Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds | Horse Racing Free Tips

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – A day after a well-attended breeze show and a day ahead of sale time, shoppers were out in force at the Fasig-Tipton sales barns at Gulfstream Park on a brilliantly sunny Tuesday morning.

“It's been very steady,” consignor Steve Venosa of SGV Thoroughbreds said as he watched his popular Practical Joke filly (hip 63) head out for another show Tuesday morning. “We started with our first show roughly around 8 a.m. and it's been non-stop for the last three hours. The usual faces are here and there are a few new ones, which is always pleasant to see.”

Venosa said the Gulfstream sale, which will be held in the track's paddock beginning at 2 p.m. Wednesday, is always a major stop on the calendar for his consignment.

“I think this is the best place to sell a 2-year-old in the world,” Venosa said. “It's a great surface and Fasig-Tipton is a world-class company. The weather is beautiful and I think the sale has been well-received with the amount of people that are here. This is the most important horse sale that I go to. Every year.”

Of the absence of some key consignors, Venosa added, “I am surprised. Because I think, by the amount of people who were here at the breeze show yesterday, and with the state of the market, people want to buy and it's unfortunate they didn't show up. But hopefully the people who are here are going to be rewarded for their efforts.”

Torie and Jimbo Gladwell, whose Top Line Sales had a seven-figure sale at the OBS March sale two weeks ago, will look to keep the momentum going with a three-horse consignment at Gulfstream.

“We always try to bring five or six to Gulfstream,” Torie Gladwell said. “A couple of clients had a few cross-entered into March and April and we lost one or two. And we ended up with three down here. So it's a typical consignment for us.”

Following Monday's breeze show, consignor Ciaran Dunne of Wavertree Stables described the importance of the Gulfstream sale with its South Florida backdrop and proximity to high-class racing both encouraging buyers to dream big.

“We're selling the dream,” Dunne said.

Gladwell echoed those sentiments Tuesday.

“I think we definitely need to continue this sale down here,” she said. “It's such a great market. A lot of these buyers that come from overseas just really like the atmosphere here and come down with big clients and big owners. It's a sale that we need to continue. Boyd and the Fasig team do a great job entertaining and offering all the hospitality.”

Top Line Sales was represented during Monday's breeze show with a colt by City of Light (hip 100) who worked the furlong in a co-second fastest :9 4/5.

“The track was great yesterday,” Gladwell said. “Horses seemed to go a little faster. They were getting across it a little easier than in previous years. The gallop-outs were faster and they came back not blowing and not as tired.”

Of activity at the barns Tuesday, Gladwell said, “It's been steady. The majority of the big buyers are here. There are some middle-market buyers who are showing up, so I think it's going to be a good market overall. The trainers haven't shown up yet, but I expect they'll come after training hours later today.”

Among the trainers at the barns late Tuesday morning were Bob Baffert, along with bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, as well as Simon Callaghan and agent Ben McElroy, Dale Romans and Gustavo Delgado. Representatives from Stonestreet, Spendthrift and WinStar Farms and major buyer Larry Best were busy shopping, as were agents Pete Bradley, Deuce Greathouse, Fabricio Buffolo, John Dowd, Dennis O'Neill, Jaime Hill, Conor Foley, Justin Casse, Raime Lightner, Joe Brocklebank and Patrick Lawley-Wakelin.

Hoby Kight was enjoying the view from the Hartley/de Renzo Thoroughbreds consignment as a Medaglia d'Oro colt (hip 88) he purchased for $225,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale made repeated trips from the barn to shows Tuesday morning.

“According to my consignors, they said he's been very popular and he's been out all morning,” Kight said with a smile.

Of the colt's appeal as a yearling, Kight said, “I loved his angles. As a 2-year-old guy, you want to buy a horse that you are able to see something that in the future is going to be good, something that for whatever reason, the big guys didn't go for. That's what we do. Everybody sees the obvious horse, but we have to buy the potential.”

The dark bay colt, who worked a furlong in :10 flat Monday, is the second horse Kight has bought for clients Marvin Boyd and Charlie Allen.

“They bought one a couple of years ago and it turned out good,” Kight said. “So this is the second horse they've had with me to do this. I bought the horse [hip 88] and they bought him from me within five minutes.”

Kight agreed the Gulfstream sale was an important stop on the juvenile sales season, particularly because of the Hallandale oval's dirt track.

“It's phenomenal,” he said of the sales results. “You look at all the great horses who have come out of this sale, per number, it's unbelievable.

He continued, “First of all, it's the dirt. There isn't any faking it. They are what they are. It separates them out. I have a couple of other horses for people scattered around because I am a full-fledged supporter of a good dirt horse sale. I believe in it. For what I do, I buy a horse who is always going to be a Corvette. At OBS, they all go fast. On the dirt, you can't do that.”

Danzel Brendemuehl's Classic Bloodstock consignment at Gulfstream includes a colt by Nyquist (hip 62) who worked a furlong in :9 4/5.

“It's been pretty busy,” Brendemuehl said of activity at her sales barn Tuesday. “Especially with just two horses, it's been steady and I've gone through most of my cards already. All of the right people are here. This sale has been a good sale and Boyd and Fasig have taken care of us over the years. We come because of that. The right buyers are always here. They did a great job on the breeze show. They kept the track in great shape. We were lucky the wind died down and we didn't have to deal with that like we did last year.”

Susan Montanye of SBM Training and Sales saw plenty to be optimistic about ahead of Wednesday's sale.

“It looks like there are a lot of people here,” she said. “I think everybody who needs to be here is here. It's beautiful weather and it looked like it was a great breeze show. The track was great. So I think it will be a successful sale for a lot of people. Just from the looks of it, people are here to buy.”

The post Shoppers Out in Force Ahead of Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Three-year-old Bear Brian (Tiznow), a winner in his only trip to the post so far, topped Tuesday's opening session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Winter Mixed Sale when bringing a final bid of $150,000 from Canadian-born trainer Kerri Raven during the day's racehorses in training section. A colt by Practical Joke was the session's top-priced short yearling when selling to Clark Shepherd of Shepherd Equine Advisors for $130,000. Both were consigned by Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck's Summerfield.

“The only thing that limits you here is the quality of the horse,” Francis Vanlangendonck said of the strength of the market in Ocala Tuesday. “I think there was plenty of money to buy anything that was here. I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to sell almost everything–all but one horse–today, and there were multiple bidders on each one. So I was thrilled, actually, with the action we had. I don't think anybody is going into a sale at any time in the last eight months not worried, but it is holding up.”

During Tuesday's consignor preferred session, 98 head grossed $1,893,300 for an average of $19,319 and a median of $10,050. The buy-back rate was 31.0%. The 2021 figures were down slightly from last year's session, which saw 85 horses sell for $1,912,300 for an average of $22,498 and a median of $13,000.

A total of 73 head sold during Tuesday's horses of racing age section for a gross of $1,676,500. The average was $22,966 and the median was $13,000. A year ago, 70 racehorses grossed $1,366,900. The average was $19,527 and the median was $11,000.

“The racehorses sold really well,” Vanlangendonck said. “I mean, really well. Again, there were multiple people on almost every one of them.”

Bear Brian (hip 368), purchased for $300,000 as a weanling at the 2018 Keeneland November sale, rallied late to get his head in front on the wire in his six-furlong unveiling at Sam Houston Race Park Jan. 9 for Stonestreet Stables and trainer Steve Asmussen.

“There were five or six people on him,” Vanlangendonck said after watching the newly turned sophomore top Tuesday's session when selling for $150,000. “He is a beautiful colt and showed some form. This horse vetted really well, looked good, he's a beautiful horse and he looked good on the track when we galloped. I think everybody was looking at him and saying, 'He won first time out and that's hard to do no matter where you do it.' The fact that he is sound and pretty helped a lot.”

Bear Brian is out of stakes-winner Lil Super Bear (Super Saver).

Raven purchased three horses during the horses of racing age section Tuesday, going to $90,000 to acquire an unraced 3-year-old colt by Distorted Humor (hip 315) and to $60,000 to purchase the 5-year-old Jungle Fighter (Animal Kingdom) (hip 257).

A colt by Practical Joke (hip 182) was the top-priced offering during the consignor preferred section of the Winter Mixed Sale when selling for $130,000 to Shepherd's on-line bid. Shepherd was acting on behalf of Highlander Training Center owner Larry Hirsch who plans on racing the short yearling.

“He fit the mold of most of the good Practical Jokes that I've seen,” Shepherd said of the colt. “They all have a great walk and this colt was no different. He has a great body on him. And from a pedigree standpoint, I think Practical Joke works with a lot of mares. Every time that I see that happen in the very beginning, when they work with a broad base of mares, that dictates a racehorse sire. And they sure look the part.”

A three-time Grade I winner, Practical Joke's first foals are 2-year-olds this year. His 74 yearlings sold in 2020 averaged $120,243 with a high price of $575,000.

Asked if he had been impressed by Practical Joke's progeny, Shepherd said, “From day one. Even his first year standing, I recommended him to a lot of people for a lot of mares. When you go to the sales and start seeing his weanlings, you just have to like the package you see and then they start developing into quality yearlings. And word on the street is that the pinhookers are loving theirs.”

Consigned by Summerfield, the short yearling is the first foal out of Mobeautiful (Uncle Mo). He was bred by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds.

“Practical Joke has been pretty popular,” Vanlangendonck said when asked about the yearling's appeal. “He is kind of the buzz stallion down here with the training guys. A lot of them are talking about the ones they have are training on. So that helped. And he's out of an Uncle Mo mare and he has an Uncle Mo look to him with some leg. So between the combination of the two, there were seven or eight of the better eyes here on the grounds that were on him. He was that kind of horse.”

Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo purchased Mobeautiful's dam Switchboard (Bernardini) for $160,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September Yearling Sale with the intention of pinhooking her the following spring. An injury ended those plans and the Ocala horsemen added her to their broodmare band. Her first foal was Mobeautiful, who likewise missed the sales. Mobeautiful won two of four starts for Hartley in 2018. The 6-year-old mare was bred to Bolt d'Oro last year.

The Winter Mixed sale marks the fourth OBS auction to offer buyers the option to bid online. Shepherd took advantage of that opportunity Tuesday and was pleased with the result.

“This was kind of a last minute deal, so I wasn't even there,” Shepherd said. “I had people doing some things for me, sending back videos and pictures, and I had the vets doing some work for me. And I bid online. I didn't have the warm fuzzy feeling about it as being there myself, but we put a good team together.”

Of the experience of bidding online, Shepherd said, “I had no idea what to expect. Of course, I got on there yesterday and I was like a kid just trying to surf it and make sure I knew my way around. I was saying to myself, 'Well, surely it's not this simple.' But it was.”

Asked if he planned on doing more bidding online, Shepherd admitted, “Only if I have to. I would rather have my feet on the ground and see what I see. You can buy with more confidence that way. But we adapted on this one and obviously landed on a good horse and had to fight for him.”

The Winter Mixed sale continues with an open session beginning at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

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