Tag: Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company

Miami IP Stable Ready for Round 2

A group of Italians who call South Florida home banded together last year to form Miami IP Stable, a racing stable of American-bought horses to race in Italy. The partners' initial investment worked out so well, they plan on restocking at the upcoming yearlings sale and this time they hope to make use of evolving technology to increase their buying power. Paolo Romanelli, whose roots in Italian racing run deep, spearheaded the partnership.

“I have this passion for horse racing because of my family tradition,” Romanelli said of the origins of Miami IP Stable.

Romanelli's great-grandfather, Luigi Regoli, Sr. trained for Federico Tesio, while his great-uncle, Federico Regoli, won the 1933 Arc de Triomphe with Crapom and trained in Italy for Winston Guest. His grandfather, Luigi, Jr., trained in Italy for Kirsten Rausing's family.

“In Miami, I met my good friends Piero Salussolia, he is a lawyer, and Luca Gattai, an entrepreneur, and we talked about buying some horses in America to race in Italy.” Romanelli continued. “And if they did well, maybe, we would bring them back to America. And we put together a partnership called Miami IP.”

“Piero and Luca didn't know almost anything about horse racing, so we went to the March sale at OBS to study everything,” Romanelli said. “We watched the bidding, we went to a few farms, and then in April of 2021, we put together this budget with two other partners who gave us some money. The three of us went to Ocala, and with the help of my very good friends Emmanuel and Laura de Seroux of Narvick International, we bought three horses.”

Of the decision to buy horses in the U.S., rather than Europe, Romanelli explained, “We are based in Miami most of the time. I live here permanently, I go to Italy two or three times a year. Piero has a beautiful house on an island here in Miami Beach. And Luca owns a historical private resort beach in Italy in Viareggio, called Bagno Lido, but he has a place in Key Biscayne where he stays six months a year, when the season is over in Italy for the beach in the winter, he comes to Miami. So we are familiar with the horses in America more than in Europe.”

At last year's OBS Spring sale, Miami IP purchased a colt by Street Sense (hip 427) for $24,000, a son of Daredevil (hip 855) for $30,000, and a colt by Liam's Map (hip 1047) for $47,000.

Shortly after the auction, the group added another partner when entrepreneur Maurizio Mian, who generates headlines with his German Shepherd Gunther–nicknamed the world's richest dog–acting as a lead investor.

“I went to school with Maurizio,” Romanelli said. “We grew up together and we were part directors of a soccer team in the countryside of Pisa called San Prospero. We were very close. But we lost track of each other. For a few years, we didn't see each other. He was in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic on vacation and Piero, his friend and his lawyer, was also there. It was just after the sales at OBS in April. Piero told him, 'We have a new venture, we bought three horses.' Piero told him I was involved and we spent a little more than we thought. Maurizio asked if we needed money and Piero said, 'Maybe. Maybe $30,000 to keep everything paid until September, the shipping, the quarantine. And Maurizio said, 'Since Paulo is there, I will give you $50,000 and I want to be a partner.' So without knowing anything about the horses, he gave us $50,000.”

The three OBS Spring juveniles spent a month in quarantine in Miami before shipping to Rome to join the barn of trainer Agostino Affe'.

“The horses started running in October of last year,” Gattai said. “We had a few wins and places, everybody was very happy, so we bought another one, a yearling at Fasig-Tipton October. I named him Tequila Picante. He is by Summer Front and he is about to start. We were totally new to Thoroughbred racing, but we became very excited because of the results. We didn't win any big races, but with one horse–Di Lido (Liam's Map)–we ran in the May 22 US$700,000 G2 Italian Derby.”

The partners were so happy with the initial results of the stable, they plan on adding yearlings to the roster this fall. To increase capital and to attract new racing fans, they plan on making use of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), digital assets which represent real-world objects such as art, music or videos. NFTs are generally bought and sold online using cryptocurrency.

Salussolia said he is excited to make use of NFTs in the horse racing industry.

“It is something that is pretty common for art, for real estate, but not really for horses,” the lawyer said. “I want to make 500 NFTs available at €1,000 each to raise a capital of €500,000, pay all the expenses and commissions and, with the remaining €350,000-€400,000, buy more horses.”

Salussolia said the group already has some 15 interested investors and the hope is, as the stable's successes grow, the value of the NFTs will increase.

For Romanelli, the stable's individual results aren't as important as his desire to keep his family tradition in the sport and to possibly be a part of racing's resurgence in Italy.

“I always wanted to give a positive picture of racing in Italy,” he said. “In the recent past, there were many negative comments about Italian Thoroughbred racing. But now, there is a new leadership in the Italian government and they are supporting racing strongly and there is a younger leadership in the horsemen. At the opening weekend at the San Siro racetrack in Milan there were 21,000 people. They are paying the purses faster–that was always the main problem–and we have foreign stables coming back.”

Romanelli continued, “So we are all Italians and we want to buy here in the United States because we are more familiar with the bloodlines here and also because we live here, so it's easy to go to Ocala and to Lexington, but at the same time, we want to race in Italy because we want to support Italian racing. I hope to go back to the big days of Federico Tesio, Nearco and Ribot. It's a mission.”

The post Miami IP Stable Ready for Round 2 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Dozen Share Furlong Bullet at OBS

The under-tack show for next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds Sale entered its second half Thursday with 12 juveniles sharing the fastest furlong time of :10 flat, while three horses shared the day's fastest quarter-mile time of :21 2/5.

Ocala Stud sent out a homebred filly by Uncaptured to work the quarter-mile in :21 2/5 during the first set Thursday. The bay is out of Brown Glaze (War Front) and is a full-sister to graded placed Bet On Mookie.

A colt by Blame (hip 687) consigned by Britton Peak also worked in :21 2/5 Thursday. The bay is out of stakes-placed Blithely (Exchange Rate), a half-sister to multiple graded winner Merry Meadow (Henny Hughes). GFM Bloodstock purchased the juvenile for $35,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale.

Late in the session, a colt by Lord Nelson (hip 724) matched the :21 2/5 bullet time when working for GOP Racing Stable Corp. The juvenile is out of Cash is Queen (Unbridled's Song), a half-sister to graded winner Name Changer (Uncle Mo). Purchased for GOP Racing Stable for $25,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale, the bay RNA'd for $45,000 following a :10 flat work at the OBS March sale earlier this year.

The dozen :10 flat workers Thursday were:

Two's a Crowd at OBS

There was a throwback moment during the under-tack show's final set Thursday when consignor Eddie Woods sent a pair of juveniles out to work a quarter-mile in company. Hip 722, a daughter of Khozan, completed the drill in :23 2/5, while her stablemate, hip 903, a son of Tiznow, went in :23 4/5.

“They were just really, really green,” Woods said of the decision to work the two in company. “They had only been put in the sale as an afterthought. They barely got there and they weren't ready to work on their own.”

Asked if he was satisfied with the end result, Woods said, “We are never satisfied. We always want better, but with what we started off with, we are more than pleased.”

Working horses in company at the sales was common practice in decades past, but Woods said it is now mostly a fallback position.

“It'll be a very infrequent occurrence,” he said. “Once upon a time, it was the thing to do when you could work horses in :23 and change, head and head, and get them sold. Now, nobody wants to buy a horse who finished last in a two-horse race.”

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 7:30 a.m. The June sale will be held next Tuesday through Thursday. Bidding commences each day at 10 a.m.

The post Dozen Share Furlong Bullet at OBS appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Army Mule Filly Swiftest at OBS: ‘She’s Always Flying’

A filly from the first crop of Grade I winner Army Mule (hip 437) zipped a quarter-mile in :20 2/5–fastest of the week so far–during the third session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds Sale under-tack show Wednesday in Central Florida. Consigned by Larry Mejias's appropriately named Fast Horses, the gray filly is out of the unraced Super Holiday (Super Saver) and from the family of graded winner Double Honor.

“I am really happy with that work,” Mejias said. “That filly had been working really fast at the farm. She's not too big, she's medium-sized, but she's always flying. I am very happy with the work.”

The Florida-bred filly, purchased for $19,000 at last year's OBS October sale, was entered in the OBS Spring sale where she worked in :9 4/5, but came up short on the gallop-out, according to Mejias. She RNA'd for $95,000 in April.

“I entered her [in April] because she's fast, but you need a good gallop out,” Mejias said. “There is a difference if you work in :10 flat and you gallop out in :34 and change, people don't like that.”

Of the filly's gallop-out Wednesday, Mejias said “She worked good–:20 2/5 and then :31 3/5 and :44 4/5. I think it was the best gallop-out of the day.”

Mejias continued, “I want to train the horses the best I can. Some people like :10 flat, some people like :9 4/5, but in my opinion some horses work in :10 2/5 and do a great gallop-out  and that's different than when you work in :10 and the gallop-out is no good. There is a difference when you come into an OBS sale and you can do what people like best, :10 flat or :9 4/5, but some horses work in :10 2/5 and do a good gallop out. There is a difference from when you train a horse for racing and from when you are training for pinhooking. For pinhooking, they have to go fast, but you also have to train the horse to race. That's my opinion.”

Mejias's Barn 15 at OBS is just across from the Golden Rock Thoroughbreds consignment of his nephew Keiber Rengifo.

“I started my Fast Horses consignment last year,” Mejias said. “I had been selling with my nephew Keiber's Golden Rock. I sold all of my horses with him. But Keiber had so many horses, so I started my own  consignment and I've been doing great so far. Last year, I had 10 or 11 horses for myself and I sold them all.”

Also during Wednesday's session of the under-tack show, a filly by Flatter (hip 560) became the first of the week to shade :10 seconds when she worked in :9 4/5 for Julie Davies. The gray 2-year-old is out of the unraced Wicked Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}), a half-sister to Grade I winner Wickedly Perfect (Congrats).

Davies purchased the filly for $95,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning at 7:30 a.m. daily. The June sale will be held next Tuesday through Thursday. Bidding begins each day at 10 a.m.

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Partners Hoping for More Collected Success with Bullet Worker at OBS

An Ontario-bred filly from the first crop of Grade I winner Collected (hip 317) turned in the fastest quarter-mile work of Tuesday's second session of the under-tack show for next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds when covering the distance in :20 4/5. The juvenile is consigned by Jesse Hoppel's Coastal Equine and represents a pinhooking partnership group which has already enjoyed success with a bullet-working daughter of the GI Pacific Classic winner. Hoppel sent a filly by Collected out to work a bullet quarter-mile at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale and then sold the juvenile–purchased for $47,000 last fall–for $250,000 last week.

Bloodstock agent Larry Zap, along with Amanda Murphy and Hoppel, picked out both fillies for clients that include Matt Dohman and Joe Ciaglia.

“I got to watch him as a top racehorse–that definitely sticks in my mind,” Zap said of Collected's appeal. “He has a lot of his dad in him, a lot of the City Zip in him. They are not necessarily big, robust horses, like say the Bolt d'Oros, but they seem very athletic and they seem very versatile. We liked quite a few of them as yearlings. Like City Zip, they move a lot bigger than they appear.”

Hip 317, out of the unraced Sassy Ali Joy (Indian Charlie), is a half-sister to stakes-placed Tuscan Queen (Street Boss) and from the family of Banshee Breeze. Dohman, making his first foray into the world of pinhooking this year, signed the ticket to acquire the filly for $150,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

Dohman, co-founder of the mortgage company Optimum First Mortgage, has owned racehorses for about a decade now, starting out in the claiming game before trying his hand buying at the 2-year-old sales and finally settling into partnership ownership with Ciaglia in their California Racing Partners.

The Californian's first exposure to the sport is a familiar one to many.

“When I was a kid, my dad used to take me to the track,” Dohman said. “My mom and dad were divorced, so on our weekends, dad would take us to the track and he taught me to read the Form. That was how I got exposed to racing. When I got older, I had an affinity to it already from my early exposure. One of my friend's girlfriends babysat for an ex-jockey, Goncalino Almeida, so I contacted him and he said he wanted to become a trainer. He said, 'Let's claim a horse.' We claimed two horses in one day. And then we waited a month, we moved them up in class and one of the horses won and the other one ran second. So I said, “Oh, this is so easy.'”

Dohman continued, “I decided I wanted to get better horses. I went to Barretts at the 2-year-old sales and I started buying by myself for a little bit, just going through the trials and tribulations of trying to be an owner, trying to buy a horse.”

Dohman started communicating with Zap online and the bloodstock agent recommended connecting with his longtime client.

“He told me I should talk to Joe Ciaglia,” Dohman recalled. “I spoke to Joe and last year, I started buying and partnering with them.”

Zap and Ciaglia had been pinhooking with Hoppel for years and the Ocala horseman thought Dohman might also like the resale game.

“When I first met Jesse, he told me I should look at pinhooking, but I told him I didn't think it was for me,” Dohman said. “I am trying to get some racehorses and win some stakes races. He told me he thought I might change my mind sooner or later.”

It ended up being far sooner than later as Dohman watched the group's success at the 2-year-old sales last year.

“They bought a bunch of horses at Keeneland [in 2020] and they absolutely just crushed it,” Dohman said. “They really killed it last year, so I decided I should jump into pinhooking with them.”

He added ruefully, “I am learning it was a little bit of an odd year because they were able to buy really cheaply during COVID and then the market picked back up and the horses sold really well.”

Despite the change in the market, Zap said the group has had a successful year so far.

“We've done OK,” he said. “The ones that we've taken to auction–obviously these two Collected fillies are helping a lot–it's been a good season. It was tougher to buy yearlings last year than the pandemic year, but it's been a profitable year.”

The team has high hopes that hip 317 will continue the strong 2022 results and the success will be shared by some new faces.

Dohman brought Robert Drenk, his co-founder in Optimum First Mortgage, into the partnership on the filly, and Drenk in turn brought in first-time owner Ryan Rezaie.

“This is his first exposure in horse racing,” Dohman said of Rezaie. “He's never owned horses, never raced horses or pinhooked horses. I put him in three horses–one earmarked to pinhook and two for racing.  I wanted to get him one horse that would sell and make money and that was this Collected filly. This is the horse that I am trying to get him a little taste of making some money in pinhooking to kind of draw him into the game more.”

The filly was originally entered in the OBS Spring sale, but the decision was made to scratch her from that auction following a :10 1/5 work.

“She's a May foal and it was just an erratic work,” Dohman said of the April experience. “I told Jesse, 'Let's just pull her and put her in June and work her two furlongs.' Jesse started stretching out her works preparing her for it and he said, 'Matt this horse is looking really good stretching her out.' So he was expecting under a :21.”

Zap added, “Jesse has been very patient with her and he worked with her to come along for this. When we take a horse to market, we know it's a performance sale, we know we have to perform. This one did everything right. Jesse thought we might get a :20 3/5 today, but we will take the :20 4/5.”

Also during Tuesday's session of the under-tack show, six juveniles shared the furlong bullet time of :10 flat: a filly by Bolt d'Oro (hip 191, video) consigned by Niall Brennan Stables; a filly by Bucchero (hip 217, video) consigned by Nice and Easy Thoroughbreds; a filly by Square Eddie (hip 246, video) consigned by Wavertree Stables; a filly by Practical Joke (hip 297, video) consigned by Top Line Sales; a colt by Awesome Slew (hip 348, video) consigned by All Dreams Equine; and a filly by Greenpointcrusader (hip 359, video) consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales.

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 7:30 a.m. The June sale will be held next Tuesday through Thursday with bidding commencing each day at 10 a.m.

The post Partners Hoping for More Collected Success with Bullet Worker at OBS appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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