Tristan de Meric | Horse Racing Free Tips

Third Session of OBS April Ends With a Bang

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis

OCALA, FL–Action started off measured at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale's third session Thursday, but picked up noticeably throughout the day, capped by a $1.7-million Tapit colt purchased by Lane's End Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds. Hip 885 was the fourth seven-figure seller of the sale so far.

There were a few new faces buying in the top end Thursday with Christine and Phil Hatfield's CHP Racing purchasing a $870,000 son of Into Mischief (Hip 844); trainer Cherie DeVaux securing a $685,000 City of Light (Hip 895) colt on behalf of a new colt-buying group; and Lauren Carlisle snagging a $650,000 Kingman (GB) (Hip 904) filly for brand new owner Rich Schermerhorn.

While leading sires Tapit and Into Mischief headlined the day's action, freshman sires continued to make a strong showing. In addition to the aforementioned City of Light, Bolt d'Oro, Army Mule, Tapwrit and Good Magic all had juveniles bring $400,000 or over.

Eddie Woods, who consigned the session topper, led all sellers Thursday with seven head bringing just north of $3,005,000. Niall Brennan, who sold both the previously mentioned Into Mischief colt and Kingman filly, also had a strong day, coming in second with six horses selling for $2,382,000.

Through the first three days of selling, 538 horses have brought $72,814,500 with an average of $135,343 and median of $70,000. There were 106 juveniles led from the ring unsold for an RNA rate of 16.5%.

During the equivalent three sessions last year, 557 2-year-olds grossed $54,811,900 with an average of $98,406 and median of $47,000. There were 79 horses that failed to sell for an RNA rate of 12.4%.

“The market is very good,” Brennan said. “Obviously, people are still focused on quality. They do their homework. Anything that is genuinely nice and shows up that way on the racetrack and vets good, sells very well. You have to jump through a lot of hoops. You are very exposed in the 2-year-old market. So, when you get through everything, you are very well rewarded. It is difficult, but when you have the right product, they sell well. If you have something that just misses the bullseye, you are going to struggle.”

Ciaran Dunne expressed similar sentiments, saying, “It is very spotty. We have obviously had a couple bright spots, but in between can be shaky. It is the nature of our game. We are so exposed between breezing, showing and vetting. There are a lot of hurdles they have to go over, but if you clear them all, you are well rewarded.”

The fourth and final session of the OBS Spring Sale starts at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

Tapit Colt Takes Off at OBS

A colt by Tapit (hip 885) became the fourth seven-figure juvenile of the OBS Spring sale when bringing a final bid of $1.7 million from West Point Thoroughbreds' Terry Finley Thursday in Ocala. The juvenile was purchased by West Point in partnership with Lane's End Racing.

“We are looking for stallion in that partnership,” Finley, who did his bidding out back alongside David Ingordo, explained. “A good number of the people in this partnership have equity in [GI Malibu S. winner] Flightline (Tapit), so everybody is excited. The economy is doing well and the horse market at the top end is really doing well.”

The colt is out of Pension (Seeking the Gold) and is a full-brother to GII Adirondack S. winner Thoughtfully, as well as a half to graded winner Annual Report (Harlan's Holiday).

West Point purchased the colt's half-brother Bugle Notes (Ghostzapper) for $825,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September sale.

“We had a half-brother who could really, really run and just got unlucky and took a bad step one day,” Finley said. “But I think he might have been among the most talented of all of our horses. That was in the back of our mind [when we were bidding today.]”

Shug McGaughey will train the youngster, who was consigned by Eddie Woods on behalf of his breeder, Antony Beck's Gainesway.
Gainesway, which purchased Pension for $160,000 at the 2008 Keeneland November sale, traditionally offers its foal crop at the yearling sales.

“We had quite a few Tapits on offer last year and the horse was a little bit immature,” Gainesway's Brian Graves said of the decision to send the colt to the 2-year-old sales. “To be honest with you, like some immature yearlings, some of the feedback we were getting on him was that he might not bring a price that would make the boss happy. Just the way the yearling sales have been for a while, he's a horse who would have ended up in Book 1 because he had a beautiful pedigree. So we just decided to give him some more time. He was a beautiful-moving horse and we thought worth a shot.”

The Gainesway team received positive feedback from Eddie Woods and expectations rose even higher after the colt worked a quarter-mile in :20 4/5.

“We didn't really have expectations when we sent him to Eddie,” Graves said. “Eddie is not a guy who overinflates things. He is a tough guy to please. So when he started giving reports on the horse, we thought we might have something. Then when he breezed and galloped out among the fastest horses in the sale, we knew he was something. I would be lying if I said we didn't think about racing him and hopefully stand him in a stallion stall one day, but there was a lot of competition for him and we are elated with this result.”

Graves concluded, “We take our yearlings to the market to sell, but if they don't want them or if it's brutally unfair, as opposed to giving them away, this is what we decided to do and it paid off.” @JessMartiniTDN

More Mischief at OBS

Not a horse sale goes by these days without Into Mischief's name among the toppers and a colt by the Spendthrift super sire (Hip 844) was in high demand Thursday, summoning $870,000 from Christine and Phil Hatfield's CHP Racing. The Hatfields did their bidding over the phone with OBS's Tom Ventura.

Purchased by Park View Stable for $180,000 at KEESEP, the bay breezed in :10 1/5 for consignor Niall Brennan.

“People just gravitated to him the last couple of days,” Brennan said. “We felt he would sell well. You never for sure how high they will go. He has stallion potential and that is what they are looking for now with these colts.”

Bred by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Farm, Hip 844, who was given the name Hazing by his breeder, is out of No Curfew (Curlin). She is a daughter of one of Lyon's foundation mares, SW & GSP Misty Hour (Miswaki), who has produced the likes of GSW India (Hennessy), dam of MG1SW Mozu Ascot (Frankel {GB}) and SW Kareena (Medaglia d'Oro); SW Pilfer (Deputy Minister), dam of GISWs To Honor and Serve (Bernardini) and Angela Renee (Bernardini); and SW & GSP Sing Softly (Hennessy).

“He was raised right from the start,” Brennan said. “The sire is magic. This horse is just a wonderful representation of him. He is so typical of the sire. He is durable. He is tough. He is a great mover on the racetrack. He's got great balance and strength and vetted very clean.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

Shadwell Private Purchases Prove Popular

A Shadwell Farm-bred Medaglia d'Oro colt (Hip 709) consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables was the second private purchase from the late Sheikh Hamdan's operation to attract a big price tag at OBS April, summoning $650,000 from BBA Ireland, which bid over the internet. Late in Wednesday's session, a Nyquist filly, who Barry Eisaman privately purchased from Shadwell, brought $700,000 from D.J. Stable.

“We have to give a lot of the credit to Steve Young,” said Dunne. “He talked us into going out [to Shadwell] to look at the horse. He was very high on him. We bought him when we were up there for the October Sale at Fasig-Tipton. He's just a nice horse. He was a little later developing. We took him down to Gulfstream, but we felt the extra couple weeks would do him good, so we decided to wait and bring him here. He is the type of horse where the best is yet to come.”

Out of the unraced Tapit mare Mahasen, Hip 709 is a half to recent Weber City Miss S. runner-up Khuluq (Bernardini), trained by Chad Brown for Shadwell. The :10 1/5 breezer's second dam is SW Muhaawara (Unbridled's Song), who also produced GSW Shagaf (Bernardini). His third dam is MGISW Habibti (Tabasco Cat).

“We liked everything about him really,” said BBA Ireland's Michael Donohoe, who returned to Ireland Wednesday. “He is a magnificent-looking colt, a nice blend of both his sire and dam sire. He breezed exceptionally well for a big, two-turn type colt. His pedigree was appealing and the update with his sister helped. So, all in all, we couldn't really fault him.”

The future plans for the colt are still undecided, but Donohoe indicated he could remain in the United States.

“I purchased him for a client who has a number of horses in Europe and the Middle East and one 2-year-old has just gone to California. So, I will try to convince my client to send the colt to Santa Anita to target those stakes 2-year-old races during the fall meet.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

New Colt-Buying Group Makes Their Presence Felt

Partnerships focused on buying Classic-looking colts are increasingly popular these days and a new group showed themselves at OBS Thursday. Trainer Cherie DeVaux struck on behalf of a group of her clients to acquire a $685,000 colt by City of Light (Hip 895).

“A couple of my clients put together a partnership to get a few really nice quality colts, who looked like they could go a route of ground,” said DeVaux, who signed the ticket alongside her husband, bloodstock agent David Ingordo. “This colt fit the profile of what we were looking for. We budgeted a bit less, but the market is really strong. To try and get these types of colts, we realize we are going to have to stretch for what we want.”

Hailing from the first crop of popular MGISW City of Light, Hip 895 breezed in :10 1/5 for Mayberry Farm. He is the second purchase of the sale for DeVaux's new group, which also bought a $385,000 colt by Upstart (Hip 135) during Tuesday's opening session.

“This is City of Light's first crop to hit the track and there has been a lot of buzz,” DeVaux said. “They are beautiful horses. He had a beautiful physical and really great breeze with a nice gallop out. He seems to be coming into his own and is a horse we have followed at Mayberry Farm. He is going the right way.”

Bred by Windylea Farm–New York, albeit in Kentucky, Hip 895 is out of SP Pleasant Mine (Mineshaft). This is also the family of GISW Swagger Jack and GSW Tap Dance. The dark bay was purchased by a Mayberry client, PSS Stable, for $170,000 at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale.

“He's been wonderful,” April Mayberry said. “I loved him from the start. He's been so cool and classy. He just does everything right.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

De Merics Find Homebred Success

De Meric Sales has enjoyed plenty of pinhooking success this week in Ocala, but Tristan and Valery de Meric hit it out of the park with a homebred son of Bolt d'Oro (hip 899) late in Thursday's third session of the OBS Spring sale. Out of Polyester (Tiz Wonderful), the first mare the couple owned, the colt sold for $675,000 to the partnership of Laurie Plesa, Leon Ellman and Glassman Racing. He was co-bred with France and Irwin Weiner.

The de Merics purchased Polyester for $90,000 as an 8-year-old at the 2018 Keeneland January sale.

“This was the first mare we owned,” Tristan de Meric explained. “The reason we owned her is because Val had a dream to have a mare in foal to Quality Road and she was the only one in the sale. We ended up buying her five years ago now. She hadn't had a winner at that time. But she's five-for-five now.”

The mare's Quality Road filly, named In a Dream, made three starts and broke her maiden last June at Indiana Grand. She returned to the de Merics' Ocala base and is currently in foal to Upstart. The mare has also been represented by graded stakes winner Harpers First Ride (Paynter).

Polyester, in foal to Authentic, was sold for $250,000 at this year's Keeneland January sale.

“It's hard enough to buy a horse like that, let alone breed one,” de Meric said of Thursday's result. “It's unbelievable.”

He agreed there was a little extra pride in having bred a sales horse.

“We are always attached to our horses, we are guilty of that,” he said. “But you don't get as attached to a horse when you buy it as when you breed them. When we buy them, there is a period of time we own them and it's usually six to 10 months, but having this one and seeing him when he was a day old over at Ocala Stud when they foaled him, we knew when we saw those angles and we saw him stand up, this was a special horse. To watch him develop and have the crew on the farm play with him all summer, it was very special.”

Polyester had good company on the de Merics' farm last summer. The only other mare on the property was Simply Confection (Candy Ride {Arg}), whose colt Simplification, bred by the Weiners, heads to the GI Kentucky Derby in two weeks.

Asked if he and his wife expected to get more involved in the breeding industry, de Meric said, “We are all in. I don't want to ever have more than five or six mares, but I love having the mares. Val does, too.”

He continued, “We do race. We offered a few people to keep a piece of him to go on and race because we do race more and more. But as a rule, we are sellers and we will always put them on the market.”

Hip 899 will be the second foal out of Polyester to race for Karl and Cathi Glassman, who purchased her son Klugman (Practical Joke) for $140,000 at the 2020 OBS October Yearling Sale. A 13-length maiden winner at Gulfstream in February, the 3-year-old won an allowance at Gulfstream just before the Glassmans began bidding on his half-brother Thursday.

“We fully own Klugman,” Karl Glassman said. “But this colt is a partnership between Laurie Plesa, Leon Ellman and Glassman Racing. Eddie Plesa will train him, so he will stay in Florida.”

Of the colt's final price, Glassman admitted, “This was a bit more than we expected. Obviously two other people really liked him, but we were going to leave with him.” @JessMartiniTDN

Upstate NY Native Jumps into the Game With Juvenile Purchases

Real estate developer Rich Schermerhorn has lived just north of Saratoga his entire life, but only attended the races for the first time last year and now he's hooked. He jumped right into ownership at OBS this week with a trio of purchases led by a $650,000 Kingman (GB) filly (Hip 904). Bloodstock agent Lauren Carlisle bid on Schermerhorn's behalf.

“I am new to this game,” said a jubilant Schermerhorn, who hopes to be racing at Saratoga this summer with his new purchases. “I am a real estate developer and I have lived 20 miles north of Saratoga my whole life. I went to the track for the first time last year and now I own six or seven 2-year-olds. I purchased three here, two solo and partnered on this one. I live across the street from Chad Brown. I feel Chad Brown is the best in the world. He is taking on anything I buy. There is more to come and I am looking forward to it.”

Consigned by Niall Brennan, Hip 904 was bred in Ireland by Demers Bloodstock and was scratched from the Tattersalls October Sale. The :10 flat breezer is out of Post Perfection (Majesticperfection), who is a half-sister to GSW Hello Liberty (Forest Camp) and SW & GSP Pious Ashley (Include). This is also the family of recent GIII Providencia S. winner and GI Starlet S. runner-up Cairo Memories (Cairo Prince).

“There is only one trainer fit for this horse. We knew that,” said Carlisle. “When she breezed, I got goosebumps. Her gallop out was great and she had a great presence at the barn.”

As for the price, she said, “That is what we expected. In this market it has been extremely hard to buy the ones you are high on.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

Cairo Prince Filly to Sadler

A filly by Cairo Prince (hip 839) will be joining the Southern California barn of trainer John Sadler after selling to the fledgling partnership between Gary Hartunian's Rockingham Ranch and Mike Talla for $575,000 at OBS Thursday. Bloodstock agent Kim Lloyd signed the ticket on the filly, who worked a furlong in :9 4/5 last week for Hal Hatch's Halcyon Hammock Farm.

“A Cairo Prince [Cairo Memories] just won a Grade III at Santa Anita, 1 1/8 miles on the turf [Providencia S.] and this filly looks like she'd love that,” Lloyd said. “We showed her to Rockingham Ranch and Mike Talla saw the video and said he wanted in. She'll go to California to John Sadler.”

The gray filly is out of the unraced Nippy (Pulpit) and is a half-sister to graded winner Gibberish (Lea) and from the family of graded winner Well Monied and Economic Model.

“She has a beautiful shoulder and balance and then, oh by the way, she's very, very fast,” Lloyd said of the filly's appeal.

Hip 839 was Lloyd's second purchase this week on behalf of the partnership. He also acquired a filly by West Coast (hip 507) for $250,000 Wednesday.

“He has some horses with us, just a few 2-year-olds,” Lloyd said of Talla. “[The partnership] is new this year.”

Bred by Dell Ridge Farm, hip 839 was purchased by Hatch for $62,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“She looked fast and she was fast,” Hatch said of the filly. “All I ever did was say, 'Don't let her go too fast,' all season. We brought her over here and let her do what she could do naturally. She has just been real easy the whole way.” @JessMartiniTDN

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Action Heats Up at OBS Wednesday

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis

OCALA, FL – With a pair of seven-figure colts leading the way, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds produced a day of strong bidding Wednesday in Florida. During the session, 177 juveniles grossed $25,829,000 for an average of $145,927 and a median of $80,000. Through two sessions, 347 horses have sold for $48,388,000. The two-day average of $139,447 jumped 36% from last year's corresponding figure, while the median of $75,000 soared up 50%.

The cumulative buy-back rate is 19.5%. With the subsequent inclusion of post-sale transactions, it was 13.3% a year ago.

A colt by Medaglia d'Oro became the auction's second seven-figure juvenile when selling for $1,750,000 to Jed and Tim Cohen's Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal. The session-topping youngster capped a big day for de Meric Sales, which is the leading consignor with 19 sold for $6,374,000 at the auction's half-way mark.

Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida made the day's second seven-figure purchase when acquiring a colt from the first crop of Mendelssohn for $1.3 million from the Scanlon Training and Sales consignment. Some 30 hips earlier, Nakauchida had purchased a colt by Mendelossohn's half-brother Into Mischief for $825,000 from de Meric Sales to be the session's leading buyer.

While Dave Scanlon enjoyed top-level success, he said he also saw activity at lower levels of the market.

“The trade is pretty good,” Scanlon said. “It's always good for the top horses. You always get rewarded for those. The ones that were lesser, you have to hustle a little bit, but it's been good.”

Buyers, meanwhile, were facing a competitive marketplace in Ocala.

“I am finding it very challenging quite frankly,” bloodstock agent David Ingordo said. “There are a lot of horses who are very, very nice and they are costing a nice price. We came here to buy and we've had mixed success because of the prices. We are disciplined, but we are not cheap buyers. We do set limits and some of these are going right by. There are lot of horses who are maybe not vetting and stuff. The market is good. If you bring a nice horse, you get a nice price. There is some value there too. We bought a nice filly earlier for $67,000 that we valued higher, so there are still some diamonds in the rough.”

Bloodstock agent Chad Schumer, whose five purchases so far at the sale are topped by a $535,000 colt by Goldencents, agreed he was forced to pay a premium for the horses he was looking to buy.

“I think the market is strong,” Schumer said. “I have heard a lot of people kind of complain about the market, but there hasn't been a single horse that I've bought that wasn't many bids over the reserve. I am selling tomorrow, so I might feel differently. But I think it's been a very good market. There is tremendous demand for these horses and it seems to be coming from all over.”

Kirk Wycoff of Three Diamonds Farm had a pinhooking score with a Curlin filly selling for $600,000 late in the day, but said things on the buying end were difficult.

“The horses it feels like we could spend $100,000 to $200,000 for before the pandemic are now $200,000 to $400,000,” he said. “I know the numbers don't necessarily say the market has doubled, but the quality horses have gone up considerably. It is good for the business. We have our regulatory situation kind of under control, so it is a good time to be in horse racing.”

The OBS Spring sale continues through Friday with sessions beginning each day at 10:30 a.m.

Well-Related Medaglia d'Oro Colt Headed to California

A Medaglia d'Oro half-brother to champion sprinter Drefong (Gio Ponti) (Hip 401) proved quite popular in Ocala Wednesday, summoning $1.75 million from Jed Cohen's Red Baron's Barn and his son Tim Cohen's Rancho Temescal. The colt will join the California-based stable of trainer Mark Glatt. Spendthrift Farm was the underbidder.

“It was certainly a little more than we wanted to go, but Jeff [Mullins], Mark [Glatt], Joe [Miller] and I all agreed he was a standout colt,” Tim Cohen said. “I talked to my dad and said we found a special one. I didn't tell him how far we had to go, but we will find out soon.”

He added, “For such a big colt to go that quickly [:10 1/5] without being asked was significant for us. These guys took good, hard looks on our behalf. It was a special opportunity and we are grateful to do it.”

Sandra Fubini's Machmer Hall purchased Hip 401's unraced dam Eltimaas (Ghostzapper) for $77,000 in foal to Mizzen Mast at the 2013 KEENOV sale, the same year she produced three-time Grade I winner Drefong, who now stands stud in Japan. The half-sister to champion Action This Day's 2017 filly by Candy Ride (Arg) brought $675,000 at the OBS March Sale and her 2019 Curlin colt summoned $425,000 at last year's April sale.

Bred by Machmer Hall in partnership with Fubini's daughter and son-in-law, Carrie and Craig Brogden, Hip 401 was purchased by de Meric Sales for $325,000 at Keeneland September with Brogden staying in for a small piece.

“He has been unbelievable since day one,” Tristan de Meric said. “We have just been lucky to have him on the farm. From the first day in the round pen, you could see he was going to be a nice one. He stayed together and just kept getting better every day.”

He added, “Carrie kept a small piece and we partnered up with a few of our good friends, Hubert Guy, Tami Bobo and Gus King. We were lucky it all came together. You never expect that kind of price, but the way it was coming together and with the people who were on him, we weren't shocked to see him hit $1 million.”

Hip 401's sale was the start of a stellar day for the de Merics, who also sold an $825,000 Into Mischief colt (Hip 466) and an $800,000 Curlin colt (Hip 503). —@CDeBernardisTDN

Scanlon Scores With Another Maryland Buy

The Fasig-Tipton October Sale has been good to consignor David Scanlon in the past. He purchased GISW Army Mule for (Friesian Fire) for just $35,000 at that auction and pinhooked him for $825,000 at EASMAY. He scored with another Fasig October buy Wednesday when a Mendelssohn colt (Hip 490) he purchased for $235,000 brought $1.3 million from Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida, who was acting on behalf of an undisclosed client.

“We were up there in Maryland and we have done really good buying out of that sale,” Scanlon said. “We bought Army Mule out of that sale. You get good value there. The day before I was on another Mendelssohn because I really think the sire is going to be a hit, and we didn't get him. I thought this horse had a great demeanor and a beautiful frame. My partner Gabriel Duignan pointed him out too and said he liked him. We called our other partner Bruno DeBerdt and we all got together and bought him. It was a stretch. I usually don't pay that for a pinhook. I'm usually about $100,000 guy, but we decided to take a chance. We loved him.”

As for how the colt has matured since, Scanlon said, “All year we saw something special in him. He matured the way he hoped and got better than we ever imagined.”

Bred by Marcus Stables, the :10 1/5 breezer is out of the unraced Malibu Moon mare Grace is Gone, who is a half-sister to SP Retro (Giant's Causeway). Their dam is GISP Grace Anatomy (Aldebaran).

“He breezed really nicely,” said Nakauchida, who was sporting a Scanlin Training & Sales hat. “His action was very big and dynamic. Physically, he is strong and beautiful. “He will go to Japan and will be under my care. Hopefully, we will win a few races and, if we get lucky, hopefully you will see him in the international stakes.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

Into Mischief Colt to Japan

A colt by Into Mischief (hip 466) will be heading to Japan after selling for $825,000 to the bid of Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida, acting on behalf of an undisclosed client, at OBS Wednesday. The colt, who worked a furlong in :10 flat at last week's under tack show, was consigned by de Meric Sales. He was purchased by Mickey Gonzalez's Golden Star Farm for $385,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“I liked his breeze. He has plenty of speed,” Nakauchida said of the colt's appeal. “I saw him at the barn and he's very athletic and he is light. He will go well in Japan.”

Hip 466 is out of Game for More (More Than Ready) and is a half-brother to multiple graded winner Isotherm (Lonhro {Aus}) and Grade I placed Gio Game (Gio Ponti) and Giant Game (Giant's Causeway).

The colt was Nakauchida's first purchase of the sale, but the trainer was quick to double up when taking home a Mendelssohn colt for $1.3 million. @JessMartiniTDN

Curlin Colt for Lund Petersen

A colt by Curlin (hip 503) will be joining Michael Lund Petersen's racing stable after selling for $800,000 Wednesday in Ocala. Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, bidding alongside trainer Bob Baffert, made the winning bid.

“He was just a fast-looking Curlin,” Lanni said of the juvenile who worked a furlong last week in :10 flat. “The mare could really run and he went fast and looks the part. So we just hope we get lucky.”

The gray colt is out of multiple Grade I winner Hard Not to Like (Hard Spun) and was bred by Dattt Farm, which purchased the mare for $2.2 million at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. The juvenile RNA'd for $285,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. He was consigned to the OBS sale by de Meric Sales.

Nyquist Filly Well Received in Ocala

With a Shadwell pedigree behind her, Hip 506, a daughter of Nyquist, was well liked at OBS Wednesday, hammering for $700,000 to the Green family's D.J. Stable, which did its bidding online.

“We bought her privately from Shadwell in September,” Barry Eisaman said. “They were inviting people to the farm because they were selling some of their yearlings. We liked her body, pedigree and mind. She has done nothing but fulfill every dream we could have had for her. She's just a wonderful prospect. She's fast. She's calm under fire. She's just a good filly.”

Hip 506 is out of Hasilah (Hard Spun), who is a daughter of MG1SW Sierra Madre (Fr) (Baillamont). That mare has also produced European champion Aljabr (Storm Cat) and the dam of GSWs Derbaas (Seeking the Gold) and Chiefdom (The Factor). The gray breezed in :10 flat during the under-tack show last week. —@CDeBernardisTDN

Lehigh Bloodstock Hits Another Homerun at OBS

Lehigh Bloodstock, a pinhooking partnership comprised of Three Diamonds Farm and Wavertree's Ciaran Dunne, was behind the $1.2-million More Than Ready colt–a $120,000 KEESEP buy–who topped the OBS March Sale. They hit another homerun in Ocala Wednesday when a Curlin filly (Hip 602) they purchased for $135,000 at Keeneland September brought $600,000 from bloodstock agent David Ingordo, who was acting on behalf of Spry Family Farm.

“We buy 50 yearlings and race 25 and sell 25,” Three Diamonds' Kirk Wycoff said. “We love Curlin. A friend of ours knows the mare and the mare is very fast. We thought the filly would be fast and she was.”

As for the prices, he said, “You never know what to expect. This is a very good horse sale. We were happy to get anything over $500,000 and we would have been happy to race her at less than that.”

The chestnut filly is out of MSP Jumby Bay (City Zip), who was purchased by breeder Don Alberto Corporation for $510,000 at the 2019 KEENOV sale with this filly in utero. She is a half-sister to GSP Royal Obsession (Tapit), a $1-million FTSAUG yearling in 2014 turned $1.15-million KEENOV buy a year later and was purchased by Don Alberto at the 2017 KEENOV sale for $1.8 million in foal to Curlin.

“She's a Curlin filly. Curlin needs no introduction,” said Ingordo, who did his bidding alongside the filly's new trainer, his wife Cherie DeVeaux. “She had a beautiful breeze [:20 4/5]. I've been lucky buying off Ciaran in the past. She was for somebody who wants to buy a nice filly, develop her and hopefully have one for the broodmare band in the future.”

—@CDeBernardisTDN

Colt Makes Cents to Schumer

Chad Schumer, bidding on behalf of an undisclosed client, went to $535,000 to acquire a colt by Goldencents (hip 546) from the Eddie Woods consignment. Woods's Quarter Pole Enterprises pinhooking partnership purchased the youngster for $150,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. The colt's half-sister Just One Time (Not This Time) won the Apr. 9 GI Madison S. and days later he worked a furlong in a bullet :9 4/5.

Schumer was familiar with the pedigree before bidding Wednesday.

“I actually bought the mare Ida Clark (Speightstown) carrying Just One Time,” Schumer said. “We bought her inexpensively, $45,000 [at 2017 Keeneland November sale], for a client. He sold her, unfortunately, but he kept Just One Time and he just won the Grade I with her. The colt was in the sale, it's an amazing pedigree, he was a stunning individual and obviously it was a fantastic breeze.”

Ida Clark resold for $60,000 at the 2019 Keeneland January sale.

The colt was one that jumped through all of the proverbial hoops, according to Schumer.

“Typically, with all due respect to the stallion, they can be small and they can be light,” Schumer said. “They are great runners, but they are usually not sales horses. This horse was a proper sales horse. He is big, strong, with a tremendous walk. He was very correct and he vetted perfectly. I think when you jump through all the hoops and you have a bullet work, you kind of have to expect to pay.” @JessMartiniTDN

Longoria Has a Good Day

Pinhooker Jessie Longoria continued a series of pinhooking scores in Ocala when selling a colt by Race Day (hip 373) for $475,000 to the partnership of WinStar's Maverick Racing, Siena Farms and CMNWLTH Wednesday at OBS. Longoria had purchased the youngster in partnership with Greg James for $42,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale, months before his sire had a pair of colts in the expected Kentucky Derby field.

“He looked good, he looked just like he did now,” Longoria said of the yearling purchase. “But Race Day was cold as water. Nobody wanted them. When I bought him, my friend said, 'What are you thinking? You know that horse is really cold.' It made me feel bad. But I liked the horse and I've always had a habit of buying horses like that that my intuition tells me is the right kind. I went with my gut and it panned out.”

Hip 373 turned in a quarter-mile work in :21 flat during last week's under-tack show.

“I knew he was going to do very well,” Longoria said of Wednesday's result. “Everybody who looked at him loved the horse. He has one hell of a mind and that's what you have to have to get through all the pressure and stress. He's a happy horse. He galloped out huge.”

Race Day will be represented on the First Saturday in May by GI Curlin Florida Derby winner White Abarrio and GI Arkansas Derby runner-up Barber Road.

During Tuesday's first session of the OBS Spring sale, Longoria sold a colt by Mor Spirit (hip 218) for $230,000 to Exline-Border Racing. The juvenile had been purchased by Longoria for $62,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale.

“I had a new client who approached me and this was our first horse,” Longoria explained.

At the OBS March sale, Longoria and James sold a filly by Shackleford (hip 544) for $300,000 to Hideyuki Mori. The bay had been purchased for $40,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“I usually end up with six to eight [yearlings] every year,” Longoria said. “I like to keep my numbers down. I like to be hands on and I do a lot of work myself. So with six to eight with better pedigrees, I can invest more and get better quality. I think when you have more pedigree, if your horses don't work the greatest, you still get people to come look. Without pedigrees, if your horses don't perform top notch, you don't have anybody come look. If you buy something with pedigree, and especially if they work fast, you get everybody on them. It kind of gives you a guarantee.” @JessMartiniTDN

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Second Time’s A Charm For De Meric Sales With $625,000 Tapit Filly At Record Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale

The Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Selected 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale is one of the most unforgiving marketplaces on the North American auction calendar, offering windfalls for the flawless specimens in the catalog and relative crickets for the ones that leave even one box unchecked.

Fortunately, the auction's early placement on the calendar offers the horses that didn't jump through every single hoop a chance to regroup and find the right fit at the right price somewhere down the road.

The patience to wait for that second chance paid off for the de Meric Sales operation, which consigned the session-topper during Tuesday's closing session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale, a Tapit filly out of the Grade 1-winning Uncle Mo mare Gomo who brought $625,000 as Hip 492.

Tuesday's trip through the ring was the second during the current juvenile auction season for the Tapit filly. In March, she hammered for $475,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale after breezing an eighth in :10 2/5 seconds, and she was brought home as a buyback.

Tristan de Meric said the filly did a fair bit of growing in the two months since the Gulfstream sale, and she shipped north to Timonium, Md., a different horse.

“Physically, she put more weight on, even since the Miami sale, and she looked even better in company,” de Meric said. “I was really happy to see her develop physically as well as she did since the sale. She got better, bigger, stronger. She even grew an inch. She changed a lot since that sale, and the track here ended up suiting her.”

The filly shaved a fifth of a second off her time over the Maryland State Fairgrounds racing surface during last week's under tack show for the Midlantic sale, covering a furlong in :10 1/5 seconds – just a tick off the overall fastest time for the entire breeze show.

When the hammer fell on Tuesday, the ticket went to the back ring of the pavilion to trainer Mac Robertson, who signed it on behalf of Mike and Vicki McGowan's Xtreme Racing Stables.

“I thought she was the best filly in the sale,” Robertson said between placing bids for the horse immediately following the session-topper. “Mike and Vicki McGowan, are looking for really good fillies. I thought she had the best breeze, and being out of a Grade 1 horse, by a sire that everyone wants, it made sense to me. We went a little more than we wanted, but the sale is strong.”

Even if the filly never runs a step, her page stood out in the catalog as one with instant broodmare potential.

Bred in Florida by Bridlewood Farm, she is the second foal out of Gomo, an Uncle Mo mare who won the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes as a juvenile. The page also features several graded/group stakes-producing mares.

While the long-term residual value was appealing, Robertson was more concerned in the moment with taking things one step at a time, and that starts with the racetrack.

“They're looking to win good races,” he said. “If they buy good fillies like that, I think they'll have a good chance.”

The transaction was one of the highlights of what was a record-setting renewal of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale, which set all-time high marks in gross, average, and median sale price.

Over the course of two sessions, a total of 357 horses changed hands for revenues of $33,692,000. The gross surpassed the previous record of $29,374,000 set in 2019.

The average sale price also reached a new high previously set in 2019, finishing on Tuesday at $94,375, after hitting $90,104 two years ago. The new record median of $50,000 bettered the previous mark of $45,000 set in 2015.

The buyback rate for the overall sale was 16 percent, and it was an even more impressive 13 percent during Tuesday's session.

Much like what de Meric said about the placement of Tuesday's session-topping filly, Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sales director Paget Bennett said the auction's spot on the later portion of the juvenile sale catalog has made it an increasingly popular target for quality horses, instead of a “last chance” stop at the end of the season.

“So much of it is the consignors just like the sale because of the extra time it gives a lot of these horses,” Bennett said. “A lot of the horses were May babies, so they don't want to push them early, because if they ding them early, they don't have anything, so when they buy horses, a lot of times, they target this sale.”

Even after an all-time edition of the sale, Bennett said she foresaw this week's results spurring on a further evolution of the Midlantic 2-year-old sale catalog, potentially attracting a new group of sellers who might have still held reservations about selling in the marketplace. However, she did not expect the catalog would expand any further than its current size.

“Six hundred (horses) is really what we can stable here, but we're seeing a lot of new consignors,” she said. “It's always nice for people to see other people be successful, and say 'Well, I wasn't sure about that sale earlier, but now I see the results, so perhaps it's something we need to put on our calendar for the future.' We've seen a lot of that, and I think we'll continue to see more.”

To view the auction's full results, click here.

The post Second Time’s A Charm For De Meric Sales With $625,000 Tapit Filly At Record Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Fasig-Tipton Gets Back to Business at Gulfstream

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – A day after watching the horses perform on the racetrack, buyers were out in full force at the sales barns Tuesday in preparation for the return of the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale of Selected 2-Year-Olds in Training, which will be held in the track's paddock Wednesday. Under late-morning overcast skies and windy conditions, trainer Bob Baffert and bloodstock agent Donato Lanni were making the rounds at the sales barns, as were fellow Southern California conditioners Simon Callaghan and Paddy Gallagher. The local training bench was represented by Chad Brown, Graham Motion, Shug McGaughey and Todd Pletcher. Saudi businessman Amr Zedan, who will watch his Medina Spirit (Protonico) go postward in Saturday's GI Santa Anita Derby, hit the barns along with racing manager Gary Young, and Michael Tabor and the Coolmore team were among the throng of studious shoppers as well.

Consignors were kept busy showing the 136 horses expected to go through the ring Wednesday when bidding begins at 2 p.m.

“This is the first time I sat down since 8 a.m.,” Steve Venosa of SGV Thoroughbreds said shortly after noon Tuesday as his popular colt by Nyquist (hip 146) headed out for another showing. “That one horse there has probably been out all morning. They've all been out. It hasn't let up yet. Everybody is here.”

Fasig-Tipton was forced to cancel its 2020 renewal of the Gulfstream sale due to the pandemic and consignors and buyers both seemed pleased to be back in South Florida for the boutique auction.

“It is good to be back out here,” Venosa said. “Last year was an odd year for everyone. Just to get back here and see all of the activity, it's very refreshing. We are really looking forward to a good sale.”

A few consignments up the row, Dean de Renzo of Hartley/de Renzo Thoroughbreds was also taking advantage of a brief interlude between showings of the operation's popular Gun Runner colt (hip 181).

“We have one of the top horses in the sale, so they usually take a lot of time,” de Renzo said as the handsome chestnut once again headed out of the barn. “He's been out all day. But it feels good to be back here after missing last year.”

DeRenzo and partner Randy Hartley purchased hip 181 for $140,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale and he worked a furlong in :10 1/5 during Monday's under-tack preview.

“We bought that horse kind of just on a gut feeling in the back ring,” de Renzo recalled. “We loved him then and thought we had bought a really nice horse. And he's had a great year for us training and here, under pretty tough conditions, he just came through it all. We knew it coming in that he would, but after seeing that first part of the racetrack, we thought maybe this isn't the place we should be. I guess good horses can get through things.”

De Renzo said holding the under-tack show over Gulfstream's dirt track allowed buyers to separate the talent on display.

“We only have three, but they all performed well considering the conditions we had with the heat, deep racetrack and wind,” de Renzo said. “But that's what I do like about the dirt and breezing on the dirt, when they do get through it, people know that's the horse and then it turns out to be the right horse. We like that because if we have a horse that really performs well, but he's not the right horse, it looks bad on us. We're happy to be here.”

Of expectations heading into the sale, de Renzo said, “I think the sale is going to be strong. I think there are a lot of really nice horses here. After a year off, I think people have settled down a little more about the pandemic, there is more of a comfort zone. So I have good expectations that the sale is going to be what it was two years ago.”

Eddie Woods was the leading consignor at the juvenile sales season's first auction, the OBS March Sale, and the Irishman was seeing similar action at the Gulfstream barns.

“It's been very busy,” Woods said. “It's just backing off a little now. But we've seen everyone and they've been working hard. It just has a good feel to the whole thing, a bit like the March sale. Maybe not as many people as in the March sale, but there aren't as many horses to go around either.”

Woods continued, “The expectations are high here. Fasig has been very high on how the sale has been received by their customers and I'm sure with the credit applications. And we will see what happens.”

Tristan de Meric of de Meric Sales admitted he was one of many consignors who had been surprised by the strength of the market last month in Ocala. He said he hopes the momentum only builds from there.

“I was definitely pleasantly surprised by the market at OBS,” de Meric said. “We sold 26 out of 26 horses that we led to the ring. It was a great sale. I can't complain about that. And if the year can build off of that, like it has historically, hopefully we are in for a fun season. For the right ones anyway.”

After a year of uncertainties and frustrations, buyers are ready to move forward, observed Clovis Crane of Crane Thoroughbred Services.

“All of the buyers are here, so all of the stars are aligned for a huge sale,” Crane said. “If you have good horses, they are going to buy them, it's pretty apparent.”

Crane continued, “I think there is still a lot of uncertainty, but I think there is also optimism. I think the election being over and the uncertainty of that and COVID–I hate to say under control– but there is light at the end of the tunnel, so I think that's a positive. And I think there is optimism. People want to move forward. People don't want to be held back and they are sick of the media telling them the sky is going to fall. We are going to move forward and people are excited to move forward. Racehorses are something to go do and have fun with. It's exciting, the racehorse business. That's what people need right now. They need something exciting and positive.”

When it was last held in 2019, 59 horses sold for $29,115,000 at the Gulfstream sale. The average was $493,475 and the median was $375,000. A colt by Curlin brought the auction's top price, selling for $3.65 million and that youngster was one of six to sell for seven figures at the sale.

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