Marching on at OBS
by Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato
Any questions surrounding the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s decision to expand its catalogue for this year’s March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training were likely dismissed Tuesday after a strong opening day of trade. A total of 160 head sold during the first of two sessions for a gross of $30,540,000 and average of $190,875. The median was $130,000, while the RNA rate was 24.9%.
Last year’s sale, which was re-scheduled and conducted over one day and featured a catalogue of 411 compared to 610 this year, saw 201 horses sell for $37,627,500 at an average of $187,201 with a $135,000 median price. The buyback rate was 22.7%.
A total of 15 horses have already met or exceeded the $500,000 mark at this year’s sale. Ten juveniles reached that mark in 2014.
Tuesday’s topper was a $1.4-million Bernardini colt consigned by Steve Venosa’s S G V Thoroughbreds and purchased by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation.
“We’re excited about how the sale format has been received, to the credit of our consignors, who brought a lot of good horses here,” offered OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “Our goal all along was to continue with the quality of horses that people are used to seeing at March, but to add that next layer. I saw those horses being sold throughout the day as well, so it wasn’t just about the top end. There was strength throughout…To be sure, there were a lot of good horses on the grounds, as evidenced by the prices they brought.”
From a full parking lot to long lines in the cafeteria, it was clear that the turnout Tuesday was extremely high.
“There were certainly a lot of people here, and they were here to buy horses–they weren’t spectators,” declared Wojciechowski. “You kind of got that sense in the days leading up to this. When you walked around the barn area there were a lot of people looking at horses and a lot of people working hard.”
The second and final session of OBS March begins today at 11:00 a.m. Visit obssales.com for more.
Very ‘Live’ in the Juvenile Market
by Steve Sherack
Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation continued its 2-year-old shopping spree in Ocala Tuesday afternoon, buying four head for a total of $2.48 million, including the OBSMAR Day 1 session-topping Bernardini colt for $1.4 million.
Consigned by SGV Thoroughbreds (Steven Venosa) as hip 285, the bay colt, already named Zero Hour, is a half-brother to the stakes-winning Pilfer (Deputy Minister), who, of course produced Live Oak’s MGISW To Honor and Serve (Bernardini), as well as GISW Angela Renee (Bernardini). To Honor and Serve currently stands at Gainesway for $20,000. His oldest foals are yearlings of 2015.
Tuesday’s topper, a $650,000 KEESEP yearling, was pinhooked by Nick Sallusto and Hanzly Albina on behalf of Steve Marshall’s Black Rock Thoroughbreds. Bred in Kentucky by Summer Wind Farm, he worked a quarter in :21 1/5. He is also a half-brother to MGSW India (Hennessy), and SW & GSP Sing Softly (Hennessy).
“Well, it’s obvious, with the connection to To Honor and Serve,” Live Oak General Manager Bruce Hill admitted of the colt’s appeal after signing the ticket. “That’s got the makings to be one of the best pages in the stud book. He’s a very athletic horse and has a lot of class. No problems–he jumped through all the vet work perfectly. It was all there. That’s about where we had him appraised.”
During Tuesday’s session, Live Oak also purchased:
• Hip 62, a $500,000 Speightstown–Dance Swiftly
colt (:10), consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo
Thoroughbreds LLC.
• Hip 201, a $400,000 Awesome Again–Im Out First
colt (:10 1/5), consigned by Northwest Stud.
• Hip 131, a $180,000 Super Saver–Fly the Colors
colt (:10 2/5), consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo
Thoroughbreds LLC.
Weber’s operation also acquired an $800,000 Smart Strike full-brother to champion My Miss Aurelia at Fasig-Tipton Florida earlier this month. For the longtime prominent owner/breeder, this marks some uncharted territory for the famed operation this spring.
“Mrs. Weber decided to take a little stab at the 2-year-old game this year and we’re very pleased with that,” Hill concluded.
Trainer Mark Casse and Kiki Courtelis’s Town and Country Farm were among the underbidders for the topper.
Off and ‘Rockin’ at OBS March…
By Steve Sherack
Already with a leading Triple Crown prospect in the stable in the form of the unbeaten GIII Withers S. hero Far From Over (Blame), Steven Marshall’s Black Rock Thoroughbreds hit a different type of home run by pinhooking Tuesday’s OBS March session topper. Marshall, the president of Western Energy Production company, also campaigned 2012 GI CashCall Futurity hero and current Hill ‘n’ Dale stallion Violence (Medaglia d’Oro).
Nick Sallusto and Hanzly Albina paid $650,000 for the Mar. 29 foal on behalf of Marshall at last year’s Keeneland September sale with the purpose of re-selling him this spring as a juvenile.
“Actually, I really thought we underpaid for the horse [at KEESEP],” Sallusto admitted. “I thought that on that day, early in the sale, that he could have brought up to a million dollars and we were actually prepared to pay that amount. I’ve been seeing people trying to offer better stock in the 2-year-old in training sales and I think it’s better for the business if we could keep raising the bar. We tried it and it paid off.”
Sallusto continued, “I think they bought one of the best colts that we’ve ever bought physically and that’s what we want to do. You want to be associated with buying and selling those types of horses.”
Unlike Tuesday’s topper, Far From Over was always slated to join Todd Pletcher’s string from day one, according to Sallusto. He starts next in the GI TwinSpires.com Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Apr. 4.
“His physical and pedigree is more of a late- developing pedigree and he would’ve never been able to be ready for something like this,” Sallusto said of Far From Over. “This horse [session topper] was precocious from day one. It was very obvious that he could handle this–two different types of horses.”
Albina concluded, “We just want to really thank Mr. Marshall for having the faith and trust in us. It means everything.”
Clock Strikes ‘Midnight’ for Baffert
by Steve Sherack
Hall of Famer Bob Baffert continued to show his support for Midnight Lute, going to a $900,000 for a handsome son of the two-time GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint hero at OBS March Tuesday.
Baffert, of course, has also campaigned some of the young Hill ‘n’ Dale stallion’s best progeny to date, including Grade I winners Midnight Lucky and Shakin It Up, as well as graded winners Govenor Charlie, Midnight Hawk and Tiz Midnight.
What stood out about this one?
“Midnight Lute,” replied bloodstock agent and Director of Bloodstock Services at Hill ‘n’ Dale Donato Lanni, while declining to comment on the colt’s new owner after signing the ticket as agent out back. “He looked a lot like ‘Lute.’ He had a lot of [Seattle] Slew in him, too. He’s out of a Vindication mare. He was a lot like ‘Lute’ and so laid back. He had a presence about him on the racetrack and he did everything right and came out of it good. Those horses are hard to find at the 2-year-old sales. He’s a great fit for Bob Baffert.”
Lanni continued, “You saw what happened in Miami [at the Fasig-Tipton Florida sale]. There’s a big appetite for a good horse. People want to buy good horses right now. And that’s great to see. And those good horses, that’s what they cost. They’re expensive.”
Eddie Woods consigned the dark bay as hip 34 on behalf of his breeder Gaines-Gentry Thoroughbreds. The first foal out of winning Vindication mare Circumstance, who was also campaigned and bred by Gaines-Gentry, breezed a quarter mile in :20 4/5. The 7-year-old Circumstance was purchased by The Stallion Company on an Uncle Mo cover for $95,000 at the 2014 Fasig-TIpton Kentucky February sale.
“He’s a lovely horse and had a lovely breeze–that’s the beauty of the auction process,” Woods said after receiving a pat on the back from an elated Olin Gentry. “He’s going to a place where we’ve been very lucky.”
Coolmore & Stonestreet ‘Strike’ Again
by Steve Sherack
Stonestreet and Coolmore continued their budding partnership during the early portion of Tuesday’s first session of the newly configured OBS March Sale, extending to $800,000 for a son of Smart Strike. Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier signed the slip on the half-brother to ‘TDN Rising Star’ Mufajaah (Tapit), winner of this year’s GIII Bayakoa S. at Oaklawn Park and recent third-place finisher in the GII Azeri S.
“He breezed very quickly and he is by Smart Strike,” Magnier commented out back. “Everyone seemed to like him. He’ll go to [trainer] Bob Baffert. He really liked the horse. We thought he’d make a bit of money. Nice horses like that are bringing those kind of prices.”
The powerhouse duo also campaign the highly regarded sophomore Stanford (Malibu Moon), a $550,000 purchase out of last year’s Barretts March Sale. Stanford, a smart optional claiming winner in his 2015 debut going six furlongs at Gulfstream in February, was DQ’d from second and placed last of six for causing interference in Gulfstream’s nine-furlong Islamorada H. Mar. 6.
Coolmore and Stonestreet also partnered to acquire a $900,000 Bernardini colt (hip 111) at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale earlier this month. Stonestreet’s success with the offspring of the leading Lane’s End stallion Smart Strike have been well-documented, including two-time Horse of the Year Curlin and champion My Miss Aurelia. Stonestreet also bought the $1.8-million OBSMAR topper by Smart Strike in 2013.
Albert Davis’s Old South Farm LLC consigned the Mar. 21 foal as hip 12 after breezing an eighth in :9 4/5 at the under-tack show. Bred in Kentucky by Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren Jr., Davis bought the chestnut privately after he failed to meet his reserve for $170,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. Hidden Brook purchased his dam Carolyn’s Cat (Forestry), who was campaigned to victories in the GIII Cicada S. in 2008 and the GII Vagrancy H. the following season for the Warrens, for $450,000 while in foal to Blame at Keeneland January earlier this year.
“You try not to get too jacked up,” Davis said after showing and walking hip 12 to Stonestreet principal Barbara Banke and advisor John Moynihan back at Barn 4. “I knew he was going to sell well. And he did–as he should. I’m relieved that it’s over and I’m happy. He’s going to a good home.”
Davis said that he typically pinhooks between seven and 10 horses a year. This sale was a high-water mark for his operation.
“He’s a real balanced, athletic horse and breezed awesome,” the soft-spoken Davis concluded while admitting that he was at a loss for words. “We weren’t surprised. He’s done it [trained well] before.”
‘Road’ to Riches Continues for Northwest Stud
by Steve Sherack
After consigning last year’s $1.6-million OBS March co-topper and leading GI Kentucky Derby candidate in ‘TDN Rising Star’ Carpe Diem (Giant’s Causeway) and a $900,000 Bernardini colt at Fasig-Tipton Florida earlier this month, the hot hand continued for Guiseppe Iadisernia’s Northwest Stud in Ocala Tuesday afternoon.
Hip 139, a filly by Bellamy Road, attracted an $800,000 winning bid from bloodstock agents Alex Solis II and Jason Litt on behalf of LNJ Foxwoods. The $155,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm. She worked an eighth in :9 4/5.
“It’s very hard–you have to keep building,” Northwest’s Dr. Alfredo Lichoa said of the good run for the operation. “The big thing in this business is to keep it up. [When looking for horses to pinhook] at the yearling sales, you’ve got to match everything together–pedigrees, conformation, etc. It’s a combination of factors.”
Of the Bellamy Road filly, Lichoa added, “She stood out. She’s been very popular all week. After her breeze, everybody liked her. She was very impressive. She was very calm. She’s a very classy filly. We’re very proud of her.”
The Feb. 3 foal, a daughter of the stakes-winning Not For Love mare For Royalty, hails from the extended female family of the Grade I-winning full-siblings Daaher (Awesome Again) and Spun Sugar (Awesome Again). The chestnut is a half-sister to this year’s OBS Championship S. third Back Flip (Super Saver), herself at $200,000 OBS April graduate. WinStar acquired the mare For Royalty for $87,000 at the 2010 Keeneland November sale; she produced a colt by Harlan’s Holiday in 2014.
The relatively new ownership group LNJ Foxwoods has already campaigned stakes-placed runners Fleet of Gold (Medaglia d’Oro), Miss Super Quick (Rock Hard Ten) and Welcome Guest (Rock Hard Ten).
Solis preferred to not disclose the principals. Solis, who did his bidding while standing by the wall to the left of the ring, said that it’s a “possibility” that Todd Pletcher will train the Bellamy Road filly.
“She brought a lot of money for a Bellamy Road as a yearling,” Solis commented. “She’s an absolutely stunning thing to look at. She breezed on her correct lead the entire way and did everything properly and galloped out strong, too. You can tell it’s a strong sale here; we did expect to pay a bit. I hate to say that she checked all the boxes, but she really did. She did it all.”
‘Road’ Warrior
by Alan Carasso, with additional reporting by Heather Likins
It was a banner first day of the OBS March Sale for Bellamy Road (Concerto), who got the proceedings off on a positive note when the very first horse through the ring, a Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Calamity Girl (Stravinsky), attracted a final bid of $190,000 from noted European bloodstock agent John McCormack. That represented a spectacular return on the $17,000 Sunshine Equine gave for her at this auction house’s August yearling sale last summer.
The stallion, who relocated to WinStar Farm along with his former Pauls Mill inmates in time for the 2012 breeding season, was also the sire of hip 139, a half-sister to OBS Championship S. third Back Flip (Super Saver), who was knocked down to the Solis/Litt team for $800,000 after breezing her eighth of a mile in a sparkling :9 4/5. The sale marked a new high-water mark for Bellamy Road, whose previous best 2-year-old sale was the $340,000 paid by David M. Clark for a colt out of Long Drive Home (Linkage) at last year’s OBS April sale.
Things stand to get better still for the now 13-year-old stallion this afternoon when Thomas and Casse, agent, offer hip 496 (Thorostride.com video), a colt produced by two-time stakes winner Throbbin’ Heart (Smoke Glacken). The New York-bred’s dam was purchased by an outfit called Wrangler Stable for $82,000 carrying this foal in utero at the 2012 Keeneland November Sale, and the colt made his first sales appearance at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga last summer. He was led out unsold on a bid of $95,000 that evening, but looks to have matured the right way and breezed his eighth of a mile in :10 1/5 and galloped out powerfully during his under-tack preview.
WinStar Farm’s Elliott Walden was understandably upbeat concerning Bellamy Road’s first crop of WinStar-bred 2-year-olds.
“Yes, very thrilled,” said Walden. “They breezed really well here and presented themselves well. We’ve even got five at home that are exceptional two-turn types with a big physical presence. That’s what people really gravitate to in this business.”
Added Walden, “All of his success with his offspring so far have been around two turns. He’s had Georgie’s Angel, a graded winner out of a Dynaformer mare. Hip number one today is out of a Kris S. mare from the Roberto line. He likes to return Danzig in some way. He likes Mr. Prospector coming back to him as well.”
Casse Back at It
by Brian DiDonato
Mark Casse has been a fixture at OBS March in recent years, representing mainly Ernie Semersky and Dory Newell’s Conquest Stables and John Oxley, and the leading conditioner was back at it as expected Tuesday.
Among Casse’s buys was an $800,000 Tiznow colt out of a full-sister to graded stakes-winning 2-year-old and sire Jump Start (A.P. Indy) who will carry the Conquest blue and orange. Consigned as hip 239 by Eddie Woods, Agent VIII, the dark bay breezed in :21 4/5. Prominent owner Rick Porter purchased the colt for $320,000 as a Fasig-Tipton October yearling under his Pegasus Bridge banner (click here for more).
“[Conquest] has had some good luck here, and we just thought that horse had a really good pedigree and I thought he was a good mover,” Casse noted.
With strings in Canada, California, Florida, Kentucky and soon New York, Casse has not yet decided where the juvenile will be sent.
“With our stable, we’re pretty versatile,” he noted. “We’ll train him on all three surfaces–we have the ability to train on the synthetic, the dirt and the turf–and then we’ll decide where he goes. We’re going to go to New York with some, so he could go there, too. We’ll just gather the troops and figure it out.”
Casse also secured hip 172, a Kitten’s Joy colt, for $510,000 on behalf of Conquest. The :20 4/5 breezer was consigned by Eddie Woods, Agent XXVII.
Among Conquest’s previous OBS grads–either here or at the April or June sales–were Grade I-winning ‘TDN Rising Star’ My Conquestadory (Artie Schiller); recent GII Palos Verdes S. winner Conquest Two Step (Two Step Salsa); stakes winner and Grade II-placed Conquest Titan (Birdstone); and stakes winner Conquest Top Gun (Pioneerof the Nile).
Casse signed for an additional five colts under his own name for a combined $1.935 million, including a pair for $675,000 apiece.
Hip 60, by Street Sense, was consigned by Tony Bowling’s All In Sales and covered a furlong in :9 4/5. The son of MSW and MGSP Czechers (Indian Charlie) RNA’d for $120,000 as a Keeneland November weanling and for $90,000 as a Keeneland September yearling.
Hip 162, a son of Malibu Moon who breezed in :10 1/5, was offered by the newly founded team of Casse’s brother Justin Casse and Becky Thomas. The Apr. 27 foal was a $185,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling buy by Jim Ventura.
“Fortunately, I represent some great people that allow us to play at the top level and it takes some money to play at the top level,” Casse said.
Bullet Breezer Goes to Magnier
by Brian DiDonato
Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier grabbed a sale-topping son of Scat Daddy for $1.4 million at Fasig-Tipton Florida earlier this month, and took home another juvenile by the Ashford resident here in hip 155 for $750,000. Consigned by McKathan Bros., Agent III, the filly shared the :9 3/5 bullet furlong breeze over three days of under-tack previews.
“She worked very quickly and Scat Daddy is doing so well at the moment,” said Magnier. “She’s a big, strong filly. She looks like she hopefully will keep improving and hopefully we’ll see her at Royal Ascot.”
Magnier said the chestnut would begin her career in America for a new Coolmore partnership that will include a group of female owners.
The Jan. 26 foal, a $180,000 Fasig-Tipton July yearling purchase by Scott and Evan Dilworth, is certainly bred to be precocious. Her dam Global Finance (End Sweep) won four times–including three stakes–as a juvenile, and is already responsible for the stakes-winning juvenile Prenuptial (Broken Vow).
“She’s a superstar,” consignor J.B. McKathan said of the juvenile. “She’s just a gorgeous filly. She’s been awesome all winter long. She’s just like all the good fillies I’ve ever been around, and I’ve been around a lot of them, so hopefully she fulfills her potential. She could be anything.”
Scat Daddy has been represented recently by ‘TDN Rising Star’ El Kabeir, a top GI Kentucky Derby contender who boasts wins in last year’s GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. and this year’s GIII Jerome S. and GIII Gotham S.
Colts by the dual Grade I winner yesterday went to trainer Peter Miller on behalf of Rockingham Ranch for $530,000 (hip 68, consigned by Bobby Dodd, Agent III); Narvick International for $360,000 (Wavertree Stables, Inc. {Ciaran Dunne}, Agent XVIII, hip 287) and to J.S. Company for $300,000 (McKathan Bros., Agent IV, hip 196).
Three Chimneys Offerings Sell Well
by Brian DiDonato
A trio of juveniles owned or co-owned by Three Chimneys Farm proved popular in the OBS sales ring yesterday–hip 33, a Congrats filly, brought $725,000 from Charles Fipke; hip 61, a Distorted Humor colt, went to Spendthrift Farm for $650,000; and hip 27, a daughter of Tale of the Cat, was scooped up by bloodstock agent Mike Ryan for $250,000. Eddie Woods consigned hips 33 and 61, while Niall Brennan Stables, Agent XXIX, offered hip 27.
Hip 61, who hails from a deep Ned Evans family that includes Horse of the Year Saint Liam (Saint Ballado), is part of a 50-horse partnership with Ben Leon’s Besilu Stable. The grey’s stakes-winning dam Dance Quietly (A.P. Indy) was a $2-million Besilu buy at the 2011 Keeneland November Sale. Leon spent an incredible $11.4 million on five mares and a weanling filly at that sale from the complete dispersal of the late Evans’s Spring Hill Farm and $22.4 million at the event overall.
Besilu and Three Chimneys announced their partnership in August. Brazil’s Borges Torrealba family became a partner in the Clay family’s Three Chimneys in 2012, and the Midway, Ky. powerhouse has aimed to increase its commercial operations since that time.
Chris Baker, longtime general manager of Spring Hill, joined Three Chimneys as chief operating officer in 2013 and was instrumental in linking Leon and Three Chimneys chairman Goncalo Torrealba.
“Mr. Leon and I had a relationship back when I was working for Mr. Evans at Spring Hill Farm–Mr. Leon approached me prior to the dispersal because he was looking to ramp up what he was doing,” recalled Baker. “So he and I struck up a friendship and went through all the horses and I was very close to going to work for him.”
Baker continued, “So, we had that relationship and I introduced him to Mr. Torrealba. We also found, funny enough, that Mr. Torrealba’s sister, who lived in Miami for 15 years, and Mr. Leon’s family had the same hairdresser, so Mr. Torrealba’s sister had already met the Leons through their hairdresser…when Mr. Leon and Mr. Torrealba got together at the Kentucky Derby last year, they hit it off and had a great time together. From that, they started talking about opportunities to do something together in the business, and that led to this partnership.”
Baker acknowledged the added personal significance of seeing a horse with Spring Hill roots do well for Three Chimneys.
“Prior to the Evans dispersal, this family rarely, if ever, saw the sales ring, so that this mare’s first foal had this level of commercial appeal, while not surprising, is certainly gratifying,” Baker said. “Three Chimneys has a commercial focus that the Evans operation did not, the sale of this colt and the other two fillies earlier in the day, clearly shows that we will bring good horses to the marketplace and sell them to further our goals as a top commercial farm. Mr. Torrealba was particularly pleased because each of the horses we sold came from a different market segment: hip 27, which sold for $250,000 was a pinhook, hip 33 was a homebred, and hip 61 was from the Besilu partnership.”
Of the Three Chimneys strategy, Baker added, “It’s a team approach, with Doug Cauthen, vice chair of our board, helping on the farm’s big picture and focusing on stallions and strategy, and Case Clay focusing on strengthening our existing relationships and developing new ones, particularly in the commercial realm. Three Chimneys is looking to expand its reach by creating partnerships and associations with like-minded horsemen who share our goals. Our associations with Benjamin Leon’s Besilu, Willis Horton and Will Take Charge, Dogwood Stables and Palace Malice, are prime examples of Three Chimney’s collaborative philosophy.”
Among the Three Chimneys/Besilu offerings to sell Wednesday is hip 360, a Medaglia d’Oro half-sister to the dam of hip 61 whose own dam brought $800,000 from Leon in foal to Quality Road at the 2011 Keeneland November sale.
Fipke Buys Into Big Family
by Brian DiDonato
J.B. McKathan, bidding on behalf of Charles Fipke, fended off Bridlewood Farm’s George Isaacs to secure the well-pedigreed hip 33 for $725,000. The Congrats filly, consigned to the sale by Eddie Woods, Agent LXI, breezed in :21 2/5.
The Apr. 12 foal was purchased in utero by Three Chimneys Farm for $460,000 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton February Sale. Her dam is a sibling to MGISW Take Charge Lady (Dehere), the 2013 Broodmare of the Year who produced that year’s champion 3-year-old Will Take Charge (Unbridled’s Song) as well as 2012 GI Florida Derby hero Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy). Tuesday’s headliner was bred on the same A.P. Indy–Deputy Minister cross as Take Charge Indy. The filly’s page became even more distinguished last year thanks to the exploits of ‘TDN Rising Star’ Take Charge Brandi (Giant’s Causeway), a granddaughter of Take Charge Lady who earned the juvenile filly Eclipse thanks to her upset in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and scores in the GI Starlet S. and GIII Delta Downs Princess.
“She had a really nice workout, she’s a beautiful filly, and she’s got an extremely hard to get into family,” McKathan said of the filly’s appeal. “The pedigree’s really, really exciting. Mr. Fipke is really about broodmares, so long-term she’ll be retired to his broodmare band.”
Of her breeze, McKathan added, “For a big filly like that, she moved really nicely and showed speed despite being a two-turn horse. She’s just a lovely filly.”
Semkin ‘Spends’ for Distorted Humor Colt
by Brian DiDonato
B. Wayne Hughes’s Spendthrift Farm added a potential stallion prospect Wednesday in hip 61, the aforementioned Distorted Humor colt who covered a furlong in :10 2/5 and cost $650,000.
“I thought he was a nice individual and that he looked a lot like what his sire gets,” offered Hughes’s racing manager Seth Semkin. “He looks like he’ll want to run all day, I would think. We were just attracted to him because he would have stallion value. I also liked his work. It wasn’t one of the faster works, but I liked the way he did it.”
In addition to 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam, hip 61’s dam is a half to graded stakes winners Quiet Giant (Giant’s Causeway) and Congressionalhonor (Forestry); $2.6-million KEENOV weanling and eventual MGISP ‘TDN Rising Star’Miss Besilu (Medaglia d’Oro); and the dam of Grade I winner Buster’s Ready (More Than Ready).