Fortune Farm | Horse Racing Free Tips

Richard Nicolai, who sold the record-setting sale topper at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Mixed Sale Tuesday, hopes the month ends on another high note in the winner's circle at Keeneland where Secret Money (Good Samaritan) goes postward in the Oct. 27 GIII Valley View S..

Nicolai knew he was sending a good horse through the ring when the weanling son of Good Magic was offered at Fasig-Tipton Tuesday, but the breeder admitted he was surprised when the colt brought a sale-record $230,000 from C F Farm.

“I thought he would sell well,” Nicolai said of the weanling, who was consigned by Vinery Sales. “I had a $175,000 reserve on him–not believing that I could hit the $175,000 reserve. But I figured, if I got the $175,000, I would let him go. If I didn't, I would sell him as a yearling. He was perfect in every way. But I was very, very surprised to see him bring $230,000. I thought he was a really good colt–good looker, good mover. His family was OK, it wasn't jumping off the page. It kind of surprised me when he went that high.”

The result provided a quick return on investment for Nicolai, who purchased the sale-topper's dam Popstar (Medaglia d'Oro), with the colt in utero, for $29,000 at the Keeneland January sale earlier this year.

“She is a beautiful mare,” Nicolai said of the 10-year-old Popstar. “She had a Catholic Boy 2-year-old this year and I thought I could get lucky if she hit. And I got lucky because the Catholic Boy 2-year-old finished second in a stakes race.”

Lady d'Oro (Catholic Boy) followed a maiden-breaking victory at Monmouth with a runner-up effort in the July 29 Colleen S. That result, plus the hot streak of Good Magic, prompted Nicolai to offer the weanling Tuesday.

“He was so good looking and all of the people that I consult with said, 'Good Magic is hot right now. You are going to get a premium for him. Take the money,'” Nicolai said. “I am investing a lot of money on other broodmares, so it was good to get a little bit of revenue stream.”

Popstar is currently in foal to Central Banker.

“I brought her back and I had to breed her to a New York stallion to make this colt New York eligible, so I bred her to Central Banker,” Nicolai said. “Next year we are going to send her to Kentucky.”

Nicolai's Fortune Farm bred and campaigned Sue's Fortune (Jump Start), winner of the 2018 GII Adirondack S. He sold that mare for $300,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November sale, but at the same auction purchased Pantsonfire (Ire) (Sir Percy {GB}) for $70,000. That mare's Gun Runner filly sold for $290,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale in August.

“I have about 15 broodmares,” Nicolai said. “And I have another 10 or 15 that I am partners on with Taylor Made. The plan is to keep improving, not more, just better quality. I have done a little of that in the last couple of years. Yesterday, I bought three mares out of that sale. It's a step forward for me–they were young mares and there is a chance to build a family.”

Nicolai is also working on building up his broodmare band from scratch.

“I went out and bought a bunch of fillies as yearlings,” he said. “I have half a dozen yearlings right now this year that I am breaking–all well-bred fillies.”

Heading Nicolai's racing stable at the moment is the 3-year-old filly Secret Money, who he co-owns with Robert Hahn and Matthew Hand. Trained by Brendan Walsh, the bay was third in the July 21 GIII Lake George S. at Saratoga before a one-length victory in the $1-million GIII Music City S. at Kentucky Downs last time out.

“She is doing really well,” Nicolai said of the filly. “She's training well and we are really looking forward to her.”

The post Nicolai Hoping Saratoga Sale Topper Just the Start of October Success appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

A colt by Good Magic (hip 251) brought a sales record $230,000 to top a solid–if polarized–renewal of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Mixed Sale in upstate New York Tuesday. During the one-session auction, 156 horses grossed $4,522,200 for an average of $28,988 and a median of $18,000. Both average and median dipped from last year's vibrant market. The sale average–which had jumped 48.5% from 2021 to 2022–declined 13% from a year ago, while the median was down 5%.

From a catalogue of 337 head, 243 went through the ring with 87 failing to meet their reserves for a buy-back rate of 35.8%. That was up from last year's figure of 25.3%.

“It was very similar to the last few yearling sales,” Derek MacKenzie, whose Vinery Sales consigned four of the auction's nine six-figure horses, including the sale-topping weanling, said of the market in Saratoga Tuesday. “It was very polarized. The ones that the buyers covet and that jump through the hoops bring a lot of money. We are lacking a little bit of depth, obviously. The middle and the bottom is trickier than it has been in the last few years.”

Hip 251 is out of Popstar (Medaglia d'Oro) and is a half-brother to stakes-placed Lady d'Oro (Catholic Boy). Vinery consigned the youngster on behalf of his breeder, Richard Nicolai's Fortune Farm.

“He was a very fantastic physical and he had great size,” said Vinery's Derek MacKenzie. “He was a great mover with incredible presence. I thought he would top the sale, honestly.”

Of the sales record price, MacKenzie said, “Once you pass the $200,000 mark at this sale, you just never know. Because that seems to be the ceiling in the past, but [the price] didn't shock me.”

The sale-topping price produced a quick profit for Nicolai, who purchased Popstar with the colt in utero for $29,000 at the Keeneland January sale earlier this year.

“I was not involved with purchasing the mare, but I congratulated [Nicolai] on what was an incredible purchase,” MacKenzie said.

On behalf of Juddmonte, Sequel New York offered three mares in foal to Honest Mischief and the trio were the only broodmares to bring six figures during the auction. Glen Hill Farm purchased the highest-priced of the lot, going to $170,000 to acquire the unraced 4-year-old Bahama Banks (Arrogate) (hip 25).

“We had a busy morning because we sold a horse in the Arqana October sale and he made a nice price,” said Glen Hill's Craig Bernick. “So I was kind of excited and I went a little more on that mare than I was planning to. But we wanted to have her.”

The mare is a half-sister to multiple graded placed Millefeuille (Curlin). Her second dam is Grade I winner Honest Lady (Seattle Slew), who produced Grade I winner First Defence (Unbridled's Song), as well as graded placed Honest Mischief.

“It's a world-class pedigree,” Bernick said. “We've never been able to get something that we thought was good from that Toussaud, Honest Lady family. When they've sold out of that family, those horses usually make a huge price. So we were really excited to buy her. She is in foal to a horse that's in New York, but it's a horse that goes back to the same family. So you'd have to hope for a filly to be inbred to that family. We will bring her to Kentucky and figure out what stallion to go to. She will go to a good stallion.”

Honest Mischief, who stands at Sequel New York for $6,500, was well-represented by his first crop at the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearling Sale in August with five six-figure yearlings. But the New York stallion's presence as a covering sire might have saved Bernick some money, he said.

“If she was in foal to a $50,000 Kentucky stallion, I think she would have made $400,000 or $500,000,” Bernick said. “So the stallion maybe did us a favor. We like to race horses, so Honest Mischief, I wouldn't go looking for one, but from that family, especially if it's a filly, I would be excited to race her.”

The post Record Good Magic Colt on Top at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post