HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – A day after a well-attended breeze show and a day ahead of sale time, shoppers were out in force at the Fasig-Tipton sales barns at Gulfstream Park on a brilliantly sunny Tuesday morning.
“It's been very steady,” consignor Steve Venosa of SGV Thoroughbreds said as he watched his popular Practical Joke filly (hip 63) head out for another show Tuesday morning. “We started with our first show roughly around 8 a.m. and it's been non-stop for the last three hours. The usual faces are here and there are a few new ones, which is always pleasant to see.”
Venosa said the Gulfstream sale, which will be held in the track's paddock beginning at 2 p.m. Wednesday, is always a major stop on the calendar for his consignment.
“I think this is the best place to sell a 2-year-old in the world,” Venosa said. “It's a great surface and Fasig-Tipton is a world-class company. The weather is beautiful and I think the sale has been well-received with the amount of people that are here. This is the most important horse sale that I go to. Every year.”
Of the absence of some key consignors, Venosa added, “I am surprised. Because I think, by the amount of people who were here at the breeze show yesterday, and with the state of the market, people want to buy and it's unfortunate they didn't show up. But hopefully the people who are here are going to be rewarded for their efforts.”
Torie and Jimbo Gladwell, whose Top Line Sales had a seven-figure sale at the OBS March sale two weeks ago, will look to keep the momentum going with a three-horse consignment at Gulfstream.
“We always try to bring five or six to Gulfstream,” Torie Gladwell said. “A couple of clients had a few cross-entered into March and April and we lost one or two. And we ended up with three down here. So it's a typical consignment for us.”
Following Monday's breeze show, consignor Ciaran Dunne of Wavertree Stables described the importance of the Gulfstream sale with its South Florida backdrop and proximity to high-class racing both encouraging buyers to dream big.
“We're selling the dream,” Dunne said.
Gladwell echoed those sentiments Tuesday.
“I think we definitely need to continue this sale down here,” she said. “It's such a great market. A lot of these buyers that come from overseas just really like the atmosphere here and come down with big clients and big owners. It's a sale that we need to continue. Boyd and the Fasig team do a great job entertaining and offering all the hospitality.”
Top Line Sales was represented during Monday's breeze show with a colt by City of Light (hip 100) who worked the furlong in a co-second fastest :9 4/5.
“The track was great yesterday,” Gladwell said. “Horses seemed to go a little faster. They were getting across it a little easier than in previous years. The gallop-outs were faster and they came back not blowing and not as tired.”
Of activity at the barns Tuesday, Gladwell said, “It's been steady. The majority of the big buyers are here. There are some middle-market buyers who are showing up, so I think it's going to be a good market overall. The trainers haven't shown up yet, but I expect they'll come after training hours later today.”
Among the trainers at the barns late Tuesday morning were Bob Baffert, along with bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, as well as Simon Callaghan and agent Ben McElroy, Dale Romans and Gustavo Delgado. Representatives from Stonestreet, Spendthrift and WinStar Farms and major buyer Larry Best were busy shopping, as were agents Pete Bradley, Deuce Greathouse, Fabricio Buffolo, John Dowd, Dennis O'Neill, Jaime Hill, Conor Foley, Justin Casse, Raime Lightner, Joe Brocklebank and Patrick Lawley-Wakelin.
Hoby Kight was enjoying the view from the Hartley/de Renzo Thoroughbreds consignment as a Medaglia d'Oro colt (hip 88) he purchased for $225,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale made repeated trips from the barn to shows Tuesday morning.
“According to my consignors, they said he's been very popular and he's been out all morning,” Kight said with a smile.
Of the colt's appeal as a yearling, Kight said, “I loved his angles. As a 2-year-old guy, you want to buy a horse that you are able to see something that in the future is going to be good, something that for whatever reason, the big guys didn't go for. That's what we do. Everybody sees the obvious horse, but we have to buy the potential.”
The dark bay colt, who worked a furlong in :10 flat Monday, is the second horse Kight has bought for clients Marvin Boyd and Charlie Allen.
“They bought one a couple of years ago and it turned out good,” Kight said. “So this is the second horse they've had with me to do this. I bought the horse [hip 88] and they bought him from me within five minutes.”
Kight agreed the Gulfstream sale was an important stop on the juvenile sales season, particularly because of the Hallandale oval's dirt track.
“It's phenomenal,” he said of the sales results. “You look at all the great horses who have come out of this sale, per number, it's unbelievable.
He continued, “First of all, it's the dirt. There isn't any faking it. They are what they are. It separates them out. I have a couple of other horses for people scattered around because I am a full-fledged supporter of a good dirt horse sale. I believe in it. For what I do, I buy a horse who is always going to be a Corvette. At OBS, they all go fast. On the dirt, you can't do that.”
Danzel Brendemuehl's Classic Bloodstock consignment at Gulfstream includes a colt by Nyquist (hip 62) who worked a furlong in :9 4/5.
“It's been pretty busy,” Brendemuehl said of activity at her sales barn Tuesday. “Especially with just two horses, it's been steady and I've gone through most of my cards already. All of the right people are here. This sale has been a good sale and Boyd and Fasig have taken care of us over the years. We come because of that. The right buyers are always here. They did a great job on the breeze show. They kept the track in great shape. We were lucky the wind died down and we didn't have to deal with that like we did last year.”
Susan Montanye of SBM Training and Sales saw plenty to be optimistic about ahead of Wednesday's sale.
“It looks like there are a lot of people here,” she said. “I think everybody who needs to be here is here. It's beautiful weather and it looked like it was a great breeze show. The track was great. So I think it will be a successful sale for a lot of people. Just from the looks of it, people are here to buy.”
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