rodolphe brisset | Horse Racing Free Tips

Minnesota Ready Tops Lothenbach Dispersal on Fasig-Tipton Digital

The Lothenbach dispersal of Horses of Racing Age on Fasig-Tipton Digital, run Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, closed with 66 horses selling for $4,840,000 with MSP Minnesota Ready (More Than Ready) leading all lots at a final price of $380,000, changing hands to Richard Colton Jr..

The first in the digital ring, Minnesota Ready was most recently seen Jan. 20 in the Duncan F. Kenner S. at the Fair Grounds, where he again ran third in a blanket finish with SW Sosua Summer (Summer Front) and MSW & MGSP Just Might (Justin Phillip) and wrapping his 2023 season before that Dec. 23 in the Richard R. Scherer Memorial S. behind those familiar foes.

The four others who went beyond the $300,000 mark include Dazzlin Dictator (American Pharoah), a two-time winner at Turfway Park, who went to Rodolphe Brisset, agent for Ann Harrison; Tickle Me Unclemo (Uncle Mo), a $350,000 KEESEP yearling, went to Robert Salome for $320,000; and Practically Dark (Practical Joke), recently second in a maiden special at the Fair Grounds, sold to C2 Racing Stable for $310,000.

Most notable of that group is GSW & GISP Happy American (Runhappy), who went as a racing prospect and sold to trainer Neil Pessin for $340,000. A frequent face in the graded ranks across the country, he won the GIII Louisiana S. in 2023 and ran third that summer in the GIII Blame and GI Stephen Foster S.. After uninspiring finishes in the a pair of graded efforts in Kentucky, he returned to the Big Easy and hit the board in the Tenacious S. to cap his season. He'd made his 2024 bow in the GIII Louisiana S. Jan. 20, finishing third in his title defense attempt.

In addition to the $4.84-million aggregate, the average was $73,333 while the median was $41,000 with 16 horses selling for $100,000 or more with Taylor Made Sales consigning. A total of 741 potential buyers from 46 states and seven countries registered to bid, placing a total of 3,047, and averaging 46 bids per offering.

“All I can say is, 'Wow,'” said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton's Director of Digital Sales. “We have to thank the estate of Mr. Lothenbach for trusting us with this dispersal of racing stock. This is exactly what the digital platform was built for: horses and buyers from all over the country. These are phenomenal results.”

The dispersal of Lothenbach's breeding stock and yearlings will come during the Kentucky Winter Mix sale Feb. 5 to Feb. 6 with the catalogue available online.

Full results for the Lothenbach dispersal are available here.

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At Long Last, Flightline’s Full Brother Getting Closer to a Race

When Olivier (Tapit) worked a half-mile in :49.80 last week at Oaklawn Park for trainer Rodolphe Brisset there was nothing special about the breeze. It was the 45th best work at the distance out of 137 horses who went the half-mile. But it was a step in the right direction, albeit a small one, for a soon-to-be 4-year-old who can't seem to get on the right path. Barring a setback, he should make his debut some time early next year at Oaklawn. Might he finally be ready to turn things around?

That's the question and the only reason anyone wants to know the answer is that Olivier is a full-brother to 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline, who many call the horse of a lifetime. But it seems that their pedigree is about the only thing they have in common.

“He's not a horse you want to compare to Flightline,” Brisset said. “There's absolutely nothing to compare. I got pretty close to Flightline a couple of times. They are totally different horses. If you were able to put one next to the other you'd never know they are brothers. I've been around a long time and I know better. I'm not going to put pressure on myself just because I am training Flightline's brother. But that's hard to translate to people. We will see where the horse takes us and go from there.”

About four months after Flightline broke his maiden, Olivier showed up at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale where he RNA'd for $390,000. After the sale, WinStar Farm acquired a majority interest in Olivier from breeder Jane Lyon. He was sent to Brisset.

“I had the horse in training when I was at WinStar last year and then he got moved over to Keeneland,” Brisset said. “He breezed out of the gate a couple of times and he was pretty close to being ready to run. We didn't know at the time how good he might be because we hadn't tested him in the morning. Without posting some blazing fast works we thought he was showing enough where we could look for a maiden special race at a big league track.”

A minor setback derailed their plans, and Brisset had no other choice but to try to regroup and hope to get a start out of Olivier as a 4-year-old.

“Being a full brother to Flightline, we wanted to give him all the time he needed to make sure he was fresh and 100%,” Brisset said. “We had a couple more works at WinStar and then moved along to Oaklawn. He's coming along slowly but surely.

“I'm not sure when he'll have his first start. When we got him last year he was a little bit immature. He is a totally different horse than his brother. Physically, he has developed and matured the right way. But talent-wise we don't know where we're at yet. We should learn more with his next couple of works. Sometime around the beginning of the year would be a logical time frame for his first race. He's going to have to get fit and step it up time wise. We really don't know where we're at.”

At the very least he should turn out to be better than Flightline's 4-year-old half brother Voron (Pioneeof the Nile). He sold for $100,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale 2020 and is now racing in Russia. The best hope for a Flightline sibling to emulate their famous brother is the unraced 2-year-old Eagle's Flight (Curlin). Lyon had the colt entered in the Keeneland September Sale but withdrew him and will race him. Eagle's Flight has had two workouts at Santa Anita, three furlongs in :37.40 and two furlongs in :23.80. Like Flightline, he is trained by John Sadler.

Brisset said he won't be focusing on Eagle's Flight or any other siblings to Flightline that come around. He has a job to do and it is to get the very best out of Olivier.

“It's exciting to have a full-brother to Flightline but, at the same time, I'm not feeling much pressure,” he said. “Our job is to figure out this horse and not to compare him to his brother. That can be difficult to translate to the public or to the bettor. We know he is well-bred. We know he is Flightline's brother. But you have to put all of that to the side and try to figure out the horse by himself and on his own. A lot of people ask about him. He's going to turn four and has never run. We felt like he deserves a chance now to see what we have and where he will take us.”

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Federal Judge Drops The Hammer On Extra Anejo To Open Derby Card

1st-Churchill Downs, $95,885, Alw (NW1X)/Opt. Clm ($100,000), 5-6, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 1:16.08, ft, 1 length.
FEDERAL JUDGE (c, 3, Army Mule–Congarette, by Congaree) impressed in his unveiling over a quick six furlongs at Oaklawn Apr. 1, nearly going gate-to-wire in route to a 4 1/2-length win and a 97 Beyer Speed Figure. The narrow 8-5 favorite over returning 'TDN Rising Star' Extra Anejo (Into Mischief), the bay sat just off early pacesetter Olazabal (Bolt d'Oro) through a quick opening quarter in :22.09 before pouncing between rivals to take command into the far turn, going the half in :44.91. Clear from the quarter pole on, Federal Judge had more than enough of a margin built up to hold off Extra Anejo, going on to win by a measured length. His dam's first winner, Federal Judge traces back through his third dam to GISW Home At Last (Quadratic) and GSWs Niner's Home (Forty Nine) and Indy Groove (A.P. Indy). Congarette dropped a yearling Lord Nelson filly named Red Velvet Cake and foaled a colt by the Gainesway stallion Raging Bull (Fr) this year. Sales History: $40,000 Ylg '21 OBSWIN; $200,000 Ylg '21 FTKJUL. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $111,360. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-WinStar Farm LLC and Siena Farm LLC; B-Caperlane Farm (FL); T-Rodolphe Brisset.

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All Rise: Army Mule’s Federal Judge Drops the Gavel on Debut

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and Wet Paint (Blame) weren't the only 3-year-olds to impress on Oaklawn Park's loaded GI Arkansas Derby program.

WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's Federal Judge (c, 3, Army Mule–Congarette, by Congaree) announced his presence with authority on the undercard, kicking off his career for trainer Rodolphe Brisset with a razor sharp, front-running performance, good for a flashy 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

He broke sharply from post five beneath Ricardo Santana, Jr. and quickly cleared his six rivals, including a trio of older horses, at debut odds of 7-1. Taking some pressure from his outside through an opening quarter in :22.10, the bay was headed by a rival on the far turn. Federal Judge was still going strong, however, and blasted off once Santana got busy in the stretch to win going away by 4 1/2 promising lengths. The final time for six furlongs over the fast going was 1:09.87.

“Very excited with his performance and can't wait to see him run against winners and see where we go from there,” WinStar Farm President/CEO & Racing Manager Elliott Walden said.

“Rudy had told me that he worked very well with Royal Spa (Violence), who ran [ninth behind Wet Paint] in the [GIII] Fantasy, and he was encouraged by that. But I think Rudy's the kind of guy who doesn't overtrain them for their first start, so you kind of see where they really are. I was very pleased to see him run like he did because I think a lot of that's on natural ability.”

Hailing from the first crop of unbeaten GI Carter H. winner Army Mule, Federal Judge is the second foal and first to the races for two-time winner Congarette. From the same female family as GI Super Derby winner Home At Last (Quadratic) and graded winners Niner's Home (Forty Niner) and Indy Groove (A.P. Indy), Federal Judge, bred in Florida by Caperlane Farm, brought $40,000 as an OBSWIN yearling and $200,000 as a FTKJUL yearling. Army Mule, already responsible for seven black-type winners, commands a $12,500 stud fee at Hill 'n' Dale Farm.

“His dad was very talented,” Walden said. “[WinStar General Manager] David Hanley and I loved [Federal Judge] at the sale at Fasig-Tipton July. He was the one horse that we wanted to come away with. He had a setback at two and we had to take a little chip out of the top joint of his knee.”

Walden concluded, “He ran a big number–we're really excited about what lies ahead. We're moving him back to Kentucky to Rudy's stable this week, then we'll try to pick out something that makes sense either late at Keeneland or at Churchill or Belmont.”

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