it old school. I have surrounded myself with the best people and we’ve been very, very lucky.”

Standardbreds were a major part of the Anderson operation under Bob Anderson. But his son decided to focus his attentions on breeding Thoroughbreds and got out of the Standardbred game. When the Thoroughbred operation got to be on solid footing, he ventured back into harness racing, starting at the 2017 sales.

“After building up our Thoroughbred broodmare band, I decided to dip my toe back in the water with the Standardbreds,” he said. “I had been down the breeding route. My business model is to breed and sell Thoroughbreds and buy and race Standardbreds. I love racing Standardbreds. I love the people. I am hoping I can continue to buy a couple every year and continue to get lucky.”

Anderson and partners paid $70,000 for Captain Barbossa at the 2018 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. Up until the Jug, it looked like the best they could have hoped for from the son of Captaintreacherous was that he would continue to pick up checks. He had made most of the major 3-year-old pacing events, but couldn’t find the winner’s circle.

“This horse has been such a bad luck horse in terms of the draws,” Anderson said. “We were a victim of bad draws. Maybe he’s not the best horse out there but we always thought he was a good horse.”

To win the Jug a horse must qualify in a heat and then come back a few hours later to race in the finals. Captain Barbossa was sent off at 20-1 in his heat and managed to finish second. It was then that Anderson started to believe his horse had a serious chance of winning the final.

The Little Brown Jug is harness racing’s most unique race. It is held on a Thursday afternoon as part of the Delaware (Ohio) County Fair. It doesn’t have the biggest purse in the sport, but it is rich in tradition and, in non-COVID years, can attract crowds in the neighborhood of 50,000.

“There is so much history,” Anderson said. “It’s a race that every owner wants to win. That trophy is such a unique trophy. Everyone in racing knows what it is and what it represents.”

This time Captain Barbossa got the perfect trip, sitting third behind the two heat winners who battled through fast early fractions. Driven by Joe Bongiorno, the gelding passed the tired leaders, took over approaching the far turn and could not be caught.

“The Little Brown Jug. What can I say? It’s America’s race,” Anderson said. “To win that and be on that wall with so many other great champions, so many other great owners , trainers and drivers, it’s a real feather in my cap. I have a lot of people to be thankful for.”

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Juvenile Turf Next Goal For Nyquist’s Son Gretzky The Great Following Summer Stakes Score

Gretzky the Great netted his second added-money trophy in taking Sunday's Grade 1, $250,000 Summer Stakes, a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge Series race, at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

Trained by Mark Casse for owners Gary Barber and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, the son of Nyquist bred by Anderson Farms Ontario survived an inquiry after coming in during mid-stretch against pacesetter and runner-up Ready to Repeat in the one-mile grass engagement for 2-year-olds.

It was Ready to Repeat, under Luis Contreras, who broke on top after briefly acting up in the starting gate. Trained by Gail Cox, who co-owns the Kentucky-bred gelding with John Menary, Michael Ambler and Windways Farm, the Victoria Stakes champ led his six rivals through an opening quarter-mile in :24.10 over an E.P. Taylor Turf Course listed as “firm.”

Gretzky the Great, with Kazushi Kimura in the irons, sat second, while Secret Potion was third, and American Monarch positioned in fourth.

Ready to Repeat was still comfortably in front by two lengths after a half in :47.82, as Kimura kept the leader in his sights. Secret Potion and American Monarch continued their tussle behind the front duo, as Dolder Grand began to close ground from sixth.

As the field rounded the turn for home, Kimura roused Gretzky the Great to engage Ready to Repeat, and the bay colt responded with an impressive outside surge, striking front and looking to put away a determined foe.

A half-length on top at the stretch call, Gretzky the Great went on to notch a 3 1/4-length win in a time of 1:34.53. Ready to Repeat finished one length in front of Dolder Grand for second, with American Monarch finishing fourth.

Heat of the Night, Secret Potion and Download rounded out the order of finish.

“He is such an amazing horse,” said Kimura, who recorded his first Grade 1 win. “When I came to the final turn then come through the final stretch, he had a tremendous explosion. He sometimes was a little bit lugging in, but he's just still a baby.”

The Summer represented the third consecutive winner's circle trip for Gretzky the Great.

After a second in his first career start on July 12, Gretzky the Great broke his maiden courtesy of a 4 1/4-length win on August 2. That was followed up by a neck nod in the Soaring Free Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course on August 23.

“First time out it was only five furlongs on the (Woodbine Inner) turf, then when he won the first time I was like, 'Oh, that will be a stakes horse for the future,'” offered Kimura. “And then winning a stakes and now got a Grade 1, he's such a nice horse.”

The next goal on Gretzky the Great's stat sheet could be a date in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland on November 6.

“He's a so easy horse – I mean to control,” said Kimura. “If I want to do something, I can do anything.”

Gretzky the Great paid $6.80, $3.30 and $3. The 4-3 exactor with Ready to Repeat ($5, $4) returned $22.60. Dolder Grand ($4.10) finished off a 4-3-7 triactor worth $115.70, with American Monarch completing a $1 superfecta worth $220.70.

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