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Classical Cat Another Good Omen for Mendelssohn

It's not a too common occurrence for sales-topping purchases to make it on the track despite the world of promise their pedigree, physical, and connections might imply. Further out still is the extraordinary feat of reproducing themselves or–at the very least–producing several runners of equitable talent between them, though stallions have the task on significantly easier asking than do the fillies and mares. Mendelssohn is patiently inching closer to changing that outlook and his Del Mar winner from last Saturday proves the stallion can get a promising runner at any budget; one of the most potent qualities a sire could have, especially early in their career.

Classical Cat (Mendelssohn–Conquest Strate Up, by Not Bourbon) streaked home on debut a gutsy 2 1/2-length winner for Michael House and conditioner Philip D'Amato, in a race under keen observation admittedly more for who finished behind him–this year's $3.55 million Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in Training topper, Hejazi (Bernardini).

Himself a modest $65,000 purchase at Keeneland September last year by a friend of House, the Mendelssohn colt needed some early correction after the break, but once he was given a target and his cue to strike the lead, Classical Cat would not be stopped. For House, it was quite the thrill to see his horse put his best foot forward right at first asking.

“It sure was fun…we were telling [Classical Cat] all week that he cost $5 million so he wouldn't feel bad,” House joked, on his way to the barn when the call went through Monday. “[Philip D'Amato] was very positive and confident in him. He'd been doing everything right. He wasn't too worried about the other competition, probably not as much as we were.”

Classical Cat wasn't the only runner House had that day, either. Across the country at Saratoga, his co-owned filly Nest (Curlin) put on a masterclass in the GI Alabama S. and all but began the process of etching her name onto the plaque for the divisional title. House admitted that, while they'd wanted to go, the lure of seeing their horses at Del Mar–where they were conveniently close for himself and his wife–proved too strong, and they'd stayed home to see their local runners on the card.

“We'd flown out before to see her run, but we had so many entries that day. So, we saw her on tv before our horses ran here.”

On the end of the call, and clearly ready to head out with his bag of carrots, House quickly included that, while his colt wasn't displaying his sire's liking of loudly announcing his presence at every opportunity, there was a strong trait he liked.

“He's the sweetest guy in the barn. He's got the sweetest disposition. We've been babying him,” House said. “[Classical Cat] is a big, good looking colt…Mendelssohn was a great racehorse himself and now he's starting to show it as a sire.”

Said sire (by Scat Daddy) bucked the trend of multi-million dollar auction horses never quite reaching their full potential. The $3 million KEESEP topper in 2016–the same sale which yielded Triple Crown hero Justify (Scat Daddy) and MGISW Good Magic (Curlin), to name a couple–earned over $2.5 million in his career, crowned by victories in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and G2 U. A. E. Derby. The latter was an 18 1/2-length romp as his final prep for the GI Kentucky Derby, where he was eased to last after being banged around. He went on to hit the board in the GII Dwyer, GI Runhappy Travers, and GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes before calling it a career after placing fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and fourth in the GI Cigar Mile.

Retired to stud for 2019, Mendelssohn came armed with one of the best female families in the Stud Book as a son of the venerable Leslie's Lady (Tricky Creek), making him a half-sibling to Hall of Famer Beholder (Henny Hughes) and now three-time reigning champion general sire, Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday).

Well-received in the ring, his offspring got off to a quiet initial start with several hitting the board over every surface–from the all-weather at Woodbine to French turf courses and the Saratoga main track–but none were getting their picture taken. Then, once the parade of debut winners began, the performances got better and flashier with a 'TDN Rising Star' among them.

Pink Hue | Sarah Andrew

Pink Hue showed grit and heart in her unveiling over a route of ground on the grass, becoming Mendelssohn's seventh individual winner at that point, but his first and for now only, to receive the nod from the TDN. A $310,000 KEESEP grad, purchased by Mike Ryan as agent for e Five Racing, the filly has an Into Mischief-sired, winning older sibling named Man of Promise, who annexed the G3 Emirates Skycargo Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint as well as placing third in the G1 Azizi Developments Al Quoz Sprint. Her dam, a Speightstown mare named Involved, is a half-sister to GIII Bay Shore victor Skip to the Stone (Skip Trial) and the stakes-placed stakes producer My Heavenly Sign (Forest Camp).

As of this running, Mendelssohn tallies nine individual winners and will have two chances Aug. 26 at Saratoga to become the sire of black-type horses. The powerful partnership of WinStar and Siena Farm will send New York-bred Miracle to post in the state-restricted Seeking the Ante S. from the barn of Rudolphe Brisset. The $360,000 OBSMAR speedster was a six-length debut winner July 27 at the venue. Prior to the training sale, she'd passed through the ring as a yearling at SARAUG 2021 for $250,000 to Bay Hill Stables, and as a weanling at FTKNOV 2020 for $110,000 to American Equistock.

The second opportunity will come later in the card when owner/trainer Uriah St. Lewis sends out his New York-bred Belt Parkway in the Funny Cide S. A $160,000 SARAUG purchase by Christophe Clement, acting as agent, the colt resurfaced in the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 'Timonium' sale in May and went to Trin Brook Stables for only $30,000. Belt Parkway comes in off a nose unveiling victory in a dirt dash at Parx.

With many juveniles filling maiden special entries in the coming days in addition to the stakes action, the slow start looks to be in Mendelssohn's rear view mirror. If his siblings are used as an auspicious indicator of things to come, further successes will arrive in due time and on their own time.

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Barns Busy as Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale Starts Sunday

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Fasig-Tipton will be looking to continue the momentum set by its record-setting select sale when bidding returns to the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Sunday evening for the first of two sessions of the New York-Bred Yearlings Sale. Bidding begins Sunday at 7 p.m. and Monday's session will begin at 12 p.m.

With the end of the sweltering conditions which punctuated the last week in upstate New York, activity was high at the sales barns on a picture-perfect Saturday morning as a mixture of end-users, pinhookers and locally based trainers perused the 584 yearlings catalogued for the two-day auction.

“It's been very strong, we've been busy, busy, busy,” said Derek MacKenzie, whose Vinery Sales consignment will offer 22 yearlings over the next two days. “Across the board, we are seeing everyone, but I think we are seeing more New York trainers this year than we have the last year or two.”

Among the trainers shopping Saturday morning were Christophe Clement, Mark Hennig, George Weaver, and Tom Morley, while pinhookers Eddie Woods, Raul Reyes, Steve Venosa, Niall Brennan, Paul and Sarah Sharp, Ciaran Dunne, and Barry Berkelhammer were all busy on the sales grounds. WinStar Farm's Elliott Walden was on hand, as were bloodstock agents Liz Crow and Pete Bradley.

Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck's Summerfield consignment produced strong results at the select sale, with three of three through the ring selling, including a $950,000 son of Speightstown. The operation will look to build on that momentum with a 21-horse consignment at the New York-bred auction.

“Like everybody, we had a great sale,” Francis Vanlangendonck said of last week's results. “We were lucky enough to have some nice horses and we got rewarded for it. So it was really good.”

Vanlangendonck is seeing many of the same faces who shopped the select sale staying in town for the second auction.

“There hasn't been a big drop off on the people looking, there are a lot of holdovers from the last sale and it's been that way for several years,” he said. “This sale has transferred into a little bit better sire power and those guys recognize that they can buy a good horse anywhere. So they will come in here and scope it out and try to find the good individuals. A lot of the same guys will come in here and look. Which is why a lot of times, we will put a horse in this New York-bred sale and not in the first sale and kind of get that momentum working on our side. So we are hoping that's going to pay off here.”

Of pre-sale activity at his barn, Vanlangendonck said, “We showed a little over 1,000 times yesterday and they've been scoped out pretty good. Now they are starting to pick them apart and come looking at the short list. We have been busy since 7:30 this morning.”

Colin Brennan will be offering his first consignment at the New York-bred sale when he sends five yearlings through the ring during Monday's second session of the auction.

“I've consigned with others the past couple of years, but I wanted to take a shot out on my own,” Brennan said. “This is my first full year out on my own from my father's operation. I have had the yearling consignment for about four years now and I'm trying to get more aggressive and get better quality and attend most of the sales.”

Brennan has been active on the buying side of the ledger at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Sale, so selling at Saratoga in August made sense.

“We've had a lot of luck and I enjoy coming up here in October and shopping the fall sale–it's been getting better and better with pedigrees and the horses that come and we have had luck pinhooking out of it,” Brennan said. “I've put some pinhooking partnerships together and I love the New York-bred program. So naturally from shopping there, it's a great idea to come back here to sell. It's always my first choice to come back to the New York-bred sale, but they seem to be well-received just as a whole commercial market.”

Brennan has seen a trickle down of buyers from the select sale ahead of the New York-bred sale.

“Especially this year, there is a lot of rollover from people who attended the first sale,” he said. “And why not? You're already here. Just stay and enjoy Saratoga. Fasig has done a great job as always. I couldn't be more happy with the faces we have seen. You are getting the normal sales faces, but also the trainers and owners that you wouldn't normally see at most sales. So that's great. I'm really looking forward to it. And it's always a fun weekend with the Fourstardave–it's just fun to be here.”

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First-Crop Yearling Previews: Audible

The 2022 class of first-crop yearling sires features a diverse batch of Kentucky-based young stallions including a pair of Breeders' Cup champions, two sons of reigning top sire Into Mischief, five graded stakes winners at two and five Grade I winners on turf. Throughout the course of the yearling sales season, we will feature a series of freshman sires as their first crop points toward the sales ring. Check out the first few editions of our series here.

WinStar Farm's Liam O'Rourke vividly recalls the day that breeders got their first look at Audible (Into Mischief – Blue Devil Bel, by Gilded Time) just after the new stallion moved into the stud barn.

“We had a little party here to welcome him to the WinStar stallion barn and when we brought him out in front of breeders, there was an immediate draw to him,” O'Rourke explained. “He's just such a eyeful and is among the very best of the physicals by Into Mischief. From that point, people started shouting for seasons.”

Demand to breed to the 2018 GI Florida Derby winner was so high that Audible was the most popular first-year stallion in WinStar's history, breeding just over 220 mares in his debut season with a $25,000 stud fee.

“Demand for him has been extremely strong through all three years he's been here,” O'Rourke reported. “Right from the get go, there was a buzz around town on Audible.”

A $175,000 New York-bred yearling pinhook and a $500,000 2-year-old purchase for WinStar Farm and China Horse Club, Audible broke his maiden as a juvenile for Todd Pletcher and returned at three to take the GII Holy Bull S. by over five lengths and the GI Florida Derby by three. He ran third to Justify in the GI Kentucky Derby and later added another victory in the Cherokee Run S. Audible retired at four with over $2 million in career earnings.

As Audible's first crop of foals arrived last year, O'Rourke said that he quickly found several common trends in the youngsters.

“They're a very consistent group,” he noted. “He throws great substance, plenty of length, great quality and good bone. They're a robust, muscular type but with lots of length and they look like they can stretch out. The feedback from breeders was very positive from the start and we realized pretty early on that he was going to have a big November.”

Audible ranked second in his class with his first crop of weanlings. His progeny averaged $103,813 with 43 of 53 sold, including 16 six-figure weanlings led by a $360,000 filly out of Nagambie (Flatter) named Cosmic Thread and a $200,000 filly out of Safwah (Medaglia d'Oro).

With his first yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, Audible's progeny continued to trend upward. Seven of his nine lots sold for six figures, led by a colt out of I'm Guilty (Verrazano) that brought $220,00 to Bradley Thoroughbreds and a second colt out of Wonder Stone (Super Saver) that sold to Gus King for $200,000.

“Some of the best judges were on the Audibles in July, including Donato Lanni, Peter Bradley, Travis Durr and Nick de Meric,” O'Rourke said. “He has seven entered at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, which is more than any other freshman sire, so we think that's a great sign.”

Machmer Hall's Audible filly sells as Hip 43 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale | Sara Gordon

One filly bound for Saratoga will represent the Machmer Hall consignment as Hip 43. The yearling out of Patsy's Kim (Dixie Union) was bred by Teresa Little and was a private purchase for Machmer Hall Sales. Carrie Brogden said that the youngster is the type of yearling that their consignment hopes to offer in Saratoga.

“She's big and fancy and two-turn, but looks like she'll have speed,” Brogden said. “She vets, she's correct and she's got a classy brain. Our farm has a share in Audible. I was a big fan of him as a racehorse and obviously WinStar has an incredible track record making stallions. We had two Audibles in July and they were more of a pinhooker-style horse. Both of them looked very speedy. This [Saratoga-bound] filly has a lot more scope and stretch.”

Of the Audibles that have been on her farm, Brogden said that all have shared one trait that she has also noticed in Into Mischief's progeny and the offspring of other sons of the champion sire.

“They all have the Into Mischief brain,” she said. “When you're pushing the feed cart, they're always whinnying and beating down the door for feed. For me that's a wonderful sign of a racehorse because it means they're not going to back out of their feed tub. It's a common theme that I see again and again.”

Another yearling slated for the sales ring in Saratoga is a colt out of Peter Blum's homebred Tapit mare Sundown. The gray will sell as Hip 97 with Bridie Harrison.

“We like this colt a lot,” Harrison reported. “He's tall with a lot of leg and great length. Audible added a lot of size and scope to Sundown. This is certainly one of her bigger foals. He's a very nice mover and has a great temperament.”

After the Select Sale in Saratoga, nine Audible yearlings will go through the ring at the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Sale.

As Audible's progeny soon begin making their way to the racetrack, O'Rourke said to look for them to come out in force early next year.

“He was a precocious horse,” he noted. “He breezed fast and then went out and performed as a 2-year-old on the racetrack. His sire line has precocity so I do think there's going to be precocity there, but with the way he's built, I think they are built to carry that speed a route of ground. They'll be able to go around two turns with their length, but do so in a front-running fashion.”

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Racing Prospects in Demand at Fasig-Tipton July

by Christie DeBernardis & Jessica Martini

LEXINGTON, KY – The Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of All Ages Sale, marking its 10th edition, confirmed its importance on the calendar with a strong renewal at Newtown Paddocks Monday.

“It was a tremendous sale tonight,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “It was even stronger than we anticipated. We saw an unbelievable depth of bidding activity tonight. We had activity from the East Coast, West Coast, international participation. It was very encouraging. It was a very strong marketplace overall.”

A total of 129 offerings sold Monday for a gross of $10,814,000. The average was $83,829 and the median was $58,000. With 30 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 18.9%.

Last year's sale, which offered bloodstock under a separate catalogue, saw 79 horses sell for $5,905,500. The average was $74,753 and the median was $50,000.

As expected with boutique summer meets at Del Mar and Saratoga upcoming, horses with current form proved popular in the sales ring Monday. Bloodstock agent Steve Young purchased the day's top-priced offering Kuchar (Uncle Mo) for $500,000. The 3-year-old, consigned by WinStar Racing, was coming off a runner-up effort in the July 2 American Derby.

“I think it is like any other horses of racing age sale,” said Young, who purchased two of the day's three top lots. “You look at them after the fact and some of them appear to be a lot more than what you would foresee. But, with the purses the way they are in places like Kentucky and New York, horses that are running are worth a lot of money.”

Browning agreed horses who could go on and race at summer meets at Saratoga and Del Mar were in demand.

“There is a lot of demand for a horse that can ship to Saratoga and run next week,” Browning said. “Several horses will ship to Del Mar. A lot of horses will be re-strategized to regional racetracks.”

WinStar Racing also sold the day's second-highest priced offering when First Constitution (Chi) (Constitution) brought a final bid of $430,000 from RRR Racing.

Young Strikes Again for Kuchar

Bloodstock agent Steve Young, active throughout Monday's auction, made the day's highest bid when going to $500,000 to acquire recent American Derby runner-up Kuchar (Uncle Mo) (hip 547) on behalf of an undisclosed client. Agent Jacob West was underbidder on the colt.

“He is a proven and improving 3-year-old,” said Young, who purchased the colt for the same client for whom he had purchased the 3-year-old filly Diamond Hands (Frosted) earlier in the sale. “If he improves in the next three months as much as he improved in the last three months, he will be a nice horse.”

Of the colt's final price tag, Young said, “That's what horses of his nature cost. If you try to buy them on the private market, that's what they are going to want for them.”

Young signed the ticket on four offerings Monday, going to $375,000 for Diamond Hands and $325,000 for multiple stakes-placed Montebello (Curlin). He also purchased Relate (Connect) (hip 403) for $65,000.

Racing for WinStar Farm and Siena Farm and trained by Rodolphe Brisset, Kuchar was a maiden winner at Oaklawn in March. He was second in the Apr. 23 Oaklawn S. before winning a Churchill allowance May 22. He was most recently second behind Rattle N Roll (Connect) in the July 2 American Derby.

Bred by WinStar Farm and consigned by WinStar Racing, the bay colt is out of multiple Grade I-placed Street Girl (Street Hero).

“We are selling horses like him and he was our best one coming in here after running second in the American Derby,” said WinStar's Elliott Walden. “He is a beautiful horse and he had the right people on him.”

Walden continued, “He had 19 vettings, he was very popular. I was hoping he was going to bring anywhere from $400,000 to $500,000, so he was at the top of what I thought he was going to bring. But he is a beautiful horse and people want racehorses. There are a lot of stakes that he can run in–he's a 3-year-old, he runs from 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/4 miles. Those are valuable horses.”

WinStar had a profitable day in the sale ring Monday. The operation also sold the day's second-highest priced offering, Chilean Group 1 winner First Constitution (Chi) (Constitution) (hip 587) for $430,000. The 5-year-old, campaigned by Don Alberto Stable, WinStar and Twin Creeks Racing Stables, was a two-time stakes winner in New York this spring and he is coming off a fifth-place effort in the June 11 GII Brooklyn S. He was purchased via a phone bid from RRR Racing, which also campaigns this year's G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen winner Switzerland (Speightstown). @JessMartiniTDN

Diamond Hands Popular at Fasig-Tipton

Diamond Hands (Frosted) (hip 495), runner-up behind Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the May 20 Hilltop S. for Rob Masiello and Steve Rocco and trainer Christophe Clement, will continue her racing career on the New York circuit after bloodstock agent Steve Young purchased the 3-year-old filly for $375,000 on behalf of an undisclosed client Monday at Fasig-Tipton.

“She is a wonderful filly,” Young said. “I tried to buy her as a 2-year-old in training. I got outbid there. She has picked some tough horses to run against. She is lightly raced and I think she has a lot of blue sky ahead of her if she is brave and lucky. She ran good against Haughty. She ran good against Pizza Bianca. We are very happy to get her.”

Diamond Hands broke her maiden over the Belmont lawn in November and opened her 3-year-old campaign with a runner-up effort behind GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Pizza Bianca in the May 20 Hilltop S. She has hit the board in four of five lifetime starts and earned $103,180 to date.

Joe Migliore purchased Diamond Hands for $425,000 on behalf of Masiello and Rocco at last year's OBS April sale. The filly was one of the first Migliore signed for when he went out on his own last year and the bloodstock agent was on hand to watch her sell Monday in Lexington.

“She is a very nice filly,” Migliore said. “I absolutely loved her at the 2-year-old sale and she has done great for us. Sometimes in this game you have to trade. We just felt like it was a good time to put her through this sale. Obviously, Fasig does such a great job with this sale and getting good money for strong racing prospects and that's what she is. I certainly think she is a stakes winner down the line. It was great to get her black type in the Hilltop behind Pizza Bianca. I am sure we will see more from her for her new connections.”

Migliore continued, “She was one of the first tickets I signed last year when I went out on my own. I'm always going to be rooting for her. And I'm always going to be hoping she does well. I think the buyers have done very well. I think she'll be an outstanding broodmare prospect, as well, just based on her physical.”

Out of multiple stakes winner Love Cove (Not For Love), Diamond Hands is a half to stakes winner Bibby (Stormy Atlantic). Her dam is a half-sister to graded winner Sweet Vendetta (Stephen Got Even). She was consigned to Monday's sale by Denali Stud. @JessMartiniTDN

Song Parody Proves Popular at Fasig

Song Parody (Practical Joke) (Hip 609) was a late supplement to Monday's sale and it proved to be a wise move when she brought $360,000 from Runnymede's Romain Malhouitre.

“It is going to be a partnership between Runnymede, a New York owner and a group of Boston people,” Malhouitre said. “She will go to New York. I am looking for a New York trainer.”

As for the price, he said, “Today was a strong market. We wanted her for a little bit less, but I was full speed.”

A $25,000 OBS October acquisition, Song Parody went wire to wire in her debut against fellow New York-breds June 25 at Belmont, graduating by 5 1/2 lengths and earning a 73 Beyer Speed Figure. Her SP dam Songofthecity (Songandaprayer) is a half-sister to MGISW Midnight Lucky (Midnight Lute). This is also the family of Grade I winner Hookedonthefeelin, dam of MGISW Pussycat Doll and GISW sire Jimmy Creed.

“She is well put together,” Malhouitre said. “It is a good mix between the sire and Songandaprayer as well. I thought she had a lot of class. Obviously, she was very fast first time out. We are hoping she can carry her speed.”

When asked if the long-term plan for the filly was to join the Runnymeded broodmare band, Malhouitre said, “Runnymede is a breeding operation. She fits the box for us. We take a lot of pride in doing a little bit of everything. We have a good program for turf and we were looking for a fast, precocious filly on the dirt and she showed that.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

SF/Starlight/Madaket Partnership Reloads

The stallion-making partnership of SF Bloodstock, Starlight Racing and Madaket was among the leading buyers of yearlings last year and just as the calendar is about to turn to the yearling sales once again, the group was in action as sellers Monday at Fasig-Tipton. They sold multiple stakes-placed Montebello (Curlin) (hip 565) to bloodstock agent Steve Young and a few hips later multiple graded winner Newgrange (Violence) (hip 568) to Rockingham Ranch for matching $325,000 price tags.

“The timing was right to sell them,” SF Bloodstock's Tom Ryan said of the decision to send the two 3-year-olds through the sales ring. “Montebello and Newgrange are two lightly-raced colts that have lots of racing in front of them. We felt it's the time of the year where we are working on replenishing our budget to go to work again in Saratoga and on into the fall.”

Ryan continued, “Fasig-Tipton is a fantastic facility to show these horses. The show rings here are just fabulous. And it's a welcoming, wonderful team over here. Boyd [Browning] put this sale on the calendar 10 years ago and it's become a good place to bring these horses.”

The SF/Starlight/Madaket partnership was the second leading buyer at last year's Keeneland September sale, purchasing 24 yearlings for $10,590,000.

Asked if he expected the partnership to be as active this year, Ryan said, “We have a wonderful group assembled and we expect to be active for sure. We will be out there working in force and doing what we can.”

Both colts were consigned Monday by Elite Sales.

“I want to give the team at Elite Sales a lot of credit,” Ryan said. “Liz [Crow], Katelyn [Jackson] and Brad [Weisbord] do a great job and they have a great network of clients. People enjoy buying from them. With their passports, Elite make it so easy for the buyers. They do all the work for the buyers.”

Montebello, purchased for $400,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September sale, was a first-out winner at Del Mar last August and was second in the 2021 Funny Cide S. and Capote S. He most recently captured a June 30 Belmont allowance.

“He's a nice horse,” said Young. “I liked him as a 2-year-old. He was good enough to win at Del Mar against open horses. He was dead game the other day to win in New York. With the purses for New York-breds [being high], he still has all of his conditions.”

Newgrange, a $125,000 yearling purchase, won the GIII Sham S. Jan. 1 and added the Jan. 29 GIII Southwest S. He has been off since finishing sixth in the Feb. 26 GII Rebel S.

“We are going to send him to Del Mar and we are going to try him on the turf,” said bloodstock agent Kim Lloyd, who signed the ticket on the colt on behalf of Gary Hartunian's Rockingham Ranch. “The Violences like turf. He is just a great-looking horse. He's game and a very impressive colt. He's had time off. He's fresh. He's sound as new money.” @JessMartiniTDN

Buttons Headed to Sharp Barn

The 2-year-old filly Buttons (Twirling Candy) (Hip 474) is headed to the barn of trainer Joe Sharp after being purchased by Clark Shepherd, acting on behalf of owner Larry Hirsch, for $275,000 Monday.

The bay is a half-sister to GIII Forward Gal S. winner Girl With A Dream (Practical Joke) and her dam is a half to GSW & MGISP Mr. Commons (Artie Schiller). She won her debut at Horseshoe Indianapolis June 28 for trainer Rusty Arnold.

“She is just a great filly,” said Shepherd. “She is just two years old and she's only had one race, so she hasn't been chewed up too badly yet. She's a brand name and is a half to a graded stakes winner. She has a ready-made page, so anything she adds to that from this point forward is going to be icing on the cake. I like Twirling Candy, but physically they are not my favorite. But, she is one of the best Twirling Candys I've ever laid eyes on.”

“She's a really nice athletic filly,” Sharp added. “She has a lot of upside. We might go to Kentucky Downs with her. They have nice 2-year-old opportunities for the fillies. She has her whole future ahead of her.”

Buttons was a $110,000 KEESEP yearling buy for the Dew Sweepers, a new pinhooking partnership that focused on buying yearlings to go to Royal Ascot as 2-year-olds. The plan for the group was always to disperse of all their stock at Fasig July and their seven-horse draft was handled by Grovendale Sales.

“I think that was pretty fair,” said Grovendale's Chance Timm. “It was a bit more than we expected. But she is an active runner that showed good form, so she probably deserved to bring more than expected.”

The other members of the Dew Sweepers dispersal were:

Tituba (Good Magic) (Hip 437), $47,000, Three Diamonds Farm
Alcazaba (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) (Hip 455), $90,000, Jack Goldthorpe for Jim Thares
Castle Rising (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) (Hip 480), $10,000, Ciaran Dunne, Agent
Grand Oak (Ire) (Speightstown) (Hip 521), $210,000, Herringswell Racing Club II
Just a Care (Ire) (Australia {GB}) (Hip 542), $150,000, Bo Bromagen, Agent
Late September (Munnings) (Hip 550), $60,000, Kevin Stedman

—@CDeBernardisTDN

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