One of the pack of furlong bullet workers Wednesday was a son of Into Mischief out of multiple Grade I winner Separationofpowers (Candy Ride {Arg}). David Scanlon sent the striking bay with the sparkling pedigree (hip 603) to work early in the session.

“We thought he would breeze really well today,” Scanlon said. “He prepped really good. He's been a very honest horse at the farm. He's real forward training and he has a real spring in his step. I always think :9 4/5s are blessings or gifts. I never go up expecting a :9 4/5, but you like to see it happen.”

Separationofpowers won the 2017 GI Frizette S. and GI Test S. for trainer Chad Brown and Klaravich Stables. Her first foal, a filly by Curlin, sold for $650,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September sale. Scanlon purchased the Into Mischief colt, bred by Hunter Valley and Mountmellick Farm, for $350,000 at last summer's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.

“For us, he was a pretty penny in Saratoga,” Scanlon said. “We always thought he looked like a real 2-year-old type out there. He's a smooth, well-balanced horse with a really nice hip on him.”

Timing had a lot to do with the colt's price tag among all the glittering offerings at the boutique Saratoga sale, Scanlon said.

“I think at the time, he was a little immature,” he explained. “I had a feeling he was just falling through the cracks there a little bit. Sometimes up there, we do that. We kind of have to look for those bargains and cracks in the market a little bit. If they check all of the boxes, we can't really afford them. The horses a lot of people bring up there are extremely mature, big physical specimens like [$2.3-million 2022 Saratoga topper and GI Kentucky Derby contender] Sierra Leone.

“My wife and I always say, 'You've got to be there,'” Scanlon said. “We will vet a bunch of these and they will blow right past us–we aren't even close, we are off by zeroes. But then that one time you are there, you can get one like this. Luckily, we ended up getting him and he's just been a real standout from day one.”

Daredevil on the Comeback

Daredevil's first crop since being repatriated to the U.S. from Turkey in 2021 are now 2-year-olds and the Lane's End stallion was represented by a pair of bullet workers Wednesday.

The Martin family's Britton Peak consignment sent out a colt by Daredevil (hip 594) to hit the bullet mark. The juvenile was forced to wait out a lengthy delay in the under-tack show after a horse bolted into the rail during his breeze and was attended to on the track.

“Unfortunately, we were right behind the accident,” Greg Martin said. “We were ready to work and we had to wait 45 minutes in the chute. Honestly, I hate to be so bold, but I wouldn't have been shocked if he had gone in :9 3/5. He definitely has a nice video. He has a nice, big stride on him.”

The dark bay is out of graded winner Seasoned Warrior (Majestic Warrior), who is a daughter of Canadian champion Saoirse (Cure the Blues). Martin purchased the colt for $37,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale.

“He looked like an absolutely gorgeous individual,” Martin said. “He was well put together. Just the kind of body that I look for. He stood out.”

Shedaresthedevil | Horsephotos

While Daredevil's American-bred runners included GI Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil and GI Preakness S.-winning champion 3-year-old filly Swiss Skydiver, he was already plying his trade in Turkey when those fillies were making headlines in 2020. With his hiatus from the American sales ring now over, buyers may need a reintroduction to the stallion.

“That's why, I think, we got him for that price,” Martin said of the colt's yearling price tag. “I think if he was by a first-year or sophomore stallion or somebody proven, we definitely wouldn't have gotten him for that price.”

Of the colt's progression from last summer, Martin added, “He's definitely gotten bigger. Once in a while, you are going to get that horse who is push-button from day one. And he's been that. He has a really nice pedigree and he's a looker. He's a gorgeous individual.”

A filly by Daredevil (hip 687) worked in :9 4/5 for Hal Hatch's Halcyon Hammock Farm. The bay is out of Starship Gussie (High Cotton), a half-sister to the dam of Shedaresthedevil. Bred in Florida by Mustang Farm, she RNA'd for $72,000 at last year's OBS October sale.

Top Line Well Represented

Five of Wednesday's18 bullet workers were from the Top Line Sales consignment: hip 524, a filly by Into Mischief who is a full-sister to graded winner Maximus Mischief; hip 548, a colt by Gormley; hip 577, a colt by Vekoma; hip 622, a colt by Not This Time; and hip 638, a colt by Maclean's Music.

Wavertree Stables had a pair of juveniles share Wednesday's :9 4/5 co-fastest furlong time. Hip 567 is a filly from the first crop of Horse of the Year Authentic out of stakes winner Sandy's Surprise (Drosselmeyer), while hip 637 is a New York-bred daughter of Omaha Beach out of Sister Margaret (Pulpit).

For the second day in a row, Grassroots Training & Sales had a pair of bullet workers: hip 599, a filly by Munnings; and hip 625, a filly from the first crop of GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Spun to Run.

Also working in :9 4/5 Wednesday: hip 523, a filly by Not This Time consigned by Centofanti Thoroughbreds; hip 530, a filly by Nyquist consigned by Niall Brennan Stables; hip 555, a filly by Global Campaign consigned by Best a Luck Farm; hip 591, a colt by Hard Spun consigned by Harris Training Center; hip 642, a colt by Street Sense consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds; and hip 690, a filly by Not This Time consigned by Grade One Investments.

A filly from the first crop of graded winner Instagrand (hip 551) turned in the fastest quarter-mile work of Wednesday's session when covering the distance in :20 3/5. Consigned by Hoppel LLC, the bay is out of Runaway Renee (Munnings) and was purchased for $70,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale.

Conditions during the first four days of the seven-session under-tack show have been ideal, according to Scanlon.

“I don't remember in recent years when we've had such absolutely perfect days,” he said. “I can't remember a year when we had so many cool mornings combined with an east wind–or a tailwind–for so many days in a row. It's been ideal conditions.

It's made for perfect breeze days.”

The ideal conditions are expected to be interrupted by heavy rain Thursday, prompting OBS officials to postpone the under-tack show's fifth session until Friday. Hips 691 through 863 are scheduled to work Friday, with hips 864-1035 on Saturday and hips 1036 through 1208 on Sunday. All sessions begin at 8 a.m.

The OBS Spring sale will be held Tuesday through Friday with bidding starting each day at 10:30 a.m.

The post Bullets Continue to Fly at OBS Wednesday, but Weather KO’s Thursday Breezes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Three of the bullet workers came from the Wavertree Stables consignment: a filly by Nyquist (hip 304) out of High Heeled Girl (Malibu Moon); a filly by American Freedom (hip 400) out of Limitless (Discreet Cat); and a colt by Shancelot (hip 421) out of Magnolias in Bloom (Flatter).

Wavertree also had a McKinzie colt who shared the :9 4/5 bullet time during Wednesday's first session of the under-tack show.

Eddie Woods sent out a pair of colts by WinStar Farm first-crop sires to share the bullet :9 4/5 time.

First up for the consignment was a chestnut colt by Promises Fulfilled (hip 316). Out of Hot Fun (Latent Heat), the Maryland-bred was purchased by the Quarter Pole Enterprises pinhooking partnership for $110,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“I expected him to work well,” Woods said. “He is an amazingly good-looking colt by kind of an off-the-wall stallion, so to speak. I thought he would work really quick and he did. He's been like that from the first time we ever worked him. He just jumps right in there. He's a tall, leggy colt with great angles to him.”

Also working in :9 4/5 Thursday for Woods was a colt from the first crop of champion Improbable (hip 395). The bay is out of Libby's Tail (Tiz Wonderful) and was purchased by Woods on behalf of Michael Rullo for $135,000 at Keeneland September.

“The work was spectacular,” Woods said. “I can't always tell you a big horse like him is going to work in :9 4/5, but we expected a good work from him and he did that and then some. He galloped out great. He's a beautiful, big, long-striding horse. I think a lot of people are going to like him.”

The colt was one of two sons of Improbable to work the furlong in :9 4/5 Thursday. Also sharing the bullet was hip 325, a colt by the WinStar stallion out of stakes-placed Inaugurate (Empire Maker) from the Majestic consignment.

“As yearlings, I thought they were taller, leaner kind of horses,” Woods said of the progeny of Improbable he has seen. “But we had several in training here and they have come along really well. The one thing they do is move beautifully. They get across the ground really well. They are not huge, robust horses, but they are very athletic.”

For the second day in a row, a filly by Munnings from the Niall Brennan Stables consignment worked her furlong in :9 4/5. Hip 229 is out of Firefoot (Tapizar), a half-sister to graded winner Bandbox (Tapit). The 2-year-old, a $125,000 Keeneland September purchase, is a half-sister to stakes-placed Freeburn (Mitole).

A Bullet Bolt for Horseology Partners

Sharing in the bevy of bullets Thursday at OBS, a colt by Bolt d'Oro (hip 422) worked the furlong in :9 4/5 for Katie Miranda's White Lilac consignment. The bay colt is out of Maisie (Stay Thirsty), a half-sister to multiple graded winner Lovely Bernadette (Wilburn).

“The horse has always shown us positive things,” said Miranda. “He's had lovely breezes at the farm all year. I don't think we've ever had a bad breeze from him. And he prepped in :9 4/5 here [at OBS] last week.”

Asked to describe the colt, Miranda said, “He's a tank. He is an absolute tank. He looks like a Quarter Horse and he has muscles popping out of every part of his body.”

The colt was purchased for $150,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale by Brian DiDonato's Franklin Ave Equine on behalf of David and Jon Schlosser's Cliff Racing and Miranda and trainer Jena Antonucci's Horseology partnership.

“He was one of our stretch purchases of the year,” Miranda said. “Obviously, partnering with Cliff and Brian allowed that to happen. We had very high thoughts of him from the jump and he's proven it day in and day out. He's just a class act.”

Miranda and Antonucci have been working together for four years and this will be Horseology's second year of pinhooking partnerships.

“We have a good mixture of owners,” Miranda said. “Our big goal is to get new people involved. We do smaller shares to give people the ability to start at just a smaller level because this is an expensive game. We bought 10 [yearlings] for this year. The Bolt d'Oro is one of them. And we've got a pretty big group of owners involved, a mix of owners we have worked with for years and some new ones.”

Also earning the furlong bullet time Thursday: a filly by Caracaro (hip 225) consigned by Cesar Loya Training & Sales; a filly by Honest Mischief (hip 243) consigned by Jesse Hoppel's Coastal Equine; a filly by City of Light (hip 290) consigned by Top Line Sales; a colt by Violence (hip 301) consigned by New Hope AB; a colt by Twirling Candy (hip 398) consigned by GOP Racing Stable Corp.; a filly by Maximus Mischief (hip 418) consigned by Omar Ramirez Bloodstock; and a colt by Volatile (hip 420) consigned by Grade One Investments.

A pair of juveniles shared Thursday's fastest quarter-mile time of :20 4/5: a filly by Uncle Mo (hip 252) consigned by Pick View and a colt by Cajun Breeze (hip 271) bred and consigned by Tom McCrocklin.

While headwinds were a major factor later in Wednesday's first session of the under-tack show, conditions were more consistent throughout the second session Thursday, according to Miranda.

“The headwind yesterday was terrible,” Miranda said. “We probably had a much more consistent track today. They said it was going to be overcast–which to me means you can't see the sun. And there was just one cloud in the sky. Which was annoying just because the track gets so hot and sticky so quick. But the track seemed to play fair all day.”

Of wind conditions, Miranda said, “If anything we had a little bit of a tailwind at times, but definitely not the 12mph headwind people had to deal with yesterday.”

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 8 a.m. The March sale will be held next Tuesday through Thursday. Bidding begins each day at 11 a.m.

The post Bevy of Bullets at OBS Thursday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Consigned by Niall Brennan Stables, the daughter of Munnings (hip 26) was the first to set the bullet mark some 15 minutes into the under-tack show. The bay is out of the unraced Ansaam (Bernardini), a half-sister to Grade I winner Denman's Call (Northern Afleet) and from the family of multiple Grade I winner Evening Jewel. She was a $95,000 purchase at last year's Keeneland September sale.

The very next horse to work Wednesday, hip 17, a colt by McKinzie consigned by Raul Reyes's Kings Equine, also worked in :9 4/5.

“He did it the way I expected him to,” Reyes said of the work. “He was superior up at the farm. He showed a lot of talent there and he stepped up to the plate today. He is just a big, strong-looking horse. He looks like the real thing.”

The dark bay is out of multiple stakes winner Altamura (Artie Schiller). He was purchased by Scott and Evan Dilworth for $135,000 as a weanling at the 2022 Keeneland November sale before RNA'ing for $125,000 back at Keeneland last September.

“Scott bought him as a weanling and he didn't sell him as a yearling,” Reyes said. “They got lucky they didn't sell him because he really showed up today.”

Asked how the colt had changed over the winter, Reyes said,  “He just got more tucked up and muscled. I thought he was a good-looking horse when I got him, quite honestly.”

An hour into Wednesday's session, hip 89, another son of Gainesway's McKinzie, worked the furlong in :9 4/5. Out of Breech Inlet (Holy Bull), the colt is a half-brother to multiple stakes winner and multiple graded placed Merveilleux (Paynter). Breech Inlet is a half-sister to graded winner Bauble Queen (Arch), dam of multiple graded winner Blitzkrieg.

The Ontario-bred was purchased by Ron Fein's Superfine Farm for $205,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. He is consigned by Wavertree Stables.

A four-time Grade I winner on the racetrack, McKinzie stands at Gainesway for $30,000.

Reyes said he is a fan of the stallion based on the progeny he has seen so far.

“I love them,” Reyes said. “They have a lot of talent. And they have a good mind. The two that I have experience with so far also have very nice bodies.”

A filly by Bee Jersey (hip 130) turned in Wednesday's fastest quarter-mile when zipping the distance in :20 4/5 for consignor Tom McCrocklin. The juvenile is out of Christmas Cove (More Than Ready), a half-sister to graded winner Coal Play (Mineshaft), as well as to the dam of GI Travers S. winner Keen Ice.

McCrocklin purchased the filly on behalf of Michael Sucher's Champion Equine for $110,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Yearlings Sale in Saratoga last August.

The dispersal of the Lothenbach Stables of the late Bob Lothenbach, which produced a pair of million-dollar mares at the Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale in February, will continue at the OBS March sale. Fourteen juveniles from the dispersal galloped during the under-tack show Wednesday from the consignments of Brennan and McCrocklin, as well as deMeric Sales and Ocala Stud. An additional 26 juveniles from the dispersal will be on the track during the remaining three sessions of the under-tack show.

The under-tack show began at 8 a.m. Wednesday with temperatures in the upper 60's and, with an increasing headwind as the day wore on, concluded just after 3 p.m. with temperatures near 80 degrees.

“The track was great,” Reyes said. “The only thing was the headwind was brutal. It changed later in the day, we experienced a very strong headwind, I would say.”

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 8 a.m. The March sale will be held next Tuesday through Thursday with bidding beginning each day at 11 a.m.

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“My brother Ed and I practiced law together starting back when I graduated law school in '87 and then we bought a 320-acre farm here in Marion County and we raise Angus cattle on it,” Dean said. “But you know the farming business is quite expensive to get into and quite expensive to maintain, so we had to become lawyers in order to afford to be farmers.

“Later on, I had a client who had a few Thoroughbreds. We ended up at OBS watching the sale and all of a sudden I found myself throwing my hand up in the air and buying a horse. My friend asked what I was doing and I said, 'I don't know. He was a good-looking horse.' I wanted to see if we could do something.”

That initial purchase led to several more, but the money seemed to be moving all in one direction and it was always out, never in.

“I started playing around with horses a little bit, but we never had any success really,” Dean said. “But I kind of liked it. I got up a bit heavy to about 30 horses at one time and my wife said, 'You're an idiot. You're wasting all your money.' Most people keep doing the same thing over and over until they go broke. Fortunately, the good Lord has blessed me with a good law practice, so I haven't gone broke, but it's not been real profitable.”

So three years ago, Dean decided to tweak his process. Rather than trying to find bargains in the $20,000 to $30,000 range at the yearling sales, he would focus on better pedigrees and higher quality.

“It was just barely making any money and if you aren't making any money at it, then pretty soon your wife is going to not be happy and call you an idiot,” he explained. “I decided to change the strategy. So now we try to buy better quality yearlings and maybe a couple of weanlings that we thought came from more-than-average–maybe even a few exceptional–sires. And spend some more money on the yearlings and the weanlings to see if we could make it profitable. Because the training costs are the same, whether you are training a three-legged horse or a four-legged horse. You might as well increase your cost and get a better quality horse with the expectation that you might sell for a higher price. So we did that two years ago and we made a profit. We did it again last year and made a profit. And we are trying it again this year.”

Dean went to $250,000 to acquire a colt by Twirling Candy at last year's Keeneland September sale and, while the youngster was catalogued as hip 140 with Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables at next week's March sale, he will instead wait for the April sale.

“That was the one we paid the most for at the yearling sales, so I have high hopes for him,” Dean said. “But Ciaran said he would do better in the April sale.”

On behalf of Dean, Wavertree will consign a colt by Vino Rosso (hip 571) at the March sale. Out of Queenie's Pride (Special Rate), the chestnut is a half-brother to graded-placed Joy's Rocket (Anthony's Cross). He was a $95,000 purchase last September at Keeneland.

“He checked all of the boxes,” Dean said of the colt's appeal last fall. “He didn't have any issues with the vet. He looked good and he has a solid family. He was in our budget and fit the perfect mold of what we want to do–to move up a little bit in quality of the stallion and pay a little more for a yearling.”

Dean was also drawn to the colt's young sire, who was represented last Sunday by GII San Felipe S. runner-up Wine Me Up.

“If you have a young sire who is also having 3 and 4-year-olds that are coming on and they are starting to build a record as a good stallion, that helps,” he said. “The older stallions that are at the twilight of their careers, they can still provide quality horses, but they don't have the appeal that some horse buyers are looking for. They want to get the fresh young stallion that is really coming on and really going to shine. That's the bright shiny penny that gets all the attention.”

Through the Silvestre Chavez Thoroughbreds consignment, Dean will offer a colt by Curlin (hip 174). The chestnut colt is out of the unraced Divine Escapade (A.P. Indy), a daughter of Grade I winner Madcap Escapade (Hennessy).

Dean admitted he was “shocked” when he was able to acquire the colt for $35,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“I was sitting at the sale and in walks this Curlin colt and I am looking at the page and I am expecting him to go for $300,000 or better,” Dean recalled. “He was languishing at $28,000, $30,000. I looked closer at the page, I looked at the horse as he's walking around. I said, 'Well, he's got four legs and I don't see what the issue is,' so I threw my hand up in the air and ended up buying him for $35,000. My friends were asking me why I bought that horse. I said, 'He's by Curlin with a great page. And it's $35,000. I've lost more than $35,000 dozens of times on other horses. If it turns out to be a train wreck, so what? I've been down that road before.'”

Asked how the colt has progressed since last fall, Dean said, “He's gone the right way. I watched him Friday when he breezed at OBS and he looked very, very good doing it. They are going to have to take a look at him. Hopefully, he will do everything that is asked of him.”

Dean's 2024 pinhooking prospects also include a colt by More Than Ready out of Runway Rosie (Include) (hip 69) he purchased as a weanling for $85,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton November sale. The colt is expected to be in the line up with Wavertree in April.

“The one that Ciaran has said the most about, that he was a little surprised about, was the More Than Ready that I bought as a weanling,” Dean said. “He didn't get the prep that they get when they are going to the yearling sale. He was just hanging out in a field with his buds who weren't going to yearling sales and he didn't do anything but grow bigger. We had him shipped down and Ciaran said he was a little backward. But as he got into the training, he started adding muscle and getting into it and Ciaran said he is really catching his eye. He's doing everything we are asking him to do and more and he's coming on strong.”

When he is looking for pinhook prospects, Dean said he looks for future potential.

“Everybody wants a perfect horse and as a yearling, they may not be perfect,” he said. “But by the time they are ready to go racing, they may develop. You can look at a 14-year-old boy who wants to play football and he's 5'9 and he weighs 140 pounds, so that's not so impressive. But when he gets to be 18, maybe he's 6'1 and weighs 220 pounds and now he can play.”

Dean and his four siblings could represent that same over-achieving spirit, a spirit personified in his parents, both of whom lost their hearing as children.

“My mom and dad produced one son who is an engineer, one daughter who is a college professor, another daughter who is a medical professional with a masters degree and two other sons that went to law school and became successful,” Dean said. “And if you had asked either my mom or dad when they were 20 if they would have had a shot to do that, the answer would have been no, in part because they were both deaf.”

Dean's father was 19 and in college hoping to become a doctor when he lost his hearing after a case of spinal meningitis. He went on to become a structural engineer.

His mother, growing up on a farm in Minnesota, lost her hearing at age seven after a case of scarlet fever. She ultimately received a full scholarship to Gallaudet University, the national college for the deaf in Washington D.C., and became an English teacher.

“That's where she met my dad,” Dean said. “He was an engineer working for one of the aerospace contractors in World War II and was living in Washington. They went to a deaf social and that's where they met.”

Lessons from his parents necessarily permeated Dean's youth.

“When I was in seventh grade, I told my dad, 'I just can't get this math. It's too hard.' He said, 'Son, you don't know what hard is yet.'”

Ed Dean was practicing law in Gainesville when his younger brother was contemplating his future back at home with his parents in Michigan.

“My brother was telling me about the University of Florida and the Gators,” Dean said. “I wrote to them and asked if they were interested in an offensive lineman from the state of Michigan. And basically, the word was, 'No, we have plenty of kids that we can recruit here in the south. We don't need to go to Michigan to get a kid.'”

But it wasn't long before a heart attack forced his father into retirement and Dean saw an opportunity.

“They sold their home in Michigan and bought a home in Gainesville and off to Florida we went,” Dean said. “I went to Gainesville High School for my senior year, did well, and did well enough to impress the Gators, so I went to University of Florida on a scholarship.”

As the youngest of a brood of highly successful professionals, Dean admitted there was some pressure when choosing his own profession.

“My brother Ed set the standard,” he said. “My brother Dale became an engineer and my sister was a college professor and my other sister was in medicine. And so I am thinking I have to do something. I don't want to be the dog of the family. Math wasn't my thing, so engineering was out. And I said, 'I am a pretty good talker, maybe I can do this law thing.' I said, 'Surely I am as smart as my brother. And if he is a good lawyer, I can be one, too. That's why I went to law school.”

The journey begun by his parents in the 1940s continues to impact Dean and is reflected in his pinhooking philosophy.

“If we can make a profit, we will be very happy,” he said. “If we don't make a profit, we will be undaunted. We will try again.”

The under-tack show for the OBS March sale will begin Wednesday and continues through Saturday with sessions beginning each morning at 8 a.m. The three-day auction will be held next Tuesday through Thursday. Bidding begins each day at 11 a.m.

The post Dean Hopes New Approach Yields Gains at OBS appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“We started buying yearlings before the repository,” Ciaran Dunne said. “Back in those days, you had to shorten down your vet list because of the costs involved. There was very little that we couldn't live with because we might vet, at the very most, four horses a day. So if you were very picky, you didn't get anything. Back in those days, sesamoiditis wasn't as big a deal, there was no such thing as ultrasounds and soft tissue scans. So very early on we learned to live with a lot of things. And because of that, we trained horses who had various issues. We saw a lot of what horses can live with and what horses can't live with.”

Dunne said his decisions at the yearling sales are generally based more on the individual in front of him than on the expansive vet reports available today.

“Some years, I will say I'm not going to buy any horse that has any degree of sesamoiditis above mild,” he explained. “But if I find a horse I really, really like and he's got moderate or severe sesamoiditis and I still like him, I'll probably still buy him. I think if we allow the veterinary findings to dictate what we buy, then a lot of times you end up buying horses you are just OK on physically and you walk away from the ones you love because they have some little issue that might never have been a problem. I take the tact that I would much rather buy one that I love that has a little this or a little that than buy one that I'm just so-so on because he has a clean set of X-rays.”

The Wavertree team doesn't adjust its process just because they are predominately shopping for pinhooking prospects, rather than racehorse prospects.

“I have people tell me, 'He'll be OK to race, but not to pinhook,'” Dunne said. “Ultimately, they are all going to have to be racehorses. And I can't be a future purchaser's veterinarian. I can't say what they will like and what they won't like. There are plenty of horses that come with veterinary findings that are of no consequence to me, but the buyers run away from and hide. And then there are horses that, when we get the X-ray report back after the breeze show, I think we are in trouble here and nobody else seems to have a problem with it.”

Buyers relying solely on a vet report while neglecting to consider the individual may be missing the bigger picture, according to Dunne.

“I'm not going to say that everything with bad X-rays or a bad ultrasound will go on and run,” he said. “I think everything is relative. Some horses who have issues, if they have a lighter frame they can maybe live with them, whereas with a heavier-bodied type, you'd be less inclined to give them a chance. I think people use the vet reports to weed horses out, but I don't think you can look at a vet report and say this horse is no good.”

He continued, “In the same way, when people read X-rays or  read soft-tissue findings and aren't physically there to look at the horse, I don't think they can give a fair judgement on whether this is representative of what the horse actually is. Trying to evaluate a horse off a piece of paper in terms of radiographic findings or trying to evaluate a horse digitally from 500 miles away, I don't think that works. I think there has to be a little common sense. Context matters.”

When Dunne switches from buying yearlings to selling juveniles, he sees a difference in how potential buyers utilize vet reports.

“I think they are harder on the 2-year-olds than they are on the yearlings with the vetting,” Dunne said. “We've seen a lot of yearlings sell for a lot of money with radiographic findings that really raised our eyebrows. Whereas the slightest thing in the 2-year-olds chases them away. Which seems to me to be backwards. Maybe it's that people [buying yearlings] think they have enough time to fix anything. I think they are looking for ghosts.”

Watching horses perform on the racetrack at a 2-year-old sale should provide buyers with more confidence than it generally seems to, according to Dunne.

“It amuses me when a horse goes up and works well enough and gallops out well enough to make them come down to see him and he comes out and he shows himself well and then they are going to come up with this huge problem that he might have,” Dunne said. “I don't know what they think we are that we would be able to mask something like that. At the end of the day, if you look at the scratch rate at 2-year-old sales, the ones that have problems are eliminated before they get to see them. And usually the ones that work good are the ones that end up being good horses. Again, you have to put the whole thing into context. How considerable can it be if they just performed at that level?”

Dunne stressed what he sees as the importance of potential buyers making decisions based on the findings of–and consultations with–their own veterinarians.

“I hate the vet reports,” Dunne said. “I hate showing the vet report because I feel like people, when they ask to see the vet report, are just looking for a reason not to go vet them. Whereas if they just go vet them, their veterinarian may not have an issue with the ink that's on the page. When we buy yearlings, I don't look at vet reports. If I like the horse well enough, I look at my vet's interpretation and I live or die by his opinion. I think everybody should do their own homework.”

Click to read previous The X-Ray Files: with Tom McCrocklin and David Ingordo.

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Through two sessions of the three-day sale, 410 juveniles have sold for $14,922,600. The average of $36,397 is down 5.1% from the 2022 figure of $38,358–which includes post-sale transactions–and is down 8.9% from the $39,961 close-of-day average from a year ago. The median of $20,000 dipped 13% from last year's final figure and 20% from the end-of-day figure.

The cumulative buy-back rate stood at 21.9% after the fall of the last hammer Wednesday.

At this same point a year ago, with 125 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 22.9%. With 32 additional post-sales transactions, 452 horses had sold for $17,337,600 and the two-day final buy-back rate was 17.1%.

Wavertree Stables, which sold two of Wednesday's top five lots, was the session's leading consignor.

Following a season of polarized results at the 2-year-old sales, the June figures were no surprise to Wavertree's Ciaran Dunne.

“It's not anything we didn't expect,” Dunne said. “For what are perceived to be the top-end horses, there are plenty of people there. For everything else, we are just fighting over scraps. The attendance is probably a little disappointing, but I think that is reflective of small fields and super trainers. It's harder for the smaller trainers to drum up clients, so it makes it even harder for them to come here and buy. A thousand horses is a lot of horses in the June sale. I think they are doing very well to have the clearance rate they have.”

The OBS June sale concludes with a final session beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Scherer Takes the Blame

A colt by Blame (hip 430), who worked a co-bullet quarter-mile in :20 3/5 during last week's under-tack show, will be joining the barn of trainer Brad Cox after bloodstock agent Clay Scherer signed the $485,000 ticket to acquire the youngster on behalf of an undisclosed client Wednesday at OBS.

“He was a big, strong colt who worked fast, did everything like you want to see here and he acted fresh every day,” Scherer said of the juvenile's appeal.

The dark bay colt is out of Soul Spirit (Quality Road), a daughter of multiple Grade I-placed Soul Search and a half-sister to graded winner Journey Home (War Front). He was purchased by Ciaran Dunne for $210,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale and was making his first trip through the sales ring this year with Dunne's Wavertree Stables consignment.

“He's big, tall and long legged,” Dunne said following the colt's bullet breeze last week. “He looks like a horse who will go two turns easily. So the fact that he has that speed makes you think he's going to be very dangerous going long.”

Of the colt's yearling price tag, Dunne admitted, “It did seem like a lot, but he was a beautiful yearling. The trend at the 2-year-old market is that they want big, two-turn horses and if you can get a horse like him who looks like he'll go long to show the kind of speed he showed, then you're going to get paid, more so than with the ready-made spring 2-year-old types. So it was a lot of money for him, but he was a beautiful horse.”

Scherer said the June sale has become an increasingly reliable source of good horses, pointing to 2021 graduate and multiple graded winner Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) who won Saturday's GII Santa Margarita S. at Santa Anita.

“Every year, people have been putting good horses in June and good horses have come out of June every year,” he said. “Adare Manor just ran off the screen. There is always a good one here.”

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Working shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday, hip 570 became the 10th juvenile of the week to work the furlong in :9 4/5. The bay colt, consigned by Wavertree Stables, is out of Wear Red (Henny Hughes) and is a half-brother to stakes winner and graded-placed Jessica Krupnick (Uncle Mo). Wear Red is a half-sister to Grade I winner Eskendereya (Giant's Causeway).

Ron Fein's Super Fine Farms purchased the colt for $170,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

Omar Ramirez sent out hip 588 to work his :21 flat bullet quarter-mile shortly after the start of Thursday's session of the under-tack show. The colt is out of Woodsboro (Congrats) and his third dam is graded winner La Rosa (Wild Again).

Ramirez acquired the colt for $65,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale. He was purchased by My Little Team Racing for $50,000 following a :10 1/5 work at the OBS Spring sale in April.

Just minutes after that colt worked, Hip 703 turned in her :21 flat quarter-mile work for A.G. Sales. Out of the unraced Brief Tears (Orientate), the dark bay filly is a half-sister to graded winner No Problem (Munnings).

Jose Andres Gaspar purchased the filly for $10,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 7:30 a.m. The June sale will be held next Tuesday through Thursday. Bidding commences each day at 10 a.m.

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Hip 495 was among the first horses to work Wednesday morning when she turned in her bullet quarter-mile drill. Consigned by Triple J Equine Sales, the chestnut filly is out of Tale of La Comete (Tale of Ekati). Her third dam is La Comete (Holy Bull), who is the dam of Munnings.

Bred by Charles Fipke, the filly RNA'd for $4,500 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

Hip 430, who also turned in his :20 3/5 work early in Wednesday's first set, is consigned by Wavertree Stables. The dark bay colt is out of Soul Spirit (Quality Road), who is a daughter of multiple Grade I-placed Soul Search (A.P. Indy) and a half-sister to graded winner Journey Home (War Front).

“We expected he would work really well, but I can't say we were expecting :20 3/5,” said Wavertree's Ciaran Dunne. “It was a really good work because on the backside, clocking it, it wasn't like he threw in a really fast sixteenth and then just kind of found his way home. He was even the whole way and kind of kept at it around the turn, which is what he is going to be. He's going to go long. The fact that he has that kind of speed makes you think he could be really dangerous going long.”

Of the decision to work the colt a quarter-mile Wednesday, Dunne explained, “I find if you go an eighth in June, you spend the next week explaining why he was only ready to go an eighth. Especially with this horse, he's not supposed to go an eighth of a mile. We wanted to give him a bit of room to get himself uncorked and into a rhythm.”

Dunne admitted the June sale wasn't his first choice for the juvenile.

“April would have been ideal, but he just had a few bumps in the road,” he explained. “Nothing serious, but more growing pains than anything else. Given that he was so big, we just backed off and took our medicine and figured we would wait for here. The general consensus was if he's a nice horse, he'll be a nice horse in June, too. Hopefully we will be rewarded for our patience.”

The June sale has become less a liability and more of an attractive option for horses who needed the extra time.

“I think the same guys that shop all of the other sales will shop June,” Dunne said. “There are horses in here that were in March and April and maybe caught an unfavorable racetrack or just something didn't go to plan. If there are legitimate reasons why they are here, I don't think there is any negative to them being here.”

Dunne purchased the Blame colt for $210,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“The trend, I think, in the 2-year-old market is they want big, two-turn horses,” Dunne said. “If you can get a horse who looks like he will go long and shows the kind of speed that he's got, then you're going to get paid. More so than with the ready-made spring 2-year-old types. So it was a lot of money for him [as a yearling], but he was a beautiful horse. He's always been a beautiful horse.”

The proliferation of high-power partnerships in search of those two-turn type colts at the yearling sales last year pushed most pinhookers out of that segment of the market. That has led to a dearth of those well-pedigreed colts at the 2-year-old sales this spring.

“The most common thing we heard when we were in Timonium [at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale] was that there was a lack of two-turn colts,” Dunne said. “It seemed to be that it was strong on fillies, but light on colts. Hopefully those guys that were shopping colts there and couldn't find them will be here [at OBS].”

Dunne continued, “Some of the colts that were bringing the bigger money [at previous 2-year-old sales this year] were by stallions that the majority of yearling buyers would have turned their noses up at,” Dunne said. “Whereas the fillies that were selling well, by and large, had pedigree. There is just been a shortage of good colts. If you were lucky enough to have one, you got paid.”

A filly by Kantharos (hip 431) turned in Wednesday's fastest furlong of :9 4/5. Consigned by Brayhan Cruz's Cruzin' Thoroughbreds, the bay filly is out of Souper Colket (Ghostzapper) and from the family of multiple graded stakes winner Blofeld. She was purchased for $17,000 by Laura Kelton at last year's Keeneland September sale.

The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 7:30 a.m. The June sale will be held next Tuesday through Thursday. Bidding commences each day at 10 a.m.

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“There has been a lot of interest and we have the right people here–either they have been here or their agents have been here to watch the horses breeze,” Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sales Director Paget Bennett said at the sales barns Sunday morning. “So we are cautiously optimistic.”

In addition to GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic), who sold for $290,000 in Timonium last May, the Midlantic auction was represented by a pair of graded stakes winners at Pimlico this past weekend, with Straight No Chaser (Speightster) winning the GIII Maryland Sprint S. and Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) taking the GIII Miss Preakness S. Another 2022 graduate of the sale, multiple graded-stakes winner Faiza (Girvin) was third in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S.

“It just tells you, you can get any kind of horse out of this sale,” Bennett said of the auction's impressive roster of graduates. “It's just huge. It's so rewarding to have this sale finally get the attention that it deserves.”

The Midlantic sale has become the only major 2-year-old auction to conduct its under-tack show over a dirt track, which could be an added attraction to buyers, according to Bennett.

“They want to see them on dirt and then they can figure out how that relates to where they go next,” she said. “From start to finish, they see them on the surface that they are going to run on.”

A common refrain from consignors Sunday, however, was a question mark about how buyers would react to the times of the works from last week's three-day under-tack show.

“My main worry is what the buyers are taking away from the breeze show because it wasn't the usual 2-year-old breeze show where the track is fast,” said consignor Cary Frommer. “It was just a normal track. And those were good times on a normal track. I am afraid the buyers aren't going to make the correlation. But the smart ones will.

She continued, “The first day there was certainly more moisture in the track, it was a little bit sticky. The second day there was a great tailwind and the third day there was a headwind. That's mother nature. If you take those things into consideration, you're fine. But if you're strictly a numbers person, you are going to miss some really good horses.”

Carlos Manresa of Sequel Bloodstock agreed buyers should take conditions from day to day of the under-tack show into consideration.

“They did a very good job maintaining the track,” Manresa said. “I think the weather conditions were very inconsistent. But I think the buyers have a good read on those kinds of things. I think they are very aware of what day horses were breezing and what time they were breezing. If you went on the second day, they look at those numbers a little bit differently than they do on the first day and third day horses.”

Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables sent out 17 horses to work over the track in Timonium last week. Without the super-fast works that have become common at the juvenile sales, Dunne hopes buyers will spread their interest out over a wider swath of horses.

“The racetrack wasn't like any of us had expected in terms of how fast it was,” Dunne said. “But the fact that everyone went the same, I think it's making the buyers work harder. And maybe that will spread them out more.”

Sequel Bloodstock had a notable 2022 Midlantic consignment, which featured the $3.55-million sale topper Hejazi (Bernardini), as well as Derby winner Mage. The operation returns with 11 juveniles this year.

Manresa is expecting a strong top market this week in Maryland, while hoping for a broader middle market.

“I've seen significant buyers here who are wanting to spend a lot of money,” Manresa said. “I think the top end, as usual, will be very strong. The middle market, we will have to wait and see if something develops there. That's always been the more difficult area to sell horses and I don't think this sale is going to be any different.”

The Midlantic sale's setting at the confluence of a number of different tracks–from Maryland to Pennsylvania and New York–makes it easily accessible to regional buyers and could help boost that middle market.

“I think we get a lot of New York trainers turning out for this sale,” Manresa said. “There are a lot of people who come to our consignment specifically looking for New York-breds, which is helpful for us. So I think regional-breds tend to do very well here at this sale.”

With six Maryland-breds and a handful of New York-breds, Frommer is also looking to take advantage of the regional market.

“I know Maryland is in a little bit of turmoil right now and I have a lot of Maryland-breds–and some really nice Maryland-breds, so it remains to be seen [how strong the regional market will be],” Frommer said. “There is always a nice string of people from New York coming down this way. And that's always good. But we will see. I am hoping it will be strong.”

Jorge Villagomez's JVC Training and Sales, which debuted its consignment in Timonium in 2018, returns with a seven-horse consignment this year.

Villagomez was finding activity brisk at the sales barns Sunday morning.

“It's been steady,” he said. “We've been busy all morning. All the big buyers are here and the good horses are showing. We have seven horses and we've been busy with all of them.”

Of his under-tack show results, Villagomez said, “They all performed well. And the good ones showed up. The ones that were fast on the farm, went fast here.”

Villagomez, who preps horses for Gary and Mary West at his Ocala base, worked with Eisaman Equine for 15 years before going out on his own six years ago.

“It was our first consignment here in 2018,” Villagomez said. “We came in with three horses and we sold all three of them. We have been coming every year since.”

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OCALA, FL – The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training completed its four-day run Friday with a  new record gross and average and a record-tying median in an auction which closely mirrored the 2022 renewal which set high-water marks for all of those metrics.

Through four sessions, 698 horses grossed $90,805,000. A year ago, 705 horses grossed a record $90,723,000. The 2023 average of $129,907 was up fractionally from $128,685. The median remained unchanged at $65,000.

“It was a great day,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “We finished up strong, right to the end of the sale where we sold a horse for $500,000. It was a good day to end with.”

This week's Spring sale had to contend with a more uncertain global backdrop than a year ago, according to OBS President Tom Ventura.

“We're just glad we were able to hold up to a pretty high bar from last year,” Ventura said. “The world has changed since last April. Things have happened that could have impacted the marketplace and it didn't, so that was great to see.”

A colt by Into Mischief topped Friday's session and became the sale's third seven-figure juvenile–and first session topper not purchased by Amr Zedan–when selling for $1.3 million to Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo, bidding on behalf of a new partnership headed by Miami music mogul Rich Mendez.

Five horses sold for seven figures a year ago, when 25 juveniles sold for $500,000 or over. With three million-dollar transactions this year, a total of 28 horses sold for over $500,000.

From a catalogue of 1,222, 840 juveniles went through the ring with 142 failing to meet their reserves for a buy-back rate of 16.9%. A year ago, the catalogue featured 1,231 head and 705 went through the ring with 132 failing to meet their reserves for a buy-back rate of 15.8%.

Consignors continued to comment on the polarized market.

“It's the most polarized market that I've ever seen,” said Clovis Crane. “Everyone keeps saying that it's polar, but I think it's even more polar than ever.”

There was plenty of demand for horses at the top of the market, according to Sequel Bloodstock's Carlos Manresa.

“Over the week, it became clear that the very high end were very desirable and you were also able to sell horses that were closer to the bottom,” said Manresa. “The middle market was very difficult to place. That seemed to be the consensus among the consignors. I think that a lot of the consignors will be changing strategies going into the yearling season.”

He continued, “The guys that gave a lot of money [as yearlings] on the top end, like Dean [DeRenzo] and Randy [Hartley] were handsomely rewarded. Some of Ciaran [Dunne]'s horses, they had a lot of money in them as well. And Nick de Meric and Tom McCrocklin–those were the horses that really stood out here. They had the sires and they worked very well.”

“There was some forgiveness if you had a less commercially desirable sire if there was a really fast work. Ultimately, the prices were directly related to the works. There is a strong correlation between the works and price. There were horses that we gave $50-150,000 for and they were in no-man's land if they didn't work well.”

Colin Brennan agreed the money for the top-end horses was there, but the middle market struggled.

“I think there was great money here for the right horses; the horses who breezed well and ticked all the boxes. We were fortunate to have a few of those and some solid pinhooks. Of course, the lower market struggled a little bit, especially on this last day. Traditionally you would get a little bit more of a middle market with this sale because there is something for everybody. I felt like that $100-$300,000 range was a little quieter. Anyone and everyone you could ask for attended. I think OBS did a good job getting everyone here. They really stepped up their game with marketing this year, with the podcast sponsors and the vidoes they've done on YouTube. I think they did a great job with that. Everyone was here, I don't know if it was the economy or horse or a combination of both.”

But the results were just more of the same to Off The Hook's Joe Appelbaum.

“It's the same market condition that has persisted for several years,” Appelbaum said. “It's reflected at the racetrack as well. If you have the horses that people want to collect like trinkets, you can sell them for any amount of dollars. And after that, there is not a lot of market depth. So much money is flocking to so few horses, there is less to distribute to the middle market. It's simple economics.”

As consignors bemoaned the lack of strength in the middle market, buyers still found plenty of competition in bidding this week in Ocala.

“I got outbid on a lot of horses,” said bloodstock agent Alistair Roden. “There was some value here, but it was hard work to get that value. It's still a healthy market. I know the consignors are not happy, but I suppose they bought them at the top end of the yearling market.”

Chad Schumer was busying buying at all levels of the market this week.

“I think it's a typical 2-year-old market,” he said. “The really high-end horses stood out and brought huge prices. We bought quite a few in different price ranges. We swung on some of the expensive ones and we didn't get them. I don't think I bought a single horse with many bids left in the tank. Almost everything I bought was right at my budget or within $5,000 or $10,000 of what my budget was. So I think it was a fair market. I think a lot of these pinhookers possibly overpaid for the yearlings in September because the market was so strong. And there is a ceiling. Purses are great and that's wonderful, but there is some uncertainty about the economy. I don't know why, it doesn't seem to be bad to me, but a lot of people I talk to keep saying the economy. I guess that might be a factor.”

Also busy throughout the week, bloodstock agent David Meah saw both sides of the ledger struggling.

“There has been a big difference in the last couple of years,” Meah said. “It's been a lot stronger and the middle market seems to have fallen out a bit. It was hard to find the horses in the range we were looking for. We were looking for horses in that $50-$100,000 range, which in the past few years I found a little bit easier. This year, it just seemed very different. For me it was all or nothing. Consignors are struggling to sell them and buyers were struggling to find them.”

He continued, “We were thinking we would buy anywhere from five to 10 and we ended up on the low end with five. We got a lot less than we wanted to get, but we'll go to Maryland [Fasig-Tipton Midlantic] now and see how that goes.”

Wavertree Stables was the auction's leading consignor with 37 sold for $9,041,000 and with his three purchases for Amr Zedan, Donato Lanni was the leading buyer.

Into Mischief Colt Feels the Beat

A colt by Into Mischief (hip 967) became the third seven-figure juvenile of the week–and the first not purchased by Amr Zedan–when selling for $1.3 million early in Friday's final session of the OBS Spring sale. Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo, bidding on behalf of a new partnership of owners, signed for the colt, who was consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables.

“We are helping these guys do a couple of different things,” Hartley said. “It's a group of guys, but Rich Mendez is the head of it. They are looking for horses like this, that if this horse hits a graded stakes, he will be a stallion. He went :9 3/5, unbelievable. He's a super fast horse and super good-looking.”

The bay colt is out of multiple stakes winner Singing Kitty (Minister Wildcat) and was purchased by the Red Wings Enterprises pinhooking partnership of Dunne and Paul Reddam for $300,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“Ciaran has talked about this horse all year,” Hartley said. “And I've talked to everyone on the farm that works there. [Wavertree's] Mark [Edmonds] loved him. They just felt like this was the horse.”

Dunne agreed the team had thought highly of the colt all winter.

“We thought he was one of the nicest horses we've ever had our hands on,” Dunne said. “He trained like a good horse. I thought his breeze was magnificent. To be honest, I think they got a bargain.”

Hartley and DeRenzo signed the ticket for the colt as More Play. For the same group, they purchased a colt by Good Magic (hip 323) for $450,000 earlier in the sale.

Hartley admitted the group was among the underbidders on the $2.2-million colt by Gun Runner who sold during Thursday's session of the four-day auction.

“We went to $1.8 million on him,” Hartley said. “I loved him, he was a beautiful horse, but I wanted this horse more. To me, :9 3/5 and :10 1/5, it's just a lot faster. I just felt like this horse is going to be more brilliant. I promise you, first time out, they will not catch this horse. We are hoping for good things.”

While no trainer had been picked out for the youngster, Hartley said he had a guess.

“We're not sure where he will go yet,” he said. “If I had to guess, it would probably be Baffert. This guy loves Baffert. If he has to go to L.A. for anything, the first place he goes is Bob's barn, so I am guessing that's where he will go.”

Mendez, founder of the Rich Music label in Miami, is still a newcomer to the sport.

“He has only ever raced one before,” Hartley said. “But he is so in love and he's so enthusiastic about the game. He comes to Ocala almost everyday. He loves the farm and he loves his horses. He just bought a big farm here in Ocala, not to have horses on. He just bought it for his wife and kids to come up here.”

Mendez has assembled a group of other fans to invest in both racehorse and pinhooking prospects.

“He's a big social media guy, so he's got a lot of people who are involved because they see him involved,” Hartley said. “So he has gathered all of this money. One of the guys, his father owns a racetrack in Ecuador. So it's a bunch of guys that are in a group together.”

Hartley expects to be buying for the group in the fall, as well.

“We are going to be strong at the yearling market, for pinhooking and racing. I look for them to spend $25-30 million.” —@JessMartiniTDN

Mendez is “All In” on Racing

Rich Mendez, who said he built his independent Latin music label Rich Music from the ground up, is starting his racing business roughly the same way. The music mogul made his first 2-year-old purchases this week in Ocala, warming up with the $450,000 purchase of a Good Magic colt Wednesday, before taking home a $1.3-million son of Into Mischief Friday.

“I am in the music business and we were able to start from nothing and to, at least, become relevant in the game,” Mendez said Friday. “I have always loved the sport of horses. So that's the plan here, as well. To slowly and surely build the brand and go from there.”

Mendez is a lifelong fan of racing and has strong family ties to the sport.

“Back in the day, I used to always be around the track,” he said. “My uncle was a jockey back in the day and I always knew that I wanted to eventually race.”

Mendez has partnered with Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo, who signed the ticket on the Into Mischief colt Friday.

“I met Randy and Dean a few years ago,” Mendez said. “We've become close friends. And we just decided this last year to partner up on some babies. The guys do very well at picking good horses. I am excited to be part of their team. ”

With Hartley and DeRenzo, Mendez purchased a group of weanlings last year to pinhook this coming fall. In addition to selling, he also expects to be an active buyer at the yearling sales.

“We will do a little bit of everything and try to do it smart. And to do it right, if there is such as thing,” he said.

As for trainers for his new juveniles, Mendez said, “The Good Magic will go to Jose D'Angelo. He's an up-and-coming trainer, everybody is talking about him. And then we are going to see if this colt goes to Bob [Baffert]. I will call him to see if he wants him eventually.”

Mendez's passion with the horse business has extended to the purchase of a farm in Ocala.

“I'm all in,” he said of his involvement in the sport. “When I got into the music business, it was the same, I am all in. But this time I have some good partners and teachers with Dean and Randy.”

He continued, “I am on my way to see the Good Magic colt now,” Mendez said. “And we loved the Into Mischief colt. I am excited about them.”

Nyquist, Half to Oaks Hopeful, to Speedway

A filly by Nyquist (hip 1024), who is a half-sister to GI Kentucky Oaks hopeful Affirmative Lady (Arrogate), will be joining the roster of Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner's Speedway Stables after bloodstock agent Marette Farrell signed the ticket at $900,000 to acquire the dark bay from the Wavertree Stables consignment.

“We thought she was a tremendous physical, a beautiful, beautiful filly,” Farrell said. “She had an incredible breeze. And it's not just about the speed for us, it's the way she did it and how she galloped out. Tescha [von Bluecher] and Nick loved how she did it. And when we went to the barn, she was a scorpion. She was beautiful and tough. We are excited for Speedway to have her.”

The juvenile, who is out of multiple stakes winner Stiffed (Stephen Got Even), worked a quarter last week in :20 2/5.

The Red Wings Enterprises pinhooking partnership of Ciaran Dunne and Paul Reddam purchased the filly for $170,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“She is a queen,” Dunne said. “They don't breeze like that too often. She's going to a great owner. She's a nice filly with a great future.”

The Red Wings partnership was also responsible for Friday's seven-figure Into Mischief colt, who was a $300,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase. The group also sold a colt by Bolt d'Oro–who had been purchased for $210,000–for $700,000, and a filly by Omaha Beach–who was purchased for $200,000–for $700,000. An Omaha Beach colt purchased for $160,000 last July, sold Friday for $350,000.

Farrell agreed the team would eagerly be watching the filly's 3-year-old half-sister go to the post in the May 5 GI Kentucky Oaks.

“We will be glued to the Oaks,” she said.

Into Mischief Filly Brings $725K at OBS

Early in Friday's session, a juvenile by Into Mischief drew $1.3 million to lead all colts representing the Spendthrift sire at OBS this week, and later in the session, Hip 1036 led the stallion's fillies with a $725,000 final bid from Rich Schermerhorn, Jay Hanley & 30 Year Farm. Handling the bidding duties from the back ring were agents Liz Crow and Lauren Carlisle.

“Lauren's client, Rich Schermerhorn and my client, Jay Hanley and 30 Year Farm, both individually liked the horse,” explained Crow. “Both of our clients teamed up to get her purchased. She will go to Chad Brown.”

The :9.4 breezer was consigned by Eddie Woods.

As to her obvious selling points, Crow added, “She breezed phenomenal. And she came from Eddie Woods, one of the best consignors here. She is a really beautiful filly and has a really athletic walk.”

Added Woods, “She was a spectacular filly all year. She was very mature in the fall and she was a good filly from the first time we worked her. She's just blossomed through that time.”

The Apr. 9 foal is out of the unraced Succeeding (Smart Strike), a daughter of SW Cascading (A.P. Indy). The third dam Teeming– a half-sister to champion Rags to Riches–is also responsible for GI Hollywood Starlet S. winner Streaming.

Bred by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings and Stretch Run Ventures, the filly RNA'd for $245,000 at Keeneland last September.

“We don't buy here based on pedigree, but when you have Eddie Woods plus Into Mischief and that kind of breeze, that's what we're looking for,” said Crow.

Asked about her impression of the juvenile market at OBS this week, Crow echoed the sentiments of many buyers and sellers.

“There is a strong market for the top horses and it's really hard to get those bought,” she said. “You have to really reach, which is why our clients lined up together to get that filly bought. The really good horses it takes a strong budget. It's just really hard to buy what is perceived as a really good horse.”

Schermerhorn, Hanley & 30 Year Farm also teamed up Friday to secure Hip 1093, a filly by Audible for $535,000 from the Richardson Bloodstock consignment. —@CBossTDN

Caliente Hits it Out of the Park in OBS Debut

Saul Marquez had one horse in his first-ever consignment and the colt by Solomini (hip 1109) made it a memorable debut when selling for $700,000 to the bid of bloodstock agent Donato Lanni Friday in Ocala. The colt, who worked in :9 4/5, became the first horse purchased by a group of close friends when they paid $50,000 for him at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“I was selling for myself and a couple of buddies,” Marquez said. “We created a pool together, we all pitched in and he was one of the four we bought. He was actually the first one we bought, so this was very sentimental.”

The chestnut is out of Timberlea (Flatter), a half-sister to graded winner Untrapped (Trappe Shot).

Lanni signed the ticket on the New York-bred colt on behalf of Dr. Ed Allred and Jack Liebau.

“He fit our program,” Lanni said. “We want to buy horses that look like stakes horses. It was very hard to buy yearlings in September. He worked really fast and looks the part. He [breezed well] and then you have to pay for it. He is beautiful and we liked him.”

Marquez, who spent years as a jockey's agent in California before relocating to Ocala in February, admitted to some buyer's remorse after acquiring the yearling.

“Honestly, I thought we overpaid for him,” he said. “We were very anxious. But we loved him since day one. He means everything to me.”

Of the colt's price tag Friday, Marquez shook his head in disbelief.

“Honestly, I was happy with $100,000 two weeks ago,” he said. “And today, I don't even know what is going on. It's mixed emotions. I just want to call my mom.”

Following his one-horse consignment at the Spring sale, Marquez will offer two horses at the OBS June sale.

“I am a fourth-generation horseman,” he said. “I was a jock's agent for a long time. My father was an assistant out in California. A friend of mine invited me to the business and I thought there would be better opportunities here. So here I am. I have been in Ocala since February.”

Crane Soars with Lookin At Lucky Colt

What a difference three years make. Just as COVID-19 was about to upend the world in March 2020, Crane Thoroughbreds experienced one of the worst things that a commercial horse operation could face–a barn fire. Located near Penn National, Crane Thoroughbreds tragically lost 15 juveniles in the blaze. However, with a lot of hard work and perseverance, Clovis Crane and his team rose out of the ashes like a phoenix, culminating with the sale of $500,000 colt by Lookin At Lucky at OBS Friday.

“It is very emotional,” admitted the visibly moved Crane. “This is the first time since that barn fire that we got a drink of water.”

Offered as Hip 942, the bay was secured by West Point Thoroughbreds.

“He's going to the best people and will be in the best hands,” said Crane. “It's really exciting because the horse can really run and it's been obvious for a long time.”

Out of the Forestry mare Shawnee Moon, the Feb. 9 foal caught the eye with a :10 flat breeze last Friday.

“My horse's stride was huge and he did it beautifully,” explained Crane. “But he has been that way that way all winter. Every breeze that he has done had been fabulous. I was just fortunate to be a spoke in the wheel with him.”

A full-brother to GISP Giuseppe the Great, who earned over $500,000 on the racetrack, the juvenile is from the extended family of champions Storm Bird and Northernette.

“The breeze was really over-the-top good,” said West Point's Terry Finley. “These consignors get better every year–you see several sub-:10 times. It's crazy that when you see a :10 flat breeze, you need to really investigate it. But he just did it really well.”

Bred by Buck Pond Farm, the colt was an $80,000 purchase for the partnership of Keep The Ball Rollin at Keeneland last September.

“The Keep The Ball Rollin partnership is with a couple of investors who I can't thank enough for sticking with me through thick smoke and sunny skies,” said Crane of his longtime partners and clients.

Underscoring the seller/buyer connection, Finley made it plainly clear that his respect for Crane and the former jockey and national rodeo champion's horsemanship played a big part of the purchase of the colt.

“He is the type of person that gives you hope for the future because he's such a quality guy,” extolled Finley. “He took as big as a gut punch that anyone can take when he lost all those horses. He just made the best of it.”

He added, “I have the utmost confidence in Clovis when he said he liked this horse all along.”

In addition to Crane, Coolmore's Lookin At Lucky also enjoyed a breakout sale. The two-time champion and Classic winner was represented by a $700,000 colt (Hip 570) sold to Repole Stable on Day 2 of the Spring sale.

In 2022, the sire's top priced juvenile realized $125,000, and he rounded out the season with a juvenile average of $34,714 for 14 head sold. He stands for $10,000 in 2023.

“We always liked him,” said Finley of the son of Smart Strike. “We always thought he punched above his weight. He's had some really good horses [incl. BC Classic hero Accelerate and Kentucky Derby winner Country House]. He's kept at it and people still support him. And most importantly, he produces racehorses. That's what you want.”

Finley continued, “He is the type of sire that really makes this game go. They can't all be $100,000-plus stud fees, you have to have some of those stallions that give people a really good chance to get a really good horse at the sale or on the racetrack [at a reasonable price].”

Added Crane, “No one would have expected Lookin At Lucky to have a breakout year at the sales this year, but all the horses by him that sold well worked lights out.”

Overall, Crane, who brought six head to OBS Spring this year, encountered a mixed bag with his operation's results.

“One horse didn't breeze very well and the owner decided to take him to the races,” he said. “We sold three and one RNA'd.”

In regard to the single RNA, a filly by Kantharos, he added, “I'm not positive why [Hip 619] didn't have more action, honestly. She could have breezed a little better, but she is a nice filly. But that's the way the market has been playing.”

Following the all hits and misses, Crane admits that this week's OBS sale marked a turning point for the operation.

“We lost quite a bit in the barn fire,” he said. “And it's the first time we are coming out with a breath of fresh air.”–@CBossTDN

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