When owner Scott Heider of Heider Family Stables attended the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale in upstate New York last August, he was strictly there to sell a Curlin colt, but a certain Tapit filly at the Gainesway consignment barn was just too enticing to pass up.
That filly, Thoughtfully, is a top contender for the Grade 3, $100,000 Schuylerville on July 16, Opening Day at Saratoga Race Course.
She showcased a strong display of talent in career debut on June 11 at Churchill Downs winning by 8 ¾ lengths for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. In the 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight over the main track, Thoughtfully broke sharply under Ricardo Santana, Jr. but allowed two runners to her inside to dictate the early pace. By the quarter pole, Thoughtfully was in command and all it took was a few shakes of the reins by Santana for her to draw off in style.
The promising dark bay filly was hammered down for $950,000 at the yearling sale and could prove to be well worth the investment.
“I was up there selling a Curlin colt out of [Grade 1 winner] Taris and that's all I was there for. I had no intention of buying anything,” Heider said. “[Bloodstock agent] Donato Lanni reached out to me and told me there was a filly that I should look at. That Monday afternoon, I texted Steve and asked him to look at her for me and later that day he said 'I've seen the filly. She is special'. When she walked into the sales ring, I was sitting next to John Sikura [of Hill n Dale Farm] and just stepped on the gas.”
The pressure of buying a horse for such a large sum of money was relieved when Thoughtfully won so emphatically on debut.
“There are not a lot of Tapit fillies that are ready to go as early as June,” Heider said. “She has a great mind and is really classy. She got mentally ready very early. When she won like that Steve called me up and my response was, 'That's what a good Asmussen filly looks like'.”
Heider praised Asmussen for his ability to condition progeny of Tapit, who are sometimes known for being hard to handle.
“The Tapits can be complicated and tough to handle but Steve knows how to work with them,” Heider said. “If you ask Steve or the help around the barn about the filly they would smile and say that she doesn't act like a typical Tapit. She's very sweet. After the race, before she went into the winner's circle, she just kind of stood there and stared at the big screen. It was pretty neat because Ricardo was just letting her do it. She had to have stood there for about 15 seconds.”
Thoughtfully, bred in Kentucky by Gainesway, is the seventh progeny out of the Seeking the Gold broodmare Pension who has produced all winners including graded stakes winner Annual Report and dual turf stakes winner Giant Payday. Her granddam is Grade 1-winner Furlough and she comes from the same family as champions Heavenly Prize and Dancing Spree as well as Grade 1 winners Dancing Forever, Fantastic Find and Finder's Fee.
As far as the Curlin colt Heider sold? He is named King Fury, and was bought by Kenny McPeek for $950,000, which is exactly what Heider paid for Thoughtfully.
“The irony was that we paid the same amount for the filly that we sold the colt for,” said Heider.
Heider could be getting off to a rocket start to the Saratoga meet as he also will have Please Flatter Me entered in the $85,000 Shine Again on July 17.
The Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Munnings made her 4-year-old debut finishing a distant second to Grade 1-winner Guarana in a seven-furlong Churchill Downs allowance race. This was her first start since finishing seventh to eventual Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Covfefe in the Grade 1 Test last August at Saratoga.
“Hopefully we have a nice weekend,” Heider said. “We brought her back after the winter and she chased Guarana around. Her only bad effort was in the Test. She got really nervous in the paddock that day and was all washed out. All the people there made her a little on edge and mentally she wasn't right. Her race was pretty much over in the paddock.”
A winner of four of eight career starts, Please Flatter Me is a three-time stakes winner on the Mid-Atlantic circuit where she was previously conditioned by Mark Reid. She acquired graded stakes black type when finishing second to Covfefe in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness last May at Pimlico.
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