Bucchero Represented By First Winner

Toddchero (Bucchero) gave his freshman sire (by Kantharos) his first winner Friday night when taking his debut at Lone Star. Sporting a pair of blinkers for this unveiling, the 5-2 shot caught a flier off the blocks and never gave them a chance after putting up a comfortable :45.65 half, cruising home under a hand ride to win by 3 1/2 lengths. B W P Spirit (The Big Beast) chased him home the entire way. Toddchero has a yearling half-brother by Khozan and French Politics was bred to Caracaro for this season. This is the family of champion sprinter and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Orientate (Mt. Livermore).

7th-Lone Star, $33,000, Msw, 6-10, 2yo, 5f, :58.62, ft, 3 1/2 lengths.
TODDCHERO (c, 2, Bucchero–French Politics {SP, $161,388}, by Political Force) Sales history: $77,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $19,740. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Mark Norman and Norman Stables LLC; B-GDS Racing Stable (FL); T-Jayde J. Gelner.

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Six Share Furlong Bullet, Three Share Quarter Bullet at OBS Under-Tack Opener

A half-dozen juvenile colts and fillies shared the bullet furlong time of :9 4/5 at the first of seven under-tack preview shows for the upcoming OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Sunday.

The first to shade 10 seconds in their one-eighth breeze was Hip 87, a filly by Tapiture out of the unraced mare Youngnflashy (Flashy Bull) consigned by Grassroots Training & Sales. The filly was bought for $25,000 at Fasig-Tipton October.

Three more fillies posted :9 4/5 time shortly thereafter–Hip 121, by Speightster, consigned by Randy Miles and bought for $105,000 at Keeneland September, Hip 129, by Mor Spirit, consigned by Kings Equine, agent for Spendthrift Farm and a $25,000 Fasig-Tipton November buy, and Hip 137, by Lord Nelson, consigned by Omar Ramirez Bloodstock and a $37,000 Fasig-Tipton July pickup.

Rounding out the :9 4/5 breezers were Hip 138, an Uncaptured colt named Havnameltdown consigned by Blas Perez Stables bought for $16,000 at OBS October, and Hip 148, a More Than Ready filly consigned by Best A Luck Farm who sold for $75,000 at Keeneland September.

Three 2-year-olds shared the quarter-mile bullet time of :20 3/5, starting with Hip 150, a filly by Bolt d'Oro consigned by Sequel Bloodstock who hammered for $270,000 at Keeneland September. Matching that clocking were Hip 163, a colt by Mendelssohn consigned by Woodford Thoroughbreds who was bought for $120,000 at Keeneland September, and the final hip of the showcase, Hip 176, a Bucchero filly named Miss Bellimbusto consigned by Blue River Bloodstock.

The OBS under-tack shows continue daily through Saturday with all sessions starting at 8 a.m. The Spring Sale is set to be held Apr. 19-22.

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Get Smokin Has Ironhorse, Partners On the Road Again

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — In the spring of 2018, Bucchero (Kantharos) took the Ironhorse Racing Stable on the ride of a lifetime. Having burst onto the scene with an upset victory in Keeneland's GII Woodford S. the previous fall, the popular Indiana-bred finished fourth, beaten just one length, in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Behind him that afternoon were the likes of Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) and Marsha (Ire), both world-class turf sprinters, and it got IHR managing partner Harlan Malter's wheel's spinning. If Bucchero could mix it with those at home, why not try them on their home turf?

Malter and his IHR partners eagerly accepted an invitation to Royal Ascot for the 2018 G1 King's Stand S. over a straight and undulating five-furlong trip. Bucchero acquitted himself exceptionally well against some of the best European short-trackers in recent memory like Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal), Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Mabs Cross (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), just missing fourth while beaten under five lengths.

The flames had been fanned and this weekend at Meydan Racecourse, a half a world away, Get Smokin (Get Stormy) faces a diverse bunch in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on the G1 Dubai World Cup undercard.

“I think once you're exposed to international racing and the enthusiasm and passion that the rest of the world has toward all of the racing, it makes you want to put your horse on that stage,” Malter said last week from his home in Southern California. “You have to have the right horse. And when we went with Bucchero, we were 50-1, but the horse ran as competitively on the world stage as you possibly could have hoped. And we feel the same way about Get Smokin.”

Malter and partners BlackRidge Stables LLC, T-N-T Equine Holdings LLC and Saratoga Seven Racing Partners acquired Get Smokin in a private transaction late last year.

“We've been working with [bloodstock agent] Phil Hager for about three years now, and he came to us with the horse,” Malter said when asked how they came to own the 5-year-old. “He had picked the horse out as a yearling [$11,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky in 2018] and had stayed quite involved with his progress both through his friendship with [trainer] Tom Bush and with the [previous owners the] Sullivans.

He continued, “They were starting to disperse a little bit of some of their holdings, and they had kind of leaned on Phil to hopefully find a really good spot for the horse to end up in. And so he came to us with the possibility of purchasing the horse. We were able to put together a really, really good team of Ironhorse partners plus some outside partners who were super game and have been really great to own the horse with. There's some very obvious similarities to another horse that we campaigned internationally, a chestnut with four white socks, but the thing that really, really caught our eye about the horse is, you just don't see a horse that's more game than this horse. If you look at his past performances, it's littered with the top turf horses in the country the last two years.”

Get Smokin posted a front-running defeat of the classy Decorated Invader (Declaration of War) in the 2020 GIII Hill Prince S. going Belmont's one-turn mile and made the majority of the running in that year's GI Hollywood Derby over a stamina-stretching nine panels, only to be swarmed late to finish a close fourth to divisional leaders Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) and Gufo (Declaration of War). A four-race campaign in 2021 included a 3/4-length success in the GIII Tampa Bay S. from just off the pace and he also annexed a graded-stakes quality renewal of the Seek Again S. in May. He was sidelined off a fifth in the GIII Poker S. and resumed with a very useful runner-up effort in defense of his title in the Tampa Bay S. Feb. 5, going a good gallop before just running out of fitness late in his first run for his new owners.

“I think any time you give a horse some time off, you don't know exactly how tight they'll be when they come back. So we were thrilled,” Malter said. “[Trainer] Mark [Casse] said he was extremely happy with the way he was training. So we were excited about the way of coming into it. And he put in exactly the effort we had hoped off a break like that.”

 

 

 

Malter is well aware that the task ahead in the Al Quoz will not be an easy one, as Get Smokin is set to face a distance and configuration he is generally unaccustomed to. The competition in the race, contested over a straight six furlongs, figures extremely strong, including last-out G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint romper Man of Promise (Into Mischief), European Group 1 winners Emaraaty Ana (GB) (Shamardal) and A Case of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) and GI Jaipur S. hero and recent G3 1351 Turf Sprint runner-up Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) among what is expected to be a full field. Flavien Prat has accepted the mount in the race won last year by fellow Yankee Extravagant Kid (Kiss the Kid).

“In talking to people who have experience with Dubai and some of the past success, and some of the Americans going over, the cutback milers have fared quite well,” Malter said. “The near miss by Long on Value (Value Plus) comes to mind. It is one of those situations where you don't know that he can't do it, and you don't know that he can do it. And we tend to lean to the side that we don't know that he can't do it. So he's the type of horse that gives you a ton out of the gate going through turns, and immediately pretty much rates himself. And he gives you a kick toward the end.

He added, “It's really going to be a lot up to how he decides to handle early, faster fractions, because he's never really been exposed to them. And what we obviously hope is that we've put one of the best riders in America on him, who's run this type of race before. And we'll leave it to him and the horse to see how they're feeling when the gates open. But we do feel like, with the speed he has, he should be able to position himself quite handy. And you hope that a horse that is normally used to going a much longer distance should have plenty left for the last two furlongs.”

Win, lose or draw Saturday, the allure of traveling horses has led Malter, Ironhorse and his partners to the sprawling Meydan Racecourse. And he is relishing the opportunity.

“When you get a chance to have the world bring their horses to a single race and put your head in there and let your horse be seen on that stage, it really does become about the horse,” he offered. “And giving the horse the chance. This is a unique opportunity to give your horse a chance to show what he's got against the top horses in the world and really make a mark. And we would definitely not go unless we thought this horse was going to be very competitive.”

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Mixed Sales Season Continues in Ocala

A total of 649 horses of all ages, including a supplemental catalog of about 50 horses, is set to go under the hammer at the Ocala Breeders Sales Company's Winter Mixed Sale, which kicks off a two-day run in Central Florida this morning at 11 a.m. ET with a preferred session (hips 1-206, including supplements) and continues with the horses-of-racing-age section (hips 251-365, including supplements). The sale concludes with Wednesday's open session (hips 401-638, supplements included), also beginning at 11 a.m.

In the aftermath of a record-setting entree to the mixed sales season at Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton in November and with steadier, rational trade at the latter's Midlantic Sale in December and back at Keeneland a few weeks ago, sales officials at OBS are expecting more of the same over the next 48 hours.

“Hopefully the trends that we've seen over the last few months continues here. We certainly hope so,” said the auction house's director of sales Tod Wojciechowski. “There certainly does seem to be a zest for horses of all ages. The horse industry in general has been doing very well over the last year or so. I think there is obviously some pent-up demand and there are probably a few factors that will come into play on that, but we're excited to see what happens.”

He continued, “The January Sale has kind of gotten to be a destination sale for many, especially for the short yearlings. I think people sort of use it as a convenient excuse to get out of the colder weather. But on top of that, it's just a sale people that want to be at.”

It is a leaner catalog for the 2022 renewal of the Winter Mixed Sale, down some 19% from last year's 805-strong book. Wojciechowski explained that the slimmed-down catalog is mostly a function of the nature of mixed sales.

“I think the smaller catalog is a function of the ebb and flow of breeding stock from year to year,” he said. “Certainly there has been a drop in the foal crop here in Florida, so that can't have a good impact on us, but I think we've got a good book and I think that the people that come here to shop will be pleased with the stock that we have.”

The catalog features 257 yearlings by sires based not only in Florida, but also mainstream Kentucky stallions such as Accelerate, Always Dreaming, Collected, Goldencents, Gun Runner, Hard Spun, Maclean's Music and Practical Joke, to name just a few. Stallions based in Ocala include Breaking Lucky, Girvin, Khozan, Neolithic and Bucchero, whose first foals hit the track in 2022 and whose popularity in the breeding shed early days looks to have translated to a high number of entries. The Pleasant Acres resident is represented in the catalog by no fewer than 15 newly turned yearlings, the most for any sire in the sale.

“I've heard a lot of good things about Bucchero for sure and that's probably the reason that there are so many of them,” Wojciechowski surmised.

Among the horses recently supplemented to the sale is hip 349, the 3-year-old filly Fifth Anniversary (Runhappy). Runner-up in the Sept. 19 Woodbine Cares S. going five furlongs on turf for trainer Ricky Griffith, the bay made a giant impression on her South Florida debut Jan. 19, taking a five-furlong allowance over the Gulfstream Tapeta track by 2 3/4 lengths, good for an 83 Beyer Speed Figure (video).

The sale also includes a dispersal of breeding stock from Fred Brei's Jacks Or Better Farm, long an institution on the Florida racing and breeding scene. Alone and in partnership, Jacks Or Better has bred and/or raced the likes of GI Forego S. and GI Carter H. winner Jackson Bend–a son of their homebred sire Hear No Evil–and champion 2-year-old filly Awesome Feather (by Jacks Or Better's Awesome of Course), who was sold for $2.3 million following her victory in the 2010 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

“Certainly Mr. Brei has a long and successful tradition in Florida racing and has been a big part of the scene in the state, from a breeding and racing perspective,” Wojciechowski said. “It'll be a loss to the industry, but this will offer people an opportunity to get into some of his really nice families that he's had success with.”

For the full catalog, please visit www.obssales.com.

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