Tag: Bloodstock

Imperador, a classic winner in his native Argentina and a Grade 2 winner in the U.S., has been retired from racing to begin his stallion career at Haras Chenaut in Argentina, the South American publication Turf Diario reports.

The 6-year-old son of Treasure Beach finished his on-track career with four wins in 14 starts, earning $538,268. He last raced for the partnership of Bonne Chance Farm and Stud RDI, trained by Paulo Lobo.

Born in Argentina, Imperador began racing in his hime country as a 3-year-old, in a season that was highlighted by a victory in the Group 1 Argentine 2,000 Guineas. He added another Group 1 win as a 4-year-old in the Miguel Alfredo Martinez de Hoz.

Over the summer of 2020, Imperador was relocated to the U.S., where he quickly jumped into graded stakes competition. The following season, he finished second in the G1 United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park, and he closed his career with a victory in the G2 Calumet Turf Cup Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

Though he will stand in Argentina, Beto Figueiredo told Turf Diario that Brazilian-based Stud RDI will support Imperador with mares.

Bred by Haras Rio Dois Irmaos S. R. L., Imperador is out of the British-born Danehill mare Duchess Royale.

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The 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training sale ended Tuesday in Timonium, Md., with an exciting day of sales, featuring early fireworks and robust trade throughout.

The day was highlighted by the multiple record-breaking sale of a colt by the late Bernardini, marking the eighth consecutive year with a seven-figure sale topper at the Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. At the close of the session, new records were also established for the sale in average and gross.

A colt by Bernardini out of G Note (Medaglia d'Oro) topped the session and sale when hammered down for $3.55 million to Gary Young, agent for Zedan Racing (video). Offered as Hip 385 by Sequel New York, agent for breeders Chester and Mary Broman, the dark bay or brown New York-bred colt worked an eighth in :9.4 during the Tuesday session of the under tack show (video).

The sale price is a new highwater mark for a Thoroughbred sold at public auction in the state of Maryland, eclipsing the previous record set at this sale in 2019, when subsequent Eclipse champion Gamine sold for $1.8 million. Hip 385 also has the distinction of being the highest-price offspring of Bernardini sold at public auction worldwide and is currently the most expensive Thoroughbred offering at public auction globally this year.

The record-breaking colt is out of the winning Medaglia d'Oro mare G Note, who has already produced three winners from as many to race. The second dam is Grade 2 winner Seeking the Ante, also a 100 percent winner-producer, whose six foals to race include stakes winner Mineralogist, dam of stakes winner Can You Diggit, and stakes placed Risk a Chance, dam of this year's Grade 2 Rebel Stakes winner Un Ojo. Hip 385 is a direct descendent of multiple Grade 1 winning millionaire Antespend, who produced Grade 1 winner and sire Friends Lake.

“Anything can happen at Timonium, and it just did,” said Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sales Director Paget Bennett, on the sale topper. “It just goes to show people can feel confident about bringing that type of horse to the marketplace here in Maryland…. With the :9.4 work and the Bernardini and the New York-bred, (Hip 385) had all the ingredients for it to go to seven figures.”

A trio of juveniles tied for the session's second-highest price, including:

• Hip 364, a colt by popular first-crop sire Bolt d'Oro, sold for $500,000 to Holly and David Wilson from the consignment of Kings Equine, agent. The dark bay or brown colt is out of the stakes winning Bernardini mare Forever Discreet (AUS), a daughter of group stakes winner She's Discreet, who produced 13 winners from as many to race, including multiple stakes winners and stakes winner-producers. Hip 364 worked an eighth in :10 flat during the Wednesday session of the under tack show (video).
• Hip 443, a filly by Triple Crown hero American Pharoah, sold for $500,000 to Cherie Devaux, agent from the consignment of McKathan Bros., agent. The chestnut filly is the second foal out of Grade 3 winner, multiple Grade 2 placed Jordan's Henny (Henny Hughes). Bred in Kentucky by Erv Woolsey and Ralph Kinder, Hip 443 worked an eighth in :10 flat during the Thursday session of the under tack show (video).
• Hip 487, a filly by the late Malibu Moon, sold for $500,000 to Maddie Mattmiller, agent for J. Kinchen and Black Type TB, from the consignment of Wavertree Stables, agent. The gray or roan filly is out the winner Unbridled's Song mare Lorelei True, a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Sparky Ville, from the immediate family of Grade 1 winners Harmony Lodge, Magnum Moon, and Pinehurst. Hip 487 worked an eighth in :10 2/5 during the Thursday session of the under tack show (video).

The sale's top-priced filly sold during Monday's session, when Donato Lanni, agent for Michael Lund Petersen, went to $725,000 to secure a daughter of first-crop sire Girvin (Hip 88) from the draft of Paul Sharp, agent (read more).

“We had a lot of buyers from all over the world that came to the sale,” added Bennett. “We had supporters regionally and nationally who came to buy racehorses here. We are tickled to death with these results.”

Over the course of two days, 391 horses sold for $37,297,700, up 10.7 percent from the previous record of $33,692,000, set last year.

The average was $95,391, a slight increase over last year's then-record highwater mark of $94,375. The median was $47,000 good for second-highest in sale history, just down from the record set last year of $50,000. The RNA rate was 18.9 percent, under 20 percent for the third consecutive year. The sale topper was the highest-priced Thoroughbred ever sold at public auction in Maryland. For the eighth consecutive year, a horse sold for $1 million or more to top the sale.

Full results are available online.

The post Records Fall, Bernardini Colt Stars At Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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From the moment he crossed the Maryland State Fairgrounds finish line and the timer blinked “:9.4” during the under-tack show, the focus of this year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale had been the future of Hip 385, the Bernardini colt that set the blazing time.

That future became much clearer on Tuesday, when the colt hammered to Zedan Racing for $3.55 million, almost twice as much as anyone ever paid for a horse in the auction's history. It was a crowning moment for the Sequel Bloodstock team, the consignment responsible for the colt's past and present, on behalf of breeders and longtime clients Chester and Mary Broman.

“I can't even explain it,” said John Motaung, co-manager and rider at Sequel's training base at Winding Oaks Farm in Ocala, Fla. “This is my first time doing this kind of sale for such a nice horse like him. I'm over the moon.”

The colt, named Berning Remarks, arrived at Winding Oaks as a yearling in August 2021 to begin his under-saddle training after growing up in New York.

Marcel Pillay, a rider with Sequel, was tasked with getting the colt started under tack, and he said it took some time for him to zero in on his new job.

“It wasn't easy at the start,” he said. “He wasn't good to break in, but he learned quick, and from there, it was easy.

“He was straightforward, but also very fresh,” Pillay continued. “He was a very happy horse. You just have to relax when you're on them, and they come back to you.”

Pillay brought with him a deep well of global experience to get Berning Remarks acclimated to his new job. A native of South Africa, Pillay started out as an apprentice jockey in his home country before moving his tack to Australia for a year. He returned to South Africa to enroll in Summerhill Stud's School of Equine Management Excellence and work as an assistant trainer before being recruited by Sequel to move stateside.

The South African connection with Berning Remarks continued with Motaung, who started working with horses at 18 as a groom at Summerhill Stud, where the horses with his fingerprints included South African Horse of the Year Igugu.

That led him to a stint at Godolphin's Gainsborough Farm in Kentucky which later, between trips home, led him to first work with Becky Thomas of Sequel Bloodstock for five months in 2008. He took courses at Summerhill's School of Equine Management Excellence and the English National Stud – the latter of which he graduated as the top practical student – and he served as riding master of the South African Jockey Academy.

Motaung said the colt started showing flashes of his potential in January, when he put together the physical and mental aspects of his job.

“The babies sometimes don't tell you exactly what they're going to be like,” he said. “Sometimes, they can surprise you. He was one of those horses that was sometimes a little bit fresh, but once you put him on the track, he straightened out. Through all the pre-training on him, he was a lovely horse to work with. I can't find any fault with what he did ahead of the sale.”

Neither rider was in the saddle when Berning Remarks set the track ablaze over an eighth of a mile in :9 4/5 seconds during the under-tack show. They knew they had a fast horse, but having one fast enough to clock the sale's fastest time at the distance was a surprise, even to them.

“It just looked like wind was passing,” Pillay said. “We felt the breeze on the other side.”

After the breeze show, the attention of every buyer with a serious bankroll snapped their attention to Sequel's consignment in Barns G and H. That's when Sequel's sales and yearling prep manager Humberto Garcia-Olivera got busy.

Garcia-Olivera was on the end of the shank every time Berning Remarks came out of the barn, which by his count was over 100 times. For a horse with that many potential dollars riding on him, he was the full-time showman.

“Always,” Motaung said with a laugh.

A native of Mexico, Garcia-Olivera got his start in the industry in 2005, working in Kentucky with WinStar Farm and Castleton Lyons before turning his focus to the sales. He's worked under the Sequel banner for five years.

Garcia-Olivera praised the colt for his mind from the first times they started working together last year. For any “it” horse at a sale, though, the task of keeping them fresh and focused on their task through show after show requires a steady, patient hand on the shank leather.

“The horse is quick, and if you're loose with the shank, he's going [to move], so we try to make him relax,” he said. “You talk to the horses. If you settle down, the horse will settle down.”

Garcia-Olivera's smile was infectious after the colt hammered for a record total. When the Sequel team gathered around the Berning Remarks for a group picture in the aftermath, Garcia-Olivera's arm was wrapped around the colt's neck, and his head was tucked between the horse's cheek and his neck, his grin still beaming as much as it did when the horse left the ring.

“I've worked with many consignors, but never sold a horse for that much, so it's very exciting for me,” he said.

The expectations are going to be sky-high for Berning Remarks when he hits the racetrack, between the ability he showed on the track and the historic price he commanded in the ring. After nine months together, the Sequel team was confident he could live up to it.

“I just wish him to do well in the future,” Motaung said. “I want to see him doing well on the racetrack. I know he's going to do well, because he 's a nice, quiet horse. It's nice to work with him, so I'm not scared to say that.”

The post ‘I’m Over The Moon’: The Hands Behind Sequel Bloodstock’s Record-Setting Colt At Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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