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OBS June Continues With Solid Results

OCALA, FL – Steady trade continued through the second session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company June Sale of 2-Year-Olds Thursday in Central Florida, with a filly by Nyquist bringing the day's top bid when selling for $420,000 to Gary Hartunian's Rockingham Ranch. The session-topping juvenile was consigned by Eddie Woods.

“It was another good day,” OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said at the close of business Thursday. “We carried a lot of the momentum that we had yesterday into today and I think it will carry on through tomorrow.”

With two sessions in the books, OBS has sold 380 head for $15,776,500. The two-day average is $41,517 and the median is $18,000. With 106 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 21.8%.

Through two sessions of the pandemic-delayed 2020 sale, 336 head had sold for $9,395,600 for an average of $27,963 and a median of $13,000. At the close of the day, the buy-back rate was 28.3%.

In 2019, 429 juveniles had sold through two session for a gross of $13,839,200. The average was $32,259 and the median was $17,000. The buy-back rate at the end of the second session in 2019 was 25.4%.

Sellers had concerns that the middle and lower end of the market would be weaker without the presence of Korean buyers, but Wojciechowski said the domestic bench had stepped up, not just at the June sale, but throughout the spring.

“I think there has been strength throughout the market,” he said. “Particularly on an overall scale for the 2-year-old season, we were missing a big part of our buying bench in the Koreans. I went on the record in March that I thought we could pick up the slack and I got a few sideways looks, but I think domestically, we've done a great job of picking up the slack and filling the hole that the Koreans left in the market. Hopefully, they will be back next year. But I still think one thing that has impressed at this sale and throughout the season is the depth that we've had in the market.”

Consignors still felt the absence of the Korean buyers, who are not only traditionally prolific buyers in the middle and lower market, but also tend to force other buyers to bid higher.

“There is money for the right horses, but if you don't have the horse, it's over,” Woods said. “There is no one for the rest. We are missing our Koreans for the mopping up. And I suppose there are only so many horses that can get bought anyway.”

Still, competition for the perceived quality lots was still strong as the juvenile sales season marched towards its conclusion.

“This is our fifth [purchase],” Lloyd said after signing the ticket on the session topper. “But yesterday we got outrun four out of five times. It's very competitive. The ones that look good and perform well, they are going to get sold. The market is strong and it's going to continue to get stronger. We are through COVID and the purses in New York and Kentucky and Arkansas are so huge.”

The OBS June sale concludes with a final session Friday with bidding beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Nyquist Filly to Rockingham Ranch

Gary Hartunian's Rockingham Ranch added a filly by Nyquist to its roster when Kim Lloyd made a final bid of $420,000 to acquire hip 543 from Eddie Woods's consignment at OBS Thursday.

“We loved this filly,” Lloyd said. “She is a beautiful filly. Eddie is a good friend of mine. He was telling me about her and how he gave her the time off. And when you give a young horse time off like that and they come around like that, this is what you get. She goes from here to the races. We're very excited.”

The chesntut filly is out of stakes winner Midnight Ballet (Midnight Lute) and worked a furlong last week in :10 1/5.

“I loved the length of her stride,” Lloyd said of the juvenile. “She's a scopey filly. You can see that she hit a growing spell.”

Lloyd, who did his bidding from the back of the pavilion while on the phone with Hartunian, had to outlast Donato Lanni, who was doing his bidding out back. Lloyd admitted he had often come out on the losing side of bidding battles with the well-backed Lanni.

“In September, we were the direct underbidder five times,” Lloyd said of bidding against Lanni. “And then, seven other times when I quit at $250,000, they lapped me…$500,000, $510,000. Twelve horses that I landed on, Donato bought.”

Woods's pinhooking partnership Quarter Pole Enterprises purchased the chestnut filly for $200,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“She was in the Fasig [Gulfstream] catalogue, but she just wasn't hitting right,” Woods explained. “I turned her out for five weeks and brought her back. I didn't want to bring her to Timonium because she's too big, so we had no option but to come here. But it worked out. She was always going to be a nice filly regardless of where we went. We are really happy with how it turned out.”

Another Imprecation for Roden

Bloodstock agent Alistair Roden, who purchased subsequent multiple graded stakes winner Anothertwistafate (Scat Daddy) and multiple graded placed Ajourneytofreedom (Hard Spun) from the OBS sales ring, purchased a third juvenile out of the mare Imprecation (First Defence) when he went to $350,000 to acquire a filly by Dialed In (hip 418) on behalf of Peter Redekop Thursday in Ocala.

“I know the family very well,” Roden said with a smile after signing the ticket on the filly, who was consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables on behalf of breeder Bryant Prentice. “When I first saw her, I thought she was like Ajourneytofreedom, but the more I looked at her, she was more like Anothertwistafate. She's large and well-balanced, a fancy-looking filly. The family seems to really improve. They all seem to be that type of a family, they are not wow horses in the springtime, but they seem to get better.”

Roden purchased Anothertwistafate for Redekop for $360,000 at the 2018 OBS June sale, just a week after Scat Daddy's Justify completed his Triple Crown sweep in the GI Belmont S. The handsome colt won the 2020 GIII Longacres Mile H. and this year's GII San Gabriel S. Ajourneytofreedom was purchased for $180,000 at the 2019 OBS April sale just as his half-brother was making a push towards that year's Classics.

Hip 418 RNA'd for $345,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale following a furlong work in :10 3/5. She worked a quarter-mile in :21 1/5 ahead of the June sale.

“I didn't see her at Gulfstream,” Roden said. “I saw the breeze and it wasn't the best of breezes, but Ciaran told me what his theory was. He's a good guy and we like buying off of him and his whole team over there. The breeze here was pheneomonal. We are happy to get her.”

Of the filly's experience at Gulfstream, Dunne said, “It was probably trainer/consignor error. We were very high on the filly earlier in the year, but she was immature mentally and physically. And in hindsight, I should have just waited and gone to April with her. She was a filly who always needed to go a quarter, she was very keen and anxious to please. In Miami, she was a little bit frenzied. Whereas here, going a quarter, she had the time to level out and smooth out. The farther she went here, the better she got.”

The dark bay filly's dam Imprecation is a daughter of group winner Media Nox (GB) (Lycius) and is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Nebraska Tornado (Storm Cat), group winner Burning Sun (Danzig) and group-placed Mirabilis (Lear Fan).

Prentice purchased the mare for $223,246 at the 2013 Tattersalls December sale.

“It's a beautiful family,” Dunne said. “It's a family that has been good to us as sellers and to Mr. Prentice as a breeder. We sold Anothertwistafate in June, so maybe that's where that family has to go, June instead of Gulfstream.”

Of similarities between the siblings, Dunne said, “I think she is a mare who really throws to a stallion. Anothertwistafate was as pretty a horse as we ever had. Tall and elegant, he had that long Scat Daddy look to him. This filly here, you can really see the Dialed In and a little bit of Mineshaft. So I think she's a mare who really throws to the stallion. And the Hard Spun was different to the two of them again. But all of them are really good training horses. Hopefully she is as successful as her two brothers. If she is, it's a wonderful pedigree.”

Glassmans Strike for Hard Spun Colt

Karl and Cathi Glassman struck midway through Thursday's second session of the OBS June sale to acquire a colt by Hard Spun (hip 506) for $335,000 from the Eisaman Equine consignment. The bay colt will be trained by Maryland-based conditioner Brittany Russell.

“I trust everything that Barry Eisaman does,” Karl Glassman said when asked about the juvenile's appeal. “So Barry's background had a lot to do with it.”

The bay colt, who worked a furlong in :10 3/5 during last week's under-tack show, is out of the unraced Lovisa (Speightstown), a half-sister to stakes winner High Noon Rider (Distorted Humor) and stakes winner and group-placed Poupee Flash (Elusive Quality). His third dam is Chimes of Freedom (Private Account), who produced champion Aldebaran and Grade I winner Good Journey.

“The Hard Spuns are just good, durable horses, so I know that he's not going to be real precocious,” Glassman said. “Genetically, he looks like he should be a two-turn runner. We are patient. The horse's welfare is what is most important to us. and I know Barry and Shari have done a great job taking care of him.”

The Eisamans purchased the colt for $100,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

Glassman is chairman and chief executive officer of the Missouri-based Leggett & Platt, a diversified manufacturer of various components and products.

The couple, who split their time between Florida and Missouri, have campaigned stakes winner April Gaze (High Cotton) and stakes placed Restofthestory (Jess's Dream).

Of their current racing stable, Glassman said, “Brad Cox has three, Eddie Plesa has nine and now Brittany will have four.”

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Berger Shepherds Duo Into the Belmont Fold

What are the chances? Well, actually, it's easy enough to do the math. There were 21,181 Thoroughbred foals in the North American crop of 2018. Of these, Woodstock Farm took in its usual dozen or so colts. And, of these, two will line up next Saturday among the favorites for the final leg of the Triple Crown.

“I'm sure it's happened before,” says the farm's owner Ben Berger. “At Gainesway and Claiborne, Taylor Made and Lane's End, Darby Dan, all these farms. I'm sure they've had some really good horses come out of the same field. Stone Farm is supposed to have a magic field. But we probably have between 10 to 15 colts a year, and for two of them to end up in this race, one having placed in the [GI Kentucky] Derby and the other won the [GI] Preakness [S.], for a farm of our size it's awfully satisfying.”

None of us, even the most sensitive and devoted of their custodians, can get into the heads of these animals sufficiently to know whether some frisson of recognition might be renewed when Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) and Rombauer (Twirling Candy) stroll into the parade ring before the GI Belmont S. All we can do is marvel that the whole crop, conceived and foaled and raised for no greater purpose, should include among the elite sieved into the Classics these two former paddock buddies from a small Bluegrass nursery.

Rombauer was actually foaled and weaned at Machmer Hall but transferred to Woodstock, a 190-acre farm on the Old Frankfort Pike, by breeders John and Diane Fradkin after that operation went private; while Hot Rod Charlie was sent here after being astutely picked out by Bob and Sean Feld as a $17,000 short yearling.

Aside from coinciding in their trackwork over the coming mornings, the Belmont won't be actually the first time the two colts have met since Hot Rod Charlie went back down the road to Fasig-Tipton following an eight-month sojourn with Berger. Both lined up for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile a year later, finishing third and fifth respectively, but they have performed still better in the Classics. Hot Rod Charlie ran third in the Kentucky Derby; while Rombauer, having sat out that race, pounced as a fresh horse to win the Preakness. It now feels as though a couple of star pupils from the same provincial high school have ended up as opposing attorneys at the Supreme Court.

“They would have been in the same field, from February on,” Berger recalls. “We buddied them up because one was going to the racetrack and the other was going to October and didn't need to start at the same time as the September horses. So they'd have gone together from a large, 15- or 20-acre field down to a couple acre paddock.”

Hot Rod Charlie, of course, had soon been redeemed from virtual anonymity at the Fasig-Tipton February Sale by the blossoming of his half-brother Mitole (Eskendereya) into champion sprinter. As such, he was still very well bought at the Fasig-Tipton October Sale by Dennis O'Neill for $110,000. In the meantime, he had already shown a tendency to draw attention to himself.

“He was one of those that want to do things at his speed, as opposed to what we wanted him to do,” Berger recalls. “He was a nice, good-bodied horse, always very forward. But he was a high energy kind of colt, and wanted to do things his way. We could hardly ever get him just to let down and walk. He constantly wanted to jog on the shank. He wanted to be first in, and first out, and if he wasn't he got a little bit excitable. In sales prep it all came together a bit, we were taking more effort out of him every day, and he settled and showed himself nicely.”

Rombauer, in contrast, was a model pupil who obligingly followed a different program before heading down to Eddie Woods in Ocala.

“He was a more laidback horse,” Berger recalls. “Very straightforward, very easy to deal with. Maybe because he was that way, that's why they got along like they did. When Hot Rod Charlie went into prep, Rombauer kind of stayed with him. They stayed paddocked next to each other, once we separated them, and he was on the same routine.”

When you consider that Woodstock did something pretty similar at Keeneland's first Breeders' Cup, then they must be doing something right. In 2016, they could claim a share of the credit for both first and third in the GI Juvenile Fillies' Turf: winner Catch a Glimpse (City Zip) was bred by Branch Equine, then operated by Berger's late father Robert; while the third Nemoralia (More Than Ready) had been pinhooked by Berger with David Egan.

For good measure, that crop also included Suddenbreakingnews (Mineshaft), bred by Branch Equine and fifth in the Derby after winning the GIII Southwest S. He was duly fancied for the Belmont, but disappointed, so Berger knows not to get ahead of himself this time round. But then that's something that becomes second nature when you deal with young Thoroughbreds, whose only reliability is their capacity to surprise.

“There's some that you think will do well that go out and don't do a thing, and others you think are just nice horses, they go and surprise you and are really good horses,” Berger says. “Suddenbreakingnews was a nice, straightforward horse, but I never thought he would end up in a photo for third in the Derby. Catch a Glimpse was a nice filly, but we let her go for $75,000 because that's what we thought she was worth. But, while I can't look at a horse that I've raised and say, 'This is going to be a Grade I horse,' I think you can say, 'This horse has got a chance.' A better chance than others. But so many things after they leave us have to happen right.”

It's precisely because you can't ever be certain that you must give them all the same opportunity: if you believe in your regime, your system, then they will have a platform whatever their potential. For Berger, less is more: the less he interferes, the more Nature can draw on her own resources. And the relatively intimate scale of Woodstock enables him to back off without ever losing sight of the nuances.

“I think I tend to be a little bit less intensive, in terms of micromanaging their day,” he explains. “I bring them in, feed them, exercise them, groom them, turn them back out, and just try not to get in their way too much. I think horses are better in their natural element. I don't like to overthink it, don't want to reinvent the wheel. Keep them outside as long as you can. Take care of issues as they come up, and then get them back out there. Just let them be horses as much as possible, and become the best they can be. I can't make a horse be what it's not.”

Obviously, sales preparation entails a little more discipline, with dates pretty well carved in stone, but Berger retains due flexibility for the likes of Hot Rod Charlie.

“He couldn't just do the same thing every day, like some of them,” he explains. “We couldn't lunge him or put him on the walker every day. We had to take our time: exercise him harder for periods, and then when he started getting a little over the top, back up and hand walk for a while. I think sometimes we're able to do things like that, because we have less numbers. It's always easier if you try to work with a horse's personality and quirks rather than against them.”

Berger lost his father a couple of years ago but he had been present when Catch a Glimpse won at the Breeders' Cup.

“He bought her mother Halo River [Irish River {Fr}] as a weanling and raced her,” Berger says. “She won the Appalachian before it was graded, but probably the best race he ever won. And he was there the day Catch a Glimpse broke her dam's track record in the same race. That was the year my mother passed, and I think Catch a Glimpse helped a lot, she was a special horse to all of us.”

Berger Sr. had a long and colorful career before entering the Turf. He had grown up on a coal camp in Harlan County, Ky., but went away to Duke University where he played linebacker and defensive guard for the Blue Devils under Wallace Wade. He served in the Air Force as first lieutenant before returning to Duke for law school, and practiced for 20 years before buying an explosives plant to supply mining clients.

“All along, he loved animals,” Berger recalls. “He bred dogs at one point, imported a field trial dog from England or Ireland, and with horses he started with Morgans. He had some success showing, but soon found out that Morgan horse babies don't bring near as much as Thoroughbred babies do, so he kind of transitioned that way.”

Berger Sr. cut his teeth with syndicates, with Centennial Farms and Dogwood, and struck gold with a stake in 1990 Preakness winner Summer Squall (Storm Bird) before initiating his own program.

“My father always had fairly strong ideas, and liked to be able to test them without having to answer to someone else,” Berger says. “If it succeeded, great. If it didn't, then he would learn from it and do it different next time. So, he started buying mares and breeding some on his own. And then after about 15 or 20 years [in 1997] my mother bought the farm and he brought his horses there.”

Berger himself graduated from Amherst College, Ma., and spent a year in Manhattan as a paralegal. But his heart wasn't in city life and when he went up to Saratoga to see his father sell a Storm Bird filly, her disappointing price didn't prevent a game-changing weekend. Berger was introduced to the Taylor brothers, who were looking after some of his father's mares at the time (along with Mill Ridge and Darby Dan) and were suitably polite when he mentioned the idea of getting some experience on their farm someday. A couple of weeks later he showed up at the farm office.

One of the Taylor boys got onto the phone to Berger Sr.

“Your son's here. We kind of told him he could have a job. He wants to learn about horses. What do you think?”

“Well,” came the reply. “If he wants to learn about horses, put him where you think he's going to learn about horses.”

“So, they stuck me in a barn with 26 foaling mares,” recalls Berger. “He didn't ask them to coddle me or to treat me any differently than anybody else. I think he would probably have been happier if I'd gone to law school. But after a couple of years, I just found that I liked what I was doing, and thought I could make a living doing it.”

Even when the family acquired a farm, and Berger was given the chance to transfer the skills he had honed with stints in South Carolina and New York, besides one at Mill Ridge, he was left no doubt that he would have to earn his stripes. The manager Tom Wright was retained, and became something of a mentor. Berger spent a winter as nightwatchman, he mucked out, he did the accounts. On Wright's death, however, he was given his chance.

“Of course I made mistakes along the way, but we kept at it together,” Berger says. “I think in the end my father was fine about me working with the horses, it just wasn't something he had expected or pointed me towards. If anything, he may have tried to steer me away–but I was a little too hard-headed to listen.”

And thank goodness for that. Berger is meeting the exemplary standards to which he was raised and, while determinedly modest, can surely take pride in the niche he has created for Woodstock.

“My father liked to do a lot of different things, and liked to make his own way,” he says. “In almost everything he set out to do, he typically got pretty doggone close to what he wanted. He never tried to be real hands-on, raising foals, and didn't want to race an awful lot. What he really enjoyed was studying pedigrees and putting matings together. And whether they sold well or not, he enjoyed seeing those horses run well for other people as much as anything.

“The horses gave him great pleasure. And so did his children and grandchildren. He was a huge supporter of Duke football, and basketball, which didn't necessarily make him the most liked person in Lexington! He was a lucky guy. He lived his life the way he chose, and made it work out for himself. We were lucky to have him as a father, and as a boss. Wasn't always the easiest guy to work for, but I learned a lot of things from him that I probably don't want to admit now.”

Now Berger is likewise improvising his own path. He has just four mares of his own, and pinhooks four or five weanlings.

“We're a small farm, and I've been lucky to have good people here the whole time,” he says. “These two horses, I think we just tried to stay out of their way, and let them became what they could. Machmer Hall foaled and raised Rombauer, and we've had luck before with them. We all know each other, all work with each other. Every year there's a lot of really nice horses that go through sales, a lot that don't go through sales. But out of a 20,000-plus foal crop, for two to be in the same field and end up in the same Classic race two years down the line, well, we'd sure like to see them run one-two. This is a big business, but it's a small world.”

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Midlantic Sale Opens With a Bang

TIMONIUM, MD – The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale returned to its traditional May spot on the calendar with an ebullient session topped by a $1.5-million son of Quality Road at the Maryland State Fairgrounds Monday. The seven-figure purchase was the co-highest priced colt ever sold at the Timonium auction, tying the price of a Curlin colt sold in 2017.

“It was unbelievable,” Midlantic Sales Director Paget Bennett said at the close of business Monday. “The activity in the barn area over the weekend was strong and all of the people you want to see at a 2-year-old sale were here. So we just hoped that everything would line up. And then this morning, the people just kept coming and coming. The pavilion was full of folks and the infield was full of cars.”

For the session, 170 head sold for $15,826,500. The average was $93,097–ahead of the record figure of $90,104 set in 2019–and the median was $45,000.

During last year's pandemic-delayed sale, 152 head sold during the auction's first session for a total of $12,632,500. The average was $83,109 and the median was $40,000.

“The consignors were here with top horses and people reconized that and they battled for them and it made for a great day,” Bennett said.

Of the 284 catalogued juveniles, 210 went through the ring. With 40 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 19%.

For Bennett, Monday's results were a continuation of the demand for horses at all levels at last month's OBS Spring sale.

“From what I was hearing at OBS, people were just excited to be back for sales and wanting to buy horses,” Bennett said. “I heard so many people didn't get their orders filled in Ocala. We are the next stop and here we are. We are thilled we had a great catalogue to give them and the horses matched up.”

The Midlantic sale continues with a final session beginning at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

“We are certainly going to give it our best,” Bennett said when asked if the hot results would continue Tuesday. “I certainly hope so. From what I am hearing, we have a lot of really nice horses tomorrow, so we will hope for the same result. If we can keep on today's pace, I am thinking it will be another great day.”

A 'Proper Horse' For West Point

West Point Thoroughbreds' Terry Finley knew he'd have to dig deep to secure a handsome colt by Quality Road (hip 211) and, armed with the backing of a new partner, he saw off a determined Amr Zedan to secure the juvenile for $1.5 million Monday in Timonium. The colt, who worked a furlong in a co-bullet :10 flat last week, was consigned by Eddie Woods on behalf of Jon Clay's Alpha Delta Stables. He will be trained by Dallas Stewart.

“I talked to Eddie and he said this was a proper horse,” Finley said after signing the ticket on the youngster. “These Irish guys, when they throw that term out, that's a pretty good indication. They'll say, 'He's a nice horse.' But when they push it to the next level and talk about him being a proper horse, I take notice. And the fact that he's a big strong horse that worked in :10 flat (see below), you take a look at him and he's not supposed to work that fast, but he did it the right way.”

Of West Point's partner on the million-dollar baby, Finley said, “We have a brand new guy who took 50% of him. He's a West Pointer who is a little bit older than I am. He hasn't had a lot of success in the business and he called me a couple of days after the Kentucky Derby and he said, 'I want to compete in the big races.' So I told him I would give him my best effort. That's what we did.”

While Medina Spirit (Protonico)'s high-profile positive test following his GI Kentucky Derby victory two weeks ago tumbled the sport into turmoil, Finley said he believes the newly passed Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act will help to reassure and attract new investors.

“The last week has been turbulent, but up until then, I think people were really starting to look at the Horse Racing Integrity Act as something that in a short period of time is really going to help our business,” Finley said. “I just ask everyone in the horse business to get behind it because I think it will attract people and investors. I think it will present all of us a level playing field. I've always been a big fan of the Horse Racing Integrity Act, but especially now. I think we all need to get behind it and try to push it across the line.”

Finley did his bidding standing at the back of the pavilion. Just a few rows up, Medina Spirit's owner Amr Zedan was sitting with advisors Gary Young and Charlie Boden, as well as lawyer Clark Brewster. Zedan would ultimately bow out of the bidding and Finley said the difference was the bidding power inherent in partnerships.

“This is our 30th year, so we've been doing this a long time and you can't be intimidated when you walk onto a sales ground,” Finley said of the bidding war. “If you do, you're going to get intimidated very quickly. Because there is a lot of money. But I think that's the power of the partnership–the ability to make some calls and tell people, 'Look I have a very good prospect. I think he could be a special horse. And I'd love for you to take a part of him.' And I think this is one of those horses.”

For his part Woods, who also consigned the day's second-highest priced juvenile, was asked to define his 'proper horse' observation.

“A proper horse is a horse who has all the attributes of being a very good horse, both mentally and physically,” Woods said. “The way they move and the way they handle themselves. When you saw this horse up here in the back ring, he'd walk beside you without a shank on him. He's been like that since he came to us. Every time we worked him, we wished they were all like that.”

Clay purchased the juvenile's unraced dam Stormy Welcome (Storm Cat) for $600,000 as a 9-year-old at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. The mare, who is also the dam of stakes-placed Welcoming (Tapit), is a half-sister to Guest House (Ghostzapper), the dam of graded winner Guest Suite (Quality Road). The colt's third dam is Weekend Surprise (Secretariat), dam of A.P. Indy and Summer Squall.

Alpha Delta traditionally offers most of his foal crop at the yearling sales, but the decision was made to give this colt more time to mature last fall.

“This horse was very backward as a yearling and they weren't happy with the way he was coming into the sale, so they scratched him,” Woods said. “Then when they were giving him time, they said give him a lot of time. We discussed it and decided we'd go to the Timonium sale. He was always pointed for Timonium and it was a great plan because it came together.”

Of the colt's monster bullet work, Woods added, “I was nervous because I expected him to work really, really good. And it doesn't always happen, as you well know. But he nailed it and he galloped out fantastic. When I came back and watched the video, I couldn't believe it. He's the best video I've had on a horse in five or six years. I couldn't stop watching it. He just nailed it. And that's why he brought what he brought.”

Malibu Moon Colt Heads West

A colt by Malibu Moon (hip 164), who worked the furlong in a co-bullet :10 flat during last week's under-tack preview, will be joining the Southern California barn of trainer Simon Callaghan after selling for $700,000 to bloodstock agents Alex Elliott and Ben McElroy. The two agents were bidding on behalf of a partnership.

“He was the horse we really honed in on,” Elliott said. “It's an old line, but when they tick all the boxes and jump through all the hoops, you know they are good horses. He looks like he can take us all the way.”

Hip 164 is a son of the unraced Seeking Atlantis (Seeking the Gold) and is a half-brother to graded placed Seeking Her Glory (Giant's Causeway). His second dam is multiple graded winner Atlantic Ocean (Stormy Atlantic).

“For a big horse on a tight track like this, he was so smooth and he had a great gallop out,” Elliott said. “He's a very hard horse to fault. He was an absolute king in the back ring. We are both delighted to get him. Ben and I work together here and in Europe, so it's good to hook up with him and get a horse that we wanted.”

Bred by Castleton Lyons and Kilboy Estate, the colt was consigned by Eddie Woods on behalf of Bill Harrigan's Miacomet Farm, which purchased him privately after he RNA'd for $135,000 at Keeneland last year.

“He was a beautiful colt,” Harrigan said of the colt's appeal last year. “I liked everything about him then. I was surprised that he RNA'd and the next day I bought him. But that horse has an exceptional demeanor. He has a tremendous stride and he's very athletic and smooth.”

Asked if he was surprised by the big colt's bullet work, Harrigan said, “Not really. We don't ask them to go that fast at Payson Park, but he had shown us that he was very talented.”

Classic Empire Filly Draws a Crowd

Bloodstock agent Jacob West got the best of a bidding war to acquire a New York-bred filly from the first crop of champion Classic Empire (hip 72) for $550,000 on behalf of Robert and Lawana Low Monday in Timonium. The bay filly, who worked an eighth of a mile last week in :10 1/5, was consigned by Sequel Bloodstock on behalf of breeders Chester and Mary Broman. Out of Newbie (Bernardini), she is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Newly Minted (Central Banker).

“She's a nice filly who breezed well on this track here,” West said. “This filly breezed incredibly quick here and she galloped out big. She did it on the racetrack that's not the easiest to do that on. The New York-bred status was just an added bonus. She could have been foaled on the moon and we would have bought her. She is a beautiful filly. She'll go to Todd [Pletcher] and we'll keep our fingers crossed.”

The Lows have been among the many owners who have had success with Bernardini as a broodmare sire. The couple campaign GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. winner Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) and Friday's GIII Allaire DuPont Distaff winner Spice is Nice (Curlin).

“We have had luck buying out of Bernardini mares,” West said. “We have two graded stakes winners this year.”

Hip 72 is the highest-priced juvenile so far for Classic Empire, who won the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and returned in 2017 to win the GI Arkansas Derby and finish second in the GI Preakness S. The Coolmore stallion was represented by a $450,000 colt at OBS April and a pair of $410,000 juveniles.

“He was an incredible racehorse himself, so it should be no surprise that he is getting good-looking stock,” West said. “And now we see them on the track at the 2-year-old sales. It's not a surprise that they are fitting the bill of what we are looking for. It's not very often you are champion 2-year-old and come back and win a big graded stakes at three like that. [Trainer] Mark Casse was always very high on him. You have a lot of confidence when you can buy one like that.”

Sequel Bloodstock's Becky Thomas has plenty of experience with the filly's family.

“We're incredibly happy with that result,” Thomas said. “We are happy with the trainer and the buyers. I have trained for Mr. Broman for a long time and been part of his program. I trained the mother and I have the family. This filly was beautiful and fast and smart.”

Broman, a major player in the New York breeding industry for decades, began aggressively selling three years ago as part of what he called, “estate planning.” The planning included the $2-million OBS March topper Chestertown (Tapit) in 2019.

“Mr. Broman started doing his estate planning very aggressively a couple of years ago,” Thomas said. “He's kind of relaxed a bit. He is enjoying participating in the New York program and participating in breeding. Even though he may race a horse or two, he's trying to keep the numbers to where it makes a little better sense for him. We will have some horses to sell for him as yearlings and some as 2-year-olds. I think he is enjoying a different kind of action. And he will continue to race, too.”

Rosenblum Secures Munnings Colt

Sheila Rosenblum, bidding alongside bloodstock agent Kerri Radcliffe, secured a colt by Munnings (hip 260) for $460,000 late in Monday's first session of the Midlantic sale. Out of Tweet (Medaglia d'Oro), the dark bay worked a co-bullet furlong in :10 flat. He was consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables. Dunne purchased the colt for $55,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“We had our eye on him from the day he breezed,” Radcliffe said. “After he breezed, they couldn't pull him up. And Munnings is flying right now.”

Rosenblum said the colt would be trained by Steve Asmussen.

“He was at the top of our list,” Rosenblum said before adding with a laugh, “There was a Quality Road that was quite nice, too, but my financial brains took over.”

Asked if she was done shopping, Rosenblum said, “We don't know yet.”

Besecker Stays Busy at Fasig Midlantic

Prolific owner Joe Besecker, who was busy on both sides of the ledger early during Monday's first session of the Midlantic sale, capped a blitzkrieg buying spree with the $425,000 purchase of a son of Gormley (hip 56).

“When I saw this horse yesterday, I was there for about 45 minutes, and it's a very bad thing to fall in a horse, but I fell in love with this horse,” Besecker said. “Luckily, I will have some partners on him. This is way above my pay grade. I usually stay in the middle range. But I have a couple of partners and we decided we wanted to get one–ONE–expensive horse.”

The chestnut colt, from the first crop of GI Santa Anita Derby winner Gormley, is out of Mott N Hester (Super Saver) and is a half-brother to stakes placed Nicky Scissors (Mission Impazible). He breezed a furlong last week in :10 1/5 for consignor Robert Brewer. Ronnie Edmondson purchased the chestnut for $140,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. He had sold for $77,000 at the Keeneland January sale.

“We vetted him twice, we had two or three vets on him,” Besecker said. “He's a late foal and he looks like a 3-year-old. I thought personally–I don't care what any of these other horses sell for–I will tell you in the last three years going to Kentucky, going to Florida, to my eye and I'm not really good at it, but to my eye that was the best looking horse I've seen in three years.”

Asked who would train the youngster, Besecker said, “I just had four of my trainers come up to me. We have to talk about it.”

Hip 56 was the ninth purchase of the young sale for Besecker. He paid $67,000 for a colt by Not This Time (hip 2) and $60,000 for a filly by Holy Boss (hip 55). He also sold a filly by Goldencents (hip 7)–purchased for $15,000 at last year's Fasig Midlantic October Sale–for $110,000 to bloodstock agent Larry Zap.

“I'm done for a little bit,” Besecker said. “We had that run and I sold one earlier today for a lot more than I thought I would. So I have to add it all up. I've blown my budget, so I need to see if I want to partner on one or two of these others.”

“A little bit,” didn't last all that long, as Besecker returned later in the session to secure an additional four juveniles. He ultimately signed for 13 head for a total of $859,000 and an average of $66,077.

Keen Purchase for Venosa

Steve Venosa may be buying more yearlings in the name of his young son Dylan in the future after scoring a second big pinhooking score of the spring with a colt purchased last fall in the name of Big D Stables. Venosa purchased a colt from the first crop of GI Travers S. winner Keen Ice (hip 171) for $57,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale and sold the juvenile Monday in Timonium for $225,000 to the bid of Gervais Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds.

“I bought him out of the October sale,” Venosa said of the colt. “He was selling up at the tents, and I wasn't specifically looking for that sire, but I saw him in a group of horses and he really stood out.”

The chestnut colt is out of Sheisinitttowinit (Student Council) and Venosa admitted the pedigree had him momentarily hesitating last fall.

“I opened my catalogue and cocked my head a little bit and turned the page a couple times,” Venosa said. “And then I closed the book and said, 'You know what, I like the horse.' We had left the sale and we were in the car coming back from the airport and I said, one more bid.”

Of the colt's progress as a 2-year-old, Venosa said, “He's a big horse, but he's very light on his feet and very athletic for a horse that size. He is still kind of filling out in the right way. That's why we held him back for the later sale.”

Dylan Venosa's 2021 pinhooking successes also include a colt by Valiant Minister who sold for $350,000 following a bullet :20 3/5 work at the OBS Spring Sale. The colt had been a $40,000 purchase at last year's OBS October sale.

“He's had a great year,” Venosa said of his son's success. “I think when I go back, I'm going to have to hit him up for a loan.”

Asked if the profits would be going into a college fund, Venosa quipped, “College fund? He might be able to buy a college after the year he's had.”

Gun Runner Colt a Score for Pike

Champion Gun Runner is off to a flyer with his first crop to hit the racetrack, already represented by a pair of winners, and consignor Al Pike capitalized on the stallion's quick start when selling a colt (hip 160) for $225,000 to Kim Valerio, agent for DJ Stables, Monday in Timonium. Pike had purchased the youngster for $45,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“He was a Gun Runner with a lot of family,” Pike said of the colt's appeal last fall. “Tom Hamm from Three Chimneys contacted me when I was in the back ring and explained to me he was a foal share, which piqued my interest. So I went up there to see what he would sell for and I was fortunate enough to buy him.”

The Midlantic sale wasn't originally in the cards for the colt, who is out of Secret Jewel (Bernardini), a half-sister to GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf winner Shared Account, the dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Sharing (Speightstown).

“I bought him with the intention of taking him to Texas,” Pike said. “I thought he'd be a really nice horse to take to Texas and maybe top the sale there. But then we got to training him and we liked him enough to think we could bring him up here to be competitive here. And he showed up and did his job, so we were very happy.”

The colt worked a furlong in :10 2/5 during last week's under-tack preview. Since his purchase last year, his half-sister Twenty Carat (Into Mischief) won the Apr. 2 GIII Beaumont S.

“On the racetrack, he thinks he is Godzilla,” Pike said. “The farther he goes, the better he gets. And I think that's what attracted a lot of people to him. He just looked like he could keep going and going. I think he has a bright future.”

Of Gun Runner's early success, Pike added, “I think we all didn't know what to think about them, but they've come out running and everyone seems to be very excited about them. And he had a timely update, so that helped a lot, too.”

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‘Proper’ Quality Road Colt Brings $1.5 Million To Lead First Session Of Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale

Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds knew he needed to pay attention to Hip 211 of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale when consignor Eddie Woods described the Quality Road colt as a “proper horse.”

It might not sound like an open-throated endorsement of an animal, but in the shorthand of his relationship with Woods, it said everything he needed to know.

“Those Irish guys, when they throw that term out, that's a good indication,” Finley said. “They'll say 'He's a nice horse,' but when they push it to the next level and talk about this being a 'proper horse…' The fact that he did it so well, and he's a big, strong horse that worked :10 flat. You take a look at him, and he's not supposed to work that fast.”

So, what constitutes a “proper horse” to Eddie Woods?

“A proper horse is a horse that has all the attributes of being a very good horse mentally, physically, the way they move, the way they handle themselves,” he said. “You see him up in the back ring, and he'd walk beside you without a shank on. He's been like that since he came to us. I wish they were all like that.”

Two words – and a horse that lived up to them – led Finley to outlast Amr Zedan in a prolonged bidding staredown that ended with the West Point president and CEO signing the ticket for $1.5 million, making the colt the most expensive offering of Monday's opening session of the Midlantic sale.

It also tied for the most money spent for a colt in the history of the Midlantic sale, joining eventual Grade 2-placed stakes winner Curlin's Honor, who sold to Breeze Easy and John Oxley in 2017. The overall record belongs to champion filly Gamine, who brought $1.8 million in 2019.

Finley stood at the back of the Timonium, Md., pavilion as the dark bay or brown colt was led into the ring, while Zedan, two days removed from Medina Spirit's third-place effort in the Preakness Stakes, sat in the front row. Somewhere out there, an online bidder with deep pockets was also watching the proceedings with interest.

The auctioneer, looking to cut through the pleasantries, tried to open the bidding at $1 million on the colt, who breezed an eighth of a mile in :10 seconds flat to tie for the fastest effort at the distance in the under-tack show. The first raised hand ultimately came in the mid-six figures, but it didn't take long for the bidding to float back up to the seven-figure mark.

A three-way battle between Finley, Zedan, and the online bidder carried into the seven-figure stratosphere, but it narrowed down to the two parties in the pavilion once the bidding approached $1.4 million. Zedan raised the bid to $1.45 million, and the board soon flashed $1.5 million in response. When $1.55 million was asked from the stand, Zedan waved off the bidspotter, and after one more round of asking, the hammer fell to the back of the pavilion.

After the ticket came his way, Finley joked that the battle was longer than he wanted. However, the retired Army captain is battled-tested.

“This is our 30^th year, and you can't be intimidated when you walk onto the sales grounds,” he said. “If you do, you're going to be intimidated very quickly, because there's a lot of money in the world. That's the power of the partnership. I'm able to make some calls and tell people, 'Look, I've got a very good prospect. I think he could be a special horse, and I'd love for you to take a part of him.' I think this is one of those horses.”

Finley signed the ticket on behalf of West Point, but he noted a 50-percent partner whose name he declined to reveal. However, he did provide a few hints.

“He's a West Pointer, he's a little bit older than I am, and he hasn't had a whole lot of success in the business,” Finley said. “He called me a couple days after the Kentucky Derby and said, 'I want to compete in the big races.' I said, 'I can give you my best effort,' and that's what we did.

“The last week has obviously been turbulent, but up until then, I think people are looking at the Horse Racing Integrity Act as something that'll help our business,” he continued. “I think it's really going to attract people and investors, and it's going to present us with a level playing field.”

After the session, Finley confirmed that Dallas Stewart would train the new seven-figure purchase.

The session-topper was bred in Kentucky by Jon Clay's Alpha Delta Stables, and Woods consigned him for the breeder as agent.

The colt is out of the unraced Storm Cat mare Stormy Welcome, whose runners of note include stakes-placed Welcoming. His third dam is Broodmare of the Year Weekend Surprise, putting him in the family of Hall of Famer A.P. Indy, Preakness Stakes winner Summer Squall, and Grade 1 winners Happy Saver and Court Vision.

Though the final price and a stallion's pedigree might suggest the colt was born for a moment like this, Woods said that was not always the case.

“[Clay] usually sells as yearlings,” he said. “This horse was very backward as a yearling, and they weren't happy with the way he was coming into the sale, so they scratched him. They said, 'Give him a lot of time,' and we discussed it, and we said 'We'll go to Timonium, then.' He was always pointed for Timonium, and it was a great plan because it came together.”

It took longer than the connections might have expected, but Woods knew what he had by the time the Midlantic sale was approaching. It can be exciting to have a potential showstopper heading into a sale, but it also brings with it a crushing set of expectations.

The pressure went down immensely, though, after his under-tack performance last Wednesday.

“I was nervous before the breeze show, because I expected him to work really, really good; like, a top work, and it doesn't always happen,” Woods said. “But, he did and he nailed it, and he galloped out fantastic. When I came back and watched the video, about a half-hour later, I couldn't believe it. He's the best video of a horse I've had in five, six years. I couldn't stop watching it. He just nailed it, and that's why he brought what he brought.”

The Quality Road colt highlighted an especially strong opening session of the Midlantic sale, where 170 horses sold for revenues of $15,826,500.

Monday's average sale price closed at $93,097, the median was $45,000, and the buyback rate closed at an impressive 19 percent.

“The activity in the barn areas over the weekend was very strong,” said Paget Bennett, Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic sales director. “All the people you'd want to see at a 2-year-old sale were here. You just hope that everything lines up, and this morning, people just kept coming and coming. The pavilion was full of folks, and the [Maryland State Fairgrounds racetrack] infield was full of cars.

“Everybody was just remarking like, 'Have you ever seen this many people here?'” she continued. “We were thrilled, and luckily, the consignors were here with top horses, and people recognized that and battled for them.”

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