Jacob West | Horse Racing Free Tips

Bright Spots As Unusual Yearling Season Kicks Off at Fasig-Tipton

by Brian DiDonato, Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis

LEXINGTON, KY–The Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, a hybrid of the company’s July yearling sale, Saratoga sale and New York-bred yearling sale brought about by COVID-19- induced rescheduling, kicked off the 2020 yearling sales season Wednesday with signs of life for the market.

A total of 172 yearlings changed hands for gross receipts of $27,166,000–good for an average of $157,942 and median of $100,000. The RNA rate was 34.4%.

“At the outset, we had no expectations for the statistics,” said Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning, Jr. “It was impossible to know how to compare this sale to 2019 results. What we hoped to achieve was to have a viable marketplace, to have commerce be conducted amongst buyers and sellers and to create an environment which would help to restore some confidence in the marketplace and to provide it some stability and foundation for the 2020 yearling sales. We are only halfway through, so I am going to be cautious in my overall analysis at this point, but I am very encouraged. These sales grounds have been jam-packed with buyers since Sunday. They bid pretty enthusiastically. I think any time you start a sale, there is a little bit of trepidation and it takes you a little bit of time occasionally to find its way to get a little confidence. I think that was certainly the case today, but I think as it progressed through the day, people gained more confidence. The bidding was very competitive. We are only halfway through the catalogue, but I would say we are very encouraged by the level of participation and the enthusiasm that people participated in the sale and the enthusiasm of the people who came to attend the sale.”

Watch our complete interview with Boyd Browning below.

Hip 232, a regally bred Quality Road filly from a potent Coolmore family, was the lone seven-figure seller from a $1.5-million bid by Robbie Medina on behalf of Joseph Allen. The bay filly was consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency, agent.

The sale began with a section of 164 New York-breds, and that group seemed to struggle a bit more than the open horses, with a significant percentage failing to find new homes as fewer New York-based connections were on the grounds than would be in Saratoga.

“Traditionally, if you look over the last 10 years, the New York sale has had probably the highest RNA rate of any of our major sales because there are so many racing opportunities for the New York breeders,” Browning said. “There is less pressure on them to begin with. Certainly the group that got dealt probably the toughest hand in terms of the marketplace was the New York breeders. Saratoga has a wonderful environment with the race meet going on and all of the interest and enthusiasm with so many folks that participate in the marketplace, both owners and trainers, who are used to being in Saratoga that are engaged. So they have probably been the most impacted of any segment of the market, not being able to have the sale in Saratoga. It was unrealistic to have a meaningful Thoroughbred auction in Saratoga in the summer and fall of 2020, so those breeders certainly had to adapt. And we have adapted with them and tried to have the best possible alternatives, but there were no perfect alternatives in the environment that we were dealing with in 2020.”

What They’re Saying…

“[The market] is extremely selective, which is nothing new, but I think this year is probably going to be more so. People are all landing on the same horses. They work it very thoroughly. They know what they want. They know what they like. There is competition for, as Boyd Browning says all the time, perceived quality, but below that is tough.” –Agent Mike Ryan

“I thought when you measure the sale today, factoring in the crazy world we are in, I thought the folks at Fasig should be reasonably comfortable. There was enough buying power where people could get out. It could be worse, let me put it that way.” –OXO Equine’s Larry Best

“Those horses have sold on an island, so to speak, up in New York. Then they come down here and start knocking heads with Into Mischiefs and Curlins and Tapits and Medaglia d’Oros and sires like that–they can still be nice horses, but your eye is going to gravitate to something that’s fancier. At the end of the day, these breeders–Fasig-Tipton has done an incredible job offering this right now in the times that we’re in–but the breeders are kind of hampered, a little bit, by not having those middle-of-the-road trainers here to buy those horses. They couldn’t travel in for whatever reason. When they’re in Saratoga, it’s a little different–they just have to go across the street. It’s a little different getting on a plane and coming down here. Hopefully, everybody made it through, and now it looks like the sale has picked up a little bit with these open-session horses. Hopefully, it just means that tomorrow it’ll be stronger and for all the breeders’ sakes we’ll go into Keeneland [September] and it’ll be strong.” –Agent Jacob West

Allen Strikes For Quality Filly

A daughter of Quality Road ignited a fury of bidding at Newtown Paddocks Wednesday, jumping into the seven-figure range in a matter of seconds and dropping the hammer at $1.5 million, which was the highest price of the day. When the smoke cleared, it was trainer Robbie Medina left signing the ticket on Hip 232 on behalf of longtime owner and breeder Joe Allen.

Watch our post-sale interview below.

“She had the best pedigree in the book, so Joe wanted her,” said Medina, who worked as an assistant to Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey for years before taking over training duties at Blackwood Training Center. “I have known Joe for 25 years when I worked for Shug. Joe had a team here and he asked me to go look at her and she is a beautiful filly. You can’t get a better pedigree than that. There is plenty of horse there and, as you can see she is a late April foal, so there is plenty of horse still to come.”

Bred by Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt, hip 232 is out of Group 1 winner Marvellous (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who is also responsible for SW & MGSP Fort Myers (War Front). Out of GSW You’resothrilling (Storm Cat)–a full-sister to Giant’s Causeway–Marvellous is a full-sister to multiple Group 1 winners Gleneagles (Ire) and Happily (Ire), as well as MGSW & GISP Taj Mahal (Ire), GSW & GISP Coolmore (Ire) and Vatican City (Ire), runner-up in this year’s G1 Irish 2000 Guineas.

“She is a wonderful, lovely filly,” said John Sikura of Hill ‘n’ Dale, who consigned the youngster. Coolmore owns the best mares in the world with the top pedigrees, so, for the long term, this is great value. Wonderful, classy filly with pedigree full of black-type, just a fantastic page that is still productive. We have a couple of really well-bred fillies, but she was the pearl of the group. For collectors like Joe Allen, who race and breed internationally at the highest level, that is what they seek. It is rare that you find those fillies, but when you do, you have to bid with authority and that’s what he did. I wish him the best of luck with a wonderful filly.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

Lanni, Baffert Buy Curlin Filly for Petersen

Agent Donato Lanni and now six-time GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert teamed up to secure a $700,000 Curlin filly (hip 285) Wednesday on behalf of Michael Lund Petersen. She was consigned by her breeder, Bonnie Baskin’s Blue Heaven Farm.

Lanni purchased the Baffert-trained and Petersen-owned GI Longines Acorn S. and GI Longines Test S. heroine and recent GI Kentucky Oaks third Gamine (Into Mischief) for a sale-topping $1.8 million at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale last year; and bought Petersen the $1.1-million Uncle Mo colt topper at that auction this June.

“I’ve seen this filly at the farm before, and she just keeps getting better and better,” said Lanni, who bid from the press box alongside Baffert and his wife Jill. “She’s a really sweet, fast-looking, athletic filly by I’d say the top sire in the country–one of them, at least. Bob and I thought she was just a real classy filly that would fit in his barn. You never know what they’re going to bring, but the price was plenty.”

Blue Heaven paid $600,000 for hip 285’s graded stakes-winning dam Our Khrysty (Newfoundland) in foal to Tiznow at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton November sale. Our Khrysty is a half to GSIW Bullsbay (Tiznow).

“They raise a good horse, [Blue Heaven vice president and general manager] Adam [Corndorf] and [farm manager] Jamie [Corbett],” Lanni said. “It’s a mom-and-pop farm–they own all their own mares and they raise them all. I feel good about how we did, and having Bob here with me makes my job a lot easier. It’s fun having him here. He’s the best.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

O’Byrne Hangs Tough on Into Mischief

Demi O’Byrne was determined when Hip 274 came into the ring, winning a furious bidding war with trainer Kenny McPeek to take home the son of red hot Into Mischief for $700,000. He was one of four yearlings purchased by O’Byrne, who was bidding on behalf of Peter Brant throughout the day. The colt was bred by Jeff Lewis, son of Bob and Beverly Lewis.

“That was the true market value,” said Conrad Bandoroff of Denali Stud, where the colt was born and raised. “It is what two guys said the horse was worth. Who is to say if in a normal year he brings more. He is a nice horse and we are happy with the price. We are thrilled for Mr. Lewis and we are thrilled for Demi.”

Hip 274 is out Night and Day (Unbridled’s Song), who is a daughter of the Lewis family’s Hall of Fame mare Serena’s Song (Rahy), as well as the dam of MGSW Made You Look (More Than Ready). Serena’s Song’s resume on the racetrack and in the breeding shed speaks for itself. An Eclipse Award winner and 11-time Grade I victress, she produced Group 1 winner Sophisticat (Storm Cat), who was also purchased by O’Byrne; GSWs Grand Reward (Storm Cat), Harlington (Unbridled) and Schramsberg (Storm Cat); and SW Serena’s Tune (Mr. Prospector), who is the dam of MGISW Honor Code (A. P. Indy).

“That is a special horse to us,” Bandoroff said. “He was born and raised on the farm for Jeff Lewis, who has continued on the family legacy. He is from the family of Serena’s Song out of a graded stakes producer. That is home team. It is obviously a family that has meant a lot to us. He is a horse that from the day he hit the ground, we always liked him and thought pretty highly of him. It is nice when a judge like Demi O’Byrne, one of the top judges of horse flesh, agrees with you. It is a testament to the team and to Serena’s Song legacy, which is something near and dear to us.”

Watch the complete interview with Conrad Bandoroff below.

Into Mischief has been getting hotter by the minute with his most recent success coming this past Saturday when Authentic became the Spendthrift sire’s first GI Kentucky Derby winner. His offspring proved exceptionally popular Wednesday, topped by this $700,000 colt. Eight yearlings by Into Mischief changed hands Wednesday for a total of $3.25-million and an average of $406,250. —@CDeBernardisTDN

Sondereker Hits a High with War Front Filly

John Sondereker usually plans to spend around $500,000 to buy yearlings for his West Coast-based racing stable, but he blew past that budget to acquire just one filly for $625,000 Wednesday at Fasig-Tipton. The yearling (hip 248), a daughter of War Front and out of Miss Chatelaine (Pulpit), was consigned by Brookdale Sales, as agent for her breeder Highland Yard LLC.

“I didn’t plan to spend that much money, but you get caught up in it and it’s so much fun,” Sondereker said. “Instead of buying two or three horses, maybe I’ll just buy one.”

Multiple graded placed Miss Chatelaine is a half-sister to graded winner Big Bend (Union Rags).

Asked what he liked about the yearling, Sondereker said, “Everything. She is a beautiful filly, she’s so correct. She had great movement. She was a really easy horse to buy–it’s not hard to buy those kind, you just have to have the money, right?”

Sondereker’s involvement in racing began several decades ago, but his foray into ownership started in the early 2000s.

“I was mucking stalls at Thistledown in 1959,” he said. “And then I worked for 40 years in the financial industry at Wells Fargo. I retired and I started buying racehorses on the West Coast in 2003.”

Sondereker has about 20 horses in training in California with Eric Kruljac. His 3-year-old Kiss Today Goodbye (Cairo Prince) was third behind Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) in the Aug. 1 Shared Belief S. and was fifth in the GII Del Mar Derby Sunday. In partnership, he campaigned last year’s GIII Santa Barbara S. winner Causeforcommotion (Americain).

“We’ve always had fun,” Sondereker said. “And this filly is going to be my best one. I’m counting on it.” @JessMartiniTDN

Lows Get In on the Mischief

Prominent owners Robert and Lawana low got involved in Wednesday’s frenzy for progeny of red-hot Into Mischief as their bloodstock advisor Jacob West stretched to $600,000 to secure hip 268. The bay colt was consigned by Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck’s Summerfield on behalf of Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Bred & Raised.

“We thought he was in the $500,000 to $600,000 range and we had all the right people [on him],” said Francis Vanlangendonck. “These guys, they’re sharp, they know what a good horse is. That was in the ballpark that we thought.”

The Feb. 15 foal is out of speedy GSW and GISP My Wandy’s Girl (Flower Alley), who Stonestreet bought for $700,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November sale.

“He’s a really good Into Mischief,” Vanlangendonck said. “He’s correct, he’s got a good body on him; a good mind. Those horses are easy to sell. I’m just blessed to have Stonestreet give me horses like that. He’s a nice horse.”

West, like the other buyers who landed Into Mischiefs Wednesday, said hip 268’s sire power was obvious.

“Obviously, the stallion doesn’t need any introduction,” West said. “He’s out of a mare who could run; a cross that has worked before; and he comes from in incredible nursery in Stonestreet. We have a lot of faith in buying off of them; they raise incredible horses. They brought an incredible horse here to sell in support of Fasig, and they ended up getting a good result.”

Hip 268 is bred on a version of the same Into Mischief–Distorted Humor cross that produced Grade I winner and buzzed-about young sire Practical Joke.

“He’s the hottest stallion in the world right now, so you know you’re not going to steal one,” West said of hip 268’s price tag. “He was a beautiful horse; obviously, he was well sought after by a lot of other buyers, I’d assume. So, we just feel lucky to get him.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

Crawfords Take a Shance

Al and Michelle Crawford enjoyed graded stakes success at Saratoga last summer with the speedy Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) and the couple went back to that family to acquire a filly by Speightstown for $600,000 at Fasig-Tipton Wednesday. The bay filly is out of multiple graded placed One True Kiss (Warrior’s Reward), a half-sister to the GII Amsterdam S. winner. She was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency on behalf of Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt, who purchased her for $325,000 at the Fasig-TIpton November sale just days after their Mitole (Eskendereya) defeated Shancelot in last year’s GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“What was there not to like about her?,” Michelle Crawford asked after signing the ticket on hip 283. “We were one of the underbidders when she was a weanling. We bid up to maybe $280,000 or $290,000 and were very sad not to get her.”

The Heiligbrodts maintained a half-interest in the yearling.

“We are going to partner with Bill on her–new partnerships are fun,” Al Crawford confirmed. “We are using Steve Asmussen–he has all of our horses now. To go in with Bill and using Steve on a filly with the Shancelot connection, it seemed like everything came together. But I’ll let you know in two years.”

Of the yearling’s final price tag, Al Crawford admitted, “It was our top. Right there. We watched it and, if it had clicked again, we were probably out.”

Hip 283 was bred by Geoff Nixon’s Tolo Thoroughbreds and Ryan Conner, who purchased One True Kiss with the filly in utero for $250,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November sale.

Shancelot has not raced since last year’s Breeders’ Cup, but returned to Steve Asmussen’s barn earlier this week.

“He had a little injury back in February and we’ve been ultra-conservative with him,” Al Crawford said. “Hopefully we will see him in early 2021. Obviously his speed is there, it’s just a question of being ultra-conservative with that little injury.” @JessMartiniTDN

Perfect Note Rewards Blackstone

When Perfect Note (Elusive Quality), a daughter of MGISW Music Note (A.P. Indy), went through the ring at Keeneland September in 2016, she was not as perfect as her name suggests, hammering for just $17,000 to Blackstone Farm. The commercial Pennsylvania nursery, which is a partnership between Christian and Douglas Black and Mark Weissman, took a chance on the filly despite her issues, buying her as a future broodmare and she rewarded their faith in a big way Wednesday when her first foal, a colt by Nyquist, sold for $510,000 to Mike Ryan.

“I actually bought the filly as a yearling,” Christian Black said. “She had some issues so I bought her as a broodmare prospect. I fell in love with her and we bought her for a very small amount, turned her out and let her be a mom eventually. This is the first foal. We put her in foal to Nyquist because we liked his race record and the way he looked. He was a great physical fit for our mare.”

As for the price, Black said, “It is difficult to put that kind of money on a foal or any horse that you have. He has been special from the beginning. I know a lot of people say that, but he has. He has a great mind set, very easy to be around and he showed it here at the sales too. He has been out over 200 times and he never missed a beat. If you saw him here in the back ring, he has been acting the same as he has the last three or four days.”

The breeder, whose farm also produced MGSW & GISP Tom’s Ready (More Than Ready), added, “The timing was also good with Nyquist’s recent success and Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) winning. It is a live family.”

Perfect Note is a half-sister to last Saturday’s GII Jim Dandy S. victor and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Mystic Guide. On Sunday, freshman sire Nyquist was represented by his first Grade I winner in Vequist and was also responsible for the third-place finisher in that Saratoga staple, Lady Lilly.

Ryan is a big fan of Nyquist and is very familiar with the stallion. The bloodstock agent purchased Hip 297 from the South Point Sales Agency consignment on behalf of an undisclosed client.

“I am very partial to Nyquist,” Ryan said. “Niall Brennan and myself pinhooked him as a yearling, so obviously I followed him with great interest. I have been a big fan since he went to stud. I have bred multiple mares to him. I knew he was an exceptional colt and he had a great pedigree. The second dam produced the Jim Dandy winner the other day.”

He continued, “He looks like a horse that is hopefully going to be a top horse on a Saturday. He looked like he would get two turns and he has a stallion’s pedigree to carry him, so if he is a good horse, there is plenty of residual there. He is a lot like his father. The sire had the first and third in the Spinaway the other day and has two stakes winners already. He is one of the horses who can get you a Classic horse.”

Nyquist, whose first stakes winner came at Woodbine last month in Gretzky the Great, was another stallion who proved quite popular Wednesday. Seven youngsters by the Darley stallion summoned $1.84-million and averaged $262,857.–@CDeBernardisTDN

McPeek Active at All Levels of the Market

Trainer and highly regarded judge Ken McPeek was active in all segments of the market Wednesday at Fasig–he took home a total of 10 yearlings for a combined $2.145 million at prices ranging from $35,000 (the same price he paid for Peter Callahan’s GI Alabama S. heroine and GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up Swiss Skydiver {Daredevil}) to $500,000.

McPeek’s priciest buy was a Medaglia d’Oro half-sister to GISW and young sire Cupid (Tapit) consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, Agent L as hip 305. Bred by Turner Breeders, hip 305 is a half to a number of horses who cost big money as yearlings–Cupid was a $900,000 yearling, and his unraced 4-year-old full-sister topped the 2017Keeneland September sale at $2.7 million.

“A Medaglia d’Oro filly? With that female family? What’s she worth as a broodmare? There’s enough residual value there–she’s probably worth $250,000 if she never ran,” McPeek said, noting that hip 305’s principal owner would be Paul Fireman’s Fern Circle Stable but that he could take on additional partners.

As for prices in general, McPeek said before leaving with his better half: “I thought they were reasonable. I thought they might be stronger. I bought a couple horses for a lot less than I thought they’d bring. Now I can afford to buy my wife dinner.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

OXO Saves the Best for Last

Larry Best of OXO Equine had been quiet throughout Wednesday’s auction, but he snuck in late in the day to snap up the last yearling through the ring, a $500,000 daughter of Jimmy Creed.

Hip 330 is a half-sister to last season’s champion juvenile filly British Idiom (Flashback). Their multiple stakes-winning dam Rose and Shine (Mr. Sekiguchi) is also responsible for SW Parade of Roses (New Year’s Day).

“She was a great-looking filly with a decent pedigree,” said Best. “It was worth a shot. As usual, a little higher than I thought based on how the sale went. She is the only one I bid on all day.”

He added, “She will get a lot of good care. She will head to Eddie Woods in the next month and we will see how she does.”

Consigned by Warrendale Sales, Hip 330 was bred by Sandra Sexton and Silver Fern Farm. Sexton and her late husband Hargus purchased Rose and Shine for $21,000 with British Idiom in utero at the 2017 Keeneland January Sale. British Idiom brought just $40,000 from Liz Crow at the Fasig-Tipton October sale and Steve Landers bought the mare’s 2018 foal, a colt named Royal Prince (Cairo Prince), for $70,000 at last year’s Keeneland September Sale. —@CDeBernardisTDN

Spendthrift, MyRacehorse Shopping for Next Authentic

Just days after their colt Authentic (Into Mischief) ran away with the GI Kentucky Derby, Spendthrift Farm and MyRacehorse.com went back to the well for another son of the nation’s leading stallion. Hip 217, consigned by Paramount Sales, Agent XXV on behalf of breeder Don Alberto Corporation, cost $450,000.

“He’s a little cold, but we thought we’d take a chance anyways,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey quipped in reference to Spendthrift’s super sire. “What’s left to say about Into Mischief, right? He’s done all the talking. We thought this was a really nice example of one; a big, scopey, rangy, athletic colt–we’re very happy to have him.”

Toffey received congratulations from MyRacehorse team members Nick Hines and Joe Moran after singing the ticket, and confirmed that hip 217 would be campaigned in partnership with the quickly growing micro-share syndicate in which Spendthrift is invested.

“We’ll try to do it all over again,” he said.

Hip 217 is out of an unraced Empire Maker daughter of GSW La Reina (A.P. Indy) and is a half to last year’s $650,000 KEESEP purchase by Juddmonte, Mayan (Uncle Mo). That colt had been breezing at Los Alamitos this summer. Their third dam is champion Queena (Mr. Prospector), who produced GISW Brahms. This is the deep female family of highest-level winners Chic Shirine, Verrazano, Somali Lemonade, et al. Don Alberto paid $240,000 for hip 217’s dam Lost Empire at the 2014 Keeneland November sale while she was in foal to Giant’s Causeway.

Spendthrift and MyRacehorse also teamed up to acquire hip 173 for $300,000 after he RNA’d. A fellow Paramount Sales offering, the son of American Pharaoh and GSW juvenile Just Louise (Five Star Day) was bred by Paramount partner Gabriel Duignan’s Springhouse Farm.

“He’s a really stout, athletic-looking guy,” Toffey said. “[Some of the American Pharoahs] have been a little bit turfy, but this guy looks a little more American dirt speed. He looks like a really athletic horse, so we’re really excited to have him as well.”

As for the market, Toffey said: “It’s a little spotty–we’ve sold some we’ve been really happy with. We had one we RNA’d who we thought we were reasonable with our reserve, so we were a little disappointed not to get that one [sold], but we’ve also sold some very well and thought the prices were fair on the two that we bought. I think it’s solid.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

Popular Into Mischief Filly Marks Emotional Sale for Brogden

Carrie Brogden was overcome with emotion, battling through tears as she thanked bloodstock agent Liz Crow for purchasing her homebred Into Mischief filly for $425,000 Wednesday.

“When I moved here in 2001, Dennis Lynch [Fasig’s beloved late Senior Account Executive] was my advisor for Fasig,” said Brogden as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “When we looked at this filly at the farm with [Fasig’s Recruiting and Marketing Manager] Evan [Ferraro], I said, ‘I know Dennis would have looked at this one and said, Car, Car, you know we want this one.’ So when she came up here, I just pictured him giving me a big bear hug. He is a big, bright shining light for our farm and our relationship with Fasig.”

The horsewoman added, “I am thrilled and delighted. Liz is a rising star in our industry. She knows I cheer for her in everything,”

Kicking off the open portion of the sale after the New York-bred contingent, Hip 165 was the first homebred through the ring for Carrie and Craig Brodgen’s new Machmer Hall Sales venture. Out of the unraced mare Jazz Flute (Unbridled’s Song), the bay hails from the family of European Highweight Sleepytime (Ire) (Royal Academy). She is bred on the same cross over Unbridled-line mares responsible for dual champion Covfefe.

“When she came in the back ring, Frank Taylor was like, ‘Oh my God, what is that,'” Brodgen said. “That is the way she has always presented herself. I am thrilled to bits. There are two things I love in the Thoroughbred industry, which everyone knows, and that is Into Mischief and Unbridled’s Song. They have produced in the sales ring and out on the track. I think that is what everyone wants right?”

The Into Mischief over Unbridled’s Song pedigree were big attractions for Crow, who was acting on behalf on undisclosed clients.

“I really like buying off Carrie,” Crow said. “I think they do a really good job. Whenever I see Machmer Hall as the breeder, it gives me a lot of confidence that they were raised the right way. She looked like an Into Mischief who could carry her speed around two turns and I loved Unbridled’s Song on the bottom side.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

Classic Empire Rewards Investors

Classic Empire had a pair of first-crop yearlings break through the $300,000 barrier Wednesday at Fasig-Tipton, with bloodstock agent Liz Crow striking late in the session to secure a son of the 2016 champion 2-year-old for $375,000. Out of stakes placed Rever de Vous (Distorted Humor), the bay (hip 323) was consigned by Gainesway. He had been purchased by the En Fuego pinhooking partnership for $185,000 at last year’s Keeneland November sale.

“He was a beautiful horse and a great-walking horse when we bought him,” Davant Latham, part of the partnership, said of the yearling. “Like most young horses, they go through stages, but we knew we had something special early this summer.”

Classic Empire, who stands at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, won the 2016 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the following year’s GI Arkansas Derby and was second in the GI Preakness S.

“They were consistently good as weanlings and I think they’ve proven here as yearlings, they are consistent physicals and they are good physicals,” Latham said of the champion’s first crop of horses. “You don’t have a lot of variation in physicals, they are all nice horses.”

Of the return on his investment Wednesday, Latham said, “I am very happy with the price. You think about what that would be in another year and it’s $100,000 more, maybe. But I am thrilled with the price. We bought him for $185,000. That’s a great return, especially today.” @JessMartiniTDN

Classic Empire Colt a Score for Gladwell

Tori Gladwell, regularly successful in the pinhooking arena in which she sold $1.35-million OBS Spring sale topper and now Grade I winner Princess Noor (Not This Time), had success sending a homebred through the sales ring at Fasig-Tipton Wednesday. Through Scott Mallory’s consignment, Gladwell sold a colt by Classic Empire for $325,000 to Ben McElroy as agent for Kaleem Shah. The yearling is out of Just Parker (Forest Camp), a mare Gladwell purchased in partnership for $57,000 at the 2018 Keeneland January sale.

Gladwell was familiar with the mare’s family when she made the purchase two years ago.

“Foxy Posse (Posse) was one of the first foals out of the mare and we trained her and sold her and there are a couple other horses in that family that we knew were really fast and precocious. And that’s why we bought the mare,” Gladwell explained.

Just Parker was in foal to Vancouver (Aus) when she was purchased, but Gladwell thought champion 2-year-old Classic Empire would be a good fit for the mare.

“I liked Classic Empire as a racehorse and I thought he would help put some leg on her,” Gladwell said. “Forest Wildcat mares are really speedy horses, but she needed a little more leg and that’s what we got when we bred to Classic Empire.”

The yearling’s final price was well above his reserve.

“That was about double what we were thinking,” Gladwell said of the result. “The market is kind of scary because there were a lot of RNAs earlier, so I was really worried we wouldn’t get him sold for what the reserve was, which was below $200,000. So we’re really happy with that result.”

Gladwell has 12 broodmares, with the Kentucky band boarded with Scott Mallory and a group in New York.

“I love the mares,” Gladwell said. “I have a couple in New York at the McMahons and the rest of them stay here in Kentucky. I have multiple partners on them with me. We’ve been really blessed this year.”

After the standout result Wednesday, Gladwell was asked if she would be selling more homebreds in the future.

“My husband just told me to sell more of them,” she said with a laugh.

Just Parker produced a filly by American Pharoah this year and was bred back to Good Magic.

Ben McElroy has been successful buying 2-year-olds for Kaleem Shah, most recently this year with Sunday’s Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf S. winner Madone (Vancouver {Aus}) and impressive maiden winner Vittorio (Ghostzapper).

“I told Kaleem this was the type of horse we’d buy at a 2-year-old sale and, if he breezes :10 flat, we are talking $700,000 or $800,000,” McElroy said of the rare yearling purchase for Shah. “[Shah] is more of a 2-year-old buyer and we’ve been very successful at the 2-year-old sales, but if we can keep an eye out for a top horse, we’ll take a shot.”

McElroy admitted he has been impressed by the first-crop offspring of Classic Empire.

“I’ve been around a few of the farms before the sale and he has been one of the freshman sires who certainly stood out,” McElroy said. “They are very well balanced. They are great movers. They seem like they have really good attitudes. The horse we bought was just one we decided we had to have.” @JessMartiniTDN

Team ‘Tiz’ Gets a Tiznow

Sackatoga Stable, fresh off its second-place finish in the

GI Kentucky Derby this past Saturday with Tiz the Law (Constitution), added another high-class New York-bred colt to its roster Wednesday in the form of a son of Tiznow, who just happens to be Tiz the Law’s broodmare sire. The $300,000 purchase, the priciest lot during the all-New York-bred portion of Wednesday’s session, was consigned by Hunter Valley Farm as hip 135. He had previously been acquired for $120,000 as a Keeneland November weanling.

Sackatoga operating manager Jack Knowlton bid while accompanied by trainer Barclay Tagg and Tiz the Law partner Eric Kordsmeier.

“Barclay’s our bloodstock advisor and and liked him better than any of the other New York-breds we looked at,” Knowlton said. “We only had two that we bid on–we got outbid on the first one, but luckily we got this one.”

Knowlton said hip 71, the $295,000 Candy Ride (Arg) colt purchased by Demi O’Byrne, had been Sackatoga’s other target. They had looked at Tiz the Law’s Mission Impazible half-brother (hip 73, $245,000), but he did not make it on to their short list.

“We’re just looking for athletes,” Knowlton said of hip 135’s appeal. “We look at families; we like stakes winners; and [Tiznow’s] a sire who we think can get a good horse. Physically, he’s a great-looking horse.”

The Mar. 4 foal is out of stakes-placed juvenile Eternal Grace (Gilded Time), who has already produced GSW Bye Bye Bernie (Bernstein) and two other stakes horses.

As for the price and market, he said: “It’s soft except for the real good horses, and we’re hoping he’s one of the good ones. Physically, we really like him a lot, and we really like the pedigree. We’re hoping he’s really going to turn into a runner for us.”

“This is the only one we’re buying–we’re done,” Knowlton said. “Now I can head out and be happy we got a horse. You never know; we’re very particular. Barclay’s very particular in what he advises us to buy, and his vets are even more particular. So, we’re really happy when we can find one.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

Tiz the Law Half RNAs

The half-brother to MGISW and recent GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Tiz the Law (Constitution) will remain with breeder Twin Creeks Farm to race in his home state of New York after leaving the ring unsold at $245,000. Hip 73 is by Mission Impazible and was consigned by Becky Thomas’ Sequel New York, where he was foaled and raised.

“They priced him at what they thought was a fair price, but unfortunately, we are in COVID times,” Thomas said. “So, they will keep him and race him. They really like the 2-year-old full-sister Angel Oak, who they plan to race themselves, and obviously Tiz the Law is magnificent.”

Tiz the Law, a $110,000 purchase at Fasig-Tipton’s New York-Bred Sale, scored ultra-impressive wins in both the GI Belmont S. and GI Runhappy Travers S. Heavily favored to carry his win streak into the Run for the Roses, the flashy bay finished second to a gutsy Authentic (Into Mischief). —@CDeBernardisTDN

Candy Ride Colt Stars in New York Section

Veteran bloodstock agent Demi O’Byrne, who recently launched O’Byrne and Grassick International Bloodstock Agency with agent Sean Grassick, signed the ticket to secure a colt by Candy Ride (Arg) for $295,000 on behalf of Peter Brant’s White Birch during the opening New York-bred yearlings section of the Fasig-Tipton Showcase Wednesday. Consigned by Eaton Sales, hip 71 is out of the unraced Sweet Love (Any Given Saturday), a full-sister to graded winner Adventist. He was bred by Joe Fafone.

“He was a great mover and a nice colt. That’s about it,” O’Byrne said of the yearling’s appeal.

Of the colt’s final price, O’Byrne added, “I thought he was a little high, but he was a nice horse.”

Sweet Love’s first foal is a colt by Brody’s Cause who sold to Curragh Racing for $170,000 at this year’s OBS Spring sale.

O’Byrne said he would continue to shop for Brant at the sale and later in Wednesday’s session purchased an Into Mischief colt (hip 274) for $700,000. @JessMartiniTDN

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Distorted Humor Colt on Top as OBS July Sale Concludes

A reshuffled and rearranged juvenile sales season like no other came to a conclusion with the final session of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s July 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale Thursday and, with a market left shaken by the fallout of the ongoing global pandemic, numbers were predictably down at the three-day auction.

“Certainly the numbers were off comparatively, but it’s hard to compare this to other years with so much that has gone on,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said. “There were some bright spots and then there were some not-so-bright spots. I think we were fortunate to get the sales off and completed. We are dealing with a different environment even from June to July. That environment posed obstacles, but I think with our online bidding we were able to help buyers who were unable to travel still participate in the sale. So that was one bright spot that we can look to.”

At the close of business Thursday, 498 horses had grossed $15,195,300. The average fell 12.1% to $30,513 from a year ago and the median dropped 23.5% to $13,000.

At the 2019 June sale, 615 horses sold for $21,349,300. The average was $34,714 and the median was $17,000.

While the buy-back rate concluded at 20.5%, only 650 of the 1,100 juveniles went through the sales ring.

“It’s hard to say why that was,” Wojciechowski said of the large number of outs. “People make different plans with horses, they might decide to keep them, so it’s difficult to pinpoint. Everything is so topsy-turvy this year, that it’s kind of hard to start assessing or assigning reasons why to things.”

The July sale was into its supplemental section when bloodstock agent Jacob West made the week’s highest bid, going to $700,000 to acquire a colt by Distorted Humor on behalf of Robert and Lawana Low from the McKathan Bros. consignment.

“It still shows you that the top end still has plenty of strength,” Wojciechowski said of the sale topper. “So it was nice to have that towards the end of the day.”

West purchased four juveniles during the July sale from every price level and the agent said there were plenty of people looking to buy horses this week in Ocala.

“Competition was pretty fierce all around,” West said. “I probably bid on a total of six or eight horses and ended up walking out of there with half of them. I bought one for $4,000, one for $50,000, one for $110,000 and then one for $700,000, and we followed a handful of others in hoping we would get them and we didn’t end up getting them. So there were enough people there to spend money.”

The $700,000 topper marked a highlight of the sales season for Kevin McKathan, who had purchased the youngster for $165,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton October sale, but the Ocala horseman says sellers will have to reassess the market going into the yearling auctions this fall.

“I am thinking people are going to have to expect that the yearling market is going to be a little better for us [2-year-old pinhookers] for once,” McKathan said. “I think over the years, it has just seemed to be multiplying with these babies costing so much and then so much more every year. It almost put us out of the game. So hopefully everyone can step back and take a breath and maybe have the market readjust for itself. I want to go in and buy nice horses and nice horses always cost money. So I don’t expect to buy them cheap, but hopefully we can get a little better market on them.”

With 18 horses sold for $1,081,000, de Meric Sales was the leading consignor at the July sale. Jacob West’s lone sale-topping purchase for the Lows made him the leading buyer. He was followed by Dennis O’Neill who purchased five juveniles for $620,000.

Late Fireworks for Distorted Humor Colt

Jacob West, bidding on behalf of Robert and Lawana Low, acquired the highest-priced offering of the week at OBS when paying $700,000 for a son of Distorted Humor (hip 1027) from the McKathan Bros. consignment Thursday in Ocala.

“He appealed in every aspect, from conformation, to pedigree to breeze (:10 flat), so when they do that you have a pretty good idea that you’re not going to go in and steal him,” West said. “We had an idea that he would bring somewhere around that and we’re just happy to get him.”

The dark bay colt is the first foal out of Tizacity (Tizway), a daughter of stakes winner Vindy City (Vindication) and from the family of graded-placed Lady Chace and graded winners Bahamian Squall and Apriority. He fit the mold of horses West seeks out for the Lows.

“To me, he just looked like a two-turn, go-win-the-Derby type horse,” West said. “Mr. and Mrs. Low, their goal is to win the Arkansas Derby and then go win the Kentucky Derby after that.”

Asked if he thought the colt might have cost more in the pre-pandemic market, West admitted, “I honestly don’t know. All I can say is, in 2020 during the middle of a global pandemic, he brought $700,000.”

Distorted Humor Colt a Score for McKathan

Kevin McKathan purchased hip 1027 for $165,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale and the Ocala horseman admitted the later auction dates due to the pandemic may have helped the youngster who was supplemented to the July sale after being withdrawn from the June catalogue.

“He was a big, rangy stretchy kind of horse, but he was really immature at the [October] sale,” McKathan said. “So I saw a lot of potential in him. I thought if I could get him to develop in time, he would really grow into a beautiful horse. So with COVID, that gave us the time. If we had been pushing to make March, it would have been a little different story. April was the spot we were aiming for and for one reason or another, it all fell apart, so we ended up here and it worked out well, I think. It’s nice to be a big fish sometimes.”

Despite the down market, McKathan was confident the colt would bring a top price Thursday.

“I thought he was a really nice horse and I’d just come back from Baltimore [Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale] and really nice horses were bringing a lot of money,” he said. “So I had some idea that the horse would sell well. If you end up at the top of the heap, at every one of these sales, even though it is a really tough market, those horses have all been hard to buy. I didn’t know what he’d bring, but I did feel like he was the best of them and so I had high hopes that he would sell well, that’s for sure.”

With the end of an abbreviated, disjointed juvenile sales season, McKathan said he was ready to start over again with the yearling sales.

“It feels like I’m always out of a job, so I have to start all over,” he said with a laugh. “It’s like filling out my resume again and off I go hunting for work. But I love doing what I’m doing. I love training horses. A little break is nice, but I really look forward to my barns being full and getting to play with another group.”

Tizacity Timely Buy for Lyons

Hip 1027 was bred by Three Lyons Racing, HTH Enterprises and Distorted Humor Syndicate and was a standout result, not just for McKathan, but also for Matt Lyons who purchased Tizacity for $5,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton February sale.

“We do still have the mare,” Lyons confirmed Thursday evening. “She is going to get an extra flake [of hay] tonight.”

Lyons knew plenty about Tizacity and her family before she went through the ring at Fasig-Tipton three years ago.

“I foaled her and raised her,” Lyons, the former manager of Woodford Farm, said of the mare. “I know the family pretty well. We had Squall City, the granddam, when I worked at Classic Star, and we foaled her mother, Vindy City, there. We raised Tizacity and sold her at Saratoga for Woodford as a $425,000 yearling. She was a beautiful filly, she really was. Mandy Pope bought her. She had a little injury setback and never got to quite realize her potential at the racetrack, but for a Tizway to bring $425,000, that tells you what she looked like. So when she came back through the Fasig-Tipton sale, obviously I was interested in her. Luckily I ended up getting her. We bred her to Distorted Humor on a foal share and we got that colt and we have a Street Boss colt who is a yearling and we have a Munnings colt that is a baby.”

Of his early impressions of the OBS July topper, Lyons said, “He was always a nice colt, pretty with a clean neck. He looked like the mare in that respect. He was a Distorted Humor with a little bit of scope and stretch and he was good through his pasterns. He was popular at the sale, he got enough action and he sold well. We were happy to see him go to the McKathans and they have obviously done a fantastic job with him. It’s great to see him going to good hands.”

The mare’s Street Boss yearling will be offered at this year’s Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale, according to Lyons, and the mare is back in foal to Goldencents.

Malibu Moon Colt to Wilson

Carolyn Wilson and trainer Larry Rivelli have found success buying out of the OBS sales ring with graded winners like Wellabled (Shackleford) and The Tabulator (Dialed In) and they went back to the well to acquire a colt by Malibu Moon for $260,000 Thursday in Ocala. Consigned by Eddie Woods, the bay colt is out of Grand Pauline (Two Punch) and is a half-brother to graded winner Keen Pauline (Pulpit). He was a $100,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase.

“He is just a big, beautiful, athletic-looking colt,” Rivelli said of the juvenile. “I know that Eddie Woods was excited about him and a lot of the guys around his operation thought he was a special horse. When we pulled him out of the stall, Carolyn and I were looking at him and it was one of those that was, ‘Oh, look at this one.’ The video was great. The time was good (:21 1/5). And I think it was value. I think the sale is a little light, so I think we did good.”

Wilson also purchased a colt by Cairo Prince (hip 342) from the Woods consignment for $150,000 during Tuesday’s first session of the July sale.

“I think the good ones are selling ok-to-good and that’s about it,” Rivelli said. “But we are really happy with both the ones we purchased.”

Wellabled, purchased for $340,000 at the 2016 OBS Spring sale and winner of that year’s GIII Arlington-Washington Futurity, won the Honor the Hero S. at Canterbury Park Wednesday night. The Tabulator was purchased for $460,000 at the 2017 OBS March sale and went on to win that year’s GIII Iroquois S. Both participated in juvenile Breeders’ Cup races.

“Obviously we buy them all with the plan to get them to stakes races and the Breeders’ Cup,” Rivelli said. “Carolyn and I have had success in the last few years with horses from here, so we’re always happy to go back to this sale. Eddie Woods and Ciaran Dunne at Wavertree, those are good consignors and we have faith in them. It seems that the combination is working.”

Of Wellabled’s win Wednesday, Rivelli said, “He broke the track record. It was awesome. We’re hoping this could be the next one.”

Laoban Colt Pays for Ortiz

Victor Ortiz, a longtime showman for consignor Jesse Hoppel, was showing a colt by Laoban (hip 983) all week at OBS, but it wasn’t until after the juvenile sold to Steve Young for $255,000 Thursday that Hoppel revealed Ortiz, along with his mother Elizabeth Ortiz and father Luis Franco, owned the juvenile who had worked a furlong in a bullet :9 4/5 at the under-tack show. The family had purchased the colt for just $3,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“Victor works for me and has shown horses for me for years, he’s grown up in the industry,” Hoppel said. “He and his mother Elizabeth Ortiz, and his father Luis Franco, they all three owned a third of this horse.”

The colt originally was led out unsold at the Fasig October sale and Hoppel himself had plans to buy him until the 23-year-old Ortiz expressed interest.

“I vetted this horse out to buy,” Hoppel said. “I was on my way back to the barn to buy this horse after he RNA’d and Victor called me and said, ‘Hey boss, what do you think about number 980?’ I said, ‘I am walking back to the barn to look at that horse now.’ He said, ‘Never mind.’ I said ‘Victor, what’s going on? Talk to me.’ He said, ‘I was going to buy that horse.’ I told him I had vetted the horse out, he scoped good and vetted good. I told him everything was good to go. I said, ‘I have a bunch of horses bought already, why don’t you go look at him. If you like him, let me know and you can have him. But if you don’t like him, let me know and I’ll go buy him. Twenty minutes later, Victor called me and said, ‘I’m going to take him.'”

The bay colt is out of One Look (Henny Hughes), a half to graded-placed Before You Know It (Hard Spun) and Instant Reflex (Quality Road).

“He was a skinny little thing,” Hoppel said of his impressions of the May 2 colt as a yearling. “He just looked like he needed anything he could get and Victor gave him everything, along with Luis and his mother. They took care of him, they trained him themselves and he came out here looking like a million dollars. In this game, close doesn’t do it. So many times we are so close to having the right horse but the wrong vetting or the right vetting with the wrong horse. When it all comes together, it is a really good thing. And it couldn’t be for a better family. He is ecstatic. I think they are all on the verge of crying. If you’re going to do good things, do it for people like them.”

Hoppel continued laughingly, “I’m grateful he gave him to me to put in the consignment. But he does need to pay that vet bill. He has never reimbursed me.”

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Distorted Humor Colt Brings $700k at OBS

A colt by Distorted Humor, supplemented to the OBS July sale, sold for $700,000 to bloodstock agent Jacob West late in Thursday’s final session of the three-day auction. Out of Tizacity (Tizway), the juvenile was consigned by McKathan Bros. and was purchased by Kevin McKathan for $165,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton October sale. Co-breeder Matt Lyons purchased Tizacity for $5,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton February sale.

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Pair of Million-Dollar Juveniles Highlight OBS Spring Finale

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis

The Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, an auction most people seemed happy could even be held following all of the uncertainties of the global pandemic, concluded its four-day run in Central Florida with a pair of seven-figure transactions book-ending the session. Early in the day, Kaleem Shah purchased a son of Quality Road for $1.25 million from the Wavertree Stables consignment and, with only a handful of lots left to offer, Larry Best secured a colt by Speighster for $1.1 million from Tom McCrocklin’s consignment. A filly by Not This Time topped the four-day sale when bringing a final bid of $1.35 million from bloodstock agent Gary Young during Tuesday’s second session. The sale’s three million-dollar juveniles were on par with the 2019 sale.

The April sale had set records for gross, average and median in each of the last three years, but with international travel restrictions and uncertain economic conditions, expectations for the 2020 renewal were tempered. At the close of business Friday, 630 head had sold for $58,701,000. A year ago, 674 horses grossed $72,945,000. The average of $93,176 fell 13.9% from 2019, while the median was down 16.7%.

“Considering what we’ve all had to deal with and where we were two months ago, I think it was a solid sale,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “We saw a lot of the same things we’ve been seeing in recent times. The top end of the market takes care of itself, but it gets a little dicey in the middle. But we finished up strong today. I think it’s just a continuing move of the industry in trying to get back to normal.”

With 149 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate for the sale was just 19.1%, but the catalogue was whittled down with only 779 offered and 536 withdrawn.

Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stables was the auction’s leading consignor for the second year in a row with 47 juveniles sold for $6,402,000, but the consignor admitted it was a tough week.

“It’s really difficult,” Dunne said of the market. “If you sell one that is not in the elite level, that top 10%, you are going to have to call in a lot of favors and make a lot of phone calls, drag people back to the barn and temper your expectations. I felt pretty good about the sale coming in. We’ve had a lot of traffic at the farm, there has been a hunger for horses. I thought it would be OK, but I think it’s been less than that. It’s been hard work.”

The April sale’s traditional deep buying bench was decimated by the absence of international buyers.

“If you don’t have the goods, it’s over,” said consignor Eddie Woods. “The Koreans were sorely missed, not only on what they buy, but on the ones they bid on that they don’t get. The horses that were bringing $10,000 or $15,000 would normally bring $40,000 or $50,000 and everything has to go above that. That is what creates that good market. We didn’t have that this time. There was all the money there for the top horses, like usual, and the rest of them suffered greatly. There were a lot of scratches. People wanted to bring their horses up, but if you didn’t have a perfect vetting, you were basically dead. But, at the same time, it was good to see a lot of horses bring a lot of money.”

Eight of the top 10 lots at the April sale had been catalogued for Fasig-Tipton’s canceled boutique Gulfstream sale.

“A lot of the horses in this addendum were scheduled to go to the Fasig-Tipton Miami Sale and they ended up here,” said bloodstock agent Jacob West. “They were big, strong horses that got piled in at the end of these days. It is an extremely polarized market, more than any other sale we have been around. Two-year-old sales are always polarizing. There are so many rungs on the ladder they have to climb. When they do, it normally results in high-dollar horses. There were a lot of horses in the addendum that did that.”

Asked for his assessment of the April market, McCrocklin said, “Overall it was brutal. It was a horrible sale. I think it’s all the uncertainty. People don’t like that. They get scared when they don’t know what’s going on.”

Bloodstock agent Joe Brocklebank is hopeful the Spring sale is just a first step into a return to normal.

“Obviously the top end of the market is very strong, but the middle and lower end need some life support,” he said. “Hopefully when the confidence is back in the business, things will be a lot better.”

Shah Seeks More Quality

Kaleem Shah has already bought a pair of 2-year-olds by Quality Road who went on to Grade I victories in his colors and the owner is hoping there will be more of the same after he purchased a son of the Lane’s End stallion for $1.25 million during Friday’s final session of the OBS Spring sale. Shah had been in Ocala earlier in the week, but was gone by the time hip 1018 strode into the sales ring at OBS. He was on the phone as bloodstock agent Ben McElroy made the winning bid on the juvenile who was consigned by Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stables.

“Ben McElroy and [trainer] Simon Callaghan selected the horse,” Shah said. “He is a beautiful horse and well put together. I am not at Ocala today, so I was on the phone with Ben. But I’ve seen the horse and he looks just like Bellafina.”

Shah purchased Bellafina (Quality Road) from the Wavertree consignment for $800,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale. The filly won that year’s GI Chandelier S. and GI Del Mar Debutante and added last year’s GI Santa Anita Oaks. She was also second in the 2019 GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Sprint.

Shah also purchased Klimt (Quality Road) for $435,000 at the 2016 OBS March Sale. The colt went on to win that year’s GI Del Mar Futurity.

“I have been lucky with that sire with Bellafina and Klimt in the past,” Shah said. “So with this third one, we had to swing for the fences to get him, and we hope he is the best of the Quality Roads to come my way.”

The Quality Road colt was the second horse to make seven figures at the OBS Spring Sale.

“I was surprised to have to go that high,” Shah agreed. “But once again I was bidding against the Baffert contingent–that is what I was told–so I had to step up a whole lot more than what I wanted to.”

The colt was Shah’s third purchase of the Spring Sale. With bidding assistance from his son Arman, he also acquired a colt by Ghostzapper (hip 1250) for $750,000 and a filly by Empire Maker (hip 468) for $350,000.

Bred by KatieRich Farms, hip 1018 is out of False Impression (A.P. Indy) and is a half-brother to multiple Grade I placed Standard Deviation (Curlin). He worked a quarter-mile during last week’s under-tack preview in :20 3/5. @JessMartiniTDN

A Hole in One for Partners

Ciaran Dunne was shopping for a long-time group of pinhooking partners at last year’s Fasig-Tipton October sale, but was finding it tough to find horses in the partners’ normal price range, so he got a budget extension and came home to Ocala with a colt by Quality Road purchased under the name Golf 19/20 for $240,000. The decision paid off Friday at OBS when the colt (hip 1018) sold for $1.25 million.

“Mike Wickham was originally the driving force behind the partnership,” Dunne explained. “He always wanted to be involved in the horse business. He kind of pushed the other two guys, John Wilkinson and David Miley, to do the pinhooking with us. Unfortunately Mike passed the first year we were doing it. Scott Ford of Westrock Stables came in and took his place and we’ve been doing it for more years than I’d like to think. They just get a lot of enjoyment out of it. John and David come to the farm and watch them grow up and watch them train. They don’t do it as an investment. They do it just for a love of the game. They have been very lucky.”

One of the group’s early successes was Tom’s Tribute (Lion Heart) who was purchased for $60,000 and sold for $310,000 at the 2012 OBS March sale and went on to win the 2014 GI Eddie Read S.

The partners have even had success on the racetrack with Leinster (Majestic Warrior), who RNA’d at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale and won last year’s GIII Troy S. in their names.

“They probably get more fun out of [Leinster] than they will this,” Dunne said. “They do it for the love of the game, love of the horses, so it’s nice to see guys like that do something like this. For them it won’t be dollar and cents, it will just be pride that their horse did it.”

Purchasing the son of Quality Road for the group was an easy decision for Dunne last October.

“Quality Road has been good to us,” Dunne said. “He’s my favorite stallion, bar none. We had Blofeld in his first crop, Bellafina and Diamond King. I think we’ve had at least five graded stakes winners that we’ve sold by him. So Quality Road is always a no-brainer for us, the only problem is affording them. This is the most that we’ve ever paid in that group for a horse. I called the guys and said, ‘We’re getting shut out in everything we want in the range that we normally buy in,’ which is $100,000. I said, ‘I want to go a little deep here,’ and they all said, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ There was no hesitation. Luckily enough, the colt didn’t give us many nervous moments during the winter. He grew like we wanted him to grow, he trained like a good horse, he acted like a professional around the barn. We were really excited to bring him in here and he rewarded us.”

Of his expectations leading hip 1018 into the sales ring Friday, Dunne said, “We were trying to keep our feet on the ground, but it was hard to do. We had everybody who was anybody on him. He showed himself great. We knew he had the work (:20 3/5), we knew he vetted good. So we were trying to temper our expectations, but I was hoping for them that he could bring seven figures.”

The partners aim to pinhook three to four yearlings each year.

“We had one in March that we took a haircut on and then we had one yesterday that we sold for what we had in him or maybe a little bit less,” Dunne said of the group’s other 2020 results.

Another pinhooking partnership had success selling with Wavertree Friday in Ocala when a colt by Shackleford sold for $550,000 to bloodstock agent Justin Casse. The chestnut colt (hip 982) worked a quarter in :20 3/5 during last week’s under-tack show and is a half-sister to champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar). The chestnut was purchased for $230,000 at Fasig-Tipton last October.

“He was bought by Paul Brodsky’s group [last October],” Dunne said of the colt. “He was a lovely horse. I am never going to say you’re disappointed when you double your money, but with his pedigree and his work and his physical appearance, you would have hoped that he could have kicked on. I think at the end of the day, the Shackleford got him. But he’s a very, very talented horse. He always has been. I think he’s going to be a top racehorse.”

With Steve Venosa, Brodsky pinhooked a colt by Into Mischief for $1 million at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale. @JessMartiniTDN

Best for Almost Last

Late in the day in the supplement to the supplemental catalogue, the OBS Spring sale got its third seven-figure transaction when bloodstock agent Christina Jelm, bidding on behalf of Larry Best, went to $1.1-million to acquire a colt from the first crop of Speightster (hip 1312).

“Larry and I are friends and he gave me a call just before the

horse went through the ring and asked if I could help him out,” Jelm said after signing the ticket on the colt. “I was here and available and I helped him get his horse bought.”

Out of multiple stakes placed Auspicious (Indian Charlie), the chestnut worked a quarter-mile last week in :20 4/5.

“He’s a big beautiful horse that checked every box,” Jelm said.

Hip 1312 was consigned by Tom McCrocklin and his sale Friday was another stellar result for Solana Beach Sales, the pinhooking division of Billy Koch and Gary Fenton’s Little Red Feather Racing. McCrocklin purchased the colt on behalf of Solana Beach for $110,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale.

“I’ve got to tell you, I’ve been asked a lot here, ‘How did you buy that horse for $110,000?’ He was always beautiful and at the end of the day, I don’t know how I got him bought,” McCrocklin said. “He’s the only one I have by Speighster, but I started singing his praises as soon as this horse showed the ability he has.”

Now in its fifth year of operation, Solana Beach has recorded some notable scores. Best purchased Instilled Regard (Arch) from the partnership for $1.05 million at the 2017 OBS March Sale and Solana Beach sold Der Lu (Orb) for $900,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale after purchasing her for $130,000 at Saratoga the previous August. The partnership had back-to-back scores at OBS April in 2016 and 2017, turning a $105,000 Broken Vow yearling into a $1.2-million sale topper in 2016 and a $100,000 Creative Cause filly into a $850,000 juvenile in 2017.

Hip 1312 was originally intended to sell at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale, but once that auction was cancelled, McCrocklin hoped to ship him to Maryland for the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale.

“He was a Miami horse and obviously that was canceled and he was redirected to Maryland,” McCrocklin said. “To be honest with you, I am fiercely loyal to Fasig-Tipton and I wanted to sell him there, but we got so late in the game and they were in a position where they couldn’t make any announcements because they were waiting for the state of Maryland and the governor of Maryland and the Department of Agriculture. And the horse was doing so well, I had to tell the guys at Fasig, ‘I’m so sorry, but I’ve got to go. Because I’m going to go out of business a lot faster than you are going to go out of business. I need to sell this horse.'”

Of the colt’s seven-figure price tag, McCrocklin added, “I was not surprised at the price. When you get up in that stratosphere, those horses can bring $750,000 and they can bring $1.5 million. I do my best to not get exact numbers in my head, but I knew he was going to sell very well.” @JessMartiniTDN

Liam’s Map Filly Scores for Berkelhammer

Richard Rigney’s Rigney Racing struck in the waning stages of the OBS Spring sale to acquire a filly by Liam’s Map (hip 1299) for $700,000. The juvenile was consigned by Cary Frommer and is one of only a few foals bred by Frommer’s pinhooking partner Barry Berkelhammer.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled with the person who bought her,” Berkelhammer said. “They are just great guys. And I am thrilled that she is going to a quality home that will hopefully have a big winner.”

The dark bay filly is out of the unraced Ebony Moment (Smart Strike), a daughter of multiple graded stakes winner Ebony Breeze (Belong to Me). Berkelhammer purchased the then 5-year-old Ebony Moment for $18,000 at the 2016 OBS Winter sale.

“I really don’t have a lot of mares, but I dabble a little bit,” Berkelhammer said. “I just love Smart Strike and I loved her pedigree. She was a good-looking mare with a nice shape to her. And she was young and really hadn’t gotten a chance yet. I thought she would potentially make a nice broodmare.”

The filly put buyers on notice with a :9 4/5 work during last week’s under-tack preview, but the lights-out drill was no surprise to Berkelhammer.

“She had been working really well at the farm,” Berkelhammer said. “All of us on the farm were excited every time she breezed. But until they come over and prove it, you never know. She definitely stepped up and did what we expected. And she jumped through every hoop.”

He continued, “The filly has been the star of the crop the whole season and we had very high hopes for her. I am glad she showed herself when she got here and the buyers recognized her quality.”

Ebony Moment RNA’d for $16,000 at this year’s OBS Winter sale. She has a yearling filly by Kantharos and produced a filly by Girvin this year. She was bred back to Outwork.

Of his broodmare band, Berkelhammer said, “I have six mares. And I’ll sell some foals as yearlings and some as 2-year-olds–just depending on how the stallion is doing and where I think the baby fits.” @JessMartiniTDN

West Wins Out on Chrome Colt

Jacob West hit the ground running in Ocala, purchasing four juveniles by the end of the OBS Spring Sale, but he saved the best for last Friday in a $725,000 colt from the first crop of two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome (Hip 1298). The bloodstock agent purchased the gray, who will be trained by Todd Pletcher, on behalf of Mike Repole’s Repole Stable and Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stable.

“He is a fast horse, who breezed well [:20 3/5] and galloped out good,” West said. “He is big and strong and had good mechanics down the lane. We went back to the barn and looked at him and he is a big, pretty horse with some pedigree behind him. He is out of an Unbridled’s Song mare and he looks more like Unbridled’s Song than California Chrome. He vetted well and here we are, $725,000 later.”

West added, “We were kind of getting to the end of our rope on him as far as our evaluation was, but that is about what we thought he would bring. It is a team effort when buying horses for Repole and Viola. Eddie Rosen, Jim Martin and Rory Babich all play a big part.”

Four-time Eclipse winner and dual Classic winner California Chrome stood his first three seasons at Taylor Made and was sold to Japan at the end of 2019.

“I have a lot of respect for that horse,” West said. “He was born into obscurity and made a name for himself. I have a lot of respect for Art Sherman and his operation, getting the horse to those races and almost winning the Triple Crown. You’ve got to respect that horse. He did it the hard way and hopefully he passed that on to his progeny, especially this one.”

Bred by JSM Equine, Hip 1298 is out of the unraced Diva Style (Unbridled’s Song), a daughter of GSW Tizfiz (Tiznow) and a half-sister to top GI Kentucky Derby contender and MGISW Tiz the Law (Constitution). The colt RNA’d for $65,000 at Keeneland September and was consigned here by Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stables. ––@CDeBernardisTDN

Right Place, Right ‘Time’ For Davies

Progeny of Taylor Made’s freshman phenom Not This Time continued to be in high demand on the final day of selling at OBS Spring Friday, with Marc Tacher grabbing hip 953 out of the Julie Davies consignment for $575,000. The May 7 foal turned in a powerful-looking :10 flat work during last week’s preview.

With his first two starters taking maiden special weights on back-to-back days last month, the GSW and GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up has found his way on to many buyers’ radars in Ocala. A $1.25-million Not This Time filly (hip 1254) who worked in :20 1/5 topped Wednesday’s session on a bid from Gary Young; and a $700,000 colt (hip 1283) went to Donato Lanni for Michael Lund Petersen Thursday.

“Between the winners, and the couple of horses that sold really well already, we were pretty confident that he was going to sell well–he still brought a little more than we were expecting, and that’s always a nice surprise,” said Davies.

The chestnut is out of a Tapit daughter of MGSW and MGISP Bending Strings (American Chance). He was an $85,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Davies.

“We bought him on his physical,” she said. “I actually walked into the barn and saw him standing there for somebody else and was like, ‘Who is that?’ So I decided that that was the one I wanted to buy. I spent a little more than I usually spend, but he’s been a really nice horse from Day 1. He’s always trained like a rock star; he’s never given us any trouble. He came over here and did what we thought he would do. He breezed well, and I think they got a really nice horse.”

When asked if she had had any opinion on Not This Time heading into the yearling sales, Davies said, “When I bought him, it was just about him as an individual, but having seen others since then, it seems like he’s stamping them. There are a lot of very pretty ones out there, and the majority of them worked well here and obviously they’re being well received.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

Summer Wind Blows Into Ocala

Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind Farm is often seen buying top mares at the November breeding stock sales, but is usually absent from the juvenile market. However, in yet another surprise twist of the roller coaster year that has been 2020, the Summer Wind name made it onto the OBS Spring Sale results when the farm’s manager Bobby Spalding, who did his bidding over the phone from Kentucky, secured a $500,000 daughter of Malibu Moon on behalf of Lyon Friday.

“This COVID-19 thing has me not thinking straight,” Lyon joked when asked about her change in tactics. “We got a tout that this was a good filly from somebody we really trusted [consignor Eddie Woods], so we decided, ‘Well, what the heck.’ I do trust Eddie a lot. We hoped to get her for less because she does have a little chip [in her knee]. Because of that, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go that high, but it got so crazy in the end there with those addendum horses. Hopefully, Eddie is right about her.”

The top breeder added, “I haven’t even seen her yet, but she looks like a really pretty filly and I am a sucker for beautiful fillies.”

Bred in Florida by Westbury Stables, Hip 1310 was picked up by Woods’s pinhooking partnership Quarter Pole Enterprises for $260,000 at FTKJUL and breezed in a snappy :20 3/5. Her stakes-placed dam Iroquois Girl (Indian Charlie) is a half to MGSW Salty Strike (Smart Strike) and stakes winner Salty Response (Cozzene).

“She was beautiful, spectacular,” Woods said. “Her work was amazing. Her video was amazing. Unfortunately, she had a little damage on x-rays. Even though she brought half a million, you have to think what she would have brought without it.”

The horseman continued, “I didn’t think she would bring that given what she has. She has a little chip in the knee. You know, knees are usually unforgivable in most cases. It is tiny, but it is still there. I thought she might bring $300,000 if everyone showed up. Everyone showed up and they played hard.” ––@CDeBernardisTDN

Empire Maker Filly Proves Popular

A daughter of the late Empire Maker (Hip 1060) summoned $475,000 Friday from bloodstock agent Joe Brocklebank, who was acting on behalf of an disclosed client.

“She is oozing with class,” Brocklebank said. “She is by a wonderful stallion out of a mare by a wonderful stallion. She has tons of speed and she has been well prepared. She vetted perfectly clean and, God willing, she will win some big races.”

Bred in Ontario by Dave Anderson’s Anderson Farms, the :10 flat breezer is the first foal out of Full Tap (Tapit), a half to MGSW Ventana (Toccet). Consignor Hal Hatch bought the filly for $135,000 at Keeneland September.

The late, great Empire Maker was repatriated from Japan to stand at Gainesway in 2016 and stood four seasons there before his untimely passing in January of this year. He has been represented by sensational fillies, such as champion Royal Delta and MGISW Emollient, as well as MGISW Pioneerof the Nile and, more recently, Grade I-winning sophomore Eight Rings. Six juveniles by Empire Maker sold during the OBS Spring Sale for an average of $341,666, topped by a $700,000 colt (Hip 1258). —@CDeBernardisTDN

Eismans Hit a Home Run With Hard Spun Filly

Barry Eisaman snapped up a daughter of Hard Spun for just $50,000 at Keeneland September last year and his faith in the filly was rewarded Friday when she hammered for $440,000. Working in :10 flat, Hip 1149 was purchased by Belladonna Racing.

“She is a wonderful filly and she did so well here,” Eisaman said. “She performed so well and showed herself beautifully for all of those days. We did not anticipate this kind of number, but we knew it would be pretty good. She was very, very popular.”

Bred by Godolphin and Charles Deters, Hip 1149 is out of High Wire Act (Medallist), who is a daughter of Grade III victor Timely Broad (Broad Brush). High Wire Act is a half-sister to MSW & MGSP Not Abroad (Not For Love) and SW Brushed By Love (Not For Love).

“When we bought her, she was a very pretty filly,” Eisaman said. “But she grew and filled out and all of the things you hope will happen between September and the spring of the 2-year-old year. She did everything well. She was very healthy, had very clean veterinary reports and was fast. It worked out for us that she put her whole game together at the right time.”

When asked if he thought the extra time provided by the two-month delay in the sale due to COVID-19 helped his filly, the veterinarian said, “I think it helped every horse in this sale. Two months is a long time in the life of a 2-year-old so it helped all of them mature just a bit more and get just a bit fitter and a bit smarter. It really benefitted my load of horses. Every horse we took through the ring we sold except one. So we had a good sale especially given the current world circumstances.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

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