Tag: Aron Wellman

Into Mischief Colt Continues Rousing Start To Night Two at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga

The early action at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga continued hot and heavy, as hip 135 became the third million-dollar seller within the first 15 horses offered when hammering to Aron Wellman's Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners for $1.5 million, the most expensive of the three early headliners. The colt's breeder, Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, will also stay in for a piece. The dark bay is a son of the all-conquering Into Mischief and was produced by 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Spinaway S. heroine Rachel's Valentina (Bernardini). The latter is, of course, a daughter of Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) and is one of just two foals out of the 2009 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly. The cross of Into Mischief over Bernardini mares has been successful, having accounted for GSWs Twenty Carat and Owendale. Hip 135 was consigned by Taylor Made Sales as agent for Barbara Banke's operation.

 

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Aloha West to Stand at Mill Ridge After Breeders’ Cup

Mill Ridge Farm will add a second stallion to its roster for 2023 in this year's defending GI Breeders' Cup Sprint champion Aloha West (Hard Spun–Island Bound, by Speightstown), according to Mill Ridge's general manager Price Bell.

Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trained by Wayne Catalano, Aloha West is from the family of Fappiano, out of a winner of the six-furlong GIII Winning Colors S. at Churchill.

“Aloha West himself very much resembles this side of his family with the speed of Speightstown and his physical quality and presence,” said Bell. “Also, the granddam is a daughter of A.P. Indy, and this provides a wonderful pedigree blend of Danzig through Hard Spun, Gone West through Speightstown, and A.P. Indy. These are three of the most influential sire lines today.”

A $160,000 2018 Keeneland September yearling, Aloha West was initially owned by Gary West and trained by Bob Baffert. Turning in impressive works at two, he was injured prior to his first start, requiring surgery. He was turned over to Catalano for his 3-year-old year, and didn't make his debut until February of his 4-year-season, breaking his maiden in his first start. He was purchased by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners after his next outing. He went on to win five of nine starts that year, culminating with a win in the GI Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint over champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music).

“This history of brilliance in training also resembled that of Speightstown, who showed promise as a 3-year-old and was injured and missed his entire 4-year-old season before returning as a 6-year-old and winning the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint,” said Bell. “With the speed Aloha West demonstrated winning the Breeders' Cup Sprint, and influence from Speightstown and the Fappiano family, as well as his physical good looks, we expect he will be attractive to commercial breeders.”

Mill Ridge was formerly the home of champion sires Diesis (GB) and Gone West, but the farm took a hiatus from the stallion business for several years until Oscar Performance's arrival in 2019.

“To stand another Breeders' Cup winner in Aloha West is a great addition to the farm,” said Bell. “He will be located in the Gone West stallion barn and paddock. We are so excited to announce Aloha West as our next Mill Ridge stallion. With his will to win, pedigree blend and outstanding physical presence, we believe breeders will be drawn to him. We think he has an opportunity to contribute to our breed.

“Over the years, we have stood a number of horses, including Bien Bien and Valiant Nature,” said Bell, who added that as a smaller stallion operation, they needed to choose carefully. “In the end, we can't make mistakes,” he said. “We have to carve our niche. The Amermans gave us a tremendous opportunity in Oscar Performance, who we raised, and we had the confidence we could buck the trend and stand a turf horse in America because he had the pedigree, the looks and the race record.” Oscar Performance is currently the ninth-leading first-crop sire by earnings, and has three offspring pointing to next week's Breeders' Cup: GII Castle & Key Bourbon S. winner Andthewinneris; Lachaise, third in the GII Pilgrim S.; and G Laurie, third in the GI Natalma S.

Aloha West's stallion career will be managed in the same way, said Bell. “There are a ton of programs going to lifetime breeding rights, and share the upside, which are great programs and which have changed the market,” he said. “We're trying to go the other way and have a traditional 40-share syndicate, with a diverse group of breeders. We're all on the journey together, paying the bills, and giving him the best chance possible. We are trying to price our horses as fairly as possible so everyone can `share the upside.' We said we were going to breed Oscar Performance to 150-160 mares, and we'll do the same in Aloha West.”

Bell said that the Eclipse partners would stay in on the stallion. “There is a broad group of Eclipse partners in this horse and they're excited to try and experience the next stage of a horse's career in being a stallion,” he said. “Eclipse is excited to provide that opportunity and they're some of the best at bringing people into the business.”

Bell said that half of Aloha West would be syndicated. “We all believe in these horses for a variety of reasons and believe they should be given an opportunity at stud, while leaving enough opportunity for others who also believe.

“Aloha West was a great racehorse–a tough, hard knocking, great racehorse,” said Bell. “If we're trying to further the breed, we need a greater body of work than just one race. For us, Aloha West and Oscar Performance have given us the confidence that they can contribute to the breed.”

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Aron Wellman Talks Nest, Buying Strategies, HISA On Writers’ Room

It's a busy time of year for Aron Wellman's Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, with yearling sale season now in full swing alongside the iconic Saratoga and Del Mar meets. But Wellman and his partners are full of energy these days thanks in large part to their Nest (Curlin)–co-owned with Repole Stable and Michael House–who likely sewed up an Eclipse Award for Champion 3-Year-Old Filly with a dominant victory in the GI Alabama S. Saturday at the Spa. Tuesday, Wellman sat down with the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss Nest but also a variety of industry issues in an expansive interview.

“I felt oddly calm going into the race,” Wellman said of his mindset before the Alabama. “She just allows for us to have a lot of confidence. There's plenty of reason to be nervous when you're arguably going for a championship, but she had just thrived so much in the month between the CCA Oaks and Alabama that we went in with a lot of conviction that she was going to go out and perform well again. As far as the performance was concerned, it was nothing short of brilliant. She put on another breathtaking display, and she's just getting stronger and better and more comfortable in her own skin.”

Asked whether or not Nest will return to race as a 4-year-old, Wellman said, “We have every intention of running her back next year. Look, Eclipse is in the business of racing. And while we certainly have a program, an established pipeline of what we refer to as Eclipse fillies that we've made a habit out of developing over the course of the past decade and then selling for seven figures at auction or privately, this filly is cut from a different cloth than most of our Grade I fillies have been in the sense that she's only supposed to get better. Health, of course is always in the back of your mind, but being by Curlin out of an A.P. Indy mare, the thought of her maturing into a 4-year-old and beyond is super exciting. And Mike Repole is the ultimate sportsman. Mike House is getting up there in age and is having the time of his life. I don't want to speak for them, but I would say that having a filly that's capable of running in the races that she's capable of running in at the end of this year and through next, hopefully it's far more important than any zeros that they could add to their ledger at this point.”

The conversation turned to the sometimes rocky implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, and Wellman was asked for his impression of HISA's early days.

“The types of partners Eclipse attracts are interested in integrity in all respects and really, what they want most when we send a horse out onto the track is a level playing field,” he said. “Nobody's taking an edge or able to take an edge. So I don't think there's any downside to HISA. Are there going to be growing pains? Absolutely. Any initiative like this, especially in the political realm, is going to have bumps in the road, and we're seeing that. But I've got to be honest, I've been very impressed with HISA's upper management, with [CEO] Lisa Lazarus. She is willing to listen, and although change and getting it right might not be immediate and it might not be happening as fast as we all want it to be, they're trying. And we finally broke down that barrier of actually having some unified governing body as it relates to medication, at least. We've been fighting an impossible battle for decades where we've made very little progress. At the end of the day, we can't lose sight of the fact that the reason HISA is in effect is that we want to operate on a level playing field. If we keep our eye on the ball in that respect, we're going to be okay.”

Elsewhere on the show–which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, Three Chimneys, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock–Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green reacted to the arrest of Chad Brown and the suspension of Jamie Ness and looked forward to a blockbuster GI Runhappy Travers S. day at card. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Tugel Joins Eclipse Thoroughbreds

Sean Tugel has joined Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners as the company's Vice President of Bloodstock. Tugel, whose responsibilities will be broad-based, as his role will encompass the day-to-day operation of the stable and partnership company, will also be tasked with expanding Eclipse's holdings into various sectors of the industry.

“Sean brings to Eclipse an extraordinary depth of experience in all realms of the thoroughbred business” Eclipse President and Founder, Aron Wellman stated. “As Eclipse continues to grow

domestically and abroad in Europe and Australia, it is essential that we continue to add personnel capable of contributing to our partner's world-class racing experience and for us to be able to sustain the level of success we've established for our partners in our first 10 years of operation.”

Tugel, 38, served a seven-year stint at Hill 'n Dale Farm as a Foreman and Assistant Broodmare Manager before transitioning to Winstar Farm for nine years, ultimately serving as Director of Bloodstock and Assistant Racing Manager. Since 2020 Tugel has served as the Director of Stallion Sales and Recruitment for Gainesway Farm.

“The Eclipse brand has become synonymous with success and winning. I am excited to join the world class team that Aron and Brian Spearman have built and to play a role in advancing the

vision of Eclipse with their partners,” Tugel said.

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