CASA of Lexington is a non-profit organization that provides advocacy for hundreds of abused and neglected children in central Kentucky every year.

The auction, which concludes with an in-person gala, closes at 9:45 p.m Feb. 23. Buyers do not have to attend the gala and items will be available for pick-up at the CASA of Lexington office, 3245 Loch Ness Drive, beginning 10 a.m. Feb. 26 or may be shipped at buyer's expense.

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Bloodstock agent Liz Crow, who has an ever-expanding list of accomplished sales purchases, as well as a burgeoning book of pinhook successes with partner Paul Sharp, admits there are subtle distinctions between buying to race versus buying for resale.

“There are several different findings for a horse that you can live with to race, but you can't buy to pinhook,” Crow said. “Some of those things, for example, are the moderate to severe sesamoiditis and juvenile tendonitis. Those horses will be perfectly fine and perfectly normal if you give them time, but you can't put them right into a 2-year-old sales cycle because you can't give them that time. They have to get ready and start breezing. Moderate to severe sesamoiditis requires 60 to 90 days before you break them. Obviously, you just don't have 60 to 90 days [for a pinhook prospect]. You've got to start breaking them when they get to your farm and they need to be breezing by January. And that just doesn't give you enough time. So it's all about timing.”

Whether it's searching for a racing prospect or a potential pinhook, Crow said the biggest part of her job may be determining what is consequential and what isn't on the vet report.

“I think your relationship with your vet is very important,” she said. “Not trusting just the vet report or what the vet reports say, but actually forming a relationship with the vet and having that line of communication where you can have a discussion. You as the agent, and with your client, you have to take that information and make that decision based on what you're given.”

Crow has been shopping the sales for over a decade and has learned to value just that type of relationship she has developed with Dr. Jeff Berk.

“I've been doing this for quite a while now and I've used the same vet my entire career,” Crow said. “I have listened to Dr. Berk read vet reports to me and talk to me about this for 12+ years at this point. We vet 400-500 horses in September alone. Oftentimes, Jeff will say to me in September–we are obviously all moving so fast–he will say, 'Call me on this one, let's talk about it.' And that means this is not a black-and-white thing. I honestly think it's a toss-up for what's more important for my job, whether it's picking out and finding a horse that has talent or is it really deciphering these vet reports.”

She continued, “Vet reports to me are very subjective. They are not black and white. If you get three different vets that give you three different opinions–and that happens more often than not–they are giving you their opinion. They cannot tell you if this horse can or cannot make the races. They are using their experience to tell you what they think based on what they found in the X-rays. But these are not facts. So the most important thing for me, as an agent, is to decipher what that means and if it fits for what my client is trying to do with that horse.”

Crow has built a career on finding horses on a budget who go on to do great things on the racetrack. She purchased future champion Monomoy Girl for $100,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September sale and was able to acquire subsequent Grade I winner Jack Christopher for $135,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“Sometimes the best thing you can do for your client is find that horse that doesn't vet perfectly, but may be very athletic,” Crow said. “I've had a lot of success doing that and I think it's a great way to approach it, as long as your client is clear and understands the risk.”

After purchasing Monomoy Girl in 2016, the filly went on to win the 2018 GI Kentucky Oaks and twice won the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. The two-time Eclipse champion provided Crow a case-in-point.

“Monomoy Girl had moderate sesamoiditis behind in both hind ankles and she had an OCD removed behind as well,” Crow said. “Dr. Berk and I had a discussion about it and I was completely comfortable with bidding on her based on what he had told me. And I think it did bother a few people, from my understanding. But that's the thing, when you get three or four different vets, they all have different opinions. I think that's part of the problem, all of the opinions.”

Over the years, Crow has developed an understanding of what are significant issues and what issues she can deal with.

“If your vet says the horse has this, this, this and this, I sort of go through it and immediately think, a P1 plantar fragment behind, a lucency in the upper joint, mild sharpening in the upper joint of the right knee, those things are all fine. I know those three findings. Like a sharpening in the knee, any finding in the upper joint of the knee, mild to moderate sesamoiditis that scans well, a fragment in the back of the ankle, these things don't mean anything really. They are just comments, a differentiation of normal. I think that there are a lot of findings that are just that, a differentiation of normal. And deciphering what is acceptable and what isn't is not as easy as just looking at the vet sheet. Monomoy Girl is a great example of a horse that, if you read her vet sheet without any sort of context or discussion, you could think she could have problem, but she didn't and none of those things bothered her throughout her entire race career.”

Advancements in veterinary scans provide potential buyers with a treasure trove of information to work through. That's not a bad thing, according to Crow.

“You can never go wrong with more information,” she said. “I am not going to say it's a bad thing that we have better information. I am just going to say that every horse has  something and it's very rare that you vet a horse that is perfectly clean. You have to learn what you can live with. Most good horses have something. It would be great to continue to inform these buyers that horses don't have to be NSA [no significant abnormalities] to be able to be purchased.”

Click to read previous The X-Ray Files: with Tom McCrocklin,  David Ingordo or Ciaran Dunne.

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Trainer Brad Cox will have three chances, including the top two choices on the morning-line, to collect a third Oaks trophy following wins with Monomoy Girl in 2018 and Shedaresthedevil in 2020.

After sweeping the Oaklawn Park series for 3-year-old fillies, Godolphin homebred and 5-2 Oaks morning-line favorite Wet Paint (Blame) shoots for a fourth straight victory following a visually impressive come-from- behind win in the GIII Fantasy S. Apr. 1.

“She can make you a little nervous with her running style, but overall she's just been really consistent,” Cox said. “She'll love the mile and an eighth here. If she puts in her run, she's going to be tough. She just brings it every time.”

Front-running Bourbonette Oaks heroine Botanical (Medaglia d'Oro) could vie for favoritism with her stablemate despite never racing on dirt before. Cox will also saddle GII Fair Grounds Oaks third-place finisher The Alys Look (Connect).

“The Alys Looks is flying under the radar, but I love the way she's developing,” Cox said. “Botanical needs to step up on the dirt, but I like what I am seeing. Physically, she looks great. She's doing really well.”

Last year's champion 2-year-old filly Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) looks for her first victory since capturing the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland. She was a disappointing sixth behind Defining Purpose (Cross Traffic) in the GI Ashland S. at Keeneland Apr. 7.

Southlawn (Pioneerof the Nile) has taken a major step forward for trainer Norm Casse in two attempts since turning three, led by a 3 1/4-length victory over Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks Mar. 25.

Affirmative Lady (Arrogate), hung out wide in post 13, also enters in top form following a breakthrough win in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks Apr. 1. She's gone two-for-two since adding blinkers for Graham Motion.

The gone-too-soon Arrogate, responsible for last year's Oaks winner Secret Oath, will also be represented by GISW and GII Santa Anita Oaks runner-up And Tell Me Nolies (Arrogate).

With a delightful forecast calling for cloudy skies and a high of 75 degrees, the stacked 13-race Kentucky Oaks program also includes: a deep field of 10 in the GI La Troienne S., featuring last year's GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Secret Oath (Arrogate); a fantastic renewal of the GII Alysheba S., led by GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice) and GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. winner Art Collector (Bernardini); unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Munnys Gold (Munnings)'s graded stakes debut in the GII Eight Belles S.; and the grassy GII Edgewood S. and GIII Modesty S. Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Caravel (Mizzen Mast) will also line up on the undercard in the Unbridled Sidney S.

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“She's very sassy, that's for sure,” said Florent Geroux, who teamed up with the chestnut daughter of Tapizar for 16 of her 17 lifetime starts. “She's not really a 'people horse' who likes to hang out with people. She likes to be on her own. If you bring her some treats, she might come see you for a bit. Although if you come empty handed, it's not very good to visit her.”

Two years ago, Monomoy Girl retired to Spendthrift Farm. The operation's General Manager Ned Toffey can attest that the seven-time Grade I winner has maintained that same sure-of-herself personality.

“Ever since she came to Spendthrift, and I think during her training days as well, she has been a pretty tough mare,” he said. “She's definitely not so much of a pet as she is sort of a tough, athletic race mare. She's more settled into a routine now, but she still has her preferences. There are things she likes and things she doesn't like and you still see that fire pop up in her from time to time.”

Despite her seemingly tough nature, Monomoy Girl has revealed a softer side over the past two months. Early on the morning of Feb. 17, her first foal arrived at Spendthrift. While there is always concern for how any mare will take to a second career as a broodmare, in this case all worries were eased as soon as her Into Mischief colt took his first steps.

“She has done everything right,” said Toffey. “She's a very settled mare when she goes outside and she takes good care of her foal. Sometimes you'll run into things with race mares where you may even have to go so far as to have to put the foal on a nurse mare. That has been far from the case with Monomoy Girl.”

As for the foal, Toffey said they couldn't be happier with the new arrival.

“He's a medium-sized foal, which is really what we like to see. He's very well-made, very put together. He's got great bone and is very balanced and athletic .”

Monomoy Girl's first foal by Into Mischief | Sara Gordon

The team at Spendthrift was so enamored with this Into Mischief colt that Monomoy Girl was bred back to the farm's same supersire and she recently checked in foal.

Just as spring brings new foals to the Bluegrass each year, many of the nation's best jockeys are welcomed to Lexington every spring for the Keeneland meet. On a light day of racing, Florent Geroux stopped in to visit an old friend at Spendthrift and meet her first foal. The seasoned jockey has sat aboard countless top-class horses, but it's not every day that he gets near one of their offspring.

Geroux was blown away by how well the champion seems to have taken to retirement.

“She looks great and she has a beautiful colt,” he said after peppermints had been distributed and the mare and foal were turned out for the morning. “I think everything is going very well for her. It makes me happy to see her here and she looks amazing. Her coat is beautiful and she looks super healthy, all dappled out.”

There is no question that Geroux's top earner, Gun Runner, has gone on to do great things after the racetrack. Now he is hoping that his second-highest earning performer can share similar success.

The sky has always seemed to be the limit for Monomoy Girl, who has a knack for setting the bar throughout every step of her career.

Purchased as a yearling by Liz Crow for only $100,000 and originally campaigned by Michael Dubb and Sol Kumin's Monomoy Stables, the Brad Cox-trained filly was a stakes winner at two and her Eclipse Award-worthy sophomore season was highlighted by six graded stakes wins from seven starts, including the Kentucky Oaks and the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

While she missed her 4-year-old season due to colic and a hamstring injury, the chestnut came back the following year and claimed another Breeders' Cup Distaff-Eclipse Award double. At the end of her 5-year-old campaign, she was sent through the ring at Fasig-Tipton's Night of the Stars Sale, where she brought $9.5 million from Spendthrift Farm. MyRacehorse joined in on the partnership along with one of her original owners Sol Kumin under his Madaket Stables banner. She was a graded stakes winner again at six in the GIII Bayakoa S. before entering retirement.

Flo knows to come bearing peppermints when visiting Monomoy Girl | Sara Gordon

Reflecting on Monomoy Girl's career, Geroux said that her Kentucky Oaks victory over fellow champions Wonder Gadot and Midnight Bisou, as well as her victorious return to the Breeders' Cup in 2020, are two of his fondest memories with the talented filly.

Monomoy Girl's intelligence, he added, is another trait he will never forget from their many rides together.

“She's extremely smart,” he said. “Probably one of the smartest horses I've been around.”

While it remains to be seen if this first foal has inherited his dam's athletic abilities, there is already no question of his paternal heritage. A flashy light bay with varying degrees of white on all four legs, the colt has a prominent blaze that is unquestionably Into Mischief.

At just two months old, the youngster has already grown to love the spotlight.

“He could not be a more personable foal,” Toffey explained. “He loves people. You try to get a picture of him and he'll come over to the fence. Everything looks like a selfie with him because he just comes up and wants to get in your face.”

Toffey said that while plans can always change, their goal is to keep the foal under his existing ownership.

“I think he's one that we're likely to keep right here in house,” he explained. “There is a lot of time between now and next year when he would potentially sell as a yearling, but there is so much stallion potential there. It's a wonderful pedigree and he looks like an athlete. If he has ability that comes anywhere close to his looks and pedigree, he'd be a horse that we could hope to one day have in our stallion barn. That's really one of our big goals here at Spendthrift. We're breeding for the stud barn and the broodmare band. Obviously first comes athleticism, but if they can do the job on the track, our goal is to get them back here and stand them at stud.”

No matter where the youngster ends up some day, 'Flo' said that he would like to put his name in the hat to be the colt's future jockey.

“I would have to talk to the owners and maybe the future trainer,” he said with a smile. “Hopefully they can arrange that for me. It would be special.”

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7th-FG, $50K, Msw, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, 5:15 p.m.

The latest foal out of Drumette, TAPTHEDRUM (Tapit) is a Bridlewood Farm homebred racing out of the Brad Cox barn. Bridlewood paid $1.85m for Drumette, the half-sister to GSW Drum Major and dam of dual champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) and GSW Mr. Monomoy (Palace Malice) out of the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale. The grey colt has put in consistent works over the Fair Grounds surface and picks up Florent Geroux for his career debut.

One gate to his outside, Gettleman (Hard Spun) gets things rolling in the Godolphin blue for trainer Brendan Walsh. His third dam, MGISW Golden Ballet, produced GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Drosselmeyer (Distorted Humor). Reylu Gutierrez gets the call. TJCIS PPS

1st-GP, $84K, Msw, 3yo, f, 1 1/8mT, 12:40 p.m.

Another pair of homebreds takes to the grass in south Florida led by TAWARET (Pioneerof the Nile), a bay filly out of $1.3m China Horse Club purchase Tapas (Tapit). That mare is a half-sister to MGSW & GISP Justwhistledixie (Dixie Union), herself the producer of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile victor New Year's Day (Street Cry {Ire}), MGSW Mohaymen (Tapit), GSW & GISP Enforceable (Tapit), and GSW Kingly (Tapit).

Strategerized (Justify), breaking to the inside, debuts for Anderson Farms Ontario Inc. and Narola LLC. The Ontario bred is out of a half-sister to GI Beholder Mile heroine Secret Spice (Discreet Cat) while under the third dam is Loving Vindication (Vindication), the dam of Canadian horse of the year Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d'Oro) and GISW Hard Not to Love (Hard Spun). TJCIS PPS

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“Elite Sales launched in 2017 with the goal of being the number-one consignor of horses of racing age and broodmares/broodmare prospects,” said Weisbord. “With six years under our belts, we have experienced a wide range of success including selling 21 off-the-track broodmare or racing prospects for $1 million or more.”

The addition of yearlings to their lineup is the latest news from Elite, who sold their first two weanlings at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, including a Gun Runner filly for $675,000. They also were represented with a consignment at Tattersalls December for the first time in 2022.

“Since launching Elite, our team has enjoyed building relationships with the most prominent buyers and sellers of bloodstock around the world. We believe that these relationships along with our boutique model, top client support, and ambitious marketing have led to our success,” Weisbord said, “The move into yearlings has been long-planned. Liz and I have some of our own homebreds we will sell, we will sell for our existing clients, and we hope to add some large breeding farms into the mix.”

Elite has hired Beth Bayer, the former director of sales for Woodford Thoroughbreds, who has 20 years of experience in the industry, to run the day-to-day consignment, leaving Liz Crow free to continue her scrutiny of yearlings on the sales grounds.

“Liz is one of the leading agents purchasing yearlings each year and we feel her knowledge of the market along with her great eye will be a huge asset to our clients. She will be available for farm inspections as we lead into yearling prep and sales time. We also feel that since our team sees every single horse on the sales grounds at every single yearling sale, she will have a great understanding of where yearlings most appropriately fit in each catalogue and sale.”

Fasig-Tipton July would be the first sale the company will target, followed by Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, Keeneland September, and Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings.

Weisbord said he would continue to handle client and buyer relationships on and off the sales grounds. Katelyn Jackson, Samantha Bussanich and Jake Memolo will remain with Elite as well, and that the company would continue to be run as a boutique consignment operation.

In its six-year history, Elite has sold over $135 million in horses, averaging over $295,000 per horse. Those sales include Monomoy Girl for Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, The Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables, who brought $9.5 million at Fasig-Tipton November 2020; and Paris Lights for WinStar Farm, who topped the 2021 Keeneland November Sale at $3.1 million.

“Elite Sales has done an outstanding job in the mixed sale and horses-of-racing-age marketplace and I'm sure that they will do an excellent job as they enter the yearling sales marketplace,” said Fasig-Tipton President and CEO Boyd Browning. “They have an excellent group of people on their team and Beth Bayer has great knowledge and will be a valuable addition.”

“It's always good to welcome consignors that have great connections like they do,” said Keeneland's Vice President of Sales, Tony Lacy. “They've done a wonderful job over the past few years with their mixed sales business, and it's a natural evolution for them to move into the yearling market.”

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Tuesday raced for her breeder Coolmore, in partnership with Swiss car manufacturer Georg Von Opel's Westerburg, and racked up a career line of 10-3-3-1, $1,828,827, which also included a victory in the G1 Cazoo Oaks (Epsom Oaks) and a second in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks.

Tuesday is a daughter of English champion and MG1SW Lilly Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and therefore a full sister to champion and MG1SW Minding (Ire), G1SW Empress Josephine (Ire) and GSW Kissed By Angels (Ire).

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Named for a Scottish tradition, the First-Foot is the first person to enter the home of a household on New Year's Day and is seen as a harbinger of good fortune for the coming year.

This year's auction features horse shoes worn by some of racing's most elite stars, including Justify, Monomoy Girl and Medina Spirit, plus a signed boot worn by jockey Javier Castellano during the Saratoga Meet.

The First Footing Silent Auction will kick-start 2023 fundraising for the RRP and support its mission to increase demand for Thoroughbreds in careers after racing.

Click here, to browse items and make your bid online.

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In recent years, the Cox barn's arsenal of talented 2-year-olds has rapidly developed in terms of both quality and quantity. While many of the stable's runners have reached future success alongside their back-to-back Eclipse Award-winning trainer, nearly all of them received their early schooling at Keeneland under Cox's assistant trainer Tessa Bisha.

Mo Strike was one of the first juveniles to arrive at the Brad Cox barn at Keeneland this spring, putting in three recorded works in May. When the colt showed early talent, he was among the first group that Bisha sent on to Churchill Downs. A few weeks later, he broke his maiden there on debut and is now pointing toward the GI Hopeful S.

Bisha is passionate about training 2-year-olds. While she enjoys overseeing the older horses, she said that they usually have a good handle on their job already. With 2-year-olds, however, she has the opportunity to teach them and get their racing career off on the right foot.

“I'd say judging the two-year-olds is the biggest part of my job–making sure that they get on the right pathway for success for whatever life has in store for them as far as racing goes and I feel like beyond that as well,” Bisha said. “What I look for is I want them to be comfortable with what we're asking them to do. They need to come in with an open mind and a good attitude, and we try to help them get there if they're not when they come in. We go back to the gate early and often and we make it a laid-back and calming experience. We really focus on making everything a good experience for them.”

Every year after the Keeneland Spring Meet has wrapped up, Bisha's incoming class of 2-year-olds starts to arrive. During her busiest months of May and June, she will have up to 85 juveniles under her care. The most precocious among the group will head to the Churchill Downs race meet and later, other promising youngsters will ship to Saratoga. When training at Keeneland concludes for the summer, the remaining pupils will stay under Bisha's care either at Ellis Park or Turfway Park.

Tessa Bisha oversees a morning of training at Keeneland | Sara Gordon

“It's a bit of a revolving door in that sense,” she said. “We really try to watch them breeze every week without trying to say if this horse is going to win the Derby or if it's going to be an absolute bust because they can grow and develop so much. They love proving you wrong and showing you how little you know, so we try to make sure that they all have the opportunity to basically become the best individual they can be with whatever talent and heart they bring to the table.”

With that mindset, Bisha said she aims to keep an open mind when a horse joins her stable, regardless of any reputation that might precede them.

“You have to create an environment where they know what's expected of them,” she said. “With the babies, you have an opportunity to develop them into being an individual that's not too tough on the track, not silly in the gate and not fractious in the barn. If you can get them to act right, they're usually kinder on themselves and handle their job better.”

Bisha first began working for Cox in 2016 as an exercise rider before taking on the role of assistant trainer. In her first year overseeing the incoming 2-year-olds, she estimates that she had about 30 or 40 juveniles in her care. When stable star Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) came onto the scene, the influx of new trainees began soon after.

With the growth of their program, Bisha said that she has had to evolve her managerial role. She finds herself spending more time in the office checking and rechecking registration papers and set lists, going over charts with Cox, and putting in notes from blacksmith visits or for vaccination schedules.

“We have a staff that helps with all that, but I always feel better if I have a hand in it too,” she admitted. “The more people that can check the boxes, the more you know it's thoroughly done.”

Countless top-level horses have been under Bisha's care since Monomoy Girl's outstanding career. Essential Quality (Tapit) will always be one that stands out to Bisha. The four-time Grade I winner spent his early days at Keeneland and returned to Lexington to race several times during his juvenile and sophomore campaigns.

“He came in here and was just head and shoulders above everybody else,” Bisha said. “Things with him were really streamlined, so there was no guesswork. He followed his own mind and liked to do his thing, but for the most part he never missed a work, he went straight to the races, and that was just him.”

Asked which horses she is most proud to have had a hand in bringing up, Bisha named off a few trainees that required a bit more legwork. One recent favorite is GIII Ohio Derby winner Tawny Port (Pioneerof the Nile), who was in her care almost all of last year as a juvenile.

Tessa and Grade III stakes winner Bubble Rock (More Than Ready) | Sara Gordon

“He actually broke his maiden at Turfway over the winter,” she recalled. “I think those types of horses are really rewarding because they have more of, I guess a long-shot feel in our barn. To know that you helped develop them and you let them go on their schedule, that can be very hard, but it's a big success when it works out.”

Bisha said that as their program has continued to develop, one thing she believes they do best is keeping an open mind when it comes to helping their trainees progress.

“When we launched into this 2-year-old program and it started to really take off and get the numbers behind it, Brad and I would have heated discussions over how it was working out and what we were seeing,” she said. “After horses showing us how wrong we were and us eating crow a few times, I think we kind of learned that you really just have to let the horse develop and show you who they want to be.”

Bisha explained that every year, they make an effort to try something new or use a certain tool more frequently–maybe putting blinkers on more readily for a workout, warming up without the pony with a first-time starter, or going back to the starting gate one extra time before breezing.

“It might just be something small, but we try to stay open minded and focus on improving all the time and not just using our ego or what we think we know to get in the way of improving the program,” she noted.

Last year, Bisha was a finalist for the TIEA Dedication to Racing Award. Prior to her time with Brad Cox, the Washington native worked at tracks in Southern California and all along the East Coast. These days, as her former pupils are making headlines at high-profile racetracks like Saratoga, she prefers to stay back home in Lexington training up the next class of future stars.

“I've been to a lot of different tracks so I feel like I've seen enough and done enough to where I'm pretty content just staying here and doing this,” she said. “I don't mind traveling, but I find myself most fulfilled by training the 2-year-olds, so I don't feel any need to stray away from that.”

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