$400,000 Lemieux Provides Icing on Steady Fasig-Tipton Winter Sale

LEXINGTON, KY-The Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale went through its supplemental catalogue and into its addendum to finally find its top-priced offering when Lemieux (Nyquist) sold to Nice Guys Stable for $400,000 just hips before the auction concluded its two-day run Tuesday in Lexington with steady results.

“We saw a continuation of the marketplace that we experienced yesterday and that we saw in January and we saw in November, October, September and July,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. said at the sale's close Tuesday. “I think it's a very fair marketplace. I think that if you are trying to buy horses, the horses that you want to buy, you generally have to pay more than you wanted to. When you are selling horses, if you've got quality, you are probably getting around what you thought, maybe a little more. But there is no euphoria. If you are trying to sell on the lower end, it's tough. It's been tough the last 10 years. And the reality is that that's the marketplace. But if we had 50 more good ones to lead through in here right now, they'd be lined up in here to bid on them and buy them.”

Through two sessions, 402 head sold for $14,105,200. The average of $35,088 was down 12.3% from last year's figure, while the median of $15,000 was down 6.3%. With 65 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 13.9%. It was 11.5% a year ago.

An initial catalogue of 465 lots was bolstered by a supplemental catalogue of 121 head, to which was added eight additional entries in an addendum. Stakes-winner Lemieux sold seven hips from the end of the auction, with bloodstock agent John Williams making a final bid of $400,000 to acquire the 4-year-old filly on behalf of Nice Guys Stable.

The filly, whose half-sister Brilliant Cut (Speightstown) topped the 2022 Winter Mixed sale, was one of 15 horses to sell for $200,000 or over during the auction. Fourteen hit that mark in 2022.

“If you look at a global, or big picture standpoint, the ability to create liquidity helps every marketplace,” Browning said of the importance of being able to add horses with current form as supplements to a catalogue. “It allows people to turn assets into dollars and then hopefully reinvest those dollars into similar or like kind of assets along the way.”

Lemieux Keeps the Family Tradition Going

Stakes-winner Lemieux (Nyquist) (hip 588), whose half-sister Brilliant Cut (Speightstown) topped the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale, brought the highest price of the 2023 renewal of the auction when selling for $400,000 to the bid of John Williams, acting as agent for Steve Spielman's Nice Guys Stables. The 4-year-old broodmare prospect was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency.

“She is a lovely mare and quite a standout in this catalogue,” Williams said. “The man I bought her for is continuing to improve his broodmare band and this is the kind of filly that could do that.”

Racing for D J Stable and trainer Mark Casse, Lemieux won the 2021 Brethren Juvenile Fillies S. She won twice from 10 starts and earned $140,216 before RNA'ing for $300,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton November sale.

Lemieux is out of Polish a Diamond, a half-sister to multiple Grade I winner Diamondrella (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) and multiple Grade I placed Bonnie Blue Flag (Mineshaft), and from the family of Life is Good (Into Mischief). The 8-year-old mare produced a colt by Essential Quality last week.

Lemieux's half-sister, GI La Brea S. runner-up Brilliant Cut (Speightstown), sold for $750,000 to Katsumi Yoshida at last year's Winter Mixed Sale and was bred to Gun Runner in 2022 before being shipped to Japan last fall.

Williams said there was plenty of blue sky in the family.

“There are great possibilities with her dam being young and her half-sister being bred to the likes of Gun Runner,” he said. “Her dam had an Essential Quality just last week and the second dam is still active. And there is a pretty nice sire prospect under there. So she had a lot of things going for her. And she is by Nyquist, who we very much are still a fan of.”

Of the filly's sale-topping price tag, Williams said, “I thought we would have to spend that kind of money. The market says that that's what quality costs. Is she worth that? I'm so old school, I can't get my head around those kind of numbers. But that's the market and you have to adjust to it.”

Established in 2016, the Nice Guys Stables partnership spearheaded by Spielman has already had success on the racetrack, where their first horse, Piedi Bianchi (Overnalyze), took them to the Breeders' Cup in 2017, as well as in the pinhooking arena, where they sold an Arrogate filly for $1 million at the 2021 OBS April sale.

“One of the great things about Nice Guys Stables is that they are both commercial and he races,” Williams said. “So he will do both. And boy do we need those. Because it's about racing.”

Nice Guys Stables had graded success last fall when King Cause (Creative Cause) won the GIII Knickerbocker S. The gelding was sixth in last week's GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational.

“He's got 14 2-year-olds that he's breaking now,” Williams said of Spielman. “He's just a great young guy. And I think Nice Guys Stables has a terrific future if he keeps buying this kind of mare.”

Curlin Blessing Joins Repole Band

Curlin Blessing (Curlin) (hip 545) will be joining the broodmare band of Mike Repole after bloodstock agent Jacob West made a final bid of $230,000 to acquire the 4-year-old daughter of champion Indian Blessing (Indian Charlie).

“She's by a stallion that we've had a lot of luck with and she's out of a champion mare,” West said. “So it was pretty easy. She's by a champion out of a champion. She stood out here to us from a pedigree standpoint and a physical standpoint. Mike is trying to play the high-end breeding game a little bit now. So she was a mare that fit the bill.”

The broodmare prospect, who was consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, was a two-time winner at Turf Paradise while racing for her owner/breeder Patti and Hal Earnhardt. The couple also bred and campaigned Indian Blessing, who was a five-time Grade I winner and was named champion 2-year-old filly in 2007 and champion female sprinter in 2008.

Of potential mating plans for Curlin Blessing, West said, “Eddie Rosen will decide who we will breed her to. My vote is Life is Good–that's what I hope we do. But it's 100% up to Ed. Mike will let Ed make that decision.”

Good Magic Filly Sets Early Pace

A short yearling by Good Magic (hip 350) led early returns during Tuesday's second session of the Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale when bringing a final bid of $225,000 from bloodstock agent Catherine Hudson, acting on behalf of Michael Sucher's Champion Equine. The bay was consigned by Vinery Sales.

“She was a gorgeous, leggy daughter of Good Magic, who has four horses on the Kentucky Derby trail,” Hudson said of the filly's appeal. “She just had a great outlook with a beautiful eye. Everything seemed great and I think there is some improvement in her. She seemed to get better as the days went by at the sales grounds. She showed a lot of class.”

The filly is out of Rich Love (Not For Love) and her half-sister Ruby Nell (Bolt d'Oro) topped last year's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale when purchased by Spendthrift Farm for $1.2 million. The now 3-year-old debuted with a runner-up effort at Santa Anita Jan. 22.

“She was second with a bad trip,” Hudson said of the half-sister. “And she's breezed back. So we like that, too.”

Bred by Theta Holdings, the yearling RNA'd for $115,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton November sale. Her dam, carrying a full-sibling, sold for $140,000 at that same sale.

“I'm not quite sure what the client wants to do with her at this time, but we will just get her home and figure it out,” Hudson said.

Vinery Sales and Theta Holdings was responsible for another

yearling by Good Magic who sold for six figures Tuesday at Fasig-Tipton. The consignor/breeder duo sold a colt by the champion (hip 355) for $100,000 to Davant Latham. The dark bay had RNA'd for $70,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale.

Kirkwood Consignment Comes to a Close

South Carolina horseman Kip Elser, who has shifted his focus to public and private bloodstock purchases, evaluations and racing stable management, sent the final three horses through the ring under his Kirkwood consignment banner Tuesday at Fasig-Tipton.

“I feel excited to change leads and roll on down the stretch,” Elser said after watching his final horse go through the ring. “Sure, I will miss consigning. And I love training horses. But I have done it a long time and now it's time to change.”

Tuesday's offerings were bittersweet as two belonged to Elser's longtime friend and client, the late Steve Schwartz.

“It was emotional because Steve was a 25-year friend, client, and partner,” Elser said. “And he was just a wonderful guy. So of course there were some emotions, because were together for a long time.”

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Value Proposition Headlines Field Of Ten For Forbidden Apple At Saratoga

Klaravich Stables' Value Proposition, one of three entrants for trainer Chad Brown, leads a talented field of 10 assembled for Friday's seventh running of the $150,000 Grade 3 Forbidden Apple at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

In addition to Value Proposition, the four-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner will saddle Sacred Life and Delaware in search of a first win in the one-mile inner turf test for older horses.

Value Proposition matched a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure last out, winning a one-mile optional-claiming event on the Belmont turf. That effort followed a close third in his seasonal debut in the seven-furlong Elusive Quality on April 24 at Belmont.

The 5-year-old Dansili ridgling made two attempts in graded company last year, finishing third in the Grade 3 Poker in July at Belmont and eighth in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile in September.

Brown said he is expecting a strong effort from Value Proposition.

“He's had a few breaks in his form, but I feel that he's really matured mentally,” said Brown. “Early on, he was a bit difficult to get to focus on his job. He now appears to be much more focused and confident in his works and in his last race.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will pilot Value Proposition from post 3.

Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Bethlehem Stables' Sacred Life [post 9, Joel Rosario] enters from a rallying fourth as the beaten favorite in the Grade 2 Dinner Party on May 15 at Pimlico.

The 6-year-old French-bred son of Siyouni made a pair of starts in 2019 at Saratoga, completing the exacta in both the Lure and Grade 2 Bernard Baruch. The talented bay captured the 2017 Group 3 Prix Thomas Bryon at Saint-Cloud.

Delaware [post 7, Jose Ortiz], owned by Dubb, Nice Guys Stables, and Michael Caruso, will make his Saratoga debut in his 20th career start. The 5-year-old Frankel bay, a Group 3 winner in France, captured the Danger's Hour in April at Aqueduct ahead of a fourth last out in the Seek Again on May 22 at Belmont.

Augustin Stable's Grade 1-placed Corelli enters from a closing third in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Monmouth, contested over good going on June 5.

The 6-year-old Point of Entry gelding ran third in last year's 11-furlong Grade 1 United Nations at Monmouth ahead of a distant fifth in the 12-furlong Grade 1 Sword Dancer over soft going at Saratoga.

A winner of the 1 1/16-mile Henry S. Clark at Pimlico in April in his seasonal debut, Corelli will turn back to one mile for the first time in his 16-race career.

“I thought his best race on paper was the mile and a sixteenth race because he had some pace to run into,” said Thomas. “I don't know that he's a real mile and three-eighths horse. He may, ideally, be a mile and an eighth horse. He does seem to like to come with a run. so what we're hoping for is to get a real pace to close into.”

Thomas said he will continue to seek out opportunities up to nine furlongs for the bay gelding.

“He ran well going a mile and three-eighths last year, but he was getting weaker as the race went on, not stronger,” said Thomas. “So, the turnback seems to suit him a little bit.”

Corelli will exit post 2 under Manny Franco.

Bond Racing Stable's New York-bred Rinaldi has proven to be a horse-for-course at Saratoga with three wins from four attempts, including scores in the NYSSS Spectacular Bid and NYSSS Cab Calloway in 2019 and the West Point for state-breds in September. His lone losing effort came with a strong fourth in the Grade 3 Saranac in August.

The 5-year-old Posse gelding, bred in the Empire State by Barry Ostrager, was a pace-setting second in the one-mile Danger's Hour in his seasonal debut in April at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Luis Saez will have the call from the inside post.

Calumet Farm's well-bred Flying Scotsman, a 5-year-old English Channel chestnut, will look to get back to winning ways after off-the-board efforts in his last three starts for trainer Jack Sisterson.

Out of the French Deputy mare Padmore, Flying Scotsman is a half-brother to multiple graded stakes winner Leigh Court and 11-time winning stablemate Bon Raison. A four-time winner from 14 starts, Flying Scotsman finished sixth last out, defeated just 2 1/4-lengths, in the Grade 2 Dinner Party at Pimlico.

Flying Scotsman captured the 2018 Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille for Hall of Fame conditioner Jerry Hollendorfer and won the 2019 Woodchopper at Fair Grounds in his third start for Sisterson.

Ricardo Santana, Jr. will pilot Flying Scotsman from post 6.

Rounding out the field are graded-stakes placed New York-bred Therapist [post 4, Javier Castellano]; multiple graded stakes winner Made You Look [post 5, Tyler Gaffalione]; allowance winner Sanctuary City [post 8, Dylan Davis]; and multiple graded stakes placed Logical Myth [post 10, John Velazquez].

The Forbidden Apple is slated as Race 9 on Friday's 10-race card. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the 40-day summer meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Nice Guys Stables Continues to Expand With Fasig July Offerings

Steve Spielman and his partners in Nice Guys Stables seem to have the Midas touch in the horse racing industry. Their first horse, Piedi Bianchi (Overanalyze), took them to one of racing's biggest stages in 2017, the Breeders' Cup. Also, this year, in just their second year pinhooking yearlings to juveniles, the group had an Arrogate filly they purchased for just $150,000 at Keeneland September sell for $1-million at OBS April.

“I grew up in New York and have been going to the track since I was a kid,” said Spielman. “In 2016, we got out first horse, Piedi Bianchi, and she took us to the Breeders' Cup. From there on, we just started getting into different aspects of the business and expanding. We do it all.”

Spielman's group branched out into breeding and they will offer three yearlings from their program at the upcoming Fasig-Tipton July Sale with Burleson Farm, where all their mares are boarded.

Nice Guys Stables purchased History Supreme (Speightstown) privately carrying a foal from the first crop of champion Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) after she RNA'd for $95,000 at Keeneland January. The resulting colt is catalogued as Hip 181.

“He is pretty forward,” Spielman said. “He has very good size and is powerful. I loved Accelerate as a racehorse. He looks forward enough to be a good colt for July.”

Their next colt to go through the ring will be Hip 192, a son of the late Arrogate, who the group has already had tremendous luck with during the juvenile sales season. His dam Jazaalah (Hard Spun) hails from a Shadwell family that includes Grade I winner Takaful (Bernardini) and GSW Haikal (Daaher). Nice Guys purchased her for $190,000 at Keeneland November with the Arrogate colt in utero.

“We are hoping for a repeat with Arrogate,” Spielman said. “We knew the OBS filly would be high up. She was perfect and the timing was right. We are very selective with our pinhooks and will get into weanling-to-yearling pinhooks this year.”

Rounding out the Nice Guys trio is a well-bred son of Street Sense (Hip 212). His dam Lucky Cover, a $195,000 KEENOV buy in 2018, is a daughter of MGSW & MGISP Teammate (A.P. Indy), who is a half-sister to GISW and top sire War Front (Danzig).

“He's a big, powerful horse by a good sire,” Spielman said. “He should fair well.”

Off the back of a strong juvenile sales season, Spielman is hopeful heading into the first yearling auction of the season.

“I think people will be excited to get out there,” he said. “The business seems to be doing well and COVID seems to be calming down. I think things will get going quickly in July.”

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Successful Claim Last Judgment Leads Every Step Of Pimlico Special

The run of successful claims by trainer Mike Maker continued on Friday at Pimlico Race Course when Last Judgment, picked up for $62,500 last October, led at every point of call to win the Grade 3 Pimlico Special.

The 5-year-old Congrats gelding was taken straight to the lead from the outside post by jockey Jose Ortiz, and he crossed the wire for the first time a length and a half ahead of closest challengers Modernist, Cordmaker, and Treasure Trove. Last Judgment took the field into the first turn through an unrushed and untested opening quarter in :23.83 seconds, while the challengers continued to wait their turn.

Longshots Cordmaker and Treasure Trove started to draw closer to the leader on the outside through the first turn, but they soon retreated as they entered the back straightaway through a half in :47.60 seconds.

Ortiz continued to stand calmly in the irons across the backstretch as he was tracked by Treasure Trove and Modernist, and Cordmaker started to weaken, replaced by favorite Fearless.

Ortiz looked behind him started to ask for a little more with his hands as he entered the final turn with Last Judgment after six furlongs in 1:11.54. Modernist and Fearless remained as the only viable challengers as the field turned for home, and Ortiz brought out the crop for some mild urging in the final eighth of a mile, but it was hardly a panicked maneuver.

Neither of the challengers were able to find enough momentum to approach Last Judgment, and the gelding kicked on under a hand ride to win by 1 3/4 lengths. Modernist carried on for second, a neck ahead of Fearless, while Cordmaker continued on to finish fourth, 4 1/4 lengths further back.

Last Judgment completed the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special in 1:54.37 over a fast main track, paying $11.80 to win.

Maker saddled Last Judgment for the partnership of Michael Dubb, Steve Hornstock, Bethlehem Stables, and Nice Guys Stables. The Pimlico Special was Last Judgment's fifth start for his new owners since being claimed last October at Belmont Park. Since then, he's tallied wins in the Sunshine Classic Stakes, and the G3 Challenger Stakes, while also finishing second in the G3 Ghostzapper stakes at Gulfstream Park prior to the Pimlico Special.

Friday's race improved Last Judgment's record to eight wins in 18 starts for earnings of $502,965.

Last Judgment was bred in Florida by Woodford Thoroughbreds, out of the Forestry mare Fantasy Forest.

To view the race chart, click here.

$250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) Quotes

Winning Trainer Mike Maker (Last Judgment): “Very classy horse. We like the way he's responded on that stretch out. Fabulous [claim] by these guys (co-owners Steve Hornstock and Steve Spielman).”

“He's run well for us going a mile and an eighth. I was glad to stretch him out and hoped to get a softer pace going longer.”

“I was a little concerned about the outside post, but he doesn't care for the dirt in his face, so he was going to be in the clear anyway. If someone was hell-bent on the lead, so be it.”

“To be honest, I've never really thought about anything further than today. But with a nice horse, you always have a lot of options.” 

Winning Jockey Jose Ortiz (Last Judgment): “I thought I was going to get [to the lead], but I knew that if somebody else wanted to get there, I could sit off him, too. It was not like the last time, I cooked in front in 46 [seconds] and that cost me the race for sure. I had a good position. I knew that if he broke well from the gate I could get to the lead nicely. Or if he didn't break well I could sit second. But he broke really good.”

“It was a nice job by Mike [Maker]. He had him ready. The horse relaxed well. When I asked him he was there for me. That's all you can ask for.”

Jockey Junior Alvarado (Modernist; 2nd): “I had a beautiful trip. The horse that won the race was the only one with the speed, and I was tracking behind him the whole way. Turning for home, I took my shot at it, but that horse in front just kept going. I was in a beautiful spot. If I had to do it 100 times, I would have picked the same spot I was in. I was traveling very beautifully. The horse in front got away with a nice pace and he kept going.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher (Fearless; 3rd): “I thought he ran well. He got shuffled back a bit. He tried to move him outside into the clear, but it's tough when there's no pace to try to close much ground. I thought he put in a long sustained run. They just didn't come back.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. (Fearless; 3rd): “On the backside, I knew the other horse [Last Judgment] was in control, so I started letting my horse pick it up. He made a long run. It was hard to get there. On the backside, he [Last Judgment] was running comfortable. I knew he was going to be hard to catch, so I started moving. It was a long run.”

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