Hill ‘N’ Dale Quality Rewarded

John Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm sold a pair of broodmares for seven figures during Monday’s Fasig-Tipton November sale. 
“This sale is all about quality and we brought a couple of beauties over and we were rewarded,” Sikura said. 
First to hit the million-dollar mark for Hill ‘n’ Dale was last year’s champion juvenile filly She’s a Tiger (Tale of the Cat). The 3-year-old, who sold as a broodmare prospect, will head to Japan after bringing a final bid of $2.5 million from Katsumi Yoshida. 

“She’s a Tiger is a big, athletic filly who has done really great since she came to the farm,” Sikura said. “She put on a couple hundred pounds and she was just precision.” 

A TDN Rising Star, She’s a Tiger won last year’s GI Del Mar Debutante S. She finished first in last year’s GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, but was disqualified for interference and placed second behind Ria Antonia (Rockport Harbor). 
Asked if he was concerned by all the top-class pedigrees being exported to Japan, Sikura said, “It’s a matter of the market. Until or unless we can get racing and some things better economically, a lot of these mares are going to go to Japan because they have the healthiest racing economy and sales economy. You deal with that as best you can.” 

Sikura said it was a balancing act deciding which mares to send through the sales ring. 

“We keep some, we sell some,” he explained. “I try to be careful not to bring something over that I absolutely don’t want to sell. Because in these circumstances, if you bring these kind over here, they are very game to get them bought and they have the ability to top sales. I try to keep some at home and balance both sides of it.” 

Hill ‘n’ Dale also consigned graded stakes winner Wine Princess (Ghostzapper), a daughter of Horse of the Year Azeri (Jade Hunter), who brought a final bid of $3 million from DATTT Farm. 

“It was a unique opportunity to get Azeri’s pedigree,” Sikura said. “And she was well-covered in War Front. She is a racemare from a great family and she sold very well.” 

Sikura said the mares’ price tags accurately reflected their values. 

“That was full value–I thought they would make at least that,” he said. “That’s not to downplay the money–it’s a lot of money to bid on a horse, but you’re talking about a champion and a daughter of a Horse of the Year and an elite performer. That’s the kind of value they bring. When we bring those kinds, we hope that we’re rewarded and the person who buys them is rewarded long-term.”