Randy Miles | Horse Racing Free Tips

TIMONIUM, MD – The three-day under-tack show for the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale began shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday morning under cloudless blue skies and temperatures hovering around 60 degrees and by the conclusion of the day's seventh and final set shortly before 3 p.m., with temperatures approaching 80 degrees, five horses had turned in the co-fastest furlong time of :10 flat. A filly by Collected had the day's fastest quarter-mile work of :21 1/5.

A filly by Nyquist (hip 150) was the first to hit the :10 flat mark while working during the second set for consignor Randy Miles. The chestnut is out of Westside Tapstress (Lookin at Lucky), a half-sister to graded stakes winner Discreet Hero (Honour and Glory).

“We knew she could do it, but your nerves take over as you're leading her up there, hoping that nothing happens,” Miles said after the work. “She performed the way she was supposed to and I'm glad she represented herself well.”

Miles is consigning the filly on behalf of her breeders, Todd and Chad Frederick and Carl Thomas Potter.

“We've had some horses for them in the past and they entrusted us with two really nice horses this year,” Miles said of the breeders. “The first one sold well in April and this is the second one.”

Miles admitted he is a big fan of the Midlantic May sale.

“We love this track and when you get a week like this of great weather, it's so fun to come here,” he said. “This filly got over the track great all week and she loved the weather, the low humidity and cool weather. When Mother Nature cooperates, it's a wonderful place.”

Miles sent out four horses to work throughout Tuesday's session and said he had found the track to be consistent from start to finish.

“The track was beautiful,” he said. “They did a great job with the 25 horses and then a break. They kept it so consistent. It doesn't matter whether you go early or late.”

Juveniles from the first crop of Bolt d'Oro have been in demand at the auctions all spring and a son of the Spendthrift stallion (hip 30) was the second to work in :10 flat during the session's fourth set. Consigned by Pike Racing, the bay is out of stakes-placed Shine Softly (Aldebaran), a daughter of champion Soaring Softly (Kris S.) and also the dam of stakes winner The Grass is Blue (Broken Vow). Al Pike purchased the youngster from Peter O'Callaghan's Woods Edge Farm for $90,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. O'Callaghan had acquired the colt for $65,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton November sale.

“He was beautiful,” Pike recalled of the colt as a yearling. “He was in Book 2 with Woods Edge and he was a little immature at the time, because he's young, and Peter had a stunning group of Book 2 horses. So I think he got a little bit overlooked. I was very fortunate to get him. We've liked him all winter. He's done nothing wrong. We came here thinking he was capable and hoping that he would perform and we were pleased with him.”

Pike's consignment topped the 2020 Midlantic sale with a $1.1-million son of Uncle Mo.

“This is one of our favorite spots,” Pike said of the Maryland auction. “We always try to bring a good horse here because you'll get rewarded.”

Grassroots Training and Sales sent out a filly by Neolithic (hip 9) to work one of three :10 flat works during the day's fifth set. Out of multiple stakes placed Sarahline (Northern Afleet), the chestnut was purchased for $8,500 at last year's OBS Winter sale.

Hip 20, a son of More Than Ready, turned in his :10 flat work for Keiber Rengifo's Golden Rock Thoroughbreds. A $12,000 Keeneland September purchase by Jose Silva, the bay is out of Seeking Sheba (Seeking the Gold) and from the family of champion Perfect Soul (Ire).

Completing the :10 flat works was hip 36, a New York-bred gelding by Practical Joke consigned by Scanlon Training and Sales. The bay is out of the unraced Silken Lily (Grand Slam), a half-sister to multiple graded-stakes winning sire Upstart (Flatter). He sold for $30,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Yearling sale last August.

“He is a horse we took a little bit of time with,” Dave Scanlon said. “I don't know that they announced it during the breeze, but he is a gelding now. We bought him privately after the New York sale and he always looked fast. He had a great hip and body, but he was just a little bit tough through the breaking. So around December, we just decided, let's make life easier on me and you and everybody else. So he became a gelding. And then we took our time with him. He's always had a great hip, he just needed to level out. My assistant and I were just talking about how he is just looking better and better. Every work, he's just been getting better.”

The Scanlon team comes into the Midlantic sale off a strong OBS Spring sale, which included a $1.3-million Mendelssohn colt.

“It's been great,” Scanlon said of his 2021 results so far. “We've had a really good year. We were pretty excited last year when we bought these horses. We thought we had done a good job picking them out and it's been a great group all year. We were excited for OBS, but we've been excited about coming here. I love to bring my New York-breds here. Horses that we find quick and precocious–horses like Army Mule–we've always done really well with here.”

A filly by Collected (hip 202), the first horse to work during the second set, turned in the fastest quarter-mile work of :21 1/5 for Jesse Hoppel's Coastal Equine. Out of Aurore (Arch), the dark bay is a half to stakes-placed Orageuse (Broken Vow) and Boreale (Makfi). Her dam is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Interactif (Broken Vow). She was purchased by Larry Zap, Hoppel and Amanda Murphy for $47,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale.

The Midlantic under-tack show continues through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 8 a.m. at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. The auction will be held next Monday and Tuesday with bidding commencing both days at 11 a.m.

The post Five Share Furlong Bullet at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Tuesday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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TIMONIUM, MD – The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, which was pushed back to late June in 2020 due to the pandemic, returns to its traditional mid-May spot on the calendar with bidding at the first of two sessions getting underway at 11 a.m. Monday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds.

“We are very optimistic about the sale,” Fasig Midlantic Sales Director Paget Bennett said at the sales barns Sunday morning. “We have a great group of horses here and there is a lot of interest. We were very busy on Friday and that's a good sign. Every day we have more people and different people coming to look. I think that tells us there is a lot of interest. We will find out at 11 a.m. tomorrow.”

Randy Miles's annual consignment in Timonium is a homecoming of sorts for the Virginia native and the horseman is looking for a strong market this week.

“I think the sale is going to be big,” Miles said. “I don't want to say a record, but it's going to be big. I think there is going to be a lot of competition for the high-priced horses and then we'll see if the buyers spill off on to the others. But there is going to be a lot of competition for the good ones.”

Miles continued, “People love to come up here this time of year. You can't beat this weather and it's a fun place. I love coming here. I have heard a lot of people say, 'This is the first time I've been here.' Like [bloodstock agent] Kerri Radcliffe. She is here for the first time and she said this is the coolest place.”

Last week's under-tack preview, held over Timonium's dirt track, saw 11 horses share the furlong bullet of :10 flat and a pair of juveniles work co-fastest quarter-miles in :21 2/5.

“People have a lot of confidence in the dirt track,” Miles said. “If you sit up there and watch the breezes, you can see the good ones separate themselves. So it's easier on the buyers. And you want someone who is going to spend $300,000 on a horse to get what they thought they were buying.”

Prospective buyers were out in force on a sunny, picture-perfect morning in Timonium Sunday.

“It's been really good,” Wavertree Stable's Ciaran Dunne said of action at the barns. “We have probably had more activity than we have had in years past. A lot of new faces which is kind of fun and interesting. We have 11 horses, but the views are spread evenly through them.”

Dunne continued, “I think it will be a very good sale. This has historically always been a market where you could move them from $5,000 to $500,000 and I don't see that changing. I think something else that helps is that it's sort of a last stop for all of us and people are realistic with their reserves to move horses along. I think people know that coming in, so they are confident in bidding that they have a chance.”

The Maryland State Fairgrounds is within easy driving distance of several racetracks, which makes the Midlantic auction a must-attend for trainers in nearby racing jurisdictions.

“We will see more trainers here than we will see at any of the other 2-year-old sales,” Dunne said.

Among the many trainers out at the sales grounds this weekend were Mark Hennig, Steve Asmussen, Brad Cox, Mike Maker, George Weaver, Ron Moquett, Dave Donk, Graham Motion, Tom Morley, Linda Rice, Gary Capuano, Mike Maker, Kelly Breen and Pat McBurney.

Demand for juveniles was high throughout the market at the season's first three major auctions and consignors look for that trend to continue in Maryland.

“The first three sales we've been to have been unbelievable with buyers' attendance and clearance rates and everything,” said Top Line Sales' Jimbo Gladwell. “I don't see any reason for this sale to slow down. I think if your horse works good and vets good, you're going to see a very active market.”

For many consignors, the Midlantic auction is the next stop after a record-setting OBS April sale last month.

“I was surprised by the depth at OBS,” Dunne admitted. “I thought with the loss of the Koreans we would really struggle with that lower and middle tier of the market. They had a limit to what they would spend, but they pushed everybody else up a jump or two. And with the volume that they bought, I thought it would have a detrimental effect, but I was surprised that that part of the market really didn't suffer.”

Consignor Bobby Dodd is taking a cautious wait-and-see approach to the market in Timonium.

“I think for the right horse, there will be a lot of money,” Dodd said. “But I also think there will be a lot of people shopping in that $50,000 to $100,000 range. I think there will be, I hope.”

During last year's Midlantic sale, 303 horses grossed $23,572,500. Under a cloud of pandemic-induced uncertainty, the sale average of $77,797 was down 13.7% from the 2019 record figure of $90,104 and the median dipped 7% to $40,000.

Donato Lanni, bidding on behalf of Michael Lund Petersen, made the auction's highest bid when going to $1.1 million to acquire a colt by Uncle Mo from Pike Racing.

The Midlantic sale continues with a second and final session Tuesday, also beginning at 11 a.m.

The post Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale Kicks off Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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