Strong Trade F-T July Sale

Career Score for Welkers 
Fasig-Tipton vice president of sales Bayne Welker, Jr. and his wife Christina, who maintain a commercial broodmare band of five head, enjoyed their biggest sales success Monday at the July sale when a colt from the second crop of Blame (hip 259) sold for $410,000 to the bid of Chuck Sandford. The Welkers co-bred the yearling with Lochlow Farm and he was consigned by James Herbener, Jr., agent. 
“We thought he would be around $250,000,” Christina Welker admitted. “So it was pretty exciting. But that mare has never let us down with her offspring.” 
The yearling is out of stakes-placed Princess Birdeye (Indian Charlie) and is a half-brother to stakes winner Navigator (Stormy Atlantic) and to stakes-placed Heat Press (Malibu Moon). 
“Ever since he was born, we said it was the best foal we’ve ever had,” Welker added. “So we were pretty excited about him from the get-go. Pretty much, I never let him out of my sight. He was pretty easy because he’s very smart and very classy.” 
Welker continued, “We’ve had the mare since she came off the track as a 4-year-old. She’s in foal to Orb. And she has a Mineshaft foal that is really nice–I’m probably just as attached to him as I was to this one.” 
Princess Birdeye’s offspring have proven consistently popular in the sales ring. Her first foal, Navigator, sold to Jay Em Ess Stables for $325,000 at the 2007 Timonium Fall sale. A Discreet Cat colt brought $235,000 at the 2010 July sale and a Curlin colt sold for $210,000 in Timonium last May. 
The Welkers did race one of the mare’s offspring, Agatha K (Silver Train), who won six of 25 starts. 
“She ended up getting claimed and we bought her back and now she’s in foal to Haynesfield,” Welker said of the now 6-year-old. 
Welker is pleased with Monday’s sale for more than one reason. 
“I know that colt is going to be in good hands,” she said. “So in this case, I feel really good about selling.” 

Big Score for the O’Quinns 
Michael O’Quinn is no stranger to the sales ring, but made one of his most lucrative resells during the Fasig-Tipton July Sale. “I’ve pinhooked horses since I was 
18-years-old, but this is by far the highest price of mine that’s ever sold,” the Citra, Florida-based horseman said. The husband and wife team of Michael and Julia O’Quinn purchased hip 190 for $140,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November sale and resold him for $400,000 Monday. 
“He was just a smaller version of what he is now,” O’Quinn recalled. “I said ‘If we could just stay out of his way and let him go, he should make us money.’ And he did! When we bought him, I was hoping we could get lucky and double our money.” 
O’Quinn is a bit of a renaissance man when it comes to the horse industry. The son of Clayton O’Quinn, the longtime manager of Grosse Point Stud in Ocala, Michael has spent his entire life in the industry. 
“I was born in it,” O’Quinn explained. “My dad trained and I rode races when I was young, so I’ve always been in the horse business.” 
O’Quinn was also the first consignor to pinhook a Classic winner when Aloma’s Ruler won the 1982 GI Preakness S. The horseman purchased Aloma’s Ruler as a yearling for $15,000 and, after breaking him at Grosse Pointe, sold him for $92,000 at the Hialeah Select Sale of 2-year-olds. 
O’Quinn temporarily gave up the sales ring while he trained in Texas for 20 years and Julia rode races. 
“We always did the 2-year-old market, but when we were in Texas, I was training at the racetrack and it was just too much to have horses at the racetrack then trying to prep yearlings,” O’Quinn offered. “In 1997, I finally said I had enough with the racetrack. Julia rode races for me. When she won her 500th race she said, ‘I’m done,’ and I said, ‘If you’re quitting then I’m quitting.’” 
O’Quinn now works as a blacksmith and an equine dentist, along with maintaining a small pinhooking operation. 
“We only pinhook about three or four a year,” he said. “That’s a number we can both take care of ourselves.”

WinStar Goes for Congrats Colt 
Elliott Walden of WinStar signed the $375,000 ticket on hip 245, a colt by Congrats. Consigned by Hurstland Farm, he is the second foal out of stakes winner Northern Station (Street Cry {Ire}). WinStar also purchased half-brother Barbados (Speightstown) for $230,000 at this past Keeneland April Sale. 
“He’s a beautiful colt,” Walden said. “We have Congrats at WinStar so it makes sense for us.” 
Breeder Tommy Town Thoroughbreds claimed the mare for $12,500 in 2009. 

Candy Ride Colt Makes Sense for Siegel 
Samantha Siegel, sitting alongside advisors Pat Payne and Ric Waldman, secured a colt by Candy Ride (Arg) (hip 64) for $250,000 during Monday’s Fasig-Tipton July sale. Consigned by Warrendale Sales, the ridgling is out of True Legacy (GB) (A.P. Indy) and is a half-brother to graded stakes winner Verdana Bold (Rahy). 
“Candy Ride is doing well,” Siegel explained. “[The yearling] is a nicely made horse who handled himself well and he’s well-balanced. He passed the vet and he fell in the right price range.” 
Siegel, whose Jay Em Ess Stables campaigned Grade I winner Rail Trip (Jump Start) and multiple Grade I winner Include Me Out (Include), admitted a smaller yearling crop made for a competitive bidding environment. 
“Good horses are hard to find and the same people land on the same horses and it’s just a matter of who wants which one more. Luckily we got him.” 
Despite the shortage of horses, Siegel said the numbers still have to add up. 
“You still have to have the money make sense,” she said. “If you take away New York, a lot of places are struggling. It is hard to spend a lot of money when you can’t make it back on the racetrack. The expenses haven’t gone down, they keep going up every year. But, with the foal crop going down, it just makes more people fight for the fewer good ones. It’s just a matter of how much you like one and where you think he’ll fall in the range of where you are with your budget for the year.” 
The yearling was bred by Edward Seltzer. 

Conquest Adds to Yearling Band 
Mark Casse went to $235,000 to secure hip 55, a colt by Harlan’s Holiday, on behalf of Conquest Stables early in the Fasig-Tipton July sale. “I just thought he was a really pretty horse,” the conditioner said of the Florida-bred colt, who was consigned by Baccari Bloodstock. “He has a live pedigree and, so far, [Conquest’s Ernie Semersky and Dory Newell] have a couple of nice Harlan’s Holidays, so I thought it made sense.” 
Casse was pleased with the final figure, adding, “I thought it was a good price. I thought he might bring just a touch more. Harlan’s Holiday is a solid sire and the mare is a solid producer and I thought he was a beautiful horse.” 
Conquest Stables has added extensively to their stable so far this year, with a pair of 2-year-olds from the OBS March Sale and five purchases from OBS April. “We try to go to each sale and try to find one or two that we really like,” Casse explained. “Ernie doesn’t do things so slow. He’s a player and he loves the game. It’s funny because they’ve been in it a couple of a years and it’s amazing to me how horseracing has become such a big part of his life. They just love this game. I have to tell you, they’re wonderful ambassadors to the game because they love it. They’re great people. We’re just lucky because we have a lot of great people.”