Second on the board at 3-1 Saturday behind last-out GII Demoiselle S. winner Life Talk (Gun Runner), Power Squeeze was always involved with the early pace and stalked from third while locked in against the fence behind pacesetter Managing Mischief (Maximus Mischief). Still caught in amongst the pack through a half in :48.94, the Delgado trainee began to find running room past the quarter pole and shot clear once space opened inside the furlong marker. 6-1 shot Whocouldaskformo barely held off 28-1 shot America's Vow to fill a pricey trifecta. 2-5 favorite Life Talk came up empty into the stretch and faded to trail the field home.

Union Rags currently sits at 32 stakes winners while Callmethesqueeze, now a producer of two stakes winners herself, has a 2-year-old Street Sense filly and a yearling Liam's Map colt still to run. She visited top freshman stallion Vino Rosso for 2024. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

#2 POWER SQUEEZE ($8.00) gets through on the rail to win the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes at @TampaBayDownsFL. The three-year-old filly by @LanesEndFarms' Union Rags earns 20 Kentucky Oaks points for trainer @RacingDelgado with @jockeydcenteno in the irons. pic.twitter.com/GnVJ9oQv1b

— TVG (@TVG) February 10, 2024

SUNCOAST S., $100,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 2-10, 3yo, f, 1m 40y, 1:40.22, ft.
1–POWER SQUEEZE, 122, f, 3, by Union Rags
                1st Dam: Callmethesqueeze (MSW, $324,499),
                                by Awesome Again
                2nd Dam: Mop Squeezer, by Roanoke
                3rd Dam: Honey League Girl, by Honey Jay
($50,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $90,000 2yo '23 OBSAPR). O-Lea
Farms, LLC; B-Forging Oaks LLC (KY); T-Jorge Delgado; J-Daniel
Centeno. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-0, $188,650. *1/2 to
Call On Mischief (Into Mischief), SW, $283,237.
2–Whocouldaskformo, 120, f, 3, Uncle Mo–Midnight Belle,
by Bernardini. ($450,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE.
O-Courtlandt Farms (Donald Adam); B-Summer Wind Equine
LLC (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $20,000.
3–America's Vow, 120, f, 3, Constitution–Cloudy Vow, by
Broken Vow. 1ST BLACK TYPE. O/B-Patricia Pavlish (KY);
T-Timothy E. Hamm. $10,000.
Margins: 2 3/4, HD, 3/4. Odds: 3.00, 6.00, 28.70.
Also Ran: Managing Mischief, Gorgeous Girl, Life Talk.

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Plenty of horses in this bracket have recently relinquished their brief window of commercial opportunity, and are now hanging around to discover whether they might join the very small group whose first runners generate a fresh vogue. Even with the newcomers out of the equation–we gave them a separate assessment, to open the series–we're left with three groups still untested on the track: those expecting their first foals; those who have just sold their first weanlings; and those actually about to dip a toe in the water with their first runners.

Pending that crossroads, many find themselves somewhat adrift against a bunch of older sires who have survived that test. These fit this tier either because they are losing stature or, more cheerfully, because they have carved out a viable niche as an affordable source of winners.

First the young guns. Of those who sent their first yearlings to auction this year, the ones who really nailed it, unsurprisingly, vaunted the kind of speed that pinhookers crave.

VOLATILE burned brightly in a light career, not seen again after confirming his Grade I caliber against a small but select field in the Vanderbilt. His 112 Beyer in the Aristides S. (1:07.57) was the highest of 2020 and duly secured 181 mares the following spring. Himself an $850,000 yearling, with a GI Test/GI Ballerina winner as granddam, his $125,431 average was boosted by a spectacular $1.15 million docket for a Book 1 filly at Keeneland in September. Nudged back up to $15,000 (from $12,500), Volatile has three hefty books behind him and will be the horse to beat for the freshman title next year.

But not even his median yield of 4.3 on his opening fee ($75,000/ $17,500) could match that of COMPLEXITY, whose $65,000 median (never mind his average $90,400!) multiplied his $12,500 fee by 5.2. Complexity started with some serious volume by the restrained standards of his farm, and then followed through with another three-figure book in his second season. He was clearly in the same vicinity as Volatile as a mature horse (110 Beyer in the GII Kelso) but was the more accomplished juvenile, wiring a Saratoga maiden (90 Beyer) before a decisive success in the GI Champagne S. on his second start. His half-sister ran second in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, so their unraced dam is obviously channelling the good stuff.

VEKOMA is meanwhile working the Spendthrift system with remarkable efficiency, having started out (at $20,000) with staggering volume, entertaining at least 200 mares in each of his first three seasons. This year he processed 102 of his first yearlings at $98,432, albeit was unsurprisingly stretched somewhat thinner by a median of $60,000. Though confined to eight starts across three seasons, he was class from beginning to end, posting big numbers for his Grade I double in the Carter and Met Mile. From a stallion-producing family, he's a horse I've liked all the way through and everything is in place for him to look after many (albeit probably not all!) of his (very many!) clients at $15,000.

Knicks Go | Sarah Andrew

Among those in this intake offering rather more stretch, one or two suffered horrible yearling medians relative to conception fee. But one who made a solid start off $12,500 was Bolt d'Oro's half-brother GLOBAL CAMPAIGN: 74 yearlings sold at $63,195 (median $43,500). This was a more talented animal than generally appreciated and I can see him proving himself a bargain gateway to Curlin. A closer look at his family shows that it tends to produce faster types than are associated with the seeding sires, and Global Campaign's first crop of 126 live foals may surprise a few people with their dash.

Of those who sold their first weanlings this fall, meanwhile, the one that will sort out the sheep and the goats is KNICKS GO. No questioning his talent, it was just never quite obvious where it all came from–albeit his dam maintained stakes speed through four seasons. Those who didn't require a more familiar pedigree were delighted to see a Horse of the Year introduced at just $30,000. Well, now they can get him for half that, even though he's still nearly 18 months away from the opportunity to demonstrate whether or not he can replicate his brilliance! At this money, some people will surely want to roll the dice.

Even as it is, his weanlings sold a little better than those of SILVER STATE. But it's very early days for the latter, whose pedigree in contrast elucidates all the class he manifested as a runner. A friendly clip to $15,000 should hopefully keep him in the game because this horse equipped to prove a really wholesome influence.

The subsequent intake features some truly frightening books, but I will resist dwelling on that here. Suffice to say that those playing a longer game might quite like a filly by either SPEAKER'S CORNER or MYSTIC GUIDE. Both have taken an early trim at Darley, respectively to $17,500 and $12,500, and their pedigrees shout distaff influence.

We'll have to see how many of the youngsters will endure even in this relatively modest tier, a few years from now. Nor does a flying start bring any guarantees, as UNION RAGS could caution them. The halving of his fee to $15,000 acknowledges the way he has faltered, having stood at $60,000 between 2018 and 2020. Trade for his latest yearlings made this further cut imperative, but he's still the same horse that so quickly came up with five Grade I winners. Hopefully he will find a little oxygen now that he has descended to more accessible altitudes.

Studmate DAREDEVIL has taken his second cut since returning to the U.S., now down to $15,000, but of course it's only in 2024 that we'll get to assess the first juveniles conceived after Swiss Skydiver prompted his urgent repatriation. Their sales performance demanded a mild trim in fee, but he could easily be poised for fresh momentum.

MENDELSSOHN has also taken consecutive cuts, similarly now available at $15,000. He has so far been more about quantity than quality but his supporters will hope that he can still emulate four others, standing at the same fee, who have all done admirably to create a lasting foothold in this most slippery of markets.

The first of these, DIALED IN, is something of a blue-collar hero. He maintains such high volume–corralled 175 mares last spring, his 10th at stud–that it will always be hard, with the raw materials available at this level, to make his ratios “sing”. But Defunded has once again shown the caliber within his competence as his third elite scorer. Dialed In gets his work done at a fair tariff, and will keep plugging away to leave behind many of those now starting at multiples of his fee.

Cairo Prince | Sarah Andrew

CAIRO PRINCE has also created a sustainable brand for himself through six crops, as attested by a solid book of 129 mares last spring. A set-your-clock black-type producer throughout, he's now entering the territory where he can legitimately prove a mare–and of course he gets such a nice type, the average ($54,194) and median ($40,000) of his latest yearlings duly best among this proven quartet.

MIDSHIPMAN is a true yeoman and it's typical of this business that he should have had a quieter year (by his very special standards) both on the track and in the sales ring after finally doubling his fee to $20,000 last year–due recognition for having punched above weight for so long. His lifetime stats remain ridiculous for a stallion who has largely been a four-figure cover: 47 stakes winners at 6.4 percent of named foals, nine at graded stakes level; and 101 black-type performers overall, at 13.7 percent. The trim back to $15,000 brings him back towards the reach of breeders who most appreciate just what he can do for their mares.

KANTHAROS, who has really pulled himself up by his bootstraps, had another very solid year on the track. He has made the same slip in fee, reflecting a tepid book of mares last spring and a challenging yield on yearlings conceived at $30,000. But that was an experience shared by many sires exposed to a porous middle market, and the fact is that Kantharos lurks only just outside the top 10 in the 2023 general sires' list with a dozen stakes winners, including a couple at graded level. His lifetime ratio of stakes runners–11 percent of named foals–remains outstanding for a horse whose first five books were compiled in Florida at just $5,000.

He sired two Grade I winners at that fee, and now has another millionaire in Grade II winner Bay Storm. The first of his two $30,000 books were juveniles this year, and we know how they will keep thriving. That guarantees Kantharos imminently entry into the top 20 active sires on lifetime earnings. All he needs to do is supplant… Lookin At Lucky!

VALUE PODIUM

Bronze Medal: CONNECT
Curlin–Bullville Belle (Holy Bull)
Lane's End $15,000

Connect | Sarah Andrew

Amid all this talk about stud fees being too high, credit is overdue to Lane's End for anticipating the mood in the room. From Flightline down, the farm made 11 cuts across their 2024 roster. All were meaningful, and some nearly brutal, effectively conceding that one or two stallions were drifting into trouble and needed some decisive help. Bravo! The very opposite of burying your head in the sand, and in the present environment I hope it works out both for the farm and its clients.

One stallion who can certainly benefit is Connect, restored from $25,000 to his 2021 fee of $15,000 after the crop conceived that year returned a tepid median (albeit a perfectly acceptable $45,774 average) at the yearling sales. He'd also suffered a real slump in his book last spring, down to 45 from 172 in 2022! But we're accustomed to seeing horses treated like this, once they have served their commercial purpose, and should sooner marvel at the impression he must have made with his first crop to get such a big book (up from 93 in 2021) in his fifth year at stud.

Sure enough, only Gun Runner and Practical Joke banked more prizemoney as freshmen in 2021, and only Gun Runner had more winners. Unfortunately Connect did not then consolidate especially well, but he has made a timely return to form this year with eight stakes winners, three at graded level, plus a GI Kentucky Oaks third in The Alys Look. Moreover, his first-crop flagship, the juvenile Grade I winner Rattle N Roll, failed by just half a length to add another elite score in the GI Stephen Foster S. That horse was a $55,000 weanling but has now banked $1.7 million across three seasons.

Connect's pedigree is not without its challenges but he's another to bring Curlin within range and had real prowess as a racehorse, a blip in the Travers his only defeat in seven starts (four triple-digit Beyers) up the grades after debut. He outkicked none other than Gun Runner in the GII Pennsylvania Derby and, while he won't be doing that again any time soon, he's actually siring winners at a higher percentage of named foals.

With that bumper crop of weanlings in the pipeline, and now a lenient fee, this looks a good time to re-Connect.

Silver Medal: KARAKONTIE (Jpn)
Bernstein–Sun Is Up (Jpn) (Sunday Silence)
Gainesway $15,000

Karakontie | Sarah Andrew

How pleasing to see this undervalued stallion moving his book back up last year, up to 86 from 48. Perhaps his hour has come at last, now that the minority prepared to breed to a quality turf sire in the Bluegrass have been deprived of English Channel and Kitten's Joy.

If you're enlightened enough to see the growing need for turf quality in the U.S., then you might also recognize that you don't always have to fly first class to Tattersalls. With a fifth crop on the track, Karakontie has still only had 174 starters, but seven have won graded stakes. For the second year running, moreover, he had an elite scorer in She Feels Pretty, winner of the GI Natalma S. before failing by barely half a length to overcome a wide trip in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Karakontie's premier earner Princess Grace meanwhile continued to thrive in Australia, missing Group 1 scores by a neck and half a length.

Even after a hike from $10,000, Karakontie is an awful lot of horse for this fee. He converted some of the most regal blood in the book–his third dam is Miesque herself–into a turn of foot that won him a Group 1 at two and then a mile Classic, before doing all he could to endear the American market in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Don't forget that he restores Sunday Silence to the Bluegrass through his dam, herself out of a half-sister to Kingmambo. His international pedigree and participation alike are a measure of our debt to the program that produced him.

The American market has not really grasped its privilege, with this horse, but the elevation in his fee tells you everything you need to know: he's being used by people who want to breed a runner, whether in their own silks or to boost a mare. Actually, Karakontie is perfectly capable of a home run at the sales, including the $525,000 filly at Keeneland in September whose buyers will have been delighted to see her full-sister (who herself made $280,000 the previous year) win the Tepin S. last month. His lesser specimens may struggle commercially, until the environment improves, but that won't trouble those eccentrics who calculate value according to the odds of ending up with a runner.

Gold Medal: MITOLE
Eskendereya–Indian Miss (Indian Charlie)
Spendthrift $15,000

How naïve of me to imagine that all those commercial breeders who flocked to the new sires in 2020 wanted nothing more than to land on the champion freshman of 2023. Because Mitole, as he closes in on those laurels, finds himself the only one of the four Spendthrift sires dominating this table to remain on the same fee in 2024.

Mitole | Louise Reinagel

Now, clearly this farm needs no help in how to make their remarkable machine run smoothly. The Spendthrift team know that Mitole was the one who took the biggest slide of the quartet, in the inevitable slackening of demand for their second crop of yearlings. But they had already ensured that these were conceived more affordably, trimming him from $25,000 in his debut season to $15,000. That was partly a concession to the Covid market, but it also offered such obvious value about a champion sprinter that he maintained the enthusiastic support of 184 mares even last spring, after topping 200 in each of his three previous seasons.

In other words, the system is functioning smoothly and Mitole has played his part so well that he approaches the winning post with a narrow advantage over Maximus Mischief (my serial “gold” pick, I might add, after starting at $7,500!) by prizemoney and also a wafer-thin one by individual winners (32 from 79 starters).

Whether or not he holds out, Mitole is the only one of the four to have a graded stakes scorer–and so joins Flameaway and Solomini in what has been a weirdly unproductive group, by that measure-in GIII Pocahontas S. winner/GI Alcibiades runner-up V V's Dream.

The precocious Maximus Mischief has shown a lot more of his hand (77 starters from 122 named foals) and remember that Mitole (79 from 145) himself only squeezed in a single start at two, in late November. It was as a 4-year-old that he racked up his four Grade Is–including that resonant Met Mile/Breeders' Cup Sprint double, and a stakes record at the intermediate distance in the Forego. So it seems fair to suggest that he has only just got started.

By now Mitole has surely stifled misgivings about his sire, himself after all a brilliant performer and a conduit of corresponding genes. Eskendereya's fifth dam is Cosmah, and doubles up her half-sister's son Northern Dancer top and bottom. It was presumably his unfashionable sire that confined Mitole to $20,000 as a yearling–but then along came kid brother Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), himself a $17,000 short yearling, to reiterate the merit of a family cultivated by the late Edward A. Cox Jr.

Hot Rod Charlie has now followed Eskendereya to Japan, where they have made a habit of exposing crass commercial trends in Kentucky. But here's a horse making the family assets work even in this less imaginative environment, and his debut at the 2-year-old sales–behind only Omaha Beach in the key freshman medians–suggest that Mitole will be taking out a long lease on the attention of pinhookers.

Sires In The Teens: Breeder Selections

Aidan O'Meara, Stonehaven Steadings

Aidan O'Meara | Keeneland

Gold Medal: Volatile
One of the best angles for success in the commercial breeding field is identifying a future leading stallion in the early stages and this sometimes requires taking a leap of faith breeding when their first runners are about to run. Volatile has been the breakout star at the yearling sales this year, mirroring his sire's first crop results a few years back. He's a beautifully built horse himself and passed his physique on with remarkable consistency. He's been very well supported by breeders and will have plenty of ammo in his first few crops to give him every opportunity. If his offspring have legitimate ability, he will skyrocket up the stallion ranks and $15,000 will look like the deal of the decade.

Silver Medal: Connect
The crop of 2021 has all been overshadowed by Gun Runner's incredible achievements, but Connect has been quietly developing a very solid career for himself. He has shown consistency with three graded stakes winners again this year and a strong supporting cast of stakes horses. He has also shown the ability to get the all-important high-class horse with Rattle N Roll. He measures well in all statistical categories and looks to be a stallion that can establish himself long term in the mold of a Midshipman/First Samurai/Blame type.

Bronze Medal: Audible
The Spendthrift quartet has garnered most of the attention from this year's freshmen and rightly so but one horse is simmering just below these and that horse is Audible. His 14% stakes horses with his first 2-year-olds cannot be ignored and his own racing career suggests there is more improvement to be had as they mature. He's a beautiful horse that can throw the right kind as witnessed by his first crop of yearlings. $15,000 is very intriguing for a horse with some potential future upswing and worst-case scenario has shown plenty of ability for longer term success at this price point.

Peter O'Callaghan, Woods Edge Farm

Peter O'Callaghan | Fasig-Tipton

Gold Medal: Midshipman
This stallion has been very good to us both on the track and in the sales ring. We recently bred first-time-out 2-year-old winner Midshipman's Dance; pinhooked Grade II winner Special Reserve; bred Leucothea and co-bred Amidst Waves, both of whom are multiple stakes winning 2-year-olds. He is a very consistent and well-respected sire, standing for an affordable $15,000. You can sell one well at the sales and he produces winners every weekend at the track.

Silver Medal: Mitole
Obviously a brilliant racehorse and looks to be turning out some good 2-year-old winners this second half of the year. Must be a horse worth a punt at $15,000. We are breeding to him again this year.

Bronze Medal: Vekoma
A brilliant racehorse, a high class 2-year-old who trained on, winning some high-profile races in the GII Bluegrass S. going two turns at three. Then winning the GI Carter H. and GI Met Mile at four in impressive fashion. Furthermore, he is a very well-bred son of Candy Ride (Arg), out of the GISW Speightstown mare Mona De Momma from the family of Mr. Greeley.

He is a good-looking horse who seems to sire plenty of good-looking stock. We have bred to him each year and have bought foals by him in each crop, he has not let us down so far.

I think he is a horse with a legitimate shot to be a sire standing at an affordable fee of $15,000.

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Bridlewood Farm homebred UNION HARMONY (Union Rags), produced by a half-sister to the superstar trio of Into Mischief, Beholder and Mendelssohn, kicks off her career for trainer Brendan Walsh. Union Harmony's dam Leslie's Harmony (Curlin), a $1.1-million KEESEP yearling, was winless in two tries for Bridlewood Farm and trainer Todd Pletcher. Union Harmony, scratched from the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, worked four furlongs from the gate in :47 1/5 (2/56) at Keeneland Apr. 16. This same Union Rags over Smart Strike cross is responsible for GISW Union Strike as well as graded winners Dynamic One, Spielberg, Caramel Swirl and Bees and Honey. TJCIS PPs

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Saturday, January 14, 2023
4th-CKO, ¥11,850,000, Newcomers, 3yo, 1400m
LA LA BELLEVILLE (f, 3, Union Rags–Divine Praises, by Medaglia d'Oro) is the latest to make the races out of a winning daughter of SW Grand Prayer (Grand Slam), who is also the dam of MGSW & GISP Valid (Medaglia d'Oro); GISW Malibu Prayer (Malibu Moon); and Grand Love (Gun Runner), third in last year's GIII Pocahontas S. A $130,000 Keeneland September grad, the dark bay is a half-sister to the commonly owned La La Chandon (Street Sense), a maiden winner at second asking in Japan in 2021. B-Three Chimneys Farm LLC (KY)

REGALO FIORI (JPN) (f, 3, West Coast–Legallini, by Hard Spun) was acquired in utero for $80,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November Sale and is maternal granddaughter of MGSW/GISP Dust and Diamonds (Vindication), whose son Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) won the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity at two and last year's G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby). B-Hatakeyama Stud Farm

Sunday, January 15, 2023
3rd-CKO, ¥11,850,000, Newcomers, 3yo, 1800m
KISS ON THE CHEEK (JPN) (f, 3, Curlin–Eskimo Kisses, by To Honor and Serve) is the first produce from her dam, who took down the colors of Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) in the 2018 GI Alabama S. and was purchased by Shadai Farm with this filly in utero for $2.3 million to rank as the second highest-priced offering of the 2019 Keeneland November Sale. A half-sister to Grade I-placed Silver Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}), Eskimo Kisses was produced by Silver Colors (Mr. Greeley), a daughter of champion 3-year-old filly and GI Kentucky Derby heroine Winning Colors (Caro {Ire}), who is also the granddam of two-time Japanese stakes winner Cheerful Smile (Jpn) (Sunday Silence). B-Shadai Farm

6th-NKY, ¥11,850,000, Newcomers, 3yo, 1800m
BOLD ZONE (c, 3, Mendelssohn–Halo Dolly, by Popular), closely related to Grade III-winning turf sprinter Barraza (Into Mischief), was an unfinished product when hammering for $40,000 at KEESEP in 2021, but improved nicely and fetched $280,000 from Katsumi Yoshida at OBS March last year after breezing an eighth of a mile in :10 1/5. Two-time graded winner Halo Dolly brought $300,000 from Spendthrift Farm at KEENOV in 2014 and was sold in foal to Authentic for $110,000 at the same event in 2021. B-Spendthrift Farm LLC (KY)

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Saturday, November 12, 2022
4th-HSN, ¥13,400,000 ($94k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800m
CUPIDON (c, 2, American Pharoah–Chocolate Pop, by Cuvee) is a half-brother to dual-surface graded winner and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up Airoforce (Colonel John) and was hammered down to owner Koki Meada for $300,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. His dam, twice placed at stakes level, was sold to Springhouse Farm for $460,000 in foal to Bernardini at the 2017 Keeneland January sale and is also responsible for a yearling Uncle Mo filly that fetched $450,000 from Live Oak at this year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. Cupidon is bred on a similar cross to MGSW Forbidden Kingdom. B-Camas Park Stud & Lynch Bages Ltd (KY)

5th-HSN, ¥13,400,000 ($94k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1600mT
GUREN (c, 2, Union Rags–Purely Hot, by Pure Prize) is the fifth foal to make the races from his Grade III-winning dam, who was acquired by Hugo Merry Bloodstock for $1.2 million with this colt in utero at Keeneland November in 2019. The lofty pricetag was due in large measure to the on-track exploits of the mare's 'TDN Rising Star' son Eight Rings (Empire Maker), who won that year's GI American Pharoah S. about a month prior to going under the hammer in Lexington. Guren was a $235,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling purchase by Red Wings and was entered for–but was ultimately scratched from–this year's OBS April sale. B-Orpendale/Chelston/Wynatt (KY)

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At $75,000, the same fee he stood for in 2022, Candy Ride (Arg) continues to command the farm's second-highest fee.

First-year stallion City of Light, represented by three black-type winners from his first crop, stands alongside his sire Quality Road and holds steady at $60,000. A Top 10 freshman sire in North America by earnings, City of Light has sired eight winners, including GI Darley Alcibiades S. runner-up and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies pre-entry Chop Chop.

The entire roster, with fees for 2023, will be:

Accelerate – $10,000

Candy Ride (Arg) – $75,000

Catalina Cruiser – $15,000

City of Light – $60,000

Code of Honor – $7,500

Connect – $25,000

Daredevil – $20,000

Game Winner – $30,000

Gift Box – $7,500

Honor A.P. – $15,000

Honor Code – $20,000

Lexitonian – $7,500

Liam's Map – $40,000

Mineshaft – $10,000

Quality Road – $200,000

The Factor – $15,000

Tonalist – $10,000

Twirling Candy – $60,000

Unified – $7,500

Union Rags – $30,000

West Coast – $10,000

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OCALA, FL–A son of Coolmore's super-sire Uncle Mo (Hip 206) topped the opening session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale Tuesday, summoning $2.3 million from Gary Young, who was acting on behalf of Amr Zedan's Zedan Racing Stables. It was the first $2-million sale since 2017 when a colt by Tiznow brought a record-breaking $2.45 million.

Purchased by Scott and Evan Dilworth for $250,000 at KEESEP, Hip 206 was consigned by the Jimbo and Torie Gladwell's Top Line Sales.

“April is a good sale,” Scott Dillworth said. “It's funny I sold a filly about 10 years ago here, her name was Tanda and she topped the session at $145,000 and here today you have a horse bring $2.3 million. This sale has just grown so much. It's a phenomenal sale.”

Eddie Woods also had a big pinhooking score with the day's highest-priced filly. Hip 199, a daughter of Violence purchased for $90,000 at FTKJUL, summoned $630,000 from Carolyn Wilson Tuesday.

Justify led the freshman class Tuesday with a $600,000 colt (Hip 11), who was also bought by Young for Zedan. Other first-crop stallions to crack the top 10 were Bolt d'Oro, Tapwrit, City of Light and Mendelssohn.

A total of 159 2-year-olds sold Tuesday for a gross of $21,849,000. The average was $137,415 and the median was $70,000. Fifty-four horses were led from the ring unsold for an RNA rate of 25.3%.

There were no seven-figure sellers during last year's opening session, when 194 horses grossed $18,362,900. The average was $94,654 and the median was $50,000. Thirty-one juveniles failed to sell during that session for an RNA rate of 13.8%. These stats include post-sale figures.

Both buyers and sellers described Tuesday's opener as “spotty.”

“It's very spotty,” Gary Young said. “If you bring the right horse in, you're getting paid. If the horse has any flaws or his preview was just so, so, they are having a little trouble selling them. The buyback rate looked about what you'd expect. When you have a 1200-horse sale, they aren't all going to be like that horse in there [the session-topping Uncle Mo colt].”

Woods expressed similar sentiments, saying, “It's a little spotty. Some of my buddies are saying the same. There is the odd horse getting money and the others not. Usually the best day here for me is the last day.”

The Spring Sale continues Wednesday with the second of four sessions beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Zedan Working on His Next Derby Prospects

Amr Zedan owned the ill-fated Medina Spirit (Protonico), who crossed the line first in last year's GI Kentucky Derby, and has one of this year's Derby favorites in 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Santa Anita Derby winner Taiba (Gun Runner).

Bloodstock agent Gary Young was busy purchasing Zedan's 2023 Derby prospects at OBS Tuesday, led by the $2.3-million session-topping colt by Uncle Mo (Hip 206).

Hip 206 inspired a fast, furious and prolonged round of bidding between the Coolmore contingent out back and Young, who did his bidding on the phone with Zedan from the pressbox alongside trainer Bob Baffert and his wife Jill. The bay colt will join Baffert's barn when he returns from his suspension.

“He was just a tremendous athlete,” Young said. “Everything about his preview was good. He was very nice at the barn. Mr. Zedan wants good colts to run this time of year. We obviously did okay last year with Taiba. We are hoping between this colt and the Nyquist [purchased for $700,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale], we have some nice horses for next year. I like this horse a lot. This horse acts like he can do anything to me. He will probably get a month out at Barry Eisaman's just to unwind and then join Bob's stable when he gets back right before Del Mar.”

As for the price, Young said, “We were prepared to go over $3 million on this horse if we had to. We knew going in there were a lot of big players on him. We kind of knew it might come down to us and Coolmore.”

Bred by Corser Thoroughbreds, Hip 206 is out of Borealis Night (Astrology), who is a half to GSP Kinsley Kisses (Congrats) and Spooky Woods (Ghostzapper). Purchased by Scott and Evan Dilworth for $250,000 at Keeneland September, the bay breezed in :9 4/5 for Jimbo and Torie Gladwell's Top Line Sales.

Early in the session, Charlie Boden stood in for Young, signing the ticket on a $600,000 Justify colt (Hip 11) that Young picked out for Zedan's stable. That colt will also be trained by Baffert.

“He is a very well-balanced horse,” said Young. “He worked well. I trust Hidden Brook. I think they do a very good job down there. Bob Baffert would know Justify better than anyone and he was very bullish on this horse. That's about where we thought he'd go. We are happy to get him. The market is very strong.”

When asked if Hip 11 was their next Derby prospect, Young said, “That's what we are shopping for. Mr. Zedan likes looking for good colts. He was obsessed with the Derby before I went to work for him.”

Bred by Bonne Chance Farm, Hip 11 is out of the SP mare Unbound (Distorted Humor) and his third dam is Hall of Famer Personal Ensign (Private Account). The :10 flat breezer was scratched from the Fasig-Tipton October Sale last year.

He was just a smaller yearling, kind of a late bloomer, and we thought a 2-year-old sale would suit that horse really well,” Bonne Chance manager John Durr said. “It paid off for us, that's for sure.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

Uncle Mo Colt a Home Run for Dilworth

Scott Dilworth knew from the first time he saw the colt that he would be coming home with a son of Uncle Mo from the Terrazas Thoroughbreds consignment at last year's Keeneland September sale. Dilworth and his wife Evan purchased the yearling for $250,000 and reaped the rewards for the investment when selling him for $2.3 million at OBS Tuesday through the Top Line Sales consignment.

“He walked out of the stall and I just said, 'Wow.' That was it,” Dilworth said of his initial impressions of hip 206. “We went to look at him a ton of times–when you like one, you go back and look at him a few times–and I remember Eduardo Terrazas asked me, 'How come you are always smiling so big whenever you come see this horse?' And I said, 'He just makes me smile.'”

Dilworth continued, “John Bassett is a good friend of mine and he helped me get started in this business. He is the one that found him the first time. We fell in love with him. He's one of those kind that you know you are going to take home.”

Of the seven-figure result, the Texan said, “This is what I live for. I get wound up about it. I feel very blessed.”

The juvenile is from the first crop of horses bred on Mark Corser's Corser Thoroughbreds. He is out of Borealis Night (Astrology), who was purchased carrying the colt for $285,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November sale.

The result was bittersweet for Corser after the mare suffered a fatal paddock accident earlier in this month.

“That was the mare's first foal and she didn't have a foal last year,” Corser said. “She just dropped a Quality Road foal and two weeks later she had a paddock accident and I had to euthanize her.”

Despite the loss of the mare, Corser agreed there was a lot of pride in having a seven-figure colt come out of his fledgling breeding operation.

“It's absolutely fantastic. Right from when that colt was born, he had an aura about him and a presence,” Corser said. “We are a small farm, just starting out. I have two young girls and all of the horses that were born that year we named. And he was named Small Mo because he was a small horse when he was born and obviously an Uncle Mo. We would go out and kiss him and watch him grow up with his friends. We watched the horse blossom. I am really happy for the new owner. I can't wait to see what the horse does. And you can rest assured that I will be putting some money on him. I will be trying to get some of that $2.3 million.”

Of the Quality Road foal, Corser said, “Mom stamped him really well. He has size and her beautiful looks.” @JessMartiniTDN

Woods Hits a Homerun With Violence Filly

Eddie Woods had a nice score during the opening session of OBS April Tuesday, selling a $630,000 Violence filly he purchased for just $90,000 at Fasig-Tipton's July Sale last term. Hip 199 was bought by owner Carolyn Wilson, who did her bidding alongside her trainer Larry Rivelli.

“We were specifically looking for one of the best fillies in the sale and this was,” Rivelli said. “We agreed we would take one shot and this is our shot. I am very happy. I don't usually get very excited, but I am with this one and I'm happy for Carolyn.”

The conditioner continued, “She is a big, correct, beautiful filly. She got over the ground perfectly. With her size, I think she is going to get more distance. To be able to have that kick and turn of foot, how can you go wrong? I am pretty confident she will be a nice filly. She vetted perfect. She was flawless. That's what we were looking for.”

An $82,000 KEENOV weanling bred by Twin Hopes Farm, Hip 199 is out of GSW Bold Union (Dixie Union), making her a half to GSP Bold Quality (Elusive Quality). She breezed in a snappy :20 2/5 for Woods during the under-tack show.

“The filly grew up beautifully,” Woods said. “She is very well balanced and was always really quick from the get-go. She vetted extremely well and is a really pretty, flashy filly. I always thought she'd go quick. I didn't think she'd go :20 2/5, but she did. It was great.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

Union Rags Filly Caps Big Day for Dilworth

Scott Dilworth's day in Ocala wasn't over with the sale of the $2.3-million Uncle Mo colt. The Texan came back late in the session to sell a filly by Union Rags (hip 306) for $525,000 to Red Baron's Barn or Rancho Temescal LLC. The chestnut, who was consigned by Raffaele Centofanti's Centofanti Thoroughbreds, was purchased by the Dilworths for $90,000 at the 2020 Keeneland November sale, but RNA'd for $105,000 at Keeneland last September.

“She was a nice filly and we didn't get any love on her at all as a yearling,” Dilworth said. “We thought she was nice enough to take on to a 2-year-old sale and that's what we did.”

Out of Corderosa (Aldebaran), the filly is a half-sister to stakes placed Orecchiette (Harlan's Holiday) and Lane Way (Into Mischief).

The filly worked a furlong last week in :9 4/5 and Dilworth gave plenty of credit to Centofanti for Tuesday's result.

“She was kind of hard to break and they took it very slow,” he said. “We were little bit worried about when they were going to get her here, but they got her here.”

Asked to assess his day at the office, Dilworth smiled and said, “It doesn't get any better than this.” @JessMartiniTDN

Back Ring Purchase Pays for Bobo

Tami Bobo and Fernando De Jesus, who will be represented in the GI Kentucky Derby by Simplification (Not This Time), will go into the First Saturday of May off a major pinhooking score in Ocala after selling a colt by Curlin (hip 66) for $510,000 to bloodstock agent David Ingordo during the first session of the OBS Spring Sale Tuesday. The couple had purchased the youngster for $40,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“He was a strong, forward Curlin,” Bobo said of the colt's appeal last fall. “They are solid, trainable racehorses. You have to love a Curlin.”
Asked if she was surprised by the colt's yearling price tag, Bobo admitted, “Shocked.”

She continued, “Every year at Keeneland, I've been blessed in that back ring. I work that back ring pretty hard. I saw him first in the back ring, followed him up and bought him. It's just my buying style. It's just myself and Fernando, so we can't short list after Book 1. So they walk in the back ring and we make split-second decisions what we are going to pay and walk up and buy them. I've made relationships over the years with consignors that I can trust, so this happened to be with a consignor I trusted and she told me everything was good. So I bought the horse based on her word.”

As for her impending date in Louisville, Bobo said, “Simplification is doing wonderful. I try not to call and get the daily updates on him because it's so nerve-wracking at this point. Life is just such a blessing to have these amazing horses. To be a part of their career paths is just amazing.”

As Bobo was talking, the Derby contender's trainer Antonio Sano walked by to congratulate her on the pinhooking success.

“He trained him this morning, came here today and he is leaving to go back to train him tomorrow,” Bobo said of her trainer, who confirmed the sophomore was doing well. “Having the relationship I have with Antonio makes me want to race more. It's like a family. It makes horse racing fun.”

Ingordo made the winning bid on the colt, who was consigned by de Meric Sales, out back standing alongside trainer John Sherriffs and CRK Stable's Lee Searing and signed under Mayberry Farm.

“I bought him for CRK Stables and he'll go to California with John Sherriffs,” Ingordo confirmed.

Bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Hip 66 is out of graded winner Winding Way (Malibu Moon), a full-sister to multiple graded winner Kauai Katie.

“There wasn't anything not to love,” Ingordo said of the colt. “He's by Curlin, he has some page and he breezed beautiful (:10 1/5) and vetted good. He's the kind of horse that, if John gets him to the promised land, we can stand him as a stallion one day.” @JessMartiniTDN

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The post Express Train On Top After Big ‘Cap Battle appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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With Eight Rings breaking on top, Express Train, along with both American Theorem and Law Professor, were in hot pursuit in the run to the Club House turn.  With American Theorem taken back off the dueling leaders at the seven-furlong pole, Express Train settled into a nice rhythm with Law Professor to his outside in the run to the far turn.

John Velazquez, aboard Eight Rings, stepped on the gas three furlongs out, but Express Train was just three quarters of a length back and he enjoyed a one length edge at the quarter pole.  At that point, Law Professor loomed ominously turning for home, but Express Train was able to shrug off the challenge approaching the furlong marker in a huge effort.

“It got a little complicated out of the gate because I thought the two horses outside of me were going to go and make the pace,” said Espinoza.  “Then the one (longshot Kiss Today Goodbye) decided to take back…So that kind of made my decision to go forward and stay there rather than be stuck on the inside.  It's all about the horses too.  Express Train, he helped me to move with such confidence at that point that I was not afraid to just let him go.

“I think the last time (a nose victory in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes Dec. 26), he won but he was not 100 percent, because he had a little time off in between that race.  But now, he's ready to go.  I had the opportunity to come and work him a couple times…Coming into this race I was confident but in the race, anything can happen.  Things got a little complicated, but we resolved them quick.”

The 8-5 favorite in a field of six older horses, Express Train, a 5-year-old horse by Union Rags, paid $5.20, $2.80 and $2.10.

Owned by Lee and Susan Searing's C R K Stable, LLC, Express Train, who is out of the Mineshaft mare I'm a Flake, registered his fourth graded stakes win and improved his overall mark to 16-6-4-3.  With the winner's take of $120,000, he increased his earnings to $935,800.

“I think this was a little bit more difficult for him,” said Shirreffs, when asked to compare Express Train's win today with his triumph in the 2021 San Pasqual.  “There was lot going on early with the fast pace…Nobody got to relax because Mike's horse (Smith, aboard American Theorem) came up on the outside and wanted to force the pace so it was do or die time then.  We're looking forward to the Big 'Cap.”

Trained by Michael McCarthy and ridden by Juan Hernandez, Law Professor, who came into the race off a big win in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Mathis Mile Dec. 26, looked as though he'd give the winner all he wanted, but couldn't go with him the final three sixteenths of a mile.  Off at 4-1, he paid $4.20 and $2.60 while finishing 2 ½ lengths in front of early leader Eight Rings.

Ridden by John Velazquez, Eight Rings, the 2-1 favorite, paid $2.40 to show while finishing three quarters of a length in front of stablemate Spielberg.

Fractions on the race were 22.72, 47.16, 1:11.75 and 1:37.32.

First post time for a nine-race card, which will include two graded stakes on Sunday, is at 12:30 p.m.  Admission gates open at 10:30 a.m.

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WILLA (m, 5, Will Take Charge–Miss Kilroy, by A.P. Indy), to be bred to Blame, and her half-sister KITTY (m, 3, Street Boss–Miss Kilroy, by A.P. Indy), to be bred to Union Rags

Very lucky to have my dad at side the day Miss Kilroy strode into the ring at the 2009 January Keeneland Breeding Stock Sale, an 11-year-old A.P. Indy daughter with one winner. While I thought about it, he bought her. In the next 18 months, she produced her first stakes winner, and yet another daughter became stakes placed in a Group 1 in Ireland.

Fast forward 13 years and she turned out to be one of the best impulse buys of all time for us, a page that has expanded to include five individual stakes-producing daughters. While Miss Kilroy (at age 24) is happily enjoying her retirement, these (two of her last three daughters) are just beginning their careers as broodmares:

Willa, a minor winner from three starts, is expecting her first foal by Gun Runner next month, and heads to Blame this season. I can't think of a better stallion to start a young mare. From a personal perspective, we raised a very talented Blame filly, a wire-to-wire winner in an Oaklawn maiden special last month. Produced from an Unbridled's Song mare, the choice was obvious.

Although unraced, Kitty is a solidly built sprinter-type much like her sire, Street Boss. Thought Union Rags was an excellent choice for her. We have had a number of them and he always provides size, scope and athleticism. Think he is in a great spot to use, having experienced big books filled with quality mares of late, while standing at twice the fee.

COURT APPEAL (m, 11, Candy Ride {Arg}–Rehear, by Coronado's Quest), to be bred to Charlatan

Presently in foal to Frosted, Court Appeal is off to a fast start as a producer. Her first foal is the multiple stakes winner Elle Z (City Zip) and her second foal is the talented GI-stakes placed Ginsburned (Noble Mission {GB}). Hard to imagine, other than both being Lane's End Stallions, two stallions with [such] vastly different profiles, so I kind of think she could be the real deal. Her current 3-year-old, Mrs Whistler (Tonalist), owns some fairly impressive works for owner MyRacehorse.

Charlatan has the goods, and is a slam dunk commercially. Competition was keen to get a nice mare in, so we chose Court Appeal. I always like to double up on important females, and this mating finds Silken Doll (second dam of Speightstown) repeated as Court Appeal's third dam.

BETWIXTING (m, 6, Macho Uno–Between the Clouds, by Sky Classic), to be bred to Quality Road

Homebred Betwixting provided us an exciting 2021, reeling off five straight wins, culminating with a win in the listed Satin and Lace S. She hails from a productive Sam-Son Farm family, her dam being a half-sister to a champion grass horse in Canada.

Betwixting turned out to be a real sprint specialist, with a devastating late kick at five and six furlongs. Quality Road has proven to be a consistent source of two-turn, Saturday afternoon graded stakes winners, so I thought it was a great match. As it turns out, Corniche (Quality Road)'s dam is Blushing Groom/Nijinsky, a pedigree with very strong similarities to our Betwixting.

HIGH STYLE (m, 15, Giant's Causeway–Tout Charmant, by Slewvescant), to be bred to Essential Quality, and her daughter MCNALLY (m, 4, Liam's Map), to be bred to Candy Ride {Arg}

High Style is another mare that has produced a couple of graded stakes horses for us, including New and Improved (Cairo Prince), winner of Belmont's GII Sands Point S. New and Improved made news recently–as the second highest-selling mare in foal to Authentic–at the Keeneland November Sale. Versatile producer with winners at the top level on the dirt, grass and synthetic.

Champion and Classic winner Essential Quality will be High Style's most accomplished mate to date. You can't help becoming enamored with his race record and deep family ties. He was all class as he struck a pose in the Godolphin yard the afternoon we paid a visit; when he went for a walk, he sealed the deal.

McNally will start her new career visiting the court of leading sire Candy Ride {Arg}. Arguably the most accomplished of proven sires, and looks to be establishing a sire-of-sires line few in history can match. Again, when it comes to young mares, the proven sire is the best choice.

Candy Ride provides that in spades, and has a real affinity for the Unbridled's Song line.

DIVINE ESCAPADE (m, 13, A.P. Indy–Madcap Escapade, by Hennessy), to be bred to Candy Ride {Arg}

Presently in foal to Curlin, a multiple stakes-producing A.P. Indy mare, whose first dam was not only a sales topper, but known to put on a show in a Grade I. Her first two stakes horses to date (by Speightstown and by Runhappy), have both shown ability; her 3-year-old (Blame) filly is in Japan; and her Gun Runner (2-year-old) and Good Magic (yearling) are both in good hands.

For reasons stated above, Candy Ride made the most sense in this spot as well. This mare is a typical A.P. Indy (except for her chestnut color), big frame and plenty of bone.

On pedigree, physical presence and the success of this cross, Candy Ride made all the sense in the world. Additionally, her Gun Runner 2-year-old looks to be pretty special.

CHAUSIE (m, 14, Bluegrass Cat-­-Descapate, by Dehere), to be bred to Omaha Beach, and MARRAKESH EXPRESS (m, 8, Union Rags–Layounne, by Mt. Livermore), to be bred to Improbable

Two other mares share a connection in each having a filly sell at Saratoga last year–a Union Rags and a Munnings [respectively]–two fillies we have high hopes for, in their future racing careers.

Chausie, presently in foal to Munnings, is a graded stakes-winning producer and consistently gets a good sales type. She heads to Omaha Beach this season. Her dam, Descapate, won stakes by as many as seven lengths, a family we believe in. Omaha Beach is a can't miss and comes from one of the best families in the stud book. The opportunity of Dehere 4×3 definitely drove this mating.

Marrakesh Express, presently in foal to Global Campaign, is from a prestigious Harbor View Farm family and is booked to Improbable for 2022. He is the one first-year horse I missed out on in 2021. This mare's Munnings filly was in our top five that year; leggy filly and all quality. One look at this horse, and there is no question that these Improbable foals will make everyone's short list at the sales.

Let us know who you're breeding your mares to in 2022, and why. We will print a selection of your responses in TDN over the coming weeks. Please send details to: garyking@thetdn.com.

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