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Six Share Furlong Bullet, Three Share Quarter Bullet at OBS Under-Tack Opener

A half-dozen juvenile colts and fillies shared the bullet furlong time of :9 4/5 at the first of seven under-tack preview shows for the upcoming OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Sunday.

The first to shade 10 seconds in their one-eighth breeze was Hip 87, a filly by Tapiture out of the unraced mare Youngnflashy (Flashy Bull) consigned by Grassroots Training & Sales. The filly was bought for $25,000 at Fasig-Tipton October.

Three more fillies posted :9 4/5 time shortly thereafter–Hip 121, by Speightster, consigned by Randy Miles and bought for $105,000 at Keeneland September, Hip 129, by Mor Spirit, consigned by Kings Equine, agent for Spendthrift Farm and a $25,000 Fasig-Tipton November buy, and Hip 137, by Lord Nelson, consigned by Omar Ramirez Bloodstock and a $37,000 Fasig-Tipton July pickup.

Rounding out the :9 4/5 breezers were Hip 138, an Uncaptured colt named Havnameltdown consigned by Blas Perez Stables bought for $16,000 at OBS October, and Hip 148, a More Than Ready filly consigned by Best A Luck Farm who sold for $75,000 at Keeneland September.

Three 2-year-olds shared the quarter-mile bullet time of :20 3/5, starting with Hip 150, a filly by Bolt d'Oro consigned by Sequel Bloodstock who hammered for $270,000 at Keeneland September. Matching that clocking were Hip 163, a colt by Mendelssohn consigned by Woodford Thoroughbreds who was bought for $120,000 at Keeneland September, and the final hip of the showcase, Hip 176, a Bucchero filly named Miss Bellimbusto consigned by Blue River Bloodstock.

The OBS under-tack shows continue daily through Saturday with all sessions starting at 8 a.m. The Spring Sale is set to be held Apr. 19-22.

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Injury Claims Young Sire Speightster At Age 10

Speightster, a Grade 3 winner and young sire who recently relocated to Canada, was euthanized on Feb. 6 after suffering an irreparable hind leg injury in his stall, Canadian Thoroughbred reports.

The 10-year-old son of Speightstown had relocated to Northern Dawn Stables in Hillsburgh, Ontario last month after being purchased by Ontario-based breeders Jay and Christine Hayden. Speightster stood his first four years at stud at WinStar Farm in Kentucky before moving north of the border.

From three crops of racing age, Speightster has sired 88 winners, and his combined progeny earnings exceed $5.4 million.

Speighter had already made an impression in Canada with Woodbine stakes winners Aubrieta and Dreaming of Drew. His other runners of note include stakes winners Door Buster, Tantrum, and That Kenney Kid, as well as Grade 3-placed Tough to Tame.

A homebred for WinStar Farm, Speightster won three of four career starts and earned $368,800, highlighted by a win in the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes.

New Ontario Stallion Speightster Euthanized

Speightster (Speightstown–Dance Swifty, by Danzig), who arrived late last month at Northern Dawn Farm in Hillsburgh, Ontario, to stand the 2022 breeding season, was euthanized Feb. 6 after suffering a severe injury to a hind leg while in his stall. Canadian Thoroughbred was first to break the news.

A 'TDN Rising Star', Speightster won his first three career races, including a defeat of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero Texas Red (Afleet Alex) in the GIII Dwyer S. and entered stud in 2017 at his owner's WinStar Farm. From two crops of racing age, Speightster is the sire of 90 winners–including 70 from his initial crop to the races–and five black-type winners. Among them were Dreaming of Drew and Aubrieta, both of which won stakes races at Woodbine.

Canadian Thoroughbred reported that Speightster, who was purchased to stand in the province by Jay and Christine Hayden, has been the subject of great interest from local breeders since his acquisition was announced last month.

Speightster's female family includes Sam-Son Fam luminaries Smart Strike and Dance Smartly, among others.

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Lieblong, Asmussen Maiden Winners Impress at Oaklawn

Represented by a pair of flashy 3-year-old maiden winners at Oaklawn Park, owners Alex and JoAnn Lieblong have been on quite a nice run at their hometown track the past two weekends.

Favorite Outlaw (c, 3, Maclean's Music–Coco Belle, by Storm Boot) earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure–the highest rating of any sophomore so far this season–after airing at second asking by 3 1/2 lengths for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen going six furlongs Jan. 29 (video).

“We're very pleased,” said Alex Lieblong, who heads his own investment firm in Little Rock and is also chairman of the Arkansas Racing Commission. “That's what you want to see.”

Chasing from second through a sharp opening quarter in :21.81, Favorite Outlaw turned up the heat on the far turn and blasted for home once switching over in the stretch to win with authority while stopping the timer in 1:10.68. The 4-year-old Bob's Edge (Competitive Edge) covered the same distance in 1:10.50 three races later on the card while capturing the King Cotton S. Favorite Outlaw previously just got nipped by a nose after leading in the stretch on debut from the tricky one post at the same distance in Hot Springs Dec. 31.

“One thing I've learned about Steve, it doesn't take him long to decide if one is a sprinter or a router,” Lieblong said. “He wanted to nominate him for the Triple Crown and I said, 'OK, go ahead. If you think you could get him around two turns, it's going to get interesting.'”

Lieblong continued, “If you look at him, the thing that gets me, he's still such a baby. You think he'd be muscled up a little bit more, but he's not yet. He's a nice nice-looking horse, just not as defined as you would've thought by now, which is fine. Steve is doing a good job not pushing on him and just letting him do his thing. After we bought him, he spent part of the summer back down in Ocala at Bo Hunt's just to let him grow up a little bit.”

Favorite Outlaw brought $350,000 from the Lieblongs at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old sale [breezed an eighth in :10], the fourth-most expensive of 24 juveniles to change hands by Maclean's Music in the ring last year. In addition to training the exceptionally fast Maclean's Music during his abbreviated racing career, Asmussen also campaigns the Hill 'n' Dale stallion's three-time Grade I winner Jackie's Warrior.

“Of course, it wasn't hard to talk Steve into a Maclean's Music,” Lieblong said with a laugh. “If you watch his [breeze] video, he didn't go in a straight line and bear down and he still had a quick time. If he ran straight, it would've been a lot quicker.”

Bred in Kentucky by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, Inc, Favorite Outlaw, an Apr. 26 foal, previously brought $12,000 as a KEENOV weanling and also RNA'd for $14,000 as a KEESEP yearling. Produced by the speedy Storm Boot mare Coco Belle, a three-time stakes winner and graded stakes-placed all around one turn, Favorite Outlaw is a half-brother to SW Cofactor (The Factor) and SP Coco Tiger (Twirling Candy). He is bred on a similar cross as Maclean's Music's GIII Gulfstream Park Sprint S. winner Classic Rock. Coco Belle brought a mere $11,000 from Gary and Mary West advisor Ben Glass at the 2020 KEENOV sale.

“If you look at his pedigree, I guess you'd say it leans toward the sprinting side,” said Lieblong, who has campaigned GISWs such as Embellish the Lace, The Big Beast and Wicked Whisper. “But that's what they said about Cigar and grass, too, so you just don't know.”

Hot and Sultry (f, 3, Speightster–Hot Water, by Medaglia d'Oro) also carried the Lieblongs blue-and-white silks to a razor sharp victory at second asking for Asmussen, swatting away pressure and graduating in front-running fashion by 3 3/4 lengths with an 89 Beyer Speed Figure going six furlongs at Oaklawn Jan. 23 (video). Like the aforementioned Favorite Outlaw, Hot and Sultry was a strong second on debut after drawing the dreaded one hole in the Oaklawn mud Dec. 18.

Bred in Kentucky by Cobalt Investments, LLC, the $475,000 KEESEP yearling purchase was the most expensive of 43 yearlings sold from the second crop of Speightster, who was relocated to Ontario for the 2022 breeding season. Out of the unraced Medaglia d'Oro mare Hot Water, Hot and Sultry is a half-sister to SW & GSP Tracksmith (Street Sense) and SP Tortuga (Bodemeister). Hot and Sultry's third dam is GISW and champion 3-year-old filly Xtra Heat (Dixieland Heat).

“She's just a gorgeous filly,” Lieblong said. “It was hard to hide her at the sale. Paying that much for a Speightster was probably not advisable, but just on her appearance and coming from a good consignor [Bluewater Sales], that marked all the boxes for us. We have always thought a lot of her.”

Looking ahead with his pair of promising 3-year-olds, Lieblong concluded, “Those two races [for Favorite Outlaw and Hot and Sultry] were pretty similar in a lot of ways. They both did it the way you want to and both came out of it good. We're tickled pink.”

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