Donato Lanni

A filly by American Pharoah (Hip 532) added to a banner OBS March sale for Jimbo & Torie Gladwell's Top Line Sales, bringing $1-million from Donato Lanni, who was bidding on behalf of Susan Chu. The :10 flat breezer was bred by the Gladwells and E.V.S. Corp. The filly will be trained by her sire's Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

Michael Lund Petersen's Gamine (Into Mischief) has been booked to Lane's End stallion Quality Road for 2022, bloodstock agent Donato Lanni confirmed Sunday. "We had a meeting with Michael to decided what to do and we all agreed that Quality Road was the right horse to start off her broodmare career," Lanni said. "You really can't go wrong with Quality Road--he's a very good sire." Acquired for $1.8 million at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Gamine won nine of 11 starts, including the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup...

4th-Santa Anita, $68,000, Msw, 12-26, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 1:16.11, ft, 1/2 length. SHAAZ (c, 3, Uncle Mo--Miss Ocean City, by Mineshaft), the better fancied of a pair of debuting 3-year-olds for trainer Bob Baffert, overcame his inexperience and overhauled his barnmate Hopkins (Quality Road) in the dying strides to graduate by a half-length Sunday at Santa Anita. The $1.1-million topper from the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Shaaz was not the quickest away and lingered in the latter third of the field as Hopkins set a fast pace...

Once again, the Breeders' Cup reminds us how our whole business hinges on a delicate equilibrium. On the one hand, we need the kind of big plays made on barnmates Gamine (Into Mischief) and Corniche (Quality Road), who changed hands for $1.8 million and $1.5 million respectively, to come off sufficiently to keep the big spenders in the game. But we also need those Goliaths to be humbled, from time to time, by a little guy with a sling. If the Derby were won by a sale-topper every year, the...

LEXINGTON, KY - The start of the opening session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale was delayed an hour by heavy rain, but the weather seemed to be the only thing that could hold back the auction once the bidding got started Monday at Newtown Paddocks. "We were very pleased with the opening session of the October sale," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said Monday night. "I don't think there was any surprise that there was a lot of demand. We've seen strength in the yearling sales from the start...

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, launched last week with a Bluegrass band, mimosas, and a boutique Book 1 section, continued its momentum straight through to the end of its 11th session, concluding with a sales record average, median and buy-back rate. The gross, which was over $300,000,000 for three straight years before falling to $248,978,700 during the pre-vaccination pandemic in 2020, rebounded to $352,823,000 by the time the last hip went through the ring Friday evening. It was the auction's sixth highest gross in history. "The hope was that we...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale lost none of its momentum during a dark day Friday, returning with an opening Book 3 section that featured strong demand from start to finish in Lexington Saturday. During the session, 269 head sold for $45,003,000. The session average was $167,297--up 53.46% from last year's Book 3 opener which was held amidst the uncertainty of the pre-vaccination pandemic--and the median increased 58.82% to $135,000. With just 92 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate Saturday was 25.48%. It was 40.12% a year...

by Jessica Martini, Brian DiDonato & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, led by a trio of million-dollar yearlings, opened with a day of steady trade in Lexington Monday. A total of 95 yearlings sold during the session for $38,172,000, at an average of $401,811 and a median of $325,000. "I think the trade was really strong," Keeneland's new vice president of sales Tony Lacy said at the close of business Monday. "The numbers may have stacked very comparably to last year, but I think there...

Last week, I stopped by John and Leslie Malone's 2,200-acre Bridlewood Farm in Ocala before attending the OBS June sale and got a good look at an intriguing freshman sire who'd topped the June sale six years earlier at a then-record price of $680,000. By Candy Ride (Arg) from the unraced Deputy Minister mare Spooky Minister, Valiant Minister was bred by John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale and had breezed a bullet eighth in :9 4/5 for consignor Eddie Woods. He was purchased on the advice of Donato Lanni by Charles...

By Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis OCALA, FL - A pair of million-dollar juveniles punctuated a day of lively trade in Central Florida as the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds reached its midway point with a second session Wednesday. "We certainly picked up where we left off yesterday and the action was just as good, if not better, and we hope it continues to move forward into the next two days," said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. "We came into the sale with some expectations given...

By Christie DeBernardis & Jessica Martini The four-day Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale got off to a strong start Tuesday. A colt from the first crop of Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Hip 118) was the day's hottest commodity, bringing $850,000 from Donato Lanni, acting on behalf of Michael Lund Petersen. Hip 118 was one of 181 juveniles to sell for a gross of $17,829,500. The average was $98,506 and the median was $50,000. Of the 304 catalogued, 225 were offered with 44 horses leaving the ring unsold...

The big sales results from the first crop of juveniles by champion Gun Runner (hip 118) continued Tuesday at OBS when a son of the Three Chimneys stallion sold for $850,000 to the bid of bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, acting on behalf of Michael Lund Petersen. The gray juvenile will join the $1.7-million son of Gun Runner purchased by Amr Zedan at last month's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale in the Southern California barn of trainer Bob Baffert. "He's a beautiful horse," Lanni said. "Just a cool horse. He did everything he...