Ciaran Dunne | Horse Racing Free Tips

Consignors Talk First-Crop Sires Ahead of 2-Year-Old Sales (Part 2)

With the 2-year-old sales right around the corner, the TDN reached out to consignors with juveniles heading to the sales rings at the Mar. 16 and 17 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and the Mar. 31 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale to discuss which of their offerings by first-crop sires have impressed them. This is the second installment of the series (click here to view the first section which was published in Tuesday's TDN).

CIARAN DUNNE (Wavertree Stables)

Among the 26 juveniles Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables has consigned to the OBS March sale and a further 22 targeted at the Gulfstream sale are a bevy of youngsters by first-crop sires. Dunne joined the chorus of consignors singing the praises of Practical Joke (Into Mischief–Halo Humor, by Distorted Humor).

“Some of the first-season sires, people want to get excited about because they are a little precocious,” Dunne said. “The Practical Jokes actually look like they have a bit of quality. They have speed, but they aren't all speed all the time. Obviously, it's early days, but they have been very sound horses to this point and are very easy to train. You don't have to gear your training around them, they just do whatever you put in front of them. He was a fast horse himself, so they should be fast, but they have a license to go a little bit farther.”

Wavertree will offer a colt by the Ashford stallion (hip 273) at the OBS March sale and a colt (hip 31) and filly (hip 156) at Gulfstream.

“The colt we have in March looks like he'll be very early and very quick, but he's a half to a really quick filly [Jo Jo Air {Scat Daddy}]. The two that are in Gulfstream, the filly is beautiful. She's big and tall and leggy. She's out of a Five Star Day mare and I don't know why she looks the way she does because it's speed on speed and she is big and strong and beautiful and looks like she'll go two turns. And the colt that is down there has a big pedigree. He is a half to [graded winner] Plainsman (Flatter) and [graded-placed] Liam (Liam's Map).”

Dunne continued, “We have an American Freedom filly (hip 154) for Gulfstream that was a very expensive yearling [$160,000 FTKSEP], but she acts the part. She was beautiful filly as a yearling. She ticked all the boxes then, and now in training she is the same. She's tall and lean and leggy and gets over the ground well. She acts like she could have a bit of quality.”

American Freedom (Pulpit–Gottcha Last, by Pleasant Tap) stands at Airdrie Stud. Winner of the 2016 GIII Iowa Derby, he was second in that year's GI Travers S. and GI betfair.com Haskell Invitational.

Wavertree will offer a pair of colts by Unified (Candy Ride {Arg}–Union City, by Dixie Union) at the OBS March sale. The Lane's End stallion, who stands for $10,000, won the 2016 GII Peter Pan S. and GIII Bay Shore S., as well as the 2017 GIII Gulfstream Park Sprint S.

“The Unifieds that go to March are surprisingly quick,” Dunne said. “I wouldn't have thought that they had the license to be that fast.”

Dunne will send a pair of fillies by Claiborne Farm stallion Mastery (Candy Ride {Arg}–Steady Course, by Old Trieste) through the OBS sales ring (hip 173 and hip 378), and a colt by the Grade I winner will be offered at Gulfstream (hip 33).

“The Masterys are beautiful horses,” Dunne said. “Really, really good-moving horses. How quick they will be at the end of the day, I don't know, but from the way they are training on a day-to-day basis, they are very impressive and they look like they will be two-turn horses.”

Wavertree has a pair of juveniles by the late champion Arrogate (Unbridled's Song–Bubbler, by Distorted Humor), one of which will be offered at Gulfstream as hip 158.

“The Arrogates we have we really like,” Dunne said. “It's obviously going to be a small sample with him, but he seems to have thrown to the mare. We have one out of a Salt Lake mare and one out of a Silver Deputy mare and that's kind of what they are. But they are both really nice horses.”

The Wavertree freshman sire bench also includes a filly by Klimt (Quality Road–Inventive, by Dixie Union) (hip 84) who will be offered at OBS March.

“The Klimt filly that is in there is very nice,” Dunne said. “She might have been one of the most expensive of the Klimts [$160,000 FTKSEP]. She is a real Quality Road, a big strong filly who looks like she'll run all day. She has a great attitude.”

TRISTAN DE MERIC (De Meric Sales)

“We've got five Practical Jokes,” Tristan De Meric said of the much-hyped freshman stallion. “They are all training really well. I'm not telling you anything new, but he'd be my obvious top pick. They all look the part and they are all just getting better the more you do with them. I love their dispositions, they have great minds, they put a lot in their training, leave it all out on the track. They are very professional and very smart, classy nice horses. I have high hopes for him as a sire.”

De Meric Sales will offer two colts (hip 1 and hip 7) and a filly hip 81) by the multiple Grade I winner at the Gulfstream sale.

The Ocala-based operation will offer a colt by Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}–Quiet Giant, by Giant's Causeway) (hip 388) at OBS in March.

“We have three Gun Runners,” de Meric said. “One is in the March sale and he's freaky fast. He's a very quick colt with a good family behind him. He's out of Brazen Persuasion, who was a good race mare. He is the only Gun Runner we have going to a sale, but the two we have for the races are also really nice horses. I'd be surprised not to see Gun Runner up there next year also.”

De Meric added, “At the yearling sales, we obviously tried to pick up a few more Practical Jokes and Gun Runners, they were just hard to buy and we didn't end up with as many as we wanted. But we are thrilled to have a few of them because they are doing great.”

Another freshman sire whose progeny have impressed de Meric is Connect (Curlin–Bullville Belle, by Holy Bull). De Meric Sales will offer a pair of colts (hip 71 and hip 524) by the Lane's End stallion at the OBS March sale and a third colt (hip 60) at Gulfstream.

“I think, as a sleeper sire, Connect might be really good,” de Meric said. “They may be later developing. We have one entered in the Miami sale out of Wild Hoots (Unbridled's Song). He looks the part. There is nothing not to like about him. He's a beautiful horse. And we have a really nice filly out of Nest Egg (Eskendereya) going to April who is an elegant, two-turn looking filly.”

Of his impressions of the Connects he has seen, de Meric said, “The ones we have, they are throwing to the broodmare sire maybe a bit. But they are great-minded and training really well. I wouldn't say the five we have have a lot of similarities, but the one similarity that they all have is that they are all training great. They have great minds and I think they are going to be solid, nice horses.”

Of his expectations for the upcoming calendar of 2-year-old sales, de Meric said, “The top end will be as strong as ever, I hope. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the market is. Hopefully, there is a deep pool of buyers and we can move horses and have a good year.”

TORIE GLADWELL (Top Line Sales)

Top Line Sales had its first seven-figure sale a year ago when a daughter of first-crop sire Not This Time sold for $1.35 million at the OBS Spring Sale. The operation has another strong group of freshman offerings in 2021, led by the omnipresent Practical Joke.

“They are just extremely forward horses,” Torie Gladwell said of the Practical Joke juveniles who will represent Top Line in the sales ring this spring. “The ones that we have, you're almost slowing them down. They just want to do too much too early. So we are just trying to slow them down and do what we need to do to get there and keep them happy and sound. Because they are the kind of horses who want to go out there and do too much.”

Top Line Sales has a filly (hip 311) and colt (hip 563) by Practical Joke catalogued at the OBS March sale and a second filly (hip 85) targeted at Gulfstream.

“The filly going to Gulfstream, she wasn't a really big filly when we bought her and now she's probably 15.3,” Gladwell said. “We actually went and bought her mom [Caribbean Lady {Speightstown}] and her baby sister by Mendelssohn, we liked this filly so much.”

Top Line Sales will also offer a colt by American Freedom (hip 454) at OBS March.

“We have two American Freedoms,” Gladwell said. “They are a little bit bigger than some of the other freshman stallions that we have, but they seem precocious and early.”

Gladwell said she has also been impressed by the first crop of runners by 2016 GI Del Mar Futurity winner Klimt.

“We have a handful of Klimts and we like those,” she said. “They are really good-boned horses. They are smart and take everything in stride. They are really sound, solid horses.”

Reflecting on the success Top Line enjoyed with $1.35-million future Grade I winner Princess Noor (Not This Time) at last year's Spring Sale, Gladwell said, “I think it really just proved that those top, top horses can step up and perform no matter what sale you go to, whether it's June, April, Miami, Maryland. It doesn't matter who the horse is by, whether it's a freshman stallion or not, if a horse steps up and performs, you're going to get paid for it.”

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Colonel Liam’s Pegasus a Win for All Connections

The journey from Missouri to Hallandale Beach proved to be more than worth it for owners Robert and Lawana Low when they watched their speedy gray colt Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) flash past the wire to win the $1-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf.

While Robert Low said they were confident going into the Pegasus, they were unconvinced that the newly-turned 4-year-old had to win by a landslide in order to be considered a top contender in his division.

“I think it was a really nice field,” he noted. “There were some really nice horses with some good numbers, but he didn't disappoint.

While the Lows enjoyed the victory from the winner's circle, another couple celebrated from their farm in Ocala.

Colonel Liam became a dream come true for Ron and Suzanne Fein when he was their first seven-figure pinhook in 2019.

“He came on like gangbusters,” Ron Fein said of the race with enthusiasm. “It was terrific- just beautiful movement. I had always been thinking dirt, so he surprised me. I think he'd be good on dirt or turf; He's just a superhorse.”

The Feins have been pinhooking both weanlings and yearlings for 22 years at their Superfine Farms in Ocala. Throughout their journey in the business, they've worked closely with Ciaran Dunne of Wavertree Stables. Fein credits Dunne for finding Colonel Liam at the 2018 Keeneland September Sale.

“He saw the horse and asked if I liked him,” Fein recalled. “I thought he was a nice-looking colt. He had good conformation and looked like he was going to be quick, but I didn't think he was anything special, special.”

Colonel Liam sells for $1.2 million with the Wavertree consignment at the 2019 OBS April Sale. | Wavertree Stables

After signing the ticket for $50,000, Fein brought the colt home to Superfine Farms, where he and his wife break six to eight yearlings each year.

By the time Fein delivered the colt to Wavertree in the weeks leading up to the OBS April Sale, the youngster had been transformed.

“When we took him over to Ciaran, his eyes lit up,” Fein recalled. “He had gained a lot of leg, his body had filled out and he looked absolutely gorgeous. He was a beautiful mover. We use Racing Edge Training Center and we kept getting comments from trainers and riders that they thought this horse was something special.”

The April-foaled gray was out Amazement (Bernardini), a daughter of dual Grade I winner Wonder Again (Silver Hawk) and a sister to Red Raven (Smart Strike), a stakes winner in Japan. He hailed from the family of Grass Wonder, a champion 2-year-old in Japan.

After breezing :20 4/5 at the sale, Colonel Liam caught the eye of several top bidders, including the Low's agent Jacob West.

“I was relying on Jacob's evaluation of him,” Low explained. “We noticed in his pedigree, he had a strong female family. Jacob, with his connection to the Taylor brothers, has a lot of appreciation for Unbridled's Song and that sire line.”

Colonel Liam sold to the Lows for $1.2 million and, while the Feins had had several pinhooks come close to the seven-figure mark over the years, the colt became their first million-dollar sale.

“I think that was probably one of the most exciting days of our lives when he sold for all that money,” Fein said. “We thought that he was going to get close to a million and then it kept going and going.”

“We were pretty close to the top of our budget,” Low admitted. “Usually those million-dollar purchases are just the kiss of death, but this one is working out so far.”

Colonel Liam was sent to Todd Pletcher and made his debut in April on the dirt. He was elevated to first via a disqualification, but Low said they were a bit disappointed with the effort after reviewing the numbers.

After a third-place finish in his next start, Pletcher decided to switch the sophomore over to the grass. The colt responded with a 2 3/4-length romp in an allowance at Saratoga.

“I don't think the numbers really described how impressive that particular race was,” Low said. “We had a big sigh of relief that this guy was going to be worth it after all.”

Stepping into stakes company next in the Saratoga Derby Invitational S., after getting bumped and pinched at the start, he finished behind eventual Grade I winners Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman (GB}) and Gufo (Declaration of War), and was a nose short of third after stablemate No Word (Silent Name {Jpn}).

“He had a really tough trip,” Low said. “At the end he had a lot of run left in him with no where to go and no way to get through. He was less than a length from the winner even with all the trouble he had, so we thought we had the best horse in that race.”

Colonel Liam didn't disappoint in his final start leading up to the Pegasus with a 3 1/4-length win in the Tropical Park Derby.

Off as the 5-2 favorite in his first Grade I bid in the Pegasus, Colonel Liam maintained a ground-saving position in the middle of the field, but was shifted out wide by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. going into the stretch and outdueled stablemate Largent (Into Mischief) to win by a neck.

“I thought he might have had too much to do as they came into the turn, but he figured out a way to get there,” said Low. “Irad did an excellent job and they got up. He galloped out nicely, went back to the barn and ate every oat.”

Low reported that while they're still enjoying reliving the win from this past weekend, the GI Old Forester Turf Classic S. on Kentucky Derby Day is an intermediate goal for the colt's 2021 campaign, although they may find another spot before then.

While the colt has only had six starts so far in his career, Low said the emotional roller coaster they've experienced already has made the horse unforgettable for both him and his wife.

“I think it's the anticipation that you have a nice horse,” he said. “Then you get some reality along the way with those first two dirt races. So you kind of have some ups and downs, but those downs are what make the good times so good.”

Low, owner of the Missouri-based trucking company Prime Inc., and his wife Lawana have been hooked on racing ever since their first Grade I winner in 1996 when Capote Belle (Capote) won the GI Test S. and then the GI Humana Distaff H. the following year.

Today, their racing stable has roughly 14 horses, of which half are in training with Pletcher and the others are split between Danny Peitz and Steve Margolis. They also are working to expand their breeding operation on their farm in Missouri.

Low said their all-time favorite horse they've owned is Magnum Moon (Malibu Moon), who won the GII Rebel S. and GI Arkansas Derby in 2018, but succumbed to a battle with laminitis following his bid in the GI Kentucky Derby that year.

“He was a dream horse,” Low recalled. “That guy was so smart and even through all his medical issues, he was a gentleman and courageous all the way.”

The tragic loss of Magnum Moon, Low said, makes Colonel Liam even more special for the couple.

“We understand how precious and how courageous these horses are,” he said. “They go out there and put it all on the line. So I think it makes us appreciate having a good, healthy horse. It doesn't really change what happened with Magnum Moon emotionally, but it does give you an appreciation to live in the moment and take it all in.”

Ron Fein and his wife Suzanne recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of their Superfine Farms in Ocala. | Fasig-Tipton

The Lows may have several opportunities to make it to the winner's circle on big race days this year as they look forward to the return of two 4-year-old fillies. Dual graded stakes-winning turfer Sweet Melania (American Pharoah) and Grade II-placed Spice Is Nice (Curlin) are both expected to make their 4-year-old debuts by late spring.

When asked how he and his wife enjoyed the win on Pegasus Day, Low responded with a laugh, “We worked that bottle of champagne over real well, then we came back to Missouri in the early evening and have been quarantined since. But the quarantine is a small price to pay, so now we're just taking it all in and enjoying this horse.”

As for the couple who first put a saddle on the newly-crowned Grade I winner, the Feins celebrated the 25^th anniversary of their farm days after Colonel Liam's victory. Fein said they have several promising pinhooks preparing for the upcoming 2-year-old sales, including a colt by Practical Joke and another by Arrogate.

“We believe in quality,” he said. “We try not to get overloaded with horses and we give most of them to Ciaran to finish off. He's the best that there is in the business. We have been very lucky together and it's been a great relationship. The man has a fabulous eye and it's nice doing business with honest people.”

When asked if he has any regrets over selling Colonel Liam or if he's happy to enjoy the memories of their dream-fulfilling sale, Fein responded, “Let's put it this way- you never stop riding the high of a million-dollar sale.”

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Quality Sells At Fasig-Tipton

LEXINGTON, KY – While Into Mischief secured the top lots during Monday’s first session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, it was Quality Road in charge during Tuesday’s second session as Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners went to a session-topping $560,000 to secure a son of the Lane’s End stallion. The day kicked off with a daughter of Quality Road bringing what was ultimately the session’s co-second-highest price of $230,000.

Through two sessions, Fasig-Tipton has sold 489 yearlings for a gross of $16,390,500. The two-day average is $33,518, down 12.7% from last year’s corresponding figure, while the median remained unchanged at $15,000.

“There was solid trade again today,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said Tuesday evening. “There was a very respectable RNA rate, the average was down slightly from last year at this point. All in all, I think there has been a legitimate marketplace that has been fair for both buyers and sellers.”

The buy-back rate continued to trend down from 2019, with the two-day figure resting at 21.4% following Tuesday’s action.

“The credit for [the buy-back rate] goes to the sellers for being pretty realistic in their expectations,” Browning said. “Both the owners and the consignors/agents who have educated their principals as to the realities of the marketplace. So the buy-back rate has certainly been at an acceptable level and there are horses who continue to get sold post-sale that aren’t reflected in that figure.”

Through the first two days of the four-day auction, 10 yearlings have sold for $200,000 or over, compared to 21 a year ago.

The auction continued the familiar refrain of market polarization, with the perceived quality lots attracting plenty of attention and horses below that mark struggling.

“It’s been soft, but when the right one shows up, the money shows up,” trainer Bruce Levine summed up the market at Fasig-Tipton this week. Levine purchased a colt by Pioneeof the Nile for the session’s co-second highest price of $230,000.

Internet bidding has produced 43 sales during the first two days of the sale, with 27 yearlings selling online Tuesday added to 16 Monday.

“Some of those folks would have contacted somebody, used an agent, would have phone bid, or figured out another way to bid, but clearly certain people are comfortable in participating via the internet,” Browning said. “It’s another way to provide bidding opportunities and options for those who want to participate in that fashion.”

The October sale continues through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

Eclipse Hoping for Another ‘Great’ Colt
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners will be heading to the Breeders’ Cup in a couple weeks with Grade I-winning juvenile Gretzky the Great and the operation added a Quality Road half-brother to that colt to its roster when bloodstock agent Jacob West signed the ticket on hip 498 at $560,000. The yearling was bred and consigned by Dave Anderson’s Anderson Farms.

“It makes sense,” West, bidding outside behind the pavilion, said of the purchase. “Eclipse has the brother, and this colt was the star of the show here in our opinion. He is by a proven sire in Quality Road that Eclipse has had a lot of success with and he’s a half to a horse we know a lot about, obviously, and have had success with. He’s from a good breeder in Dave Anderson and his operation.”

West expects the June 4 colt will only continue to improve.

“Being a June foal, Dave did right by him, backing him up into this sale and giving him as much time as he could to let him grow up and into himself. But I still think the horse has a lot more maturing to do and he’s going to look like a completely different horse even 60 days from now.”

Of the yearling’s final price, West said, “We knew we weren’t going to walk in here and steal him. He was a pretty obvious horse for everybody.”

The SF Bloodstock and Starlight spearheaded partnership which has been so active buying well-bred yearling colts this fall, was underbidder on the youngster while doing their bidding upstairs in the pavilion.

Gretzky the Great RNA’d for $295,000 at last year’s October sale. Campaigned by Eclipse and Gary Barber and trained by Mark Casse, the colt broke his maiden at Woodbine in August and added the Soaring Free S. just weeks later. He booked his ticket to the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf with a 3 1/4-length victory in the Sept. 20 GI Summer S., which was run as the Keeneland September sale was already halfway done.

“We pointed this horse to this sale because he was a June foal and we just wanted to give him some more time,” Anderson said. “We were hoping that his brother would continue to do well and the stars were aligned.”

Anderson, who sold a Medaglia d’Oro filly (hip 319) for $1.6 million at last month’s Keeneland September sale, purchased Pearl Turn (Bernardini) for $310,000 at the 2016 Keeneland November sale. Now 10, the mare was multiple stakes placed while earning $182,560 on the racetrack.

“At the time, I didn’t realize that Bernardini was going to go on and be as good a broodmare as he is,” Anderson said of his 2016 purchase. “That was just a plus. But she comes from an old Calumet family that my dad had a couple of mares out of and that family meant a lot to me. The mare could really run, though it didn’t show it on paper, but she had a lot of ability. Any time you can find a mare bred like her that had a lot of ability, you’ve got to take advantage of it.”

Anderson added Pearl Turn is currently in foal to Nyquist’s sire Uncle Mo and due early.

Quality Road Filly Kickstarts Tuesday
A filly by Quality Road (hip 389), the first horse through the ring Tuesday morning, got the second session of the October sale off to a quick start when selling for $230,000 to the bid of pinhooker Ciaran Dunne. The yearling is out of the stakes-placed Moonlight Sky (Sky Mesa), a half-sister to champion Abel Tasman (Quality Road). She was bred by China Horse Club International and consigned Tuesday by Claiborne Farm.

“It’s obvious,” Dunne said of the yearling’s appeal. “She’s a Quality Road filly and we have had a lot of success with Quality Road through the years. For me, he is the best sire in the country. It’s a wonderful family. She needs to mature, but she’s a late foal, so hopefully she will.”

Dunne purchased a colt by Quality Road for $240,000 on behalf of a pinhooking partnership at last year’s October sale and the youngster (hip 1018) sold for $1.25 million at this year’s OBS Spring Sale. Dunne’s Wavertree Stables also sold subsequent multiple Grade I winner Bellafina (Quality Road) and multiple graded winner Blofeld (Quality Road).

Dunne did his bidding on the yearling from the back row of the sales pavilion, ultimately seeing off a group led by Becky Thomas and Al Pike sitting just a few rows in front of him.

China Horse Club, which co-owned 2017 GI Kentucky Oaks winner and champion 3-year-old filly Abel Tasman, purchased Moonlight Sky for $675,000 at that year’s Fasig-Tipton November sale. The yearling, a May 22 filly, is the mare’s first foal. She was not bred last year, but was bred back to Curlin this past spring.

“That was a great result,” Claiborne’s Jill Gordon said. “The filly has always been very straightforward at the farm and she was the same up here. She is a beautiful mover and she’s got a lot of class.”

Abel Tasman, who sold for $5 million to Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier at the 2019 Keeneland January sale, produced a colt by Galileo (Ire) this year.

Levine Strikes for Pioneerof the Nile Colt

Bruce Levine vetted just one horse at Newtown Paddocks this week, a colt by Pioneerof the Nile, and that yearling (hip 680) will join the trainer’s New York-based string after selling for $230,000 Tuesday at Fasig-Tipton.

“I just thought he was a neat-looking colt,” Levine said after signing the ticket on behalf of an undisclosed client. “He’s out of a graded stakes-winning mare. And the sire–how are you going to knock him?”

The bay colt is out of Savvy Supreme (Distorted Humor), who is a full-sister to Grade I winner Commentator. Co-bred by WinStar Farm and Joe Minor’s JSM Equine, the yearling was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency.

WinStar purchased Savvy Supreme for $520,000 as a weanling at the 2008 Keeneland November sale and she won the 2011 GIII Monmouth Oaks in that operation’s colors. Carrying this Pioneerof the Nile colt, she RNA’d for $170,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November sale. The yearling’s full-brother sold for $350,000 to Repole and St. Elias at the 2019 Keeneland September sale.

Of the colt’s final price Tuesday, Levine said, “I think it was just me and one other person and we kept going from $75,000 or $80,000, he just kept chasing me. I would have gone a little higher, but not much higher. I was at Keeneland, we bought a couple, and I wanted to get one or two more. But this was a horse I liked and he was actually the only one I vetted. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

Not This Time Colt Helps Lange Weather Storm
Lee Lange and Don Credeur were on the road home to Louisiana Tuesday as Hurricane Zeta bore down on the state, but before they left Lexington the two men watched their colt by Not This Time sell for $170,000 to Team Casse. Lange and Credeur purchased Pop Singer (Scat Daddy), with this colt in utero, for $14,000 at the Fasig-Tipton February sale in 2019.

“She was such a beautiful mare herself and she was by Scat Daddy, so those were the two things that appealed to me and my partner, Don Credeur,” Lange said Tuesday. “I thought we stole her at that price.”

Credeur added with a laugh, “We just met the guy we bought her from and naturally he wants her back.”

Since Lange and Credeur purchased the 7-year-old mare, who was carrying her first foal, Not This Time’s popularity has only grown, helped by the Grade I victory of OBS Spring topper Princess Noor.

“Every time we got a tidbit of news, it was even better,” Lange said of the first-year sire’s exploits.

Lange said they were expecting the yearling would sell in the range of $125,000, so he exceeded expectations, but was making up for what has been a tough year to sell yearlings.

“I sold a couple of 2-year-olds, but up until this point I think we had bought all of our yearlings back,” Lange said.

Credeur said, “We brought five to the Opelousas sale and had to buy them all back.”

Lange, who owns Sunset Stables in Louisiana and is president of the oil pipe company Aztec Pipe, Inc., has about 10 mares, some of which are in partnership with Credeur.

“We only race what we can’t sell,” Lange said.

Of Pop Singer, Lange added, “We still have the mare. She didn’t get in foal last year, but she is back in foal this year to Midshipman.”

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Market Proves Resilient in Timonium

TIMONIUM, MD – The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, delayed two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, opened Monday with trepidation in the air, but the clouds of fear and doubt dissipated and, for two days at least, there was a feeling of a return to normalcy in the industry. The auction featured solid demand for horses at all levels and concluded with a remarkable 19.2% buy-back rate.

“We had a terrific day Monday and I said I hoped and prayed that we could keep the momentum going and the RNA rate at a low or acceptable range,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “Overall, we are just thrilled with the activity that we’ve observed the last two days. I think it restores some confidence among our buyers and sellers. It proved to us that there remains a legitimate viable marketplace out there. The resiliency in the industry continues to be on display.”

At the conclusion of the sale, 303 horses sold for $23,572,500. The average of $77,797 fell 13.7% from last year’s record-setting figure of $90,104 and the median dipped 7% to $40,000. But this is one year in which the success of the sale likely goes beyond the raw numbers.

“When we started the process last week, there was fear in people’s eyes,” Browning said. “There was legitimate fear for their livelihoods. And if you look at them today, the fear has been transformed into relief. ‘Thank God, I was able to sell horses.’ It probably won’t be the most lucrative year financially for many pinhookers, but I think the survival rate at the end of the day will be dramatically higher than many would have assumed 60 days ago.”

The two-day sale was topped by a $1.1-million son of Uncle Mo who sold to Michael Lund Petersen during Monday’s opening session. Tuesday’s session was topped by a colt by Candy Ride (Arg) who sold for $875,000 to bloodstock agent Gary Young. The juvenile was consigned by Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stable.

“I think the market has been solid,” Dunne said Tuesday. “All of the big buyers have been here and they’ve shopped it hard. We’ve had some [horses] that were disappointments, but we’ve had more that surpassed expectations.”

Of the auction’s success under difficult and uncertain conditions, Dunne said, “The thing about horse people is that we’re eternal optimists, no matter what they throw in our faces. And you have to be because horses will try to disappoint you at every level. So you learn to roll with the punches pretty good. I think that’s what we are seeing from everyone, from owners to agents and trainers, everybody is trying to make the most of it and trying to conduct their business like we’re going to have a future. Which we will.”

Consignor Cary Frommer enjoyed a standout auction, with 19 juveniles sold for $2,396,000 and an average of $126,105. Her consignment was led by a $600,000 son of Flatter who sold Tuesday. The results made up for all the precautions and social distancing at the sales grounds this week.

“I can’t be complaining about my mask right now,” Frommer said with a laugh. “The market is definitely strong for the right horse. I am never surprised when a good horse brings a lot of money, but I am surprised when some of the horses you were worried about bring good prices. And that’s what seems to be happening, at least with me.”

The Midlantic sale had been originally scheduled for mid-May and its place on the calendar was in doubt as recently as Memorial Day. Browning gave credit to Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic team for the successful auction.

“I take my hat off to our team in the Maryland office,” Browning said. “There were days we didn’t know what we were going to do in a geographic area that was impacted by COVID more than we were in Kentucky. We really didn’t have a firm decision until right around Memorial Day that we would be able to have the sale and they’ve done a remarkable job. This sale was a testament to the hard work of Paget [Bennett], Penny [Woolley], Polly [Mooney] and Anna [Thorp].”

Candy Ride Colt Lights Up Midlantic Sale
Gary Young made the highest bid of Tuesday’s second session of the Midlantic sale, going to $875,000 to acquire a colt by Candy Ride (Arg) (hip 443) from the Wavertree Stables consignment. Young was bidding on behalf of an undisclosed client, but the agent did say it was the same buyer for whom he acquired a colt by Not This Time (hip 1254) for $1.35 million at the OBS Spring Sale.

“I knew we would have to pay for him and we did,” Young said.

“I think he is a very good horse. We’re going to give him a couple months to recoup and then he’ll go to California and we’ll go from there.”

The seven-figure Not This Time colt has joined the Bob Baffert barn in Southern California and when asked about who would train hip 443, Young said, “It’s probably going to be a guy with white hair.”

The bay colt, who worked a furlong at last week’s under-tack preview in :10 1/5, is out of Causara (Giant’s Causeway), a daughter of graded winner Lady Belsara (Boundary).

Bred by Brian Kahn, the colt sold for $215,000 as a weanling at the 2018 Keeneland November sale. He was purchased by Ron Fein’s Superfine Farms for $175,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“The colt has been very well received all week,” said Wavertree’s Ciaran Dunne. “We thought earlier in the year he was one of the best colts we had on the farm, one of the better horses we’ve had in a while. He had a little setback which forced him to miss OBS March and we rerouted him to here. He is such a big colt we were worried coming up here how he would handle the racetrack and the turns, but obviously he did and he breezed really well. At the end of the shank, he’s always been a wonderful horse, so once you cross all the bridges you just have to sit back and watch.”

Fein was represented by his first seven-figure sale last year at the OBS Spring sale when selling a colt by Liam’s Map for $1.2 million through the Wavertree consignment.

Flatter Colt Finds a Home on West Coast
Trainer Mark Glatt, acting on behalf of a new client, added a colt by Flatter to his stable when purchasing hip 360 for $600,000 from Cary Frommer’s consignment Tuesday in Timonium. Mike Machowsky handled the bidding on the phone.

“Mike did the in-person inspection,” Glatt explained. “Because of the move to Del Mar, I was not able to get back there for the sale this year. I have a new owner in the business and he was very much interested in the sale. I did all the homework here that I could and the colt passed Mike’s physical evaluation. We decided to take a shot at him and fortunately we were able to get the horse.”

The chestnut colt, who worked a furlong last week in :10 1/5, is out of the unraced Wildaboutshopping (Wildcat Heir) and is the unidentified buyer’s first horse..

“He was just looking for a racehorse,” Glatt said of his client. “Something that looked like it had a lot of potential. He kind of left it up to me to search out certain numbers and he was looking himself–he had a friend of his who is familiar with the business. It kind of worked out because I sent him a list of numbers and it seemed like we all came to the same horse. That’s why we zeroed in on the Flatter colt.”

Frommer was consigning the colt on behalf of his breeder, former Hobeau Farm manager Craig Wheeler. Hobeau Farm is responsible for the juvenile’s second dam Shopping and Frommer sold that mare’s son Trappe Shot (Tapit) for $850,000 at the 2009 Midlantic sale as part of the historic farm’s dispersal.

“I was nuts about him from the time he shipped in to me,” Frommer said of the colt. “Barry Berkelhammer had him before he came into me, so he filled me in and he was so laid back. He gained weight at the sale, nothing phased him. He was a fun horse to be around.”

Also on behalf of Wheeler, Frommer sold a filly by Into Mischief (hip 31) for $250,000 during Monday’s first session of the sale.

Ellis Doubledowns for Templer
California trainer Ron Ellis has been busy shopping the juvenile sales for longtime owner Richard Templer’s Doubledown Stable and made his second purchase of the Midlantic sale when going to $375,000 to acquire a colt by Tiznow (hip 296) from Bobby Dodd’s consignment Tuesday morning.

“I loved the way he moved,” Ellis said of the bay colt. “He is bred to run long, but he worked fast (:10 1/5). “He checked all of the boxes as far as soundness, which is hard to do. I tried to buy his brother a couple of years ago, but we couldn’t get close to him. So we got this one for a little better bargain.”

Out of Tanglewood Tale (Tale of the Cat), the colt is a half-brother to ‘TDN Rising Star’ Tale of the Union (Union Rags), who Dodd pinhooked for $925,000 at the Midlantic sale in 2018. Dodd and Brad Grady’s Grand Oaks purchased that colt for $90,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. The team purchased the Tiznow colt for $130,000 at that same sale in 2019.

“I didn’t necessarily buy him because I had that horse. I really liked this horse,” Dodd said. “It was really just a coincidence that I had had the other horse.”

Asked if there were similarities between the two colts, Dodd said, “They were both built the same. I really like Tiznow, but this horse doesn’t look like a Tiznow. He’s out of a Tale of the Cat mare and looks more like him.”

Ellis purchased a colt by Union Rags (hip 67) for $140,000 during Monday’s first session of the Midlantic sale. At the OBS Spring, the trainer purchased three juveniles: a colt by Malibu Moon (hip 971) for $200,000; a colt by Frosted (hip 367) for $160,000; and a filly by Speightster (hip 515) for $85,000.

Of the market in Timonium, Ellis said, “It’s buyable. I think it’s ok. I don’t know when you pay $375,000, you can say it’s a bargain, but I’ve seen the market a lot stronger in other years.”

Dodd agreed it’s been a buyers’ market, but taking uncertain global conditions into consideration, it has been strong enough for sellers.

“We have been doing ok,” Dodd said. “I think this is a pretty good market if you have the right horse, but it’s always that way. I think they are still discounted. I think this horse a year ago would have brought $600,000 or $700,000. So I feel like they are buying them at 50 cents on the dollar. But that’s ok. We still make some money and we are out of the trap and got a little cheese. So we’re happy.”

Quick Turnaround Pays for McKathan
Kevin McKathan had high hopes when he brought a daughter of Dialed In over to work ahead of the OBS Spring Sale earlier this month, but the filly’s breeze over the synthetic disappointed and the Ocala horsemen decided to scratch her from the auction and try again over the dirt track in Timonium. The juvenile (hip 552) duly delivered a :10 flat co-bullet work and sold for $310,000 to Lauren Carlisle Tuesday.

“She worked in :10 1/5 down there [in Ocala], but I didn’t think she handled the synthetic surface,” McKathan said. “I really thought when I brought her over there, she’d be a :9 4/5. I was in love with her all year. So on the synthetic, she seemed to scramble, didn’t start well, she was on the wrong lead. She just didn’t look good or comfortable over it. In my mind, I knew I had the opportunity to bring her up here and let her showcase herself. Because at our home track, she had looked beautiful and that was not what I was seeing on the synthetic. That’s why I took the shot and brought her up here.”

There were just two weeks between sales, but McKathan was concerned about the quick turnaround.

“It did not concern, just knowing her, everything is so easy with her and she’s a good-minded horse,” he said. “Racehorses breeze every week anyway, it wasn’t like she needed the time. It wasn’t too much to bring her and breeze her, the travel and everything, she got over that really good. We were kind of easy on her up here.”

Out of Fall Fantasy (Menifee), the filly is a full-sister to GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Sprint runner-up Chalon. McKathan purchased her for $165,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale.

“I loved her as a yearling,” McKathan said. “She was a beautiful filly. She cost plenty of money. I believe the Jacksons were the underbidder on her as a yearling, so they made me pay for her. But I just loved her and with the pedigree I thought there was a little upside on her. So we took a shot and it worked out.”

The juvenile was consigned Tuesday by SBM Training and Sales.

“I am happy with it,” McKathan said of the result. “It was good money made by everyone. Anything can happen at sales, but in this kind of year, I feel like that was nice.”

Speightster Colt an Unexpected Pinhook Success for Trombetta
When Mike Trombetta purchased a colt by Speightster for $25,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale, the plan was to race the youngster, but the trainer called an audible and returned the juvenile to the sales ring where he sold for $130,000 Tuesday in Timonium. Consigned by Best a Luck Farm, hip 528 is out of stakes winner Fancy Diamond (Eastern Echo) and worked a furlong last week in :10 1/5. He was purchased by High Point Bloodstock as agent for Irish Smith.

“I bought him to race, being a Maryland-bred, but he did well in Florida and the way things were going this year, to cover my bases, I thought I would put him in the sale and see how it goes,” Trombetta said. “He continued to progress so nicely, I figured we would go ahead and give it a try.”

Asked if he was happy with Tuesday’s result, Trombetta said, “Oh yes. Absolutely.”

He continued, “We race most of them, but once in a while, if you have the right individual, it’s nice to try to make a buck.”

Trombetta agreed there was plenty of uncertainty over what the market would be like in Timonium this week.

“I think everybody was worried, but I think it was better than most people thought it was going to be.”

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