Law Professor Tops Fasig-Tipton March Digital Sale at $230,000

The Fasig-Tipton March Digital Sale closed Tuesday evening with 66 horses sold for $2,011,200. The catalogue featured horses of racing age, breeding stock, and yearlings.

Law Professor (Constitution), a 6-year-old horse of racing age, sold for $230,000 to JTH Racing to top the sale. Offered as Hip 4 by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, he was a winner in his last two starts, earning a career-high Beyer Speed Figure last out Feb. 23. Law Professor is a four-time stakes winner, including the GII Santa Anita Mathis Mile S., and was runner up to Life Is Good in the GI Woodward S. To date, Law Professor has eight wins, two seconds, and three thirds from 22 career starts and has earned $1,004,565.

Other top sellers included:

Queens Command (Ire) (War Command) (Hip 11), a 5-year-old racing/broodmare prospect sold for $200,000 to Shannon Potter, agent for Town and Country Racing and George Saufley, from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent. A winner in Ireland and the United States, Queens Command was runner up in the GIII Santa Ana S. in her most recent start Feb. 24.

Cairo Sugar (Cairo Prince) (Hip 27), a stakes winner, sold for $200,000 to SF Bloodstock LLC from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent. Offered as a broodmare prospect, Cairo Sugar is a daughter of MGISW Spun Sugar and is a half-sister to the dams of graded stakes winner Best Actor and stakes winner Arham.

Bless America (Into Mischief) (Hip 25), a 4-year-old horse of racing sale sold for $145,000 to MV from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent. Bless America has won or placed in all three of his career starts, breaking his maiden in maiden special weight company in his most recent start Feb. 24.

“It was a very solid sale,” said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton's Director of Digital Sales. “It was a workmanlike sale. Six horses brought six figures or more and the market was very fair.”

Overall, 66 horses sold for $2,011,200, good for an average of $30,472.

Full results are available online.

The next Fasig-Tipton Digital sale will be the April Digital Sale, which opens for bidding on Thursday, Apr. 4 and closes on Tuesday, Apr. 9.

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Frank Taylor Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Frank Taylor, the director of new business and development for Taylor Made, knew that there was an acute labor shortage in Kentucky, with farms unable to find reliable help. But Taylor thought he had a solution. Identify those who were struggling with substance abuse problems, put them into a recovery program and, when they are ready, teach them horsemanship skills that can make them candidates for jobs throughout the industry. Thus, Taylor created Stable Recovery, a rehabilitation program, and the Taylor Made School of Horsemanship.

What he didn't know at the time was whether or not farms would be willing to take a chance on individuals that had been in prison and/or struggled with drug addiction. He soon found out. His programs have been embraced in the Lexington area and several graduates have landed steady jobs and have moved on to meaningful lives.

Taylor joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to talk about his programs and their many success stories. He was this week's Green Group Guest of the week.

Taylor said he arrived at the idea of starting the program when confronting his own alcoholism.

“Once I did it and quit, I started feeling better,” he said. “I was having more fun than I've ever had. It was that that kind of spurred me on to start the School of Horsemanship. It was going to be a 90-day program to teach the basics of horsemanship, to get people started off at, say, a groom level, either for Taylor Made or another farm. I had kind of a tough sales job. I went to my brothers and said, 'I've got this idea, I want to bring in a bunch of heroin addicts and alcoholics and felons in here to work with these horses.' They were looking at me like I had two heads. I just wanted a chance to make it work. They were reluctant because there were a lot of concerns. But here we are, 3 1/2 years into it. We have had a hiccup here or there, but not many. I really think we have changed a lot of lives. We've introduced a lot of people to the horse business and trained a lot of people. The results have been amazing.”

The program has been so successful that Taylor would like to expand, but, for now, it's a matter of one step at a time.

“If we wanted to have 500 people in this program by the end of the year, that wouldn't be a problem,” he said. “We need the space, money and management. The need for something like this is way beyond what we can serve at this point and always will be. It's just such a crisis and a terrible situation. It's destroying society, is destroying families. It's just absolutely one of the worst epidemics in the history of mankind. The beautiful thing is, is we have that huge problem and that we have a huge problem with labor in this country. If you blend those two together, they can help solve each other.”

It's been proven that working with horses can solve all kinds of problems for people, whether that be soldiers suffering from PTSD or individuals with drug issues. Taylor knows that the horses deserve a lot of the credit for the success of these programs.

“The horses, they are like the secret sauce for stable recovery,” Taylor said. “That's something we have that other recovery places don't have. I was born into the horse business and I love horses and they're my passion. But I didn't really realize how therapeutic horses were or understand that part of it until I started seeing people that are broken interacting with those horses and seeing the peace and joy that comes to them immediately. It's just an amazing thing.”

In the stallion spotlight segments, the podcast featured Coolmore's Corniche, who stands for just $15,000. The focus was also on Improbable, who stands at WinStar Farm for a fee of $15,000.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association,https://www.kentuckybred.org/https://www.nyrabets.com/ 1/ST Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, https://www.winstarfarm.com/and XBTV.com, the team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and Zoe Cadman delved back into the Bob Baffert ban at Churchill Downs, which also extends to the GI Kentucky Oaks, which means the impressive winner of the GIII Las Virgenes S. Kinza (Carpe Diem) will be shut out. Moss agreed that the Derby week races might deserve an asterisk if Baffert's horses are all banned, but he argued that it's not too late for Churchill to change its mind and to lift the Baffert ban. The team took a look at the GII Risen Star S., to be run this Saturday at the Fair Grounds and all agreed it will be by far the deepest Derby prep run so far this year.

For the podcast video, click here. For audio only, click here.

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With Breeding Season Right Ahead, Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale Opens Monday

The Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale, which gives breeders one last chance to buys mares at auction before the breeding season opens later this month, begins its two-day run at Newtown Paddocks Monday morning with the first of 300 catalogued hips scheduled to head into the sales ring at 10 a.m. A further 235 head have been catalogued for Tuesday's second session, which is largely dominated by supplemented offerings from the dispersal of the late Robert Lothenbach's Lothenbach Stables.

The auction added some late fire power to its catalogue Sunday when Zetta Z (Bernardini) (hip 536) was supplemented to the catalogue a day after her sophomore son Nysos (Nyquist) dominated the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita. The 14-year-old broodmare, who is in foal to Cyberknife, will be offered through the Grovendale Sales consignment.

“Nysos has been brilliant in each of his starts,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “His numbers lead all 3-year-old colts and his potential is unlimited. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to offer his dam, who is in foal to the exciting first-year stallion Cyberknife.”

The winter mixed sale brings a close to a season of breeding stock auctions which featured plenty of money for top offerings and a mixed reception for horses under that level. Consignors expect those same trends to continue this week in Lexington.

“I think it will be the same as all of them,” said Vinery Sales' Derek MacKenzie. “The top will be strong, the bottom probably not so much and the middle, probably a little polarized back and forth. The catalogue is smaller than it has been and with this big group of Lothenbach horses getting added, thinking positively, I think it will be a good sale.”

Vinery and Taylor Made Sales Agency will each be consigning horses as part of the dispersal, which will bring increased interest to the winter catalogue.

“It's been a few years now and not quite this quality, but when we had the Rockin' Z dispersal a few years ago at this sale, I remember, it really drew a lot of people in,” MacKenzie said. “And this one should bring even more.”

Taylor Made's Marshall Taylor agreed the buying bench at Fasig-Tipton might be deeper this year due to the dispersal.

“Anytime there is a dispersal, the first thing that people think of is 'no reserve' and opportunity is the first word that comes to your mind as a buyer, especially when you look at the type of roster that Mr. Lothenbach and his team accumulated and what they've got on the roster. That drives people to the sale. So I think you're going to see a lot more people at the sale than traditionally come to the February sale because of the dispersal.”

Its placement directly ahead of the opening of the breeding season gives the Winter sale a pivotal spot on the calendar.

“If you look at the February sale from the past, it's always a really solid, good sale,” Taylor said. “I think every year, you see these young fillies selling well, young fillies with page or a little bit of race record. They tend to really sell well because I think everyone is looking for a nice young mare to breed.”

MacKenzie said, “I think it is good timing. A lot of these mares that are empty are maidens that can go straight to the breeding shed almost. So, they don't have carrying costs. The timing is probably perfect.”

During last year's Winter Mixed sale, 402 horses sold for $14,105,200 for an average of $35,088 and a median of $15,000. The broodmare prospect Lemieux (Nyquist) topped the auction when selling for $400,000 to Nice Guys Stables. Bred to Not This Time just after the auction, she produced her first foal, a colt, Jan. 26.

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Lothenbach Dispersal a Unique Opportunity for Buyers

This year's renewal of the Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale will have extra appeal to buyers with the addition of the dispersal of the late Robert Lothenbach's breeding stock. The dispersal's offerings, most of whom were supplemented to the auction's catalogue, will be handled by Vinery Sales and Taylor Made Sales Agency. Both consignors emphasized what a unique opportunity the dispersal represented.

“Mr. Lothenbach was a great ambassador for racing and he strictly bred to race,” Vinery's Derek MacKenzie said. “He also bought a lot of nice yearlings over the years for racing. And so, none of these families–especially some that go back three and four generations–have ever been on the market. There is soundness and plenty of talent within these families. Under unfortunate circumstances, they are available to the public.”

Lothenbach, who passed away in November, was among the leading owners in North America for nearly three decades. Over the last 23 years, his Lothenbach Stables celebrated more than 800 wins and earned more than $30 million. He was a top 10-ranked owner nationally in 2020 and 2022.

“He is one of the few guys who bred to race exclusively in this era,” MacKenzie said.

Among Vinery's 46 offerings from the dispersal are a pair of mares who won graded stakes in the Lothenbach colors.

Bell's the One (Majesticperfection) (hip 476) won the 2020 GI Derby City Distaff S., the 2021 GII Honorable Miss H. and GII Thoroughbred Club of America S. and the 2019 GII Lexus Raven Run S. She was third in the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint.

The hard-knocking mare hit the board in 21 of 27 races–including three runnings of the GI Madison S.–with 13 wins and earnings of $2,000,675.

“Any international buyer that is seriously playing at the top level would want to have this mare,” MacKenzie said. “She was such a good race filly for so long and she looks fantastic right now. They can take her straight to the shed and breed her to whoever they want. I've got to think she appeals to every continent.”

The 8-year-old mare, who RNA'd for $2.6 million at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton November sale, was bred to Flightline last year, but sells not in foal after aborting in September.

“I was a farm manager for a long time before I got into the sales side and a lot of maidens slip their first ones and never have an issue the rest of their career,” MacKenzie said. “I've seen it a lot. So it's not a worry at all for me. I think anyone with experience with broodmares knows it shouldn't be any kind of issue and she'll be fine going forward.”

Vinery's offerings also include She Can't Sing (Bernardini) (hip 485), winner of the 2022 GIII Chilukki S. The 7-year-old broodmare prospect raced 39 times in her career, hitting the board 22 times and earning $883,558.

“What a beautiful mare,” MacKenzie said of She Can't Sing. “She ran hard for a while and she's by the right sire in Bernardini, a great broodmare sire. And she has leg and scope. She is taller than most Bernardinis. Again, she should fit any continent, any kind of top-level breeder should take a hard look at trying to get her.”

Beyond the pair of graded-stakes winning mares, MacKenzie said he thinks there is plenty to appeal to buyers in the dispersal as the breeding season looms.

“There is a group of maiden fillies coming off the racetrack that are pretty interesting that have good looks and talent,” he said. “And there are a couple other younger broodmares in foal to the right sires. So it's going to be a strong showing.”

Taylor Made Sales Agency got the Lothenbach dispersal started with a week-long digital offering of 76 horses of racing age which opened Monday and closes Friday. During the Winter Mixed sale next week, the consignment will include 19 short yearlings, all bred by Lothenbach.

“I think they represent a really good opportunity right now,” Marshall Taylor said of the offerings. “You look down there at all those pedigrees and who they are by, pedigrees that nobody has really had an opportunity to buy into and then it's a group of very good stallions that Mr. Lothenbach bred to. Normally, you get down to this point and you've got the February sale and there are only so many [yearlings] in the sale. So to have this opportunity with some of the stallions that Mr. Lothenbach bred to, it's a huge opportunity.”

After a competitive foal market, next week's Winter Mixed sale offers buyers a final chance to buy short yearlings at public auction this year.

“I think the foal market, now short yearling, market has been so strong,” Taylor said. “You look at November and it was really hard to buy. The good foals were bringing a lot of money and selling very well. That carried on to January. So having this dispersal with these short yearlings, I think there is going to be a strong market for them. I think there are a lot of people out there that still want to buy a good baby by a good stallion. And I think all of that is just going to carry over to this sale.”

With the digital portion of the dispersal in full swing, Taylor said he was seeing plenty of interest for the horses of racing age this week and requests for information on many of those horses' siblings who will be on offer on-site at Fasig-Tipton next week.

“Right now, we just started the racehorse dispersal [Monday], so there has been a lot of interest there,” Taylor said. “We've had a lot of calls on the short yearlings, too. People calling us asking what they look like, a lot of different pinhookers have been asking about them. Mr. Lothenbach has a lot of nice horses in the digital sale and a lot of these babies are half-siblings.”

From the digital sale through the Winter sale, Taylor kept coming back to that word–opportunity.

“From an overall picture on all of Mr. Lothenbach's offerings,  from the mares, to the racehorses, to the babies–especially with the fillies–to have the opportunity to buy into these families is a rare thing. Mr. Lothenbach was a straight breed-to-race guy and nobody has ever had the opportunity to buy into these families. He has a lot of nice families, so there are going to be some big opportunities.”

The Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale will be held next Monday and Tuesday at Newtown Paddocks. Both sessions of the auction begin at 10 a.m.

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