Consigned by Niall Brennan Stables, the daughter of Munnings (hip 26) was the first to set the bullet mark some 15 minutes into the under-tack show. The bay is out of the unraced Ansaam (Bernardini), a half-sister to Grade I winner Denman's Call (Northern Afleet) and from the family of multiple Grade I winner Evening Jewel. She was a $95,000 purchase at last year's Keeneland September sale.

The very next horse to work Wednesday, hip 17, a colt by McKinzie consigned by Raul Reyes's Kings Equine, also worked in :9 4/5.

“He did it the way I expected him to,” Reyes said of the work. “He was superior up at the farm. He showed a lot of talent there and he stepped up to the plate today. He is just a big, strong-looking horse. He looks like the real thing.”

The dark bay is out of multiple stakes winner Altamura (Artie Schiller). He was purchased by Scott and Evan Dilworth for $135,000 as a weanling at the 2022 Keeneland November sale before RNA'ing for $125,000 back at Keeneland last September.

“Scott bought him as a weanling and he didn't sell him as a yearling,” Reyes said. “They got lucky they didn't sell him because he really showed up today.”

Asked how the colt had changed over the winter, Reyes said,  “He just got more tucked up and muscled. I thought he was a good-looking horse when I got him, quite honestly.”

An hour into Wednesday's session, hip 89, another son of Gainesway's McKinzie, worked the furlong in :9 4/5. Out of Breech Inlet (Holy Bull), the colt is a half-brother to multiple stakes winner and multiple graded placed Merveilleux (Paynter). Breech Inlet is a half-sister to graded winner Bauble Queen (Arch), dam of multiple graded winner Blitzkrieg.

The Ontario-bred was purchased by Ron Fein's Superfine Farm for $205,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. He is consigned by Wavertree Stables.

A four-time Grade I winner on the racetrack, McKinzie stands at Gainesway for $30,000.

Reyes said he is a fan of the stallion based on the progeny he has seen so far.

“I love them,” Reyes said. “They have a lot of talent. And they have a good mind. The two that I have experience with so far also have very nice bodies.”

A filly by Bee Jersey (hip 130) turned in Wednesday's fastest quarter-mile when zipping the distance in :20 4/5 for consignor Tom McCrocklin. The juvenile is out of Christmas Cove (More Than Ready), a half-sister to graded winner Coal Play (Mineshaft), as well as to the dam of GI Travers S. winner Keen Ice.

McCrocklin purchased the filly on behalf of Michael Sucher's Champion Equine for $110,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Yearlings Sale in Saratoga last August.

The dispersal of the Lothenbach Stables of the late Bob Lothenbach, which produced a pair of million-dollar mares at the Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale in February, will continue at the OBS March sale. Fourteen juveniles from the dispersal galloped during the under-tack show Wednesday from the consignments of Brennan and McCrocklin, as well as deMeric Sales and Ocala Stud. An additional 26 juveniles from the dispersal will be on the track during the remaining three sessions of the under-tack show.

The under-tack show began at 8 a.m. Wednesday with temperatures in the upper 60's and, with an increasing headwind as the day wore on, concluded just after 3 p.m. with temperatures near 80 degrees.

“The track was great,” Reyes said. “The only thing was the headwind was brutal. It changed later in the day, we experienced a very strong headwind, I would say.”

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 8 a.m. The March sale will be held next Tuesday through Thursday with bidding beginning each day at 11 a.m.

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Before heading out to join Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella in Southern California, they were both broken and trained on behalf of Spendthrift Farm at Raul and Martha Reyes's King's Equine in Ocala, Florida.

Like mother, like daughter?

“Actually, Tamara was a little different as a yearling than Beholder was,” Raul Reyes said. “Tamara was a little bit more of a rebel. She was a little harder to break for a couple of weeks–she had her own mind. Then, she changed and became a regular filly. On the other side, Beholder was very pleasant all the time. She never gave you any trouble.”

Reyes continued, “Beholder was a little more stocky and had more muscle. Tamara has really filled out since Mandella has had her.”

Tamara is the fourth foal produced by the four-time champion and three-time Breeders' Cup winner. Beholder's first two offspring–Q B One (g, 5, by Uncle Mo) and Karin With an I (f, 4, by Curlin)–failed to find the winner's circle and were a combined 0-for-6 at the races. Tamara's 3-year-old half-sister Teena Ella (War Front), winner of this spring's grassy GIII Senorita S. at Santa Anita, became Beholder's first winner as a broodmare in February.

Beholder's yearling colt by Curlin, meanwhile, brought a sale-topping $4 million from Zedan Racing at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga Sale this summer. Barren for 2023, Beholder was covered by Jackie's Warrior for next season.

Tamara, ears up, toying with the competition in the GI Del Mar Debutante S. | Benoit

Reyes and Mandella would often chat about and compare notes on Beholder's offspring during Mandella's visits to King's Equine, Reyes said. Mandella has trained all of Beholder's progeny to date.

“I told him that I didn't know how good this filly (Tamara) was going to be, but she sure was better than her siblings,” Reyes said. “I broke all of Beholder's (offspring) and Tamara looked more racey. She breezed way better than all of them–way way better. She used to outrun the company when I used to breeze her here. The filly before her (Teena Ella) won a Grade III and she was O.K. But Tamara was exceptional. We didn't know that she'd go on and win these races like that. But she was the best one of the siblings by far.”

Carrying the namesake of B. Wayne Hughes's daughter–sounds like the folks at Spendthrift concurred with Reyes's assessment–Tamara overcame a stumble at the start from her rail draw to launch her career in style with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance at Del Mar Aug. 19.

Tamara ran to the billing as the 6-5 favorite and then some with a 6 3/4-length tour de force over 11 rivals in the GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante S. Sept. 9, good for a 91 Beyer Speed Figure. Tamara will be heavily favored as she tries two turns for the first time in the Juvenile Fillies. She has been installed as the 4-5 morning-line favorite.

“The way she runs, she makes you think that she's gonna be alright,” Reyes said.

Beholder seeks to become the fifth Breeders' Cup winner to also produce a winner at the two-day Championships.

Living the American Dream…

Growing up a mile from the racetrack in his native Tijuana, Mexico, Reyes wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, a quarter horse jockey in Texas. Reyes began working on the backstretch at the tender age of 10 back in 1975–yes, you read that correctly–and just six years later, began to pursue his career in the saddle in California.

“I came to the United States and worked for a couple of good trainers, but I was too big to be a jockey,” Reyes said. “I had to quit riding when I was like 20. It was hard for me because I couldn't speak English very well. Can you imagine? It's hard enough for an American kid to make it here.”

King's Equine's Raul Reyes | Fasig-Tipton

Reyes subsequently relocated to Florida to begin training and caught his big break while working the yearling sales for Taylor Made in Kentucky. Everything began to fall into place from there.

“They gave me the opportunity of a lifetime,” Reyes said. “That opened my eyes. I learned how to sell horses and how to deal with people. I must say, my friend (Taylor Made's Vice President of Sales) Frank Taylor, he's the one who really made it happen for me. He introduced me to all these good people–the biggest clients in the world all come to Taylor Made. And then I met Wayne. That's really how I got started.”

Wayne, of course, is B. Wayne Hughes, the late founder of Spendthrift Farm who passed away in 2021.

“We became pretty good friends,” Reyes said. “And we've had pretty good success together. They are great people to work with.”

Reyes typically trains approximately 100 head at his 84-acre training center and is also a leading consignor at the 2-year-old-in-training sales. Spendthrift Farm has been a client of his for nearly two decades now.

“We try to keep it simple,” Reyes said. “It can get very complicated if you start looking for ways to do it differently. People have been doing this for a 100 years. They say the good things don't change.”

In addition to Beholder and Tamara, other King's Equine training graduates include: champion Letruska (Super Saver); MGISW Miss Temple City (Temple City); GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Silver Train (Old Trieste); and GISWs Jimmy Creed (Distorted Humor) and Hit the Road (More Than Ready).

King's Equine's 2-year-old sale alumni include: GISW Beyond Brilliant (Twirling Candy) ($200,000 2yo '20 EASMAY); MGSW millionaire Stanford (Malibu Moon) ($550,000 2yo '14 BARMAR); MGSW Kanthaka (Jimmy Creed) ($140,000 2yo '17 BARMAR); and GSW and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint runner-up Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) ($245,000 2yo '18 OBSMAR).

“I've been in Ocala for 25 years already,” Reyes said. “This is a place that's been very good to me. That's a lot of good seasons that I've had here now.”

Reyes's 2023 season is about to get even better at 2:40 p.m. PT on Friday afternoon.

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With a svelte catalogue of 99 head, the auction's under-tack show was held Tuesday morning. After a night of heavy rain and thunder storms, the first of five sets began at 8 a.m. under a light drizzle, but skies cleared throughout the show, which concluded under muggy and sunny conditions shortly before noon.

Clovis Crane, who will consign 16 horses to the one-session auction, got the under-tack show off to a fast start when the first horse over the track, a filly by Frosted (hip 79), worked her furlong in :10 flat.

Crane Thoroughbred Services ultimately sent out three of the day's five :10 flat bullet workers, with a filly by Social Inclusion (hip 69, video) working in the first set and a filly by Flatter (hip 86, video) working in the day's third set.

Crane also sent out the day's fastest quarter-mile worker, a filly by Kantharos (hip 47) who covered the distance in :20 4/5.

“I have been telling a lot of people all along that I had an unbelievable group and obviously, today, with the way they went, it showed,” Crane said. “We have had 21 graded stakes horses come off of our farm and I would suspect that there are a couple in this group that will add to that number.”

Asked to pick some highlights from his day, Crane said, “I put the Social Inclusion filly [out of Royal Aspen {Congrats}] in the first set because I thought she would be a star and she showed up today. The Flatter filly [out of stakes-winner Valued Strike {Smart Strike}] is crazy fast. And I have a Palace Malice filly [hip 73, :10 1/5] who appears to me like she can really run.”

The bullet worker by Kantharos, who was one of seven juveniles to work a quarter-mile Tuesday in Timonium, is out of La Titina (Distorted Humor), a daughter of multiple Grade I winner Ask the Moon (Malibu Moon).

A $125,000 Keeneland September purchase, she will be making her second trip through the sales ring this spring after RNA'ing for $110,000 following a :10 1/5 work at the OBS April sale. In addition to her work at OBS, the filly has a pair of published works at Penn National, most recently going four furlongs in :47.20 (1/21) June 9.

“I was telling everyone how awesome my Kantharos filly was,” Crane said. “She breezed in :47 1/5 in hand at the racetrack June 9. And she came out of it good then. We trained her lightly for the last two weeks and then we prepped her easy over here. We prepped her easy and she went in :21 4/5 and :35 1/5, so we knew she was sitting on go.”

Of the filly's trip south to Ocala, Crane said, “She just didn't like that track. I gallop everything myself the first couple of days when we go anywhere and I could feel it the first day. I said, 'Oh, boy, she doesn't like this.' She still breezed :10 1/5 and :21 1/5 and she went good, but didn't make anyone's short list. I literally only showed her eight times down there. She had done nothing wrong. She X-rayed clean, she came back out of it good. So I just went back to training her at home and, over the dirt, she moves great. She just didn't move good over the synthetic. She came to what I was thinking she was today.”

Also sharing the bullet furlong Tuesday was a filly by Enticed (hip 35, video) consigned by James Layden and a filly by Practical Joke (hip 56, video) consigned by Wes Carter on behalf of Crossed Sabres Farm.

Crane comes into the inaugural Midlantic June sale with the catalogue's largest consignment.

“[Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sales Director] Paget [Bennett] has always been wonderful to me and she asked me if I would save a couple of nice horses for here,” Crane said of his decision to target the auction. “So the Social Inclusion, we saved her for here on purpose and there are a couple of other horses we saved for here. The Kantharos filly, I didn't want to go back to OBS June because she didn't like the surface and I knew it. I am sure there are several horses here that would rather have the dirt surface. And I think buyers will like the dirt surface better. It's a truer representation of what you're going to get.”

While the June sale is slim on numbers, Crane sees potential for the auction's growth, but agreed this year's first sale might not have enough horses to attract a large buying bench.

“I don't see why it shouldn't gain momentum [in the future],” he said. “But if I were a buyer, I would be at this sale [this year] because I think there are bargains to be had. I have reached out to several top buyers and they aren't coming. So I think it will be a buyer's market and that's unfortunate because I've got a great group and I won't get rewarded in some spots. But at the end of the day, I am going to be in this business for a long time, so it will be all right. Hopefully they will buy runners from us now and then they'll buy from us again in the future.”

While many of the major Ocala operations have skipped this year's Midlantic June sale, the Central Florida horsemen were represented by a handful of consignments, including those of Tom McCrocklin and Raul Reyes's King's Equine.

“Fasig-Tipton, in a nutshell,” McCrocklin said when asked why he decided on a return trip to Timonium this year. “I know they wanted to try it. It's kind of walking the highwire the first time and maybe it's an opportunity to sell some horses. We will see how it goes.”

McCrocklin, who sold a $700,000 colt by Awesome Slew at last month's Midlantic May sale, brought 11 horses to the June sale. The auction comes some two weeks after the traditional end to the juvenile sales season in the OBS June sale, but McCrocklin thinks this later date shouldn't intimidate buyers.

“If you are trying to buy a nice racehorse, what's the big deal if you buy them a month ago or two weeks ago or right now,” McCrocklin said. “It's not like we have gone into the Twilight Zone because it's two or four weeks later. And there are some nice horses here. I have personally seen nice horses train here all week. I would invite people to take a look at them.”

Asked if he was concerned about a lack of buyers at the sale, McCrocklin said, “Yes. Absolutely. But look, so many of these horses are bought remotely now, you can get photos, walking videos, gallop-out times, breeze videos, bid online, bid on the phone. So if you don't want to come, I get it, but it's not a reason not to go through the process and buy a horse.”

Reyes brings six horses for his second trip to Timonium this year. The consignor, who was perennially a leading presence at the slimmed down–and now defunct–Barretts May sale, wasn't worried about the smaller catalogue.

“I always like the small sales,” Reyes said. “I used to go to California when they had those smaller sales and I did very well there.”

As always, Timonium's location at the crossroads of several racing venues will prove advantageous in attracting buyers, according to Reyes.

“There are so many racetracks that are so close and people need horses,” Reyes said. “They will be here tomorrow afternoon.”

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The first of seven sets opened around 8 a.m. with a brisk tailwind–which prevailed throughout the day–and a bevy of :10 1/5 works before a colt by Bolt d'Oro (hip 287) became the first of the session to hit the :10 flat mark. The dark bay is out of stakes-placed Masasi (More Than Ready), a full-sister to multiple graded winner Custom for Carlos. He is consigned by Raul Reyes's Kings Equine, as agent for his breeder, Spendthrift Farm.

“We expected a professional work,” Reyes said. “We didn't know it was going to be :10 flat, but we knew he would work well.”

The colt RNA'd for $160,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

The very next horse to work, a filly by Take Charge Indy (hip 361), equaled the :10 flat time for De Meric Sales, agent. The bay, a full-sister to graded winner Take Charge Paula, was purchased by Tami Bobo and Fernando De Jesus's First Finds for $100,000 as a weanling at the 2021 Keeneland November sale.

The bullet furlong time was equaled again by back-to-back workers in the day's second set. First up, Golden Rock Thoroughbreds sent out a filly by Into Mischief (hip 328, video).

“She's a filly who has shown her quality throughout the whole process,” said Golden Rock's Keiber Rengifo. “From breaking her and seeing her every morning, we expected that she was going to be a really fast filly.”

The juvenile is out of Nefertiti (Speightstown) and is a full-sister to graded stakes winner Engage, who stood his first season at stud at nearby Northview Stallion Station in 2022. She was purchased by Marc Tacher's Elusive Thoroughbreds for $250,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

Wednesday's work was the filly's second appearance at an under-tack show this spring. She also worked in :10 flat when consigned by Top Line Sales at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, but did not go through the ring at that auction.

“She had a high hip number and was really late in the sale,” Rengifo said of the decision to scratch from the March sale. “She did a :10 flat with Top Line Sales, but we decided to scratch her and aim her for this dirt track. We expected way more from her on the synthetic, but she just didn't show a lot of speed. We thought we would bring her here to Maryland because it's a completely different surface. As a rider, I have a good opinion of this dirt track and I am a big fan of the Maryland sale. I was working for Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo for five years and we always had a good horse to bring over here and show up on the dirt track like she did this morning.”

Rengifo was aboard for the filly's bullet drill Wednesday.

“I think the track was a little tighter today,” he said. “Yesterday, it was kind of soft. But you still have to have a quality horse to go that fast. I didn't have to use my whip with this filly. She is a medium-sized filly with a big heart. She has galloped out well all through the winter. And today, she did :10 flat and she was rolling all the way out. For me, as a rider, that impressed me even more than the :10 flat.”

A colt by Twirling Candy (hip 249) consigned by Grassroots Training and Sales had the final :10 flat of the day. The bay is out of Lady Mamba (War Front), a half-sister to Grade I-placed Luminance (Tale of the Cat) and multiple graded-placed Stellar Sound (Tapit). His third dam is multiple Grade I winner Versailles Treaty (Danzig), dam of George Vancouver and Saarland. He was a $65,000 purchase by Grassroots at the Keeneland September sale last year.

Wednesday's third set got a jolt when Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds sent out a long-striding son of Justify to work the week's fastest quarter-mile of :21 2/5.

“He's been able to run all year long,” said Randy Hartley. “We don't usually prep very fast, we kind of just show them where to go. But when we prepped him here, I had to catch my kid–and he's a big guy. I don't usually do quarters, but he is a big, tall, two-turn looking horse. The farther he goes, the better he gets.”

Out of the appropriately named My Fast One (Elusive Quality), the bay colt was purchased by Hartley/DeRenzo for $155,000 as a weanling at the 2021 Keeneland November sale. He RNA'd for $185,000 at Keeneland the following September and was sent through the ring again at Fasig-Tipton October where he sold for $175,000.

“We bought him as a baby and we buy all of our weanlings to re-sell as yearlings,” Hartley said. “[At the September sale], Justify hadn't quite hit yet. And he was a tall, gangly horse.”

Of the return to the sales ring in October, Hartley explained, “One of our clients bought into our package. Sonny Stokes, who has passed away now, he owned a piece and he was selling everything. So one of my other clients bought in.”

The under-tack show concludes with a final session beginning at 8 a.m. Thursday. The Midlantic May sale will be held next Monday and Tuesday. Bidding begins each day at 11 a.m.

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“That's the plan at the moment,” said Morley. “She came out of the race really well and she's got a great mind and really good appetite–she was screaming for her feed tub last night. She jogged sound this morning, so we'll start putting plans in place to go to the Queen Mary.”

A $250,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, Cynane (pronounced KEE-NAH-NAY) did her early-season prep at Raul Reyes's King's Equine in Ocala, and Morley said the filly has been forward ever since joining his barn in New York in March.

“She has never missed a beat–not only with us, but with Raul Reyes in Ocala,” said Morley. “You only get one shot to go to Ascot with these horses and to get there, you have to never miss a day and be good enough to win on debut. Full credit to her, because she has a wonderful temperament and is good as gold.”

Though she debuted over a minimum trip, Cynane could stretch out in time, as she is out of a half-sister to Cat's Claw (Dynaformer), winner of the Fasig-Tipton Waya S. at a mile and a half on the grass. Third dam Matlacha Pass (Seeking the Gold) produced five-time turf Grade I winner Point of Entry (Dynaformer) and dual Grade I victress Pine Island (Arch).

“She's got a really, really good female family and is from a really good American turf line from the Phipps family,” said Morley. “She has every right to be a good horse and hopefully she can be.”

The filly is named after the Macedonian princess Cynane, a half-sister to Alexander the Great who was a fierce warrior trained in martial arts.

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“Personally, I thought the conditions were great,” Reyes said. “My horses breezed very well. I can say nothing but nice things about the way the track was today. I think it was very fair.”

Leading the Kings Equine workers Tuesday were colts by Hard Spun (hip 16, video) and Arrogate (hip 24, video), and a filly by Liam's Map (hip 130, video).

The Hard Spun colt, out of a half-sister to multiple Grade I winner Paradise Woods (Union Rags), is being consigned by Kings Equine on behalf of breeder Spendthrift Farm. The colt RNA'd for $190,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“We knew he was a nice horse,” Reyes said of the juvenile. “Spendthrift had a big opinion of him [in September]. They didn't sell him and they decided to give me an opportunity to sell him at the 2-year-old sale. He has matured and gotten stronger since then. He really showed up today.”

Reyes made a timely purchase when he acquired the son of Arrogate out of graded-placed Sensitively (Street Sense) for $50,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale.

“When I bought the horse, Arrogate was really cold,” Reyes said of his purchase last summer. “He hardly had any winners. Two weeks after I bought him, he had a bunch of winners. It was good timing. It's not like I'm a genius or anything. I liked Arrogate, I saw one that was affordable and I bought him.”

Reyes added of the juvenile, “He's very quick and he's very athletic.”

Scott and Evan Dilworth purchased the daughter of Liam's Map out of stakes-placed Tiger Silk (Aus) (All American {Aus}) for $130,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“I can say nothing but nice things about her,” Reyes said of the filly. “She breezed very well, but we knew she was always pretty fast. So it was no surprise.”

The Gladwells' Top Line Sales sent out a pair of fillies to work Tuesday's bullet time: a daughter of Munnings (hip 122, video) and a daughter of City of Light (hip 123, video).

Also represented by a pair of bullet workers Tuesday was GOP Racing Stable Corp., which sent out a filly by Twirling Candy (hip 44, video) and a filly by Khozan (hip 149, video).

A colt by Bernardini (hip 54) worked in :9 4/5 for McKathan Bros. Sales, while a colt by Omaha Beach (hip 161) went in :9 4/5 for Eddie Woods and a son of Mitole (hip 143) hit the :9 4/5 mark for Dynasty Thoroughbreds.

Tuesday's session of the under-tack show began at 8 a.m. with temperatures in the mid-50s and ended just short of 3 p.m. with temperatures in the upper 60s.

Working in the final set of the day, just past 1:30 p.m., a filly by Mo Town (hip 2) turned in the day's fastest quarter-mile work of :20 4/5 for consignor Tom McCrocklin, who purchased her for $3,500 at last year's OBS October sale.

The under-tack show continues through Friday with sessions beginning at 8 a.m. daily. The March sale will be held next Monday through Wednesday. Bidding commences each day at 11 a.m.

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Raul Reyes's Ocala-based Kings Equine, which sold three of the top four lots at the 2019 Santa Anita sale, returns with a 13-horse consignment in 2021.

“It was an easy decision to come back–it didn't take me too long to think about it,” Reyes said of his return to California, which offers him the chance to mix business and pleasure.

“My mom lives here in L.A., so I always like to come out here,” he explained with a smile.

Four horses from the Kings Equine consignment were among the 11 to share the second fastest furlong time of :10 3/5 during Monday's under-tack show: hip 2, hip 10, hip 42, and hip 88.

“It went well. I am very happy with how it went Monday,” Reyes said of his consignment's under-tack show results.

A total of 115 juveniles have been catalogued for the one-day sale–down from 168 in 2019–and there were 39 horses withdrawn as of Tuesday afternoon.

Of the slimmed down catalogue, Reyes said, “I'd like to see the sale be bigger. It's better for the people who we have horses here with because there isn't so much competition, but for the sale to do well, I'd like to see a bit more horses. But there are trainers and a few bloodstock agents here looking and they are all very positive and wanting to buy horses.”

California-based consignor Bruno DeBerdt had plenty of activity at his Excel Bloodstock consignment Tuesday morning.

“I'm showing three horses as we speak and I've only got six horses in the sale,” DeBerdt said. “I'm very, very happy with the activity and there are serious buyers here, not just looky loos. I'd say it's probably at least 60% trainers and then we have agents and a few owners. I am very happy with the turnout.”

DeBerdt agreed the success of the Santa Anita sale is vital to the industry in California.

“It's very important to have this sale,” he said. “I hope everyone supports it because it's our only outlet. Fasig-Tipton just does a Grade A job. The stabling is good and they have good personnel managing it and it's been very pleasant to be here.”

While the auction's momentum was halted in 2020, DeBerdt looks for a strong sale Wednesday.

“We sold in the first sale in 2019 and we did well,” DeBerdt said. “And then we had a very large consignment scheduled for 2020, which obviously didn't materialize. So this year, we kind of toned it down. But the market is very healthy right now overall. Obviously, your better horses are going to bring good money and the not-so-good horses are going to probably not bring very much money, but I think they'll get sold. It's going to be a polarized sale, in my opinion, but we've got enough buyers here.”

Al Pike is offering his first Santa Anita consignment, with nine horses scheduled to go through the ring Wednesday.

“I had some horses at the March sale that we had lost time with due to the weather at home in February, so we weren't ready for March. So we just opted out of there and put them in this sale thinking that this would be a good spot for them,” Pike said of the decision to sell at Santa Anita. “We got more time with these horses that needed it and I am hoping to be rewarded for waiting.”

Of the activity at his barn Tuesday, Pike said, “We have been awful busy here. I am pleasantly surprised. I didn't know what to expect. This is my first time basically coming to California–coming to Santa Anita was on my bucket list, so I can check that off. It's a beautiful place. We've been treated really well here. Fasig-Tipton always does a great job.”

The fastest furlong of Monday's under-tack preview was :10 2/5 and a pair of Pike Racing juveniles (hip 16 and hip 36) were among the 11 who shared the second fastest time of :10 3/5.

“The breeze show went well,” Pike said. “The horses performed well. The track was not a fast track, it was kind of a deep track, but they got over it well and came home good. I had some people ask me, 'Was it slow horses or a slow track?' I said, 'I can tell you from home, it wasn't slow horses.'”

Pike agreed there was always some concern with attracting buyers to a sale with a smaller catalogue, but he said, “If it's a good horse, it's going to sell well. And there are some good horsemen looking at these horses, so I think it's going to be a good sale.”

Among the 22 juveniles in Andy Havens's Havens Bloodstock Agency consignment are a pair of horses who enter the Santa Anita sales ring off strong efforts at the track last weekend. Ko Olina (Stanford) (hip 17) finished first in her third lifetime start last Saturday, but was disqualified and placed second, while maiden winner Bochombo (Street Boss) (hip 20) finished second behind the freakish Big City Lights (Mr. Big) in Sunday's Fasig-Tipton Futurity.

“Bochombo ran a terrific race breaking his maiden [May 23] kind of coming off the pace,” Havens said. “And then he ran second in that stakes on Sunday to what looks like a special kind of colt. He's a fabulous horse. He's really attractive and looks like he is going to go on rather than win at these short distances. And he's very sound. I think he's a really useful horse.”

Of Ko Olina, Havens said, “The horse they gave the race to–Baffert's Munnings filly [Eda]–cost $550,000 [at OBS March]. She beat her and they were 13 lengths ahead of the third horse, so she showed she could win, but the buyer still gets the condition.”

Havens continued, “We are heading into Del Mar and people are looking for horses like this. I think this is a really unusual opportunity for 2-year-olds. These horses have shown they belong at a really upper level and they are sound. So you have as immediate action as you can get with a 2-year-old. We are getting a whole lot of interest here for both of these.”

While sales horses for the 2019 sale were housed in temporary barns near Santa Anita's seven-furlong chute, the 2021 horses are on the track's backside.

“We have had a terrific amount of interest,” Havens said. “We are on the backside of Santa Anita, so it's really worked out well from that standpoint in terms of interest.”

Havens is hopeful that, after having the sale's momentum interrupted last year, Fasig-Tipton will be able to build on the 2021 results.

“I think it's absolutely essential that we have a 2-year-old sale in California,” Havens said. “I think missing last year really impaired the turnout for this year. Because it has not been a real strong turnout relative to what we used to have. We used to have two sales here. We used to have a March sale and a May sale. When Barretts ended and Fasig took over with this sale in June and then missing 2020 completely, I think it put cold water on people's response to this sale. But they succeeded in getting a number of people from out of town, Florida in particular, and I have a really nice group. So I am very encouraged by that.”

Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni made the highest bid at the inaugural Santa Anita sale in 2019, acquiring subsequent stakes winner Eclair (Bernardini) for $420,000 on behalf of Sarah Kelly. In all, 69 horses sold for $3,769,500 at the 2019 auction. The average was $54,630 and the median was $30,000. With 39 horses not sold, the buy-back rate was 36.1%.

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Consignor Tom McCrocklin sent a filly by Union Rags (hip 295) out to work a quarter-mile in :21 2/5 Wednesday, matching Tuesday's fastest time for the distance.

“She is a super nice filly,” McCrocklin said. “She showed up and I expected her to. She was that way at the farm and she prepped that way here. She's really classy and sound. She galloped out good. She's a lovely filly–probably my favorite horse we had all year.”

The bay filly is out of stakes winner Afleet Lass (Northern Afleet) and is a half-sister to graded placed Honor the Fleet (To Honor and Serve). Bred by Gainesway, she was purchased by McCrocklin for $20,000 at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

“I'm still not sure how I got her for $20,000, but it was one of those things at Keeneland where you hit a soft spot,” McCrocklin said. “I bought her from Gainesway and I remember walking up there and [Gainesway's] Lakota [Gibson] said, 'No reserve.' That can be good or bad because when you hear no reserve, you never know what to think. But she's been really nice all year.”

The second horse on the track Wednesday, a filly by Race Day (hip 340), equaled Tuesday's bullet furlong time when working in :10 flat for Grassroots Training & Sales. Bred by Dala Farm, the bay filly is the first foal out of Battle Tux (Into Mischief).

Eddie Woods's consignment had its second bullet worker of the week when hip 211, a colt by Quality Road, covered his furlong in :10 flat Wednesday. Bred by Jon Clay's Alpha Delta, the dark bay colt is out of the unraced Stormy Welcome (Storm Cat), a half-sister to graded winner Guest Suite (Quality Road). The colt's third dam is Weekend Surprise (Secretariat), dam of A.P. Indy and Summer Squall.

A colt by American Pharoah (hip 337) shared the :10 flat bullet when working for Raul Reyes's Kings Equine. The chestnut colt is out of Baroness Aamoura (Theatrical {Ire}) and is a half-brother to stakes-placed Madam Aamoura (Zensational). His second dam is multiple graded stakes winner Anguilla (Seattle Slew).

“We were very happy with it,” Reyes said of the work. “He prepped pretty fast and he prepped fast at the farm, so this wasn't really a surprise.”

Bred by Zayat Stables, the juvenile RNA'd for $145,000 as a weanling at the 2019 Keeneland November sale and for $45,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“I bought him right after [the September sale],” Reyes said. “I was looking for an American Pharoah for the right price and he looked kind of fast. He looked a little rough as a yearling, but he has changed a lot. He looks like a more serious, stronger horse. He is big-bodied.”

Kings Equine has sent out 12 juveniles to work through the first two sessions of the under-tack show in Timonium.

“The track here is very consistent,” Reyes said. “You can work good any time. I like that about Maryland. You can come at 4 p.m. and still do good.”

Rounding out Wednesday's first set :10 flat workers was hip 260, a colt by Munnings consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables. Dunne purchased the dark bay colt, who is a Pennsylvania-bred out of Tweet (Medaglia d'Oro), for $55,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“Munnings is a handy stallion. He's one of those middle-range horses. The Pennsylvania-bred thing didn't hurt and the price was right,” Dunne said of the colt's appeal last fall. “We always bought him with Timonium in mind. And we actually stuck to the plan for a change. We'll see how that works out.”

Dunne agreed the track in Timonium has remained consistent throughout the under-tack show's first two sessions.

“We worked a horse in the fifth set that we like quite a bit, a Klimt colt (hip 311) and he worked good, he went in :10 1/5,” Dunne said. “So I think it's been fine all the way through. It was the same for us yesterday. They all worked about like we would have expected them to work.”

Wavertree opened the juvenile sales season with a pair of blockbuster seven-figure pinhooks at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale and Dunne said he was “cautiously optimistic” heading into next week's two-day Midlantic auction.

Turning heads during Tuesday's first breeze show session from the Wavertree consignment was a daughter of Quality Road (hip 46) who worked her furlong in :10 1/5. Out of a half-sister to champion Abel Tasman (Quality Road), the bay filly was a $230,000 purchase at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“The Quality Road filly that worked yesterday is a really nice filly with a huge pedigree,” Dunne said. “She was also always earmarked for here, being such a late foal [May 22] and coming from the October sale. Our breaking process is like watching paint dry, so it is hard for us to get those horses to the earlier sales.”

Rounding out Wednesday's :10 flat workers was hip 264, a colt from the first crop of multiple graded stakes winner Tom's Ready (More Than Ready). Out of Uno Royale (Macho Uno), the dark bay was consigned by De Meric Sales and was purchased by  Silvestre Avila for $15,000 at last year's OBS October Sale. Avila, an exercise rider for the De Meric operation, has made a habit of turning bargain-priced yearling purchases into pinhooking coups in recent years.

“He keeps buying these $15,000 horses and turning them into $150,000 and then some 2-year-olds,” said Nick de Meric before adding with a chuckle, “We are starting to re-think our whole program. We are just going to give him all our money and let him go do it. He's done great this year, which is really heartwarming. A couple of guys in the barn are partners with him on the horse. So it is really great to see. Hopefully they will all make a little paycheck out of it.”

Tom's Ready won the 2016 GII Woody Stephens S. and GIII Ack Ack S., as well as the 2017 GIII Bold Ruler H.

“I haven't seen a lot of them,” de Meric said of offspring of Tom's Ready. “This guy is kind of built for this track. He's got that More Than Ready look about him and a good strong body type. He's not super big, but very fast and early looking. That type tend to do really well on this track and he was no exception.”

The de Meric family will be looking to turn a quick profit on another juvenile in its Midlantic consignment, having purchased a filly by Bernardini (hip 217) for $40,000 privately after she had RNA'd at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale in March. The first foal out of stakes winner Super Allison (Super Saver) had been part of Kirkwood Stables' Gulfstream Gallops group, which had purchased her for $25,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September sale. She worked a furlong Wednesday in :10 2/5.

“The plan was to flip her here and see if we could turn a dollar,” de Meric said. “To be honest, Tristan [de Meric] was contacted about that filly and went over to see her. She's a typical Bernardini, a lighter-framed kind of filly. She really stepped up here. She had a lot to learn in a relatively short space because she was in that galloping program and hadn't done much breezing. She's really moved forward and she prepped ok here, but she stepped forward on her breeze when it mattered. We are very happy with her breeze.”

De Meric continued, “You never quite dare think you got a bargain until they go through the ring. That's when you find out if you've got a bargain. We thought she was good value. Bernardini is such a good broodmare sire and over the years, he's been good to us. So we weren't afraid to give it a shot. The Gulfstream sale is a boutique sale. If everything aligns and falls into place, it can be spectacularly good, but there isn't much margin for error as we all have learned. She just didn't quite impress enough at the time, but hopefully she'll get it right up here”

Also coming out of Kirkwood's Gulfstream Gallop program is hip 166, a colt by More Than Ready who RNA'd for $115,000 in Hallandale and worked the quarter-mile bullet in :21 2/5 for Kip Elser's consignment Tuesday.

Another Gulfstream Gallop graduate is hip 221, a son of Street Sense who was purchased by the Wycoff family's Three Diamonds Farm for $25,000 in South Florida in March. The colt worked a furlong in :10 4/5 from the Crane Thoroughbred Services consignment Wednesday.

The Midlantic under-tack show concludes with a final session Thursday beginning at 8 a.m. The auction will be held next Monday and Tuesday with bidding commencing each day at 11 a.m.

The post Union Rags Filly Swiftest in Timonium Wednesday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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