ThoroughbredAuctions.com announces the dispersal of a Texas breeding operation in conjunction with the Spring Mixed Sale for Thoroughbreds. Bidding closes on Tuesday, April 5.
The online only auction features the Kevin Clifton-Penn Family Dispersal, and includes broodmares by such sires as Uncle Mo, Quality Road, Tale Of The Cat, Distorted Humor, The Factor, Tiznow and Pioneerof the Nile.
Also offered is the stakes-winning, graded stakes placed stallion, Sky Flight, who earned $262,684. Sky Flight has already sired a stakes horse in his first crop.
All of the Kevin Clifton-Penn Family Dispersal horses are being offered with no reserve after an opening bid of $750.
The auction also includes yearlings by Ironicus and Misrembered that are located in Kentucky, and are also being offered without reserve.
The horses will be available for inspection by appointment at their respective farms.
The catalog is available for viewing now. Prospective buyers will need to go to the auction website, and create an account. They will then need to request a bidder's number in order to bid.
The ThoroughbredAuctions.com team produces North America's leading online auctions for horses. The management team pioneered internet auctions for horses and has produced nearly 115 internet auctions since 2012 boasting a high seller of $226,000. Their online auctions include the complete dispersal of R.D. Hubbard Thoroughbreds, which grossed over $1.5 million dollars.
Tim and Cathy Jennings are the industry's most experienced show horse auction managers. Their team managed more than 380 live horse auctions selling over 80,000 horses since 1978. Tim's previous firm, Professional Auction Services, was the largest show horse auction company in the world, by number of horses sold for 15 years.
Fasig-Tipton has cataloged 33 entries for its April Digital Sale, which may now be viewed at digital.fasigtipton.com. Bidding is now open and closes Tuesday, April 4 at 2 p.m. ET.
The catalog features horses of racing age, breeding stock, 2-year-olds, and yearlings. There are offerings located throughout the United States, including Arkansas, California, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
“There is something for everyone in this catalog,” said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales. “We expect significant interest and a very active market.”
Entries include:
– Buckey's Charm (Hip 1): Young stakes placed daughter of Kantharos from the immediate family of champion Stellar Wind and Grade 1 winners Mor Spirit and Great Hunter. She is believed to be in foal to Mandaloun on a last cover date of Feb. 20, 2023.
– Don't Get Khozy (Hip 2): Mare was most recently third in the Grade 3 Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 18. The 12-time winner and multiple stakes placed earner of more than $465,000 is offered as a racing/broodmare prospect.
– K P Slickem (Hip 3): Young half-sister to the dam of champion Forte from the immediate family of multiple champion Essential Quality and Japanese Triple Crown winner Contrail. She is offered in foal to multiple Grade 1 winner Raging Bull (FR) and due any day.
– Regal Retort (Hip 4): Young stakes placed daughter of Jimmy Creed from the immediate family of champion Perfect Soul (IRE) and Grade 1 winner Flashy Bull. She is believed to be in foal to Early Voting on a last cover date of Feb. 23, 2023.
– Vilao (Hip 5): Stakes winning mare and multiple winner producer believed to be in foal to Omaha Beach on a last cover date of Feb. 11, 2023.
– Heavenly Hill (Hip 6): Multiple graded stakes placed daughter of City Zip. She is offered in foal to hot young sire Not This Time.
– Athena's War (KOR) (Hip 7): Full sister to champion Maximum Security offered carrying her first foal by Charlatan.
– Queens Up (Hip 8): Four-year-old stakes placed daughter of Classic Empire from the immediate family of Grade 1 winner Storm Tower. She finished second in an allowance at Oaklawn Park on March 12 in her most recent start and is offered as a racing/broodmare prospect.
– Danessa Deluxe (Hip 14): Graded stakes placed mare believed to be in foal to Speaker's Corner on a last cover date of Feb. 12, 2023.
– Tyler's Dream (Hip 29): Four-year-old multiple stakes placed broodmare prospect by Carpe Diem from the immediate family of influential sire Distorted Humor.
The catalog also includes mares in foal to Drain the Clock, Mo Donegal, Practical Joke, and Vekoma.
Not many racehorses peak at age eight, but in the case of Spooky Channel (by English Channel), he won his first Grade 2 stakes over the weekend at the Fair Grounds in the Muniz Memorial. A winner three times at the Grade 3 level before this, Spooky Channel didn't win his first stakes until he was four, and not only that, there's quite a lot about him, in addition, that isn't the usual thing.
For instance, the chestnut gelding, like many another talented racer, has a sidekick, but in this case, that alter ego is a unicorn.
Trainer Jason Barkley said, “I wouldn't call him 'nervous,' but Spooky is intense. My wife Shelbi gallops him, and she says that, even at his age, he's just about the strongest galloping horse in the barn. Giving him a stuffed unicorn came from something that I had seen Roger Attfield do, giving a horse with some nerves something to nuzzle up to and give him something to think about and relax with.”
Spooky Channel is on his third unicorn at present, and it isn't the little, fit in your hand kind of plush toy one might buy at the grocery. This is a horse-size plushy, and Spooky Channel is pretty fond of his.
Spooky Channel with his favorite stuffed unicorn
Certainly, the results from the racehorse are immensely positive since his acquisition by NBS Stables. After being claimed for $80,000 on Oaks Day 2021, Spooky Channel has earned a bit more than half of his lifetime earnings of $862,842, with four victories from eight starts, plus a second and a third, and yet only one of those starts came in 2022.
Entrepreneur and owner John Ballantyne recalled that “about three weeks after he won the (Grade 3) Sycamore at Keeneland (Oct. 22, 2021), Jason called me, and you know it's not good news when a trainer calls from out of the blue.
“Spooky had a 15 percent tear in a tendon. There was treatment available, and plenty of time. Even if the treatment didn't work, I wanted to give it a go to give him the best opportunity for a good quality of life thereafter. It's a credit to how good veterinary science has become and to this animal. He's a real tough horse.”
Trainer Barkley said, “At the end of December in 2021, we sent Spooky to Lori Hendrickson's farm in Shelbyville, Ky., where I send all my layups, and she puts a lot of personal attention into the work. We got him back in the shed row in late May or early June. We took plenty of time with him here, and we kept scanning the tendon. Finally, it got to the point that we were confident he was sound to go, and everything has come along smoothly in his conditioning since.
“It's an injury that a lot of horses don't come back from,” Barkley said, “and yet if you base it strictly off speed figures, he's a better horse now than he was before. He's doing so well now that it's a matter of managing him for the best results.
“It's really refreshing to work with clients like John and Art, who recognize the value of a long-term vision. They like action, but they are patient and easy to work with. Willing to let you do your job, put the trust in you to do it right. I can't say enough about the chances they've given us to show what we can do with nice horses.”
Spooky Channel is plenty nice and has won four of his last five races: two stakes before his injury, then two of the three stakes since, as well as a third in the G3 Connally Turf Cup at Sam Houston.
The chestnut was bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm, which sold Spooky Channel for $10,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale to Terry Hamilton, who owned him when the horse won his second start, going 7 ½ furlongs on turf at Turf Paradise in December of his 3-year-old season.
The next year, Spooky Channel won a trio of handicaps at Turf Paradise that were non-black-type events, and as a 5-year-old in 2020, he won his first recognized stakes in the G3 W.L. McKnight Handicap at Gulfstream, going 12 furlongs on turf in 2:26.16 and paying $36.30 as one of the longer shots in the race.
As a 6-year-old, Spooky Channel began his year with a victory in the G3 Connally Turf Cup, then was ninth in the 2021 Muniz Memorial, behind Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) and all but one other runner. The gelding's next start was for the $80,000 tag at Churchill.
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Art Neuhedel, racing manager for NBS Stables, noted that “Spooky Channel was such a nice horse that, even at $80,000, we thought 'What's wrong here?' and almost backed out on claiming him. But John's preference is going long and on the turf, and he liked the upside with Spooky.”
“Honestly, the age didn't bother me,” the New Zealand-born Ballantyne said. “I'm used to following runners who are up there. So I thought, 'Let's take a shot!'
“He's done so well it's almost scary. Sometimes you see a horse change barns and a light comes on … or goes off. With Spooky, he'd never won a Grade 2 before, and now he's doing it at eight. He's getting good care, training really well, and racing better than ever. He's loving it.”
Neuhedel commented: “In bringing him back from injury, the thought was to keep him strong, keep him sound, and have some fun. Now he's earned the right to go anyway, try anything.”
Among the anything that Spooky Channel may try is the G1 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, and there are other important races at nine to 12 furlongs on turf that come to mind also. One might even be at the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita on Nov. 3-4.
To find out how that works out, we'll have to stay tuned. Same Spooky time, same Spooky Channel.
Great British Racing International (GBRI) and Ascot Racecourse have today released the first in a video series titled An American Dream: The Return to Royal Ascot, which will document the journey that U.S.-based syndicate operator Harlan Malter will take as he tries to turn an ambitious dream of returning to Royal Ascot with a horse sired by his 2018 Group 1 King's Stand Stakes runner-turned-stallion, Bucchero, into a reality.
In the first feature, Malter reflects on the personal reasons that underpin his lofty ambitions for Bucchero, as well as his experience of watching the horse carry the Ironhorse Racing silks to place fifth at the Royal Meeting in 2018, within five lengths of a trio of champion sprinters in Battaash, Blue Point, and Mabs Cross.
Malter goes on to explain his plans for purchasing an offspring of Bucchero that can be trained in the U.K., as well as one day producing a homebred out of Improvise, a filly purchased from the dispersal of Queen Elizabeth II's horses at Tattersalls last November who is now racing for Ironhorse Racing in America.
Since this first episode was filmed, Malter has also been successful in securing a 2-year-old by Bucchero that he plans to aim at the Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes at Gulfstream Park on May 13, the winner of which will earn an automatic entry into one of Royal Ascot's six 2-year-old races in addition to a $25,000 equine travel stipend, thanks to a new initiative between Ascot Racecourse and 1/ST Racing. The colt, purchased for $70,000 at the OBS March Sale, will go into training with by Joe Orseno, who brought Imprimis to Royal Ascot in 2019.
Speaking about the project on Tuesday, Malter said:
“During my last two visits to Royal Ascot, I had chatted with Tom Peacock of the Racing Post about getting a Bucchero baby back to run in the U.K. and to try to get back to Royal Ascot.
“Our first tangible step was to head over to Tattersalls this winter to try to acquire a quality European mare to eventually breed to Bucchero. After finding that in Improvise, I was thrilled when GBRI reached out to help me and follow along in this dream.
“The next step in the process was to find a ready-to-race 2-year-old Bucchero this year who hopefully we found in the colt we purchased last week.
“The last step will be to head over to Royal Ascot in June and firm up our plans with a U.K. trainer and together look for a yearling prospect in the fall to send right over to Newmarket to begin preparation for a 2-year-old campaign in the U.K.
“Isn't this what it's all about? Who doesn't like rooting for an underdog? In a game that is often dominated by a small group at the top, horse racing is one of the few sports that lets anyone take a shot at glory. I've yet to put a challenge to Bucchero and him not exceed my expectations, so why not this? Trophies are great, but they end up dusty on the shelf. The process, the challenge and the people we surround ourselves within this sport is why all of us wouldn't think of living a day without these amazing horses in our lives.”
Minty Farquhar, General Manager of GBRI, comments:
“What Harlan is trying to achieve is admirable, and GBRI is perfectly placed to be providing the advice and guidance required to bring his dream to life.
“We very much hope we will be welcoming Harlan along with a group of Ironhorse Racing partners to Royal Ascot in June, and in time as owners of a horse in training in Britain.
“Whatever the outcome at each stage of the journey, we anticipate that the journey in and of itself will provide a fascinating story, and we are looking forward to telling that story in partnership with Ascot Racecourse.”
Nick Smith, Director of Racing and Public Affairs at Ascot Racecourse, adds:
“Harlan's enthusiasm for Royal Ascot is matched only by his passion for Bucchero and so this project is an exciting next step.
“We're delighted he is looking at the new Gulfstream qualifiers and look forward to seeing the progeny of Bucchero at Ascot soon.”
Future instalments in An American Dream: The Return to Royal Ascot will be released on both GBRI's and Ascot Racecourse's social media platforms.
