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Graded-Placed Juvenile County Final Tops Modified Fasig-Tipton July Horses Of Racing Age Sale

Live auction action returned to Kentucky on July 13 with a robust renewal of the Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age sale at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington.

Conducted as an open sale for the first time, the sale was modified to serve an industry that has been balancing limited racing and sales opportunities since March. All horses offered were on the sales grounds, and buyers had the option to bid in-person, on the phone, or via the new online auction tool.

Graded stakes-placed juvenile County Final topped the sale when sold for $475,000 to West Point Thoroughbreds, L.E.B., agent.

The gray or roan colt by Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow was consigned as Hip 166 by John Ennis Training, agent. The sale-topper broke his maiden on debut going 5 1/2 furlongs on the Churchill Downs turf on June 5, wiring a field of straight maidens to win by four lengths. He followed up that effort with a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes on June 27, this time going six furlongs on the Churchill Downs main track.

County Final earned $65,000 in his first two starts for owner-train John Ennis and owners Hayden Noriega, and 47 Roses LLC. The colt is a half-brother to two other winners out of the multiple stakes winning Tapit mare Tapajo, from the immediate family of Grade 1 winner Currency Swap.

Per Capita, a winning 4-year-old colt by Tapit, sold for $325,000 to Red Oak Stable, agent for Rick Sacco, to become the sale's second-most expensive offering.

Offered as Hip 85 by Gainesway, agent, Per Capita was a winner last out, breaking his maiden going a mile on the dirt at Churchill Downs on May 24. The colt won once in four starts for owners Peter M. Brant and Gainesway Stable and trainer Chad Brown, earning $65,150.

Per Capita is out of the graded stakes winning Orientate mare Successful Outlook, making him a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Sweet Lulu and a full brother to Grade 2 winner Anchor Down and Grade 3 winner Iron Fist.

The session's top filly came in the form of recent G3 Indiana Oaks runner-up Impeccable Style, who was purchased for $275,000 by Bradley Thoroughbreds, agent.

The 3-year-old winning daughter of Uncle Mo was offered as Hip 53 by Gainesway. The dark bay or brown filly broke her maiden on her second try last year at two at Churchill Downs and was most recently second in the Indiana Oaks on July 8 at Indiana Grand. Impeccable Style has won or placed in four of six career starts to date for Gainesway Stable, Catalyst Stable, Paul McInnis, Patty Slevin, and Magdalena Racing and trainer Kenny McPeek, with earnings of $134,912.

Overall, 81 horses changed hands for a total of $5,072,000. The average was $62,617 and the median was $30,000.

Results are available online.

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Heider’s Pricey Spur-Of-The-Moment Buy Eyes Opening Day Schuylerville At Saratoga

When owner Scott Heider of Heider Family Stables attended the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale in upstate New York last August, he was strictly there to sell a Curlin colt, but a certain Tapit filly at the Gainesway consignment barn was just too enticing to pass up.

That filly, Thoughtfully, is a top contender for the Grade 3, $100,000 Schuylerville on July 16, Opening Day at Saratoga Race Course.

She showcased a strong display of talent in career debut on June 11 at Churchill Downs winning by 8 ¾ lengths for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. In the 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight over the main track, Thoughtfully broke sharply under Ricardo Santana, Jr. but allowed two runners to her inside to dictate the early pace. By the quarter pole, Thoughtfully was in command and all it took was a few shakes of the reins by Santana for her to draw off in style.

The promising dark bay filly was hammered down for $950,000 at the yearling sale and could prove to be well worth the investment.

“I was up there selling a Curlin colt out of [Grade 1 winner] Taris and that's all I was there for. I had no intention of buying anything,” Heider said. “[Bloodstock agent] Donato Lanni reached out to me and told me there was a filly that I should look at. That Monday afternoon, I texted Steve and asked him to look at her for me and later that day he said 'I've seen the filly. She is special'. When she walked into the sales ring, I was sitting next to John Sikura [of Hill n Dale Farm] and just stepped on the gas.”

The pressure of buying a horse for such a large sum of money was relieved when Thoughtfully won so emphatically on debut.

“There are not a lot of Tapit fillies that are ready to go as early as June,” Heider said. “She has a great mind and is really classy. She got mentally ready very early. When she won like that Steve called me up and my response was, 'That's what a good Asmussen filly looks like'.”

Heider praised Asmussen for his ability to condition progeny of Tapit, who are sometimes known for being hard to handle.

“The Tapits can be complicated and tough to handle but Steve knows how to work with them,” Heider said. “If you ask Steve or the help around the barn about the filly they would smile and say that she doesn't act like a typical Tapit. She's very sweet. After the race, before she went into the winner's circle, she just kind of stood there and stared at the big screen. It was pretty neat because Ricardo was just letting her do it. She had to have stood there for about 15 seconds.”

Thoughtfully, bred in Kentucky by Gainesway, is the seventh progeny out of the Seeking the Gold broodmare Pension who has produced all winners including graded stakes winner Annual Report and dual turf stakes winner Giant Payday. Her granddam is Grade 1-winner Furlough and she comes from the same family as champions Heavenly Prize and Dancing Spree as well as Grade 1 winners Dancing Forever, Fantastic Find and Finder's Fee.

As far as the Curlin colt Heider sold? He is named King Fury, and was bought by Kenny McPeek for $950,000, which is exactly what Heider paid for Thoughtfully.

“The irony was that we paid the same amount for the filly that we sold the colt for,” said Heider.

Heider could be getting off to a rocket start to the Saratoga meet as he also will have Please Flatter Me entered in the $85,000 Shine Again on July 17.

The Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Munnings made her 4-year-old debut finishing a distant second to Grade 1-winner Guarana in a seven-furlong Churchill Downs allowance race. This was her first start since finishing seventh to eventual Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Covfefe in the Grade 1 Test last August at Saratoga.

“Hopefully we have a nice weekend,” Heider said. “We brought her back after the winter and she chased Guarana around. Her only bad effort was in the Test. She got really nervous in the paddock that day and was all washed out. All the people there made her a little on edge and mentally she wasn't right. Her race was pretty much over in the paddock.”

A winner of four of eight career starts, Please Flatter Me is a three-time stakes winner on the Mid-Atlantic circuit where she was previously conditioned by Mark Reid. She acquired graded stakes black type when finishing second to Covfefe in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness last May at Pimlico.

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Gainesway Secures Breeding Rights To Grade 1 Winner McKinzie

Gainesway Farm has purchased the breeding rights to four-time Grade 1 winner McKinzie (Street Sense-Runway Model, by Petionville). He will begin his stud career at Gainesway Farm upon his retirement from racing, the farm announced today.

“It is very exciting to stand a horse with McKinzie's credentials at Gainesway,” said director of bloodstock, Alex Solis II. “I don't believe there is a more exciting prospect than McKinzie out there. We are grateful to Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, Paul Weitman, and Bob Baffert for this fantastic opportunity.”

To date, McKinzie has earnings of over $3.4 million and has run first or second in 13 of 15 graded stakes during his career.

“McKinzie is a Grade 1 winner at two, three, and four from distances of seven furlongs to 1 1/8 mile,” said Gainesway general manager Brian Graves. “His speed, versatility, and soundness make him an absolute standout. His 10 individual triple-digit Beyer figures are truly impressive.”

McKinzie burst onto the scene as a juvenile, breaking his maiden on debut and was named a TDN Rising Star. He went on to win a Grade 1 at two when he took the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity.

At three, the colt picked up two more Grade 1 wins, the G1 Pennsylvania Derby, and the G1 Malibu Stakes.

At four, he added two more graded wins in the Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs and the G1 Whitney at Saratoga over dual Grade 1 winner Yoshida and eventual Breeders' Cup Classic winner and Eclipse champion Vino Rosso, where he ran a 111 Beyer and a 1/4 Ragozin figure.

“From day one, McKinzie has just been exceptional,” said his trainer, Bob Baffert. “He is a gorgeous physical with brilliant speed and stamina. I've only had one other horse in my career that has been able to accomplish what he's done by winning a Grade 1 at two, three, and four. It takes an extraordinary horse to achieve that.”

McKinzie is out of Runway Model, who is a dual Grade 2 winner that was third in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at two, second in the G1 Ashland Stakes at three, and sold to Summer Wind Farm for $2.7 million.

“The plan with him going forward is to return in the July 4 Runhappy Met Mile,” said Baffert. “Hopefully, this will put us in an excellent position to earn Horse of the Year honors and champion older horse of 2020.”

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