Becky Thomas

TIMONIUM, MD - Midway through Monday's first session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in Timonium, one bloodstock agent quipped, "Turns out untimed works, work." The final figures of the auction's opening session--conducted a week after the company's first untimed under-tack preview show--seemed to bear the sentiment out, with the session's average and median concluding well ahead of last year's sale record-setting figures. "It was a tremendous start to the Fasig Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training sale," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said Monday evening. "There were pretty...

TIMONIUM, MD - The first of two sessions of the under-tack preview of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale got underway under brilliantly sunny skies and a brand new format Tuesday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. Some 250 horses previewed over the track, and, while they were cascaded by the beeps of stopwatches from onlookers in the grandstand, Fasig-Tipton provided no times for the works. With forecasted wet weather later in the week, the under-tack show was condensed to two days, leading to close to nine...

Two of our top five were in action at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby day card. 5) COUNTER MOVE, BAQ, 5/2-11th, 6fT VIDEO Beyer Speed Figure-87 (g, 4, Spun to Run--Gypsy Angel, by Silver Train) O/B-Sequel Racing/Sequel Thoroughbreds (NY). T-George Weaver. J-Dalila Rivera. After eight starts with two seconds and four third, but no wins, Weaver and owner Becky Thomas decided to try grass. Counter Move had little turf heritage. Spun to Run's progeny stats are solidly better on dirt, but you wouldn't know by the result. Counter Move...

With the first major 2-year-old sale, OBS March, now in the books, and the next round, the OBS April sale, right around the corner, it's time for some predictions. We asked the experts who their pick is for leading freshman sire and also asked them for a "sleeper pick," or a stallion that will perform beyond expectations. Here's what they had to say: STEVE VENOSA Top Pick: Jackie's Warrior (Spendthrift Farm, $25,000) Training them this year, I think the obvious two horses are Jackie's Warrior and Drain the Clock. They...

The New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. will host its annual general membership meeting and educational seminar Sunday at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs. This year's seminar, titled "Keeping or Selling? Mapping Your Breeding Goals," will focus on how breeders and owners can forecast and manage their breeding strategies, while balancing market demands and long-term objectives for breeding and racing. Sponsored by the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund, the seminar will feature Becky Thomas, owner of Sequel New York and Sequel at Winding Oaks in Ocala;...

A synthetic track is necessary for the survival of New York breeding farms, such as Sequel. The New York Bred program and the breeder awards generated are incredibly beneficial and fundamental to the financial stability of the New York farms and breeders. However, New York breeders only earn awards for horses competing within New York. Unfortunately, horses that are predominantly competitive on turf are often shipped to Florida or Louisiana for turf racing as owners want to see their horses race. As such, several prominent New York trainers base their...

Three colts and one filly shared the furlong bullet time of :9 4/5 during the final session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Sunday. The quartet all took to track within the first half-hour of the session, with a colt by Tapiture (hip 993) getting the day started with his bullet work for Navas Equine. The colt is out of Union Queen (Union Rags) and his third dam, Above Perfection (In Excess {Ire}), produced GI Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming....

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm OCALA, FL - The action picked up noticeably during the second session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and, with the auction's first seven-figure offering leading the way, figures concluded above 2023 levels Wednesday evening. "It was an excellent day," OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said at the close of business Wednesday. "As I said yesterday, there are plenty of good horses left to be sold and obviously that was borne out today. Quality horses sell well...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - With a pair of colts topping the seven-figure mark, the tempo picked up during the second session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Wednesday. With 144 horses sold Wednesday for $25,488,000, the session average was $177,000--up 6.2% from last year's corresponding session--and the median of $87,500 declined 2.8% from a year ago. The buy-back rate was 31.8%. "I thought it was a very good session," said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. "It felt like...

When Domestic Product (Practical Joke) bullied his way through traffic to get his nose in front in the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby Saturday, he not only earned valuable qualifying points to the GI Kentucky Derby, he also provided a timely update for his half-sister who is scheduled to sell during the first session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales' Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Tuesday. "She's been very popular today, let's put it that way," Becky Thomas said of the filly from the first crop of Complexity (hip...

The first foal by GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner and Sequel Stallions sire Fire At Will (Declaration of War--Flirt, by Kitten's Joy) was born recently. Bred in New York by Horse Haven Racing and born on Jan. 30, the colt is the first foal out of the unraced Marital Joy (Practical Joke). The mare is from the same extended family as Breeders' Cup winner Shared Account (Pleasantly Perfect) and her Breeders' Cup-winning daughter Sharing (Speightstown). "The colt has a lot of scope to him," said Sequel's Becky Thomas. "He...

Sequel Stallions New York's GSW and MGISP Keepmeinmind (Laoban--Inclination, by Victory Gallop) was represented by his first foal recently, a filly. Bred by Sequel, the filly is out of the unraced Wintrily (Carpe Diem), a half-sister to Nov. 18 Key Cents S. winner Tricky Temper (Into Mischief). "We couldn't be happier with how this foal is built," said Sequel's Becky Thomas. "She has a great size and shape to her, plenty of leg, and has all the parts and pedigree to be a great racehorse!" Keepmeinmind will stand his second...