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Notable Owner, Breeder Otto Dies After Illness

The Mill Ridge family and friends celebrate the life of Audrey (Tolie) Otto, who passed away April 18, 2023 after a lengthy illness.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, she moved to Lexington, Ky., in the late 1980s, as it is the center of the Thoroughbred industry. As a commercial breeder, she registered under JAMM Ltd., which stood for her four children, John, Audie, Michael and Matthew.

Headley Bell, managing partner of Mill Ridge shared, “Tolie, Mom (Alice Chandler), and Dr. Chandler were dear friends, and shared a love of the horse, animal, and the Mill Ridge family and its employees. She was exemplary in gifting a bonus to all the employees twice a year, after sales, and at Christmas for over thirty years.

“As a commercial breeder, she had intuition and good fortune as an initial purchase with partner Shirley Taylor, in the mare Existentialist, for $100,000, yielded over $4 million in sales, and helped establish the Keeneland September Sale as the premier sale when selling a Gone West colt for a record price of $1.4 million in 1996. She also reached the pinnacle of racing as a partner in Keeper Hill, who won the 1998 Kentucky Oaks, and earned over $1.6 million.

“Another highlight was, as partner with Mill Ridge in the mare Hamba, who would produce the 2008 (Grade 1) Toyota Blue Grass winner Monba. On her own as a breeder she also had terrific results with the purchase of Ruby Ransom, who produced Strut The Stage, multiple Grade 2 winner of over $1.5 million.

In 2007 she purchased Shop Again, who has become one of her foundation mares, producing Grade 1 winner Power Broker. Most recently, her purchase in 2012, of Justaroundmidnight who produced Grade 1 winner Duopoly.

“Remarkably, Tolie rarely owned more than six mares on her own, and had tremendous results with her commercial breeding program. Her daughter, Audie has been involved with her since early 2000, and will continue with this love of breeding and the horse that began with her mom.”

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First-Crop Sire Watch Presented By Kirkwood Equine Advisory: 2023 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. Spring Sale

Following is a list of stallions whose first crops of 2-year-olds are represented in the upcoming Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, including the number of horses cataloged and the farm where the stallion is currently advertised.

Offerings from the debut crop of a stallion are often met with a commercial premium from buyers at auction. A stallion's stud fee is often at its highest during their first season, increasing the initial investment, and the natural intrigue of a blue-sky prospect often put a unique spotlight on the rookie sires at any given sale.

Here are the opportunities to get in on the ground floor with a first-year stallion at this year's OBS Spring sale, along with analysis on a pair of standout sires by Kip Elser of Kirkwood Equine Advisory.

The OBS Spring sale takes place Tuesday, April 25 through Friday, April 28, with each session beginning at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.

—List Continues After Analysis—

Analysis of Spendthrift Farm's Vino Rosso and Lane's End stallion Catalina Cruiser from Kip Elser of Kirkwood Equine Advisory:

It's always interesting to see how each year's freshman crop of juveniles evolve and develop in the time between OBS March to OBS Spring in April or even the May and June sales. Offspring by the sires we talked about last time – Omaha Beach and Mitole – continue to impress, and there are several more freshman sires that are well represented at OBS Spring.

There were several by Vino Rosso that caught my eye. While he was two-for-two as a juvenile, he was by and large known as a late developer, winning his biggest races – the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita and Breeders' Cup Classic – as a 4-year-old. Like their sire was at this stage, his offspring look like they still have some growing to do, but they are solid and well put together. They're breezing quite nicely, especially as they get into the rhythm of the breeze, and show an efficiency of stride – a good combination of power and balance with minimal wasted motion. For as big as I think they'll be when they mature, they are remarkably well put together as juveniles.

The Catalina Cruisers are also worth a look. Like Vino Rosso, Catalina Cruiser was late to develop, but once he found his stride, he became one of the top sprinters we've seen in years. He is by Union Rags, who is probably best known for his win in the Belmont Stakes, but don't forget that he won the G2 Saratoga Special as a 2-year-old by 7 1/4 lengths as part of a Grade 1-winning juvenile campaign, so that sire line is not necessarily slow early. I really like not only how the Catalina Cruisers are breezing, but also how they're galloping out, which can often tell you almost as much as the breeze itself. They're made in the same mold as their sire – stout, strong horses with some leg under them.

I'm eager to see how both of these sires' offspring develop, both as juveniles and into their 3- and 4-year-old years.

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Pennsylvania Leaderboard: Disco Ebo Steps Out In Early 2023 Incentives Race

It doesn't take long for a good Pennsylvania-bred to make serious money for their connections within the state's program, and Disco Ebo displayed this notion to perfection through the first two months of 2023.

The 4-year-old Weigelia filly earned a combined $78,540 in breeder's awards, stallion owner's awards, and owner's bonuses through Feb. 28, to pace all horses within the program.

That money was earned by a pair of allowance sprint victories through the first two months of the year, both at Parx Racing.

On Jan. 24, Disco Ebo took a four-wide trip through to a powerful stretch drive to prevail in a six-furlong race by two lengths under jockey Frankie Pennington. The same rider was aboard on Feb. 15 when Disco Ebo led at every point of call in a 5 1/2-furlong race to win easily by 6 3/4 lengths.

After the cutoff date for these rankings, Disco Ebo added a victory in the Penn's Landing Stakes on March 7 at Parx, once again getting loose on the lead and drawing off to win the 6 1/2-furlong race by 6 3/4 lengths as the overwhelming favorite. The Penn's Landing was Disco Ebo's third career stakes victory, and her first since taking the Youngstown Oaks at Mahoning Valley Race Course on Nov. 21 of last year.

Robert Reid Jr. trains Disco Ebo for the partnership of Cash Is King and LC Racing. Because the filly was both bred and sired in Pennsylvania, she was eligible for a 40 percent owner bonus on her purse earnings for races at Parx. For those two victories, her owners earned an additional $28,560 because of her status in the Pennsylvania-bred program.

Disco Ebo was bred in Pennsylvania by Stephen and Susan Quick's St. Omer's Farm, which earned $39,984 in breeder's awards for the filly's two victories. Horses bred and sired in the Keystone State are eligible for a 40 percent purse bonus on non-maiden races.

For a pair of victories, Disco Ebo earned WynOaks Farm, the home of sire Weigelia, $9,996 in stallion's awards. Registered Pennsylvania-breds by a state-resident sire earn a 10 percent bonus on purse for first-through-third efforts at tracks within the state.

Disco Ebo was the centerpiece of a big two months for veteran sire Weigelia, whose offspring occupied each of the top five spots among total Pennsylvania incentive earners.

That start to the season put Weigelia comfortably in the lead among stallion's award incentive earners through the first two months of the year, with his total of $43,770 safely outpacing second-place Uptowncharlybrown at $29,368. After playing second fiddle to cornerstone Pennsylvania sire Jump Start for several years in the stallion award earnings race, Weigelia finally overcame his late rival for the first time in 2022, bringing in $186,200 compared with Jump Start's $178,938.

Leading Pennsylvania Incentive Earners, Through February 2023

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Graded Winner Tap It To Win Enters Stud In Argentina For 2023

Tap It to Win, a Grade 3 winner who ran in the 2020 Belmont Stakes, will begin his stud career in Argentina as property of Edrigo Gennoni's Haras El Wing for the 2023 Southern Hemisphere breeding season, the South American publication Turf Diario reports.

Gennoni told Turf Diario that the horse has been in the country for a few months, and an announcement on which farm will stand him would be forthcoming.

The 6-year-old son of Tapit retired with five wins in 21 starts for earnings of $469,177, racing as a homebred for Live Oak Plantation. Mark Casse trained the horse.

The Florida-bred was tested against high-level competition early, running in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity as a 2-year-old after breaking his maiden by 3 1/2 lengths in Saratoga in his previous start. He ran 10th in the Breeders' Futurity, and the Street Sense Stakes, before going back down the class ladder.

After a pair of allowance-level wins to kick off his 3-year-old campaign in 2020, Tap It to Win was entered in the Belmont Stakes, run in late June at 1 1/8 miles due to COVID-19, and he finished fifth to Tiz the Law after setting the early fractions through the first three-quarters of a mile. He was moved back to one-turn races after the Belmont, and his fortunes improved, including a runner-up finish in the G1 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes, a third in the G2 Pat Day Mile Stakes, and a victory in the NYRABETS Sprint Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs to kick off his 4-year-old season.

Later in his 4-year-old campaign, Tap It to Win earned his first graded stakes score when he took the G3 Seagram Cup Stakes at Woodbine, leading at every point of call to defeat Canadian champion Mighty Heart in a mild upset.

Tap It to Win raced through the end of his 2022 campaign, which featured runner-up efforts in the NYRABETS Sprint Stakes and the G3 Jacques Cartier Stakes.

Tap It to Win is out of the multiple stakes-winning Medaglia d'Oro mare Onepointhreekarats, who was secured by Live Oak for $1.3 million at the 2009 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She is also the dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Souper Stonehenge.

Gennoni told Turf Diario that he plans to support Tap It to Win with at least 30 of his own mares in his debut season.

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