By Brian DiDonato
Golden Legacy Stable will look to build on a successful first pinhooking season in 2015 as it offers as many as 14 juveniles at next week's OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
Founded in April of 2014 by leading Venezuelan, and now South Florida-based conditioner Juan Andres Rodriguez along with two partners from Spain, the up-and-coming operation purchased the 120-acre Ocala property formerly owned by prominent Florida horseman Harold Plumley.
They currently own 22 mares and their respective yearlings, 36 juveniles who will mostly be offered at auction in the coming months, and some 55 horses in training with Rodriguez.
Blas Perez, who worked as a racetrack assistant for J. J. Crupi for 13 years before assisting major 2-year-old consignor Nick de Meric for another nine, serves as Golden Legacy's general manager and farm trainer.
“Both are real good horsemen,” Perez said when asked about his time working under Crupi and de Meric. “When I was with Crupi, I was an assistant trainer at the racetrack, so I learned more racetrack stuff. Then, when I went to work for Nick, I started to learn more about conformation and pedigree. They're very good people who have been doing this for a long time. They're good people to learn from.”
Of what he looks for in yearling-to-juvenile pinhook prospects, Perez said, “I really base my philosophy more in looks than pedigree, because pedigree is hard to buy a lot of times. So I look at physicals and conformation before I even look at pedigree. Juan [Andres Rodriguez] is more focused on pedigree than me. So I look at the physicals and conformation, and then he'll go back over them with me and if he likes the pedigree, we go on with them.”
Golden Legacy's biggest pinhook score in 2015 came from the eventually named Street Gray (Street Cry {Ire}), a $45,000 KEESEP RNA who brought $750,000 from trainer Mark Casse on behalf of John Oxley at OBS April. The colt recently finished a solid third on the stretch-out at Gulfstream Feb. 27.
“He was just like a little pony when I went and looked at him at Keeneland, but he was very strong,” Perez recalled. “He just turned the right way when we got him home. He started to grow, and started to really look like a racehorse. That was also one of the ones Juan picked because of the pedigree.”
That wasn't the only juvenile from Golden Legacy's 2015 class to flatter the operation. Hollywood Don (Tapit), who went for $245,000 at OBS April to Rockingham Ranch, took the Del Mar Juvenile Turf S. in September and finished third behind champion Nyquist (Uncle Mo) in the GI FrontRunner S. later that month for trainer Peter Miller. Sharp Azteca (Freud), $220,000 of the same sale, was an impressive four-length maiden winner for Gelfenstein Farm and Jorge Navarro stretching to a mile in Hallandale Feb. 20. Turf Paradise stakes winner Jam N Addy (Sightseeing) was acquired for $13,000 from Golden Legacy's OBS June offerings.
Some of last year's juveniles who didn't sell have also done well by Golden Legacy.
Golden Pirate (Flashstorm) was scratched from OBS June, but upset the Armed Forces S. at Gulfstream at 24-1 in October for Rodriguez. Golden Ray (American Lion), who RNA'd for $105,000 at the same sale, was third in the OBS Championship S. Jan. 26 before competing in the GII Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth S. last time.
Like he has at previous sales, Nick de Meric consigns all of Golden Legacy's juveniles at OBS March.
“I think we have some very good individuals there–a lot of fast horses,” Perez said when asked about the March consignment. “They're all sound, and nice-looking horses. They've been training really well here at OBS.”
Elaborating further on potential standouts, Perez remarked, “We have two Gemologists–one is faster than lightning (hip 57), and the other (hip 50) is handsome and beautiful. [Hip 50] doesn't have the speed of the other one, but he looks like a two-turn horse. I really like those two.”
The former, out of stakes-placed Kick'em Jenny (Bold Executive), is a half to MSW Surtsey (Heatseeker {Ire}). His stakes-winning and graded stakes-placed second dam produced Queen's Plate winner and MGISP Wild Desert (Desert Rush). The Ontario-bred was a $45,000 Keeneland September acquisition.
Hip 50 was a $50,000 KEESEP yearling and recently RNA'd for $97,000 at Fasig-Tipton Florida. The bay is a half-brother to stakes-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Let Em Shine (Songandaprayer), as well as stakes-placed juvenile Sea Mona (Tiz Wonderful).
Both colts will breeze at OBS Wednesday during the first of three under-tack shows. Sessions begin 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Picking out hip 237, a Lookin At Lucky filly; and hip 527, a Flashstorm colt as others who have breezed well on the farm, Perez said, “When I train, I train to race–I don't train for the sales, so we have a few who we really haven't squeezed, and I think they have a lot more left in the tank. We really won't know what they have until the breeze show… Out of the 14, I can tell you there are at least 10 I really love. It's like when you have children–it's hard to choose one over another.” —@BDiDonatoTDN
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