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Tattersalls March Sale Catalog Now Online

A total of 197 lots have been cataloged for the Tattersalls March Sale which takes place at Park Paddocks in Newmarket on Wednesday, March 31. The catalog for the Tattersalls March Sale can be viewed online at www.tattersalls.com and will be available from Tattersalls and Tattersalls representatives from Friday, March 12.

Comprising 64 fillies and mares in/out of training, 116 colts/geldings in/out of training, 12 yearlings and 5 2-year-olds, the catalog features consignments from many of the world's leading owner-breeders including Godolphin, Juddmonte Farms and Shadwell Estates, who have 15 lots cataloged between them. The catalog also contains attractive drafts from several of Britain's leading trainers, with the largest consignment in the catalog being the team of 12 consigned by Richard Fahey's Musley Bank Stables.

Buyers looking for horses in training with smart form will have plenty to choose from with the potential highlights including the promising 3-year-old Glentaneous who boasts a Timeform rating of 91p following an impressive win on his second start for Brian Meehan. The well-bred son of Gleneagles is out of a sister to the joint champion European older horse Youmzain and to the Group 1 winner and dual classic runner-up Creachadoir.

Other eye-catchers include the progressive 4-year-old Dark Pine, rated 103 by Timeform following wins on both his starts for David Loughnane, and Shadwell Estates' Huraiz, a smart performer for Mark Johnston who placed in the Group 3 Sirenia Stakes at two and has a current Timeform rating of 104. Horses-in-training offered by Juddmonte Farms are always much sought after and amongst their consignment is the high-class Bugle Major. Placed in the listed Prix Lyphard in November and runner-up behind the group performer and two-time listed winner Magny Cours on his most recent start, Bugle Major holds a Timeform rating of 108.

Well-bred fillies also feature prominently including daughters of leading sires Dark Angel, Frankel, Invincible Spirit, Lope de Vega, No Nay Never, and Siyouni. The Castlebridge Consignment will offer the smartly bred 3-year-old filly Countessa on behalf of Hugo Palmer's Kremlin Cottage Stables. The twice-raced daughter of Camelot was placed on her latest start and is out of a half-sister to Group 1 winners Alpha Centauri and Alpine Star from the exceptional family of Miesque.

Godolphin has been a perennial source of top-quality breeding stock and will offer two well-bred fillies in Arabian Romance and Fresh Snow, from the immediate families of champion 2-year-old Pinatubo and dual Group 1 winner Raven's Pass respectively. Other well-bred fillies in the catalog include Dramatista, a winning daughter of Group 1 winner Aoife Alainn by Lope de Vega who will be consigned by Roger Fell's Arthington Barn and Eltham Palace, a daughter of Invincible Spirit out of the Group 3 winner and Group 1 placed Moment in Time who will be offered by David Simcock's Trillium Place Stables.

Pinhookers also look well catered for with yearlings cataloged by proven sires Camacho, Charm Spirit, Cityscape, Kuroshio, and Twilight Son as well as exciting first crop sires Gustav Klimt, Massaat, Rajashinge, and Unfortunately.

Commenting on the 2021 Tattersalls March Sale, Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony said;

“The addition of the Tattersalls March Sale to our 2021 sales calendar came in response to the COVID-related disruption to the February Sale and we have a catalogue which has all the ingredients to appeal to the customary mix of domestic and international buyers. Strict COVID protocols will continue to be in place, but we are looking forward to welcoming registered participants to Park Paddocks for the March Sale, and those unable to attend in person will as ever be able to use our live internet and telephone bidding platforms.”

To view the online catalog, click here.

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John Fernung Passes Away

Longtime Thoroughbred horseman John Fernung, 79, passed away Mar. 5, 2020, in Ocala, Florida. In the early 1970s, Fernung was the racing manager for the powerful Dan Lasater Racing Stable. Lasater Stable was the leading money winning stable in the country five years in a row and won three Eclipse Awards during that time. During Fernung's tenure as Lasater's racing manager, the stable raced Grade I winners, Hot N Nasty, Honky Star and Royal Glint among others.

In the late 1970s, Fernung relocated from the racetrack to become Lasater's Farm Manager in Ocala. During the next few years, Fernung and Lasater developed a nationally renowned stallion station. Among the stallions they brought to Ocala were North America's leading sire in 1981, Nodouble, his sire Noholme II, Holy Bull's sire Great Above, and Silver Charm's sire Silver Buck.

When Lasater dispersed his Thoroughbred holdings in 1984, Fernung purchased the 1000-acre facility in partnership with another Eclipse Award winner, John Franks, to form Southland Farm. During his tenure with Franks, Fernung syndicated At The Threshold, sire of 1992 Kentucky Derby winner Lil E Tee.

Fernung also mentored several members of his family who entered the Thoroughbred industry. Among them is his brother, Brent Fernung, who along with his wife, Crystal are the owners of Journeyman Stud in Ocala. Fernung's nephew, Scott Warner is the farm manager of Robert S. Evans's Courtland Farm in Maryland. John Fernung's son Andrew is the latest member of the family to enter the Thoroughbred industry. Andrew is currently the Sales Coordinator for Eddie Woods Stable.

John Fernung is also survived by a daughter Nicole Fernung, grandson Bryce (Andrew and Cally), brothers Jerry Fernung (Barbee) and Andrew S. Fernung, sister Linda Warner and three nephews and four nieces.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘I Don’t Think I Could Ever Work For Somebody Else’

Jorje Abrego distinctly remembers that dark day in 2012 when Midwest Thoroughbreds abruptly removed their horses from trainer Brad Cox's barn.

“It was 3:00 in the afternoon, and I looked down the shed row to see all webbings laying open, no horses in the stalls; it was sad,” Abrego said. “I remember somebody told me, 'You know, you better find another job, because Brad has only two horses!'

“Brad came into Barn 47 and told me, 'Please don't go anywhere, I'll keep you on your salary if you stay here. I'm going to get more horses.'”

That he did. The Cox operation is now setting new milestones: the barn had four Breeders' Cup winners at the 2020 World Championships, and has three top candidates on the Kentucky Derby trail early in 2021.

“You know, sometimes bad things come, and then very good things come after,” Abrego said from his office at Oaklawn Park. “The rest is a very good story. It's amazing, really.”

The 35-year-old native of Guatemala has been at Cox's side since 2009, working his way up from a part-time groom and part-time hotwalker to one of the trainer's top assistants. Abrego had only ever worked with a few horses, and had never seen a racehorse before arriving in the United States at the age of 22. He only walked hots before taking the job in Cox's barn.

It isn't hard to see that Abrego's long-time loyalty to the trainer runs deep; he's one of the first ones at the barn in the morning, and one of the last to leave it at night. He can be found in most of the photographs of the barn's top runners, and he still answers Cox's calls with a crisp, respectful, “Yes, sir.”

For the past five or six years, Abrego has made Oaklawn Park his winter home, handling a barn full of horses as well as the high-quality ship-in runners. Last weekend, for example, champions Monomoy Girl and Essential Quality shipped up from New Orleans before triumphing in local stakes races.

Assistant trainer Jorje Abrego celebrates a victory at Oaklawn Park

The chestnut phenom Monomoy Girl is the one who has Abrego's heart, however.

“I love every single horse in my barn, and maybe Brad Cox will win 100 more Grade 1 races, but I'll always remember her,” Abrego said. “She was the first Grade 1 for the team, and it's amazing to have a 6-year-old filly still running.”

The daughter of Tapizar gave Cox his first G1 win in the 2018 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland, and has now won two editions of the Breeders' Cup Distaff, in 2018 and in 2020. She missed over a year of racing between her championship-defining victories, but came back with a vengeance to dominate her division in 2020.

Monomoy Girl sold to Spendthrift Farm for $9.5 million at the end of 2020, and B. Wayne Hughes decided to return the champion racemare to Cox for a final season of racing in 2021. In her first start as a 6-year-old, Monomoy Girl posted a facile victory in the G3 Bayakoa Stakes on Feb. 28 at Oaklawn.

Her racing success isn't the only thing Abrego loves about the mare.

“This filly is so sweet, too, especially when you give her a peppermint,” he said. “When this filly is walking the shed row, she's like a pony. You'd never think she would run like that.”

The excitement is ramping up in the whole barn this year, as Cox has three runners with points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. The trainer has never started a horse in the Run for the Roses, but with 2-year-old champion Essential Quality in the barn, as well as prep winners Mandaloun and Caddo River, the first Saturday in May can't come quickly enough.

“I just hope we have the right one in the barn, the winner,” Abrego said, smiling.

Jorje Abrego, left, schooling Essential Quality in the paddock at Oaklawn before the colt's win in the G3 Southwest Stakes

At the end of the day, win or lose, Abrego knows he has the best job in the world. He has a hard time expressing his gratitude to Cox for taking a chance on him all those years ago, but he'll never forget it.

“When I told him this, believe me, it came from my heart,” Abrego relayed. “I told him, 'I don't think I could ever work for somebody else.' I love this job too much.

“I don't feel like Brad Cox is my boss, really. The guy treats me like family.”

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Idol Finishes Best of All To Take the Big ‘Cap

Calvin Nguyen's Idol (Curlin) seemed to relish the 10 furlongs of Saturday's GI Santa Anita H. as he turned the tables on Express Train (Union Rags) to post a mild 5-1 upset. Even-money invader Maxfield (Street Sense) could only manage third with no obvious excuse. Last seen finishing third as the favorite behind Express Train when trapped behind a slow pace in the Jan. 30

GII San Pasqual S., the bay was kept off the inside and unhurried as he sat second last. Last year's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby hero King Guillermo (Uncle Mo) provided plenty of pace through splits of :22.82, :47.12 and 1:12.26. Joel Rosario began to shake the reins at Idol heading towards the three-eighths pole, as Express Train and Maxfield mounted their own bids. Express Train stuck the front leaving the home bend, and Maxfield needed to find more as both Independence Hall (Constitution) and Tizamagician (Tiznow) got in the mix. Idol, meanwhile, continued to plug away down the center, found his best stride in midstretch and bounded to the front with good-looking strides to notch a breakthrough victory.

“My horse loves this distance,” Rosario said. “I just wanted to keep him away from the rail and he handled it easily. He responded when it came time to run and he had some kick. I appreciate the opportunity Richard Baltas gave me for this ride. I had never been on him. I watched all his races and I could see he tries hard every time. What a strong finish today! He ran really big.”

Second in his six-furlong unveiling at Churchill Sept. 5, Idol graduated over an additional eighth three weeks later, good for a solid 94 Beyer Speed Figure. He dominated a 1 3/16-mile allowance under the Twin Spires Nov. 8, and finished up his late-starting sophomore campaign with a close second to re-opposing Kiss Today Goodbye (Cairo Prince) in the local

8 1/2-panel GII San Antonio S. Dec. 26. Tizamagician finished between Express Train and Idol in the San Pasqual after setting the pace.

“I know he was running really hard around the turn, he was wide, he was far back but Joel said he didn't want any of the kick back in his face, so we took the wide route,” said conditioner Richard Baltas. “He's got a big lovely long stride so that's why we were thinking a mile and a quarter for sure. We needed all of Joel Rosario's power in the stretch to get him home. It was a great win, it's a race you dream about winning.

“It's unbelievable, I've been coming here since I was 13 years old. Before I even got to be a horse trainer, I saw all the greats run here in the Big 'Cap and you never think that you're gonna be here but you keep working hard and God blessed you.

“[Owner] Calvin [Nguyen] came and claimed a horse with me named Freedom Crest, it was our first horse. I've had several different jobs back and forth, Calvin's always been a loyal guy and he wanted to come back. This was a blessing for both of us. Loyalty means a lot.”

Freedom Crest, claimed as a maiden for $32,000 in 1999, would go on to take the GII San Pasqual H. and GII Goodwood Breeders' Cup H. in 2001. He was 10th in the following year's Big 'Cap.

“It's been a wild ride,” said Nguyen. “Richie's put together a great team and I'm just very fortunate to be a part of it. He's just a great guy, I've known him for so long. He works hard, he's a horse lover, he's here every day… You can't dream about this, we are just very fortunate and you enjoy it while you can.”

Saturday, Santa Anita
SANTA ANITA H.-GI, $401,500, Santa Anita, 3-6, 4yo/up, 1 1/4m, 2:02.46, ft.
1–IDOL, 119, c, 4, by Curlin
1st Dam: Marion Ravenwood (SW, $112,598), by A.P. Indy
2nd Dam: Andujar, by Quiet American
3rd Dam: Nureyev's Best, by Nureyev
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
WIN. ($375,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-Calvin Nguyen; B-My
Meadowview LLC (KY); T-Richard Baltas; J-Joel Rosario.
$240,000. Lifetime Record: 6-3-2-1, $416,464. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+++
*Triple Plus*.
2–Express Train, 123, c, 4, Union Rags–I'm a Flake, by
Mineshaft. ($500,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-C R K Stable LLC;
B-Dixiana Farms LLC (KY); T-John A. Shirreffs. $80,000.
3–Maxfield, 124, c, 4, Street Sense–Velvety, by Bernardini.
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh. $48,000.
Margins: HF, 1HF, HF. Odds: 5.40, 5.00, 1.10.
Also Ran: Independence Hall, Tizamagician, Kiss Today Goodbye, Coastal Defense, King Guillermo. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

Pedigree Notes:

The lightly raced Idol became the 75th stakes winner for Curlin, who made the transition from two-time Horse of the Year to one of the country's leading sires. Standing at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, Curlin has 37 graded winners, including additional 2021 GSW Clairiere, one of the early favorites for the GI Kentucky Oaks. The cross of Curlin over A.P. Indy is turning into a classic, with seven black-type winners bred on the identical cross as Idol, including GISW Global Campaign and GSW Malathaat. Super broodmare sire A.P. Indy also added to his ever-growing total of stakes winners out of his daughters, ending Saturday at 231 with Idol's initial Grade I score and Weyburn (Pioneerof the Nile)'s GIII Gotham S. Idol's dam, a listed winner, sold for $400,000 at Keeneland November when Idol was a weanling. Her 2019 filly, who hammered for $350,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale, is a full-sister to Idol. Marion Ravenwood also has a 2020 colt by Violence and was bred to City of Light for this term. Her fifth dam, Your Hostess, a full-sister to Kelso's sire Your Host, was granddam of 1969 Derby/Preakness winner Majestic Prince (Raise a Native) and great-great-granddam of 1998 Derby/Preakness winner Real Quiet (Quiet American).

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