Taylor Made Brings the Black-Type

The 126-head catalogue for Monday evening's Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale includes four graded stakes winners and three of those four offerings will be consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency.

The trio is led by Distinta (Summer Bird) (hip 423), who captured the GII Inside Information S. at Gulfstream Park in March for VEB Racing Stable Corp. and trainer Victor Barboza, Jr. The 5-year-old mare returned from four months on the sidelines to run a strong second in the July 1 GII Princess Rooney S.

Taylor Made's Mark Taylor compared Distinta to another graduate of the July Horses of Racing Age sale.

“We sold Wavell Avenue here in the Melnyk dispersal a few years ago and Steve Young made a pretty astute buy out of our consignment,” Taylor said. “She went on and won the Breeders' Cup. I think Distinta is the kind of horse who could be in the same position to do the same thing this year.”

Young purchased Wavell Avenue (Harlington) for $70,000 at the 2014 July sale and the mare went on to capture the 2015 GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint for Michael Dubb, David Simon, Head of Plains Partners and Bethlehem Stables.

“Distinta's first race off a layoff was the Princess Rooney at Gulfstream and she ran a 95 Beyer and ran a 5 3/4 on the [Ragozin] sheets. She really ran well. I think she is a mare that is going to be coming into the fall and really hitting her best stride. I think she'll definitely move forward in her next couple of races and there are a lot of opportunities for her coming up on the road to the Breeders' Cup.”

Taylor Made also offers Made You Look (More Than Ready) (hip 462), who won last year's GII With Anticipation S. and this year's GIII Dania Beach S. while campaigning for Let's Go Stable and Three Chimneys Farm and trainer Todd Pletcher. The 3-year-old colt, out of a daughter of champion Serena's Song, was most recently a close-up fourth in the July 2 Charlie Barley S. at Woodbine.

“Made You Look is just a gorgeous horse,” Taylor said. “Anybody that wants to see what a good-looking horse looks like, come look at this horse. He is absolutely a picture. He shipped in Friday and looks unbelievable. I think he's a horse that has shown a lot of talent. He is a graded stakes winner who likes the turf. He had a little bit of a layoff there between his last two starts and he came back and had bit of a rough go of it up at Woodbine in his last out and still ended up getting beat not far by some very good horses. So I think, for anybody who is looking for a 3-year-old grass horse that they can take and go right on with, this horse fits the bill. I think he could he fit in the 'Ship and Win' program out at Del Mar, he could go a lot of different places. And I think that this colt still has his best running in front of him.”

Joseph Sutton's 'TDN Rising Star' Bitumen (Mineshaft) (hip 410) began his career in promising fashion, going from a debut score at Churchill last June to a win in the GIII Sanford S. at Saratoga. But the sophomore has been winless in five starts since, most recently running ninth in a 1 1/16-mile Churchill allowance June 10.

“Bitumen is a horse that, as a 2-year-old, looked like he could be any kind,” Taylor said. “And he's kind of been a bad-luck horse. I think the one thing that I would be looking to do if I bought this horse is get him back to what he likes to do best, which is sprinting. I would try to get him to six to seven furlongs, where he had his most luck. He broke his maiden by 6 3/4 lengths, came back and won the Sanford handily in his second start, both at six. Stretched out to seven in the GI Hopeful, he was fourth. He hit a wet-fast track at Churchill which he didn't like two back [in the May 6 GIII Pat Day Mile]. And he's just been a little bit off form. I really think he needs to get back to sprinting.”

Bitumen is out of Kobla Cat (Tale of the Cat), a half-sister to multiple Grade I winner and sire Quality Road (Elusive Quality).

“If you look at him from a pedigree standpoint, if you can get this horse back hitting his best stride, he's from the direct family of Quality Road and it's a beautiful stallion's pedigree. There is some upside there, I think.”

Taylor Made will offer a promising juvenile filly during Monday's sale. Rose to Fame (Gemologist) (hip 522) is a supplemental entry into the sale. Purchased by trainer Antonio Sano for $65,000 at this year's OBS March sale, the chestnut is now unbeaten in two starts. Most recently, she captured the July 1 5 1/2-furlong Brave Raj S. at Gulfstream.

“She is a half-sister to a really nice horse named Dazzling Gem (Misremembered), who did his best running at three, going a mile and an eighth,” Taylor said. “This filly, being by Gemologist who won the GI Wood Memorial, out of a Vindication mare–I think she should stretch out and run long, but she's just been winning so far on raw talent. She is a very interesting addition to the sale. I think she is one that could be a lot of fun. She's just a turn-key opportunity–an undefeated 2-year-old who is obviously precocious, professional and sound and ready to go on and basically just getting started on her career.”

The July sale seems to guarantee something for everyone.

“I think that this sale is very interesting,” Taylor said. “You have horses that are older that, if it's a female, like in the case of Distinta–she's a mare that you're probably going to retire at the end of this year, you might run her for a month or two at the beginning of next year, but she's one that you can come in here and buy. You know she's going to fit into your broodmare band because she's already a Grade II winner and if you play your cards right, she can get you to the Breeders' Cup and you've got a broodmare. Or you could flip her right back in November. It's almost like leasing her for six months. So there are ones like that and then there are 2-year-olds on the other side of the equation that are just up-and-comers, they are just getting started. It's like a 2-year-old sale, but you get a lot more proof. They have already run and you can see what is under the hood a little bit.”

The auction could also be very popular with buyers from the regional markets.

“We have been doing a lot of promotions to the regional market,” Taylor said. “We've got a Canadian-bred, a Pennsylvania-bred, and then horses that we thought might fit into different regional racing circuits–we've been reaching out to them and letting them know that this could be a good opportunity for them.”

He continued, “We have Litigator (Graydar) (hip 460)–he is a PA-bred and he's run twice against open company, nothing restricted, and he ran second and third,” Taylor said. “[Trainer] Tim Hamm really likes this horse. And there are a lot of nice purses to run for in Pennsylvania. We've done some promotion on him and we've gotten some phone calls. He is just a cool horse that could be a lot of fun for somebody.”

Taylor thinks the July Horses of Racing Age Sale, approaching its fifth anniversary edition, has secured its niche on the sales calendar.

“In the world today, people need more stops on the bus route,” he said. “They need more opportunities to turn horses into cash and to flip things over. The July sale just makes horse commodities more liquid. You used to have to wait all the way to November, but now it's just a nice opportunity to have in July.”