Mickey Gonzalez | Horse Racing Free Tips

Action Heats Up at OBS Wednesday

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis

OCALA, FL – With a pair of seven-figure colts leading the way, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds produced a day of strong bidding Wednesday in Florida. During the session, 177 juveniles grossed $25,829,000 for an average of $145,927 and a median of $80,000. Through two sessions, 347 horses have sold for $48,388,000. The two-day average of $139,447 jumped 36% from last year's corresponding figure, while the median of $75,000 soared up 50%.

The cumulative buy-back rate is 19.5%. With the subsequent inclusion of post-sale transactions, it was 13.3% a year ago.

A colt by Medaglia d'Oro became the auction's second seven-figure juvenile when selling for $1,750,000 to Jed and Tim Cohen's Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal. The session-topping youngster capped a big day for de Meric Sales, which is the leading consignor with 19 sold for $6,374,000 at the auction's half-way mark.

Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida made the day's second seven-figure purchase when acquiring a colt from the first crop of Mendelssohn for $1.3 million from the Scanlon Training and Sales consignment. Some 30 hips earlier, Nakauchida had purchased a colt by Mendelossohn's half-brother Into Mischief for $825,000 from de Meric Sales to be the session's leading buyer.

While Dave Scanlon enjoyed top-level success, he said he also saw activity at lower levels of the market.

“The trade is pretty good,” Scanlon said. “It's always good for the top horses. You always get rewarded for those. The ones that were lesser, you have to hustle a little bit, but it's been good.”

Buyers, meanwhile, were facing a competitive marketplace in Ocala.

“I am finding it very challenging quite frankly,” bloodstock agent David Ingordo said. “There are a lot of horses who are very, very nice and they are costing a nice price. We came here to buy and we've had mixed success because of the prices. We are disciplined, but we are not cheap buyers. We do set limits and some of these are going right by. There are lot of horses who are maybe not vetting and stuff. The market is good. If you bring a nice horse, you get a nice price. There is some value there too. We bought a nice filly earlier for $67,000 that we valued higher, so there are still some diamonds in the rough.”

Bloodstock agent Chad Schumer, whose five purchases so far at the sale are topped by a $535,000 colt by Goldencents, agreed he was forced to pay a premium for the horses he was looking to buy.

“I think the market is strong,” Schumer said. “I have heard a lot of people kind of complain about the market, but there hasn't been a single horse that I've bought that wasn't many bids over the reserve. I am selling tomorrow, so I might feel differently. But I think it's been a very good market. There is tremendous demand for these horses and it seems to be coming from all over.”

Kirk Wycoff of Three Diamonds Farm had a pinhooking score with a Curlin filly selling for $600,000 late in the day, but said things on the buying end were difficult.

“The horses it feels like we could spend $100,000 to $200,000 for before the pandemic are now $200,000 to $400,000,” he said. “I know the numbers don't necessarily say the market has doubled, but the quality horses have gone up considerably. It is good for the business. We have our regulatory situation kind of under control, so it is a good time to be in horse racing.”

The OBS Spring sale continues through Friday with sessions beginning each day at 10:30 a.m.

Well-Related Medaglia d'Oro Colt Headed to California

A Medaglia d'Oro half-brother to champion sprinter Drefong (Gio Ponti) (Hip 401) proved quite popular in Ocala Wednesday, summoning $1.75 million from Jed Cohen's Red Baron's Barn and his son Tim Cohen's Rancho Temescal. The colt will join the California-based stable of trainer Mark Glatt. Spendthrift Farm was the underbidder.

“It was certainly a little more than we wanted to go, but Jeff [Mullins], Mark [Glatt], Joe [Miller] and I all agreed he was a standout colt,” Tim Cohen said. “I talked to my dad and said we found a special one. I didn't tell him how far we had to go, but we will find out soon.”

He added, “For such a big colt to go that quickly [:10 1/5] without being asked was significant for us. These guys took good, hard looks on our behalf. It was a special opportunity and we are grateful to do it.”

Sandra Fubini's Machmer Hall purchased Hip 401's unraced dam Eltimaas (Ghostzapper) for $77,000 in foal to Mizzen Mast at the 2013 KEENOV sale, the same year she produced three-time Grade I winner Drefong, who now stands stud in Japan. The half-sister to champion Action This Day's 2017 filly by Candy Ride (Arg) brought $675,000 at the OBS March Sale and her 2019 Curlin colt summoned $425,000 at last year's April sale.

Bred by Machmer Hall in partnership with Fubini's daughter and son-in-law, Carrie and Craig Brogden, Hip 401 was purchased by de Meric Sales for $325,000 at Keeneland September with Brogden staying in for a small piece.

“He has been unbelievable since day one,” Tristan de Meric said. “We have just been lucky to have him on the farm. From the first day in the round pen, you could see he was going to be a nice one. He stayed together and just kept getting better every day.”

He added, “Carrie kept a small piece and we partnered up with a few of our good friends, Hubert Guy, Tami Bobo and Gus King. We were lucky it all came together. You never expect that kind of price, but the way it was coming together and with the people who were on him, we weren't shocked to see him hit $1 million.”

Hip 401's sale was the start of a stellar day for the de Merics, who also sold an $825,000 Into Mischief colt (Hip 466) and an $800,000 Curlin colt (Hip 503). —@CDeBernardisTDN

Scanlon Scores With Another Maryland Buy

The Fasig-Tipton October Sale has been good to consignor David Scanlon in the past. He purchased GISW Army Mule for (Friesian Fire) for just $35,000 at that auction and pinhooked him for $825,000 at EASMAY. He scored with another Fasig October buy Wednesday when a Mendelssohn colt (Hip 490) he purchased for $235,000 brought $1.3 million from Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida, who was acting on behalf of an undisclosed client.

“We were up there in Maryland and we have done really good buying out of that sale,” Scanlon said. “We bought Army Mule out of that sale. You get good value there. The day before I was on another Mendelssohn because I really think the sire is going to be a hit, and we didn't get him. I thought this horse had a great demeanor and a beautiful frame. My partner Gabriel Duignan pointed him out too and said he liked him. We called our other partner Bruno DeBerdt and we all got together and bought him. It was a stretch. I usually don't pay that for a pinhook. I'm usually about $100,000 guy, but we decided to take a chance. We loved him.”

As for how the colt has matured since, Scanlon said, “All year we saw something special in him. He matured the way he hoped and got better than we ever imagined.”

Bred by Marcus Stables, the :10 1/5 breezer is out of the unraced Malibu Moon mare Grace is Gone, who is a half-sister to SP Retro (Giant's Causeway). Their dam is GISP Grace Anatomy (Aldebaran).

“He breezed really nicely,” said Nakauchida, who was sporting a Scanlin Training & Sales hat. “His action was very big and dynamic. Physically, he is strong and beautiful. “He will go to Japan and will be under my care. Hopefully, we will win a few races and, if we get lucky, hopefully you will see him in the international stakes.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

Into Mischief Colt to Japan

A colt by Into Mischief (hip 466) will be heading to Japan after selling for $825,000 to the bid of Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida, acting on behalf of an undisclosed client, at OBS Wednesday. The colt, who worked a furlong in :10 flat at last week's under tack show, was consigned by de Meric Sales. He was purchased by Mickey Gonzalez's Golden Star Farm for $385,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“I liked his breeze. He has plenty of speed,” Nakauchida said of the colt's appeal. “I saw him at the barn and he's very athletic and he is light. He will go well in Japan.”

Hip 466 is out of Game for More (More Than Ready) and is a half-brother to multiple graded winner Isotherm (Lonhro {Aus}) and Grade I placed Gio Game (Gio Ponti) and Giant Game (Giant's Causeway).

The colt was Nakauchida's first purchase of the sale, but the trainer was quick to double up when taking home a Mendelssohn colt for $1.3 million. @JessMartiniTDN

Curlin Colt for Lund Petersen

A colt by Curlin (hip 503) will be joining Michael Lund Petersen's racing stable after selling for $800,000 Wednesday in Ocala. Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, bidding alongside trainer Bob Baffert, made the winning bid.

“He was just a fast-looking Curlin,” Lanni said of the juvenile who worked a furlong last week in :10 flat. “The mare could really run and he went fast and looks the part. So we just hope we get lucky.”

The gray colt is out of multiple Grade I winner Hard Not to Like (Hard Spun) and was bred by Dattt Farm, which purchased the mare for $2.2 million at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. The juvenile RNA'd for $285,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. He was consigned to the OBS sale by de Meric Sales.

Nyquist Filly Well Received in Ocala

With a Shadwell pedigree behind her, Hip 506, a daughter of Nyquist, was well liked at OBS Wednesday, hammering for $700,000 to the Green family's D.J. Stable, which did its bidding online.

“We bought her privately from Shadwell in September,” Barry Eisaman said. “They were inviting people to the farm because they were selling some of their yearlings. We liked her body, pedigree and mind. She has done nothing but fulfill every dream we could have had for her. She's just a wonderful prospect. She's fast. She's calm under fire. She's just a good filly.”

Hip 506 is out of Hasilah (Hard Spun), who is a daughter of MG1SW Sierra Madre (Fr) (Baillamont). That mare has also produced European champion Aljabr (Storm Cat) and the dam of GSWs Derbaas (Seeking the Gold) and Chiefdom (The Factor). The gray breezed in :10 flat during the under-tack show last week. —@CDeBernardisTDN

Lehigh Bloodstock Hits Another Homerun at OBS

Lehigh Bloodstock, a pinhooking partnership comprised of Three Diamonds Farm and Wavertree's Ciaran Dunne, was behind the $1.2-million More Than Ready colt–a $120,000 KEESEP buy–who topped the OBS March Sale. They hit another homerun in Ocala Wednesday when a Curlin filly (Hip 602) they purchased for $135,000 at Keeneland September brought $600,000 from bloodstock agent David Ingordo, who was acting on behalf of Spry Family Farm.

“We buy 50 yearlings and race 25 and sell 25,” Three Diamonds' Kirk Wycoff said. “We love Curlin. A friend of ours knows the mare and the mare is very fast. We thought the filly would be fast and she was.”

As for the prices, he said, “You never know what to expect. This is a very good horse sale. We were happy to get anything over $500,000 and we would have been happy to race her at less than that.”

The chestnut filly is out of MSP Jumby Bay (City Zip), who was purchased by breeder Don Alberto Corporation for $510,000 at the 2019 KEENOV sale with this filly in utero. She is a half-sister to GSP Royal Obsession (Tapit), a $1-million FTSAUG yearling in 2014 turned $1.15-million KEENOV buy a year later and was purchased by Don Alberto at the 2017 KEENOV sale for $1.8 million in foal to Curlin.

“She's a Curlin filly. Curlin needs no introduction,” said Ingordo, who did his bidding alongside the filly's new trainer, his wife Cherie DeVeaux. “She had a beautiful breeze [:20 4/5]. I've been lucky buying off Ciaran in the past. She was for somebody who wants to buy a nice filly, develop her and hopefully have one for the broodmare band in the future.”

—@CDeBernardisTDN

Colt Makes Cents to Schumer

Chad Schumer, bidding on behalf of an undisclosed client, went to $535,000 to acquire a colt by Goldencents (hip 546) from the Eddie Woods consignment. Woods's Quarter Pole Enterprises pinhooking partnership purchased the youngster for $150,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. The colt's half-sister Just One Time (Not This Time) won the Apr. 9 GI Madison S. and days later he worked a furlong in a bullet :9 4/5.

Schumer was familiar with the pedigree before bidding Wednesday.

“I actually bought the mare Ida Clark (Speightstown) carrying Just One Time,” Schumer said. “We bought her inexpensively, $45,000 [at 2017 Keeneland November sale], for a client. He sold her, unfortunately, but he kept Just One Time and he just won the Grade I with her. The colt was in the sale, it's an amazing pedigree, he was a stunning individual and obviously it was a fantastic breeze.”

Ida Clark resold for $60,000 at the 2019 Keeneland January sale.

The colt was one that jumped through all of the proverbial hoops, according to Schumer.

“Typically, with all due respect to the stallion, they can be small and they can be light,” Schumer said. “They are great runners, but they are usually not sales horses. This horse was a proper sales horse. He is big, strong, with a tremendous walk. He was very correct and he vetted perfectly. I think when you jump through all the hoops and you have a bullet work, you kind of have to expect to pay.” @JessMartiniTDN

Longoria Has a Good Day

Pinhooker Jessie Longoria continued a series of pinhooking scores in Ocala when selling a colt by Race Day (hip 373) for $475,000 to the partnership of WinStar's Maverick Racing, Siena Farms and CMNWLTH Wednesday at OBS. Longoria had purchased the youngster in partnership with Greg James for $42,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale, months before his sire had a pair of colts in the expected Kentucky Derby field.

“He looked good, he looked just like he did now,” Longoria said of the yearling purchase. “But Race Day was cold as water. Nobody wanted them. When I bought him, my friend said, 'What are you thinking? You know that horse is really cold.' It made me feel bad. But I liked the horse and I've always had a habit of buying horses like that that my intuition tells me is the right kind. I went with my gut and it panned out.”

Hip 373 turned in a quarter-mile work in :21 flat during last week's under-tack show.

“I knew he was going to do very well,” Longoria said of Wednesday's result. “Everybody who looked at him loved the horse. He has one hell of a mind and that's what you have to have to get through all the pressure and stress. He's a happy horse. He galloped out huge.”

Race Day will be represented on the First Saturday in May by GI Curlin Florida Derby winner White Abarrio and GI Arkansas Derby runner-up Barber Road.

During Tuesday's first session of the OBS Spring sale, Longoria sold a colt by Mor Spirit (hip 218) for $230,000 to Exline-Border Racing. The juvenile had been purchased by Longoria for $62,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale.

“I had a new client who approached me and this was our first horse,” Longoria explained.

At the OBS March sale, Longoria and James sold a filly by Shackleford (hip 544) for $300,000 to Hideyuki Mori. The bay had been purchased for $40,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“I usually end up with six to eight [yearlings] every year,” Longoria said. “I like to keep my numbers down. I like to be hands on and I do a lot of work myself. So with six to eight with better pedigrees, I can invest more and get better quality. I think when you have more pedigree, if your horses don't work the greatest, you still get people to come look. Without pedigrees, if your horses don't perform top notch, you don't have anybody come look. If you buy something with pedigree, and especially if they work fast, you get everybody on them. It kind of gives you a guarantee.” @JessMartiniTDN

The post Action Heats Up at OBS Wednesday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Record-Setting June Sale Concludes

OCALA, FL – The three-day Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds more than bounced back from its 2020 pandemic-induced lull, ending Friday with its highest-ever gross and average and with a record-tying median. In all, 560 juveniles grossed $24,492,950 for an average of $43,737–besting the previous record figures of $23,475,500 and $39,722, respectively, set in 2015. The cumulative median was $20,000. With 125 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 18.2%.

“The June sale is all grown up now,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “I am glad to see that both buyers and sellers are recognizing that June is a good sale in its own right. A consignor who needs to take some time with horses who maybe aren't the most forward, but they are still nice horses, they feel confident that they can give those horses the time and still have a market in which to sell them well. And the buyers are also patient enough that they know they can come here and end up with a quality racehorse.”

In 2020, 498 horses sold for $15,195,300 for an average of $30,513 and a median of $13,000. At the close of business, the 2020 buy-back rate was 20.5%. In 2019, 609 horses sold for $21,493,300. The average was $35,293 and the median was $17,000.

Four horses topped the $400,000 mark during the three-session auction, with a filly by Practical Joke bringing top price of $425,000. Mike Ryan made the highest bid of Friday's session, going to $410,000 to acquire a filly by Frosted from the Silvestre Chavez Thoroughbreds consignment.

“I've been studying the results all week,” Ryan said. “The first day was strong, yesterday was very strong. The money is here for the good ones. It's impressive. It's been a strong year and this is the last go-around.”

While the 2019 record top price of $900,000 and last year's top price of $700,000 were never approached, the top of the June market was competitive with 28 horses selling for $200,000 or more over the three days. Thirteen horses hit that mark in 2020 and there were 15 in 2019.

“It was solid at the top and there was still some good strength below it. It was a good horse sale,” Wojciechowski said. “We're glad that the momentum carried through all three days. We're happy for our consignors. They had a rough go of it last year and their fortitude and their willingness to keep pressing forward paid off for them this year.”

Frosted Filly to Ryan
Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan secured a filly by Frosted (hip 722) on behalf of Jeff Drown for $410,000 during Friday's final session of the OBS June sale.

“I drove down yesterday for two horses,” Ryan said. “I had watched all the videos and yesterday afternoon I looked at them and I had them vetted. And she was a beauty.”

Out of Saratoga Summer (Smart Strike), the gray filly is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Summersault (Rock Hard Ten).

“She's a very elegant filly with a lot of Tapit about her,” Ryan said. “Of course you hear it all the time, but I thought her breeze was exceptional; :10 1/5, but she did it at a gallop. The ease with which she did it was impressive.”

Ryan continued, “We'll give her a little freshening and get her ready and send her to the racetrack in six weeks or so and hope to see her in the fall.”

The filly was consigned by Silvestre Chavez on behalf of David Davila's Backstretch Farms, which purchased her for $115,000 as a weanling at the 2019 Keeneland November sale.

“David Davila gave me a chance to be part of this filly as a deal and of all three horses he gave me, this was by far the best. I appreciate that he gave me this opportunity. She's spectacular, she's going to be a nice, nice filly.”

Chavez continued, “When the filly came to me she was green broke. She was a little backwards, she was going through a growing stage. But coming into the sale, she was working really well on the dirt and she loved the polytrack here. She just glided over it.”

Chavez, who works with his brother Alex, started his consignment last year after spending time learning the business with Niall Brennan and Tony Everard.

“I worked for Niall Brennan–I learned from the best in Niall,” Chavez said. “When I left, he gave me a few clients. He and Tony Everard–I worked for him back in the day–are the best. Another guy who helped put me on the map was Steve Weston of Parkland Thoroughbreds. He's the one who got me started and gave me the big chance to go on my own. ”

Chavez, who is based at the Ocala Horse Complex, continued, “Last year I went out on my own. I had over 100 horses in training on my own this year. It's all about team, if you don't have good help, it's not going to happen.”

Gonzalez Gets His Quality Road
Mickey Gonzalez had already had one chance to acquire a colt by Quality Road out of a stakes-winning mare he had once co-owned, but he made the most of his second chance to take home the bay for $400,000 Friday in Ocala. The juvenile (hip 816) was consigned by de Meric Sales on behalf of breeder Bridlewood Farm.

“I made a private offer of $200,000 for him and they countered at $250,000 and I said no,” Gonzalez said with a rueful laugh. “But I saw the video of him breezing and–I live five minutes from here–and I just decided to come in and buy the horse. I just got in a half-hour ago.”

Gonzalez's M Racing was a partner on the colt's dam, Surfside Tiara (Scat Daddy), who won the 2015 Anoakia S. before selling for $675,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November sale. The mare subsequently sold to Bridlewood Farm, with this Quality Road colt in utero, for $575,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November sale.

The bay colt, from the family of Air Force Blue, was making his second trip through the sales ring this year. He RNA'd for $400,000 following a :10 flat work at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale. He came back to work a quarter in :20 4/5 last week at OBS.

“The horse worked like a real horse in Miami, but it was a tough market there,” said Bridlewood General Manager George Isaacs. “I was a little nervous coming into the sale today. We had solid vettings, but my reserve was a lot more conservative than $400,000. We are very pleased with that price.”

Isaacs continued “The horse has never turned a hair. He's been to two sales and put up two really good works and vetted clean both times. He looks like he was chiseled out of granite. He looks like he's ready to run tomorrow.”

Gonzalez has about 15 horses in training split between Wesley Ward, John Sadler and Peter Miller. He said Sadler will train his newest acquisition.

Tonalist Filly Returns to Evans
When the pandemic shut down racing last year, Robert 'Shel' Evans decided to sell the majority of his yearling crop. One of the casualties of the sell-off was a filly by Evans's Tonalist out of Rapid Rhythm (Successful Appeal) who sold for $25,000 to bloodstock agent Michael Hernon at the Keeneland September sale. The filly blossomed through the spring and, with an eye towards promoting Tonalist, Evans purchased the filly (hip 683) back for $250,000 Friday in Ocala.

Evans's longtime advisor Patrick Lawley-Wakelin flew into Ocala to make the winning bid to acquire the filly from Scott Kintz's Six K's Training and Sales.

“We bought Rapid Rhythm, who was a very fast, almost a come-from-behind sprinter by Successful Appeal and we determined she would be the ideal kind of mare for Tonalist. So we bought her specifically for Tonalist,” Lawley-Wakelin said. “This was her first foal. And she was always a big, scopey filly. She was very clean through her knees with a beautiful face. Shel decided during the pandemic to sell the majority, if not all of his yearlings. I can't remember which book she was in, but it was in one of the later books. Michael Hernon stepped in and bought her.”

Of the filly's yearling price tag, Lawley-Wakelin admitted, “I was truly upset by how little money she fetched.”

Tonalist was represented by his first Grade I winner when Country Grammar took the GI Hollywood Gold Cup last month and his daughter drew plenty of interest at OBS.

“I have a great rapport with Scott Kintz,” Lawley-Wakelin said. “Scott was telling me, 'We love this filly and she's done nothing but improved.' And then of course she went and worked here in :10 2/5 and she galloped out in :46 1/5. I said to Shel at that point, 'We've got a problem.' He asked what I thought. We are still promoting Tonalist–he's had a great month–so for me, she is the ideal type that you want for Tonalist. She's got a great temperament and she vetted clean. So Shel said, 'You better get on the plane.'”

The result was another success for Hernon's fledgling bloodstock agency.

“She was immediately impressive,” Hernon said of the filly's appeal last year. “She was just real class. She stood up, she was proud of herself. She moved extremely well. I looked at her twice and the second time it was just a replica of the first time. I thought she was very composed with a big eye, a kind, genuine filly. And it's the same cross that produced [GI Belmont S. winner] Tapwrit [Tapit], being out of a quality Successful Appeal mare.”

Hernon continued, “At the time when I bought her, I still had a few bids left in my back pocket. So I was delighted to get her for that price.”

Hernon, who during his time at Gainesway was pivotal to the success of Tapit, continued to reap rewards with this filly by a son of the super sire.

“It means everything,” Hernon said of his association with Tapit's legacy. “He's just an amazing horse. I was sitting at home watching John Henderson's Thoroughbred Week show and I saw him win in the Laurel Futurity and I realized I had goosebumps up and down my arms. That's when I first got on him. So it's all interwoven and the story continues to write itself.”

Empire Maker Filly a Score for Navas
Jonathan Navas's Navas Equine, in just its second year of operation, recorded its highest result to date when selling a filly by Empire Maker (hip 791) for $260,000 to D. J. Stable Friday in Ocala. The filly, bred by Gainesway, is out of Starlight Tiara (More Than Ready) and is a half-sister to stakes winner Surfside Tiara (Scat Daddy), whose Quality Road colt sold for $400,000 during Friday's session.

Navas purchased the filly for $5,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“She was not developed at that time, but with patience and a lot of work, I was fortunate enough just to get her to this point,” Navas said. “She always trained very good for me at the farm and she has a good family and good updates with her siblings. And she did her job at the breeze show and I am just fortunate she did everything right.”

Of his career high sale, Navas said, “It was amazing. I am very happy. We are looking forward to do more.”

Fortuitous Find Takes Dunne to Ascot
Pinhooker Ciaran Dunne will trade in his Arsenal baseball cap for a top hat next week when the 2-year-old filly Artos (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) goes postward in the G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot. He calls his involvement with the filly, co-owned with wife Amy and partners Pat and Phyllis Harlow, John and Jean Wilkinson and Brenda and David Miley, “just pure blind luck.”

“We had bought some yearlings in France and they had gone to Mark Gittins in Ireland to get ready for a 2-year-old sale,” Dunne explained. “So when [daughter] Caitlin and I went back there in October to see the yearlings, by chance they were bringing the foals in out of the field. Mark was telling us who they all were. And he told us the Kodiac filly was out of a half-sister [Shimmering Moment] to Leinster. So we probably had a little bit of an attachment there.”

Leinster (Majestic Warrior) is a horse Dunne knows well. He purchased the bay for $85,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton July sale on behalf of Wilkinson and Miley's pinhooking partnership. When he failed to sell the following spring, the partners put him in training. Leinster is now a four-time graded stakes winner and was third in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

“Mark said she was going through the foal sale in December, but I had half-forgotten about her,” Dunne recalled of Artos. “Over Thanksgiving, with nothing much left to do, I wondered what she had brought. I looked her up and she was selling the next day. So I called Kerri Radcliffe and had her look at her for me and got her vetted. It was pure sentimentality. We bought her and brought her home. Two of the couples that are involved in Leinster came in and took a piece and another friend of ours who has never owned a horse before, the Harlows, took a leg. So we split her up four ways like Leinster. Jokingly at the time, we said, 'We'll win at Keeneland and then take her to Ascot.' Never really thinking we had a chance.”

Of the Harlows first involvement in the industry, Dunne said, “Pat plays golf with us all the time and I think he got sick of hearing David and John talk about Leinster all the time. They have show jumpers and had been on the fence about it. This just seemed like a good opportunity.”

Artos joined trainer Rusty Arnold's string in Florida over the winter.

“Rusty took her to Palm Meadows in February and she's done everything right,” Dunne said.

Artos opened her career with a runner-up effort–beaten six lengths–Apr. 22 at Keeneland.

“She ran a really good second at Keeneland,” Dunne said. “She got left in the gate and ran through the rest of them, but never got close to Wesley [Ward]'s filly. But we kind of thought at the time, if she had broke a little bit better, not that she would have won, but that she would have had more say in it. And Rusty thought she was only 75-80% at the time.”

After that effort Dunne admitted, “I wanted to go straight to Ascot, but Rusty was a little more realistic. He insisted on running her at Churchill. There was a part of me that was afraid she might get beat and we couldn't go. But it was the right thing to do.”

Artos produced a memorable second start at Churchill Downs May 21. The Irish-bred carved out an opening quarter in :22.74, but approaching the quarter pole, she appeared to be going backwards only to re-rally with an eye-catching late move to just get up to graduate by a nose (video).

“It was bizarre,” Dunne said of the race. “I didn't see it live. Caitlin and Amy told me, 'You've got to watch this race, it's unbelievable.' People say stuff like that all the time and you think, 'Yeah, I'm sure it is.' I was sitting at home watching it and thinking what are they talking about. And then wow. She is very game.”

All indications are that Artos is doing well ahead of her tilt at Royal Ascot next week.

“Rusty thinks she's better now than she's ever been,” Dunne said. “She is better than she was at Churchill. She shipped really well. Kerri Radcliffe has her over there at Jane Chapple-Hyam's barn and she's keeping an eye on her. Brendan Walsh was kind enough to allow us to use his rider because with COVID it's all very difficult. We're obviously a fish out of water. But we are there, so it will be fun.”

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