Ciaran Dunne

A colt from the first crop of former 'TDN Rising Star' Unified (Candy Ride {Arg}) breezed a quarter-mile in a slick :20 2/5 to post the fastest work at the distance at Thursday's first of three under-tack sessions ahead of next week's OBS March Sale in Ocala. The February foal is being consigned to the March sale by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stable Inc., agent, and is out of the stakes-winning Promise Me a Cat (D'wildcat). Hip 163 is bred by Gatewood Bell, who paid $35,000 for the colt's dam carrying...

With the 2-year-old sales right around the corner, the TDN reached out to consignors with juveniles heading to the sales rings at the Mar. 16 and 17 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and the Mar. 31 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale to discuss which of their offerings by first-crop sires have impressed them. This is the second installment of the series (click here to view the first section which was published in Tuesday's TDN). CIARAN DUNNE (Wavertree Stables) Among the 26 juveniles Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables has...

The journey from Missouri to Hallandale Beach proved to be more than worth it for owners Robert and Lawana Low when they watched their speedy gray colt Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) flash past the wire to win the $1-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf. While Robert Low said they were confident going into the Pegasus, they were unconvinced that the newly-turned 4-year-old had to win by a landslide in order to be considered a top contender in his division. "I think it was a really nice field," he noted. "There...

LEXINGTON, KY - While Into Mischief secured the top lots during Monday's first session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, it was Quality Road in charge during Tuesday's second session as Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners went to a session-topping $560,000 to secure a son of the Lane's End stallion. The day kicked off with a daughter of Quality Road bringing what was ultimately the session's co-second-highest price of $230,000. Through two sessions, Fasig-Tipton has sold 489 yearlings for a gross of $16,390,500. The two-day average is $33,518, down 12.7% from...

TIMONIUM, MD - The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, delayed two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, opened Monday with trepidation in the air, but the clouds of fear and doubt dissipated and, for two days at least, there was a feeling of a return to normalcy in the industry. The auction featured solid demand for horses at all levels and concluded with a remarkable 19.2% buy-back rate. "We had a terrific day Monday and I said I hoped and prayed that we could keep the momentum going and...

TIMONIUM, MD - The three-day under-tack preview ahead of next week's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale concluded Friday under glorious blue skies and temperatures in rising steadily into the 80s through seven sets of workers. "It was a terrific under-tack show. All of the credit goes to [Maryland State Fairgrounds maintenance director Don] Chief Denmeyer," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. "We had challenging weather at the beginning of the week and this racetrack was as good, from beginning to end, as any under-tack show we've ever conducted. The...

A colt by Quality Road (hip 1018) rang the bell earlier in the day on Friday at OBS Spring when selling to Kaleem Shah's son Arman for $1.25 million. The Shah family's bloodstock advisor Ben McElroy signed the ticket. A $240,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling buy, the half-brother to MSW and MGISP Standard Deviation (Curlin) breezed in :20 3/5 last week and was consigned to the sale by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables, Inc. Kaleem Shah has done well with 2-year-old in training buys by Quality Road in the past--he purchased MGISW...

Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables was on fire Friday at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training breeze show. The Irishman sent out one of two :20 2/5 bullet breezers, as well as four juveniles who worked in :20 3/5. "It was a great day," Dunne said. "I don't want to say it was unexpected because it wasn't, but it is very rare that everything goes exactly as you hoped. We felt we were loaded coming into today. We had some nice horses throughout the week, but...

The juvenile sales season, on pause since March due to the global pandemic, began its return to action with the first of seven under-tack sessions for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's delayed Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training in Central Florida Sunday. A New York-bred filly by Into Mischief (hip 1240) recorded the day's fastest furlong breeze when covering the distance in :9 4/5. Consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds and part of the sale's supplemental catalogue, the filly is out of Miss Vigilance (War Pass), a half-sister to Grade I winner...

Devil Made Me Doit (Daredevil) put on a show with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance in the lid lifter on Santa Anita's opening day program back on Dec. 28--feels like a lifetime ago, doesn't it--but where has he been since? "He came out of his race with a little P1 [ankle chip]," said Ciaran Dunne, who campaigns the 3-year-old colt in partnership with Reddam Racing. "We took it out and he went to Ocean Breeze-Mr. Reddam's farm in California--to recuperate. We gave him a little extra time because all that...

by Brian DiDonato & Steve Sherack Under the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic and a sharp stock market reaction, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale kicked off Tuesday with mixed results for sellers--as expected--but probably with better trade than some may have feared. At the end of selling Tuesday, 134 head had changed hands for a combined $12,550,500 at an average of $93,660 and median of $50,000. Those stats are expected to change as buyers continue to shop the RNA list and subsequent post-sale transactions are...

Hip 237, the only quarter-mile breezer to stop the clock in :20 2/5 during last week's under-tack previews, brought a current sale-leading bid of $650,000 during Tuesday's opening session of the OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The bay filly was purchased by Japan's Katsumi Yoshida, who also scooped up a $420,000 Medaglia d'Oro colt (hip 65) earlier in the session. Hip 237, a $70,000 KEENOV weanling and $165,000 KEESEP yearling, was consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables, Inc.