Grand Oaks Looks to Double Up

GRAND OAKS LOOKS TO DOUBLE UP
By J.M. Severni 
    Brad Grady's Grand Oaks, with the help of horse flesh expert Bobby Dodd, enter into the Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale with a full head of steam, after a successful OBS March Sale. 
    Grady is relatively new to the racing game. The Grandview, Texas businessman is a partner in Grady Reynolds, LLC, which leases equipment to gas and oil fields. He's recently turned his interest to horse racing and purchased Grand Oaks in December 2012. The 415-acre farm in Northwest Marion County boasts a 7/8ths-mile training track, 128 stalls and a swimming facility. 
    Consigner Bobby Dodd adds the equine experience to the outfit. Dodd, who had been partners with Tony Bowling for almost three decades, has worked with Grady on picking young horses. 
“We're not really doing anything different, it's all basically the same,” Dodd said of his purchasing approach. “Since I've been involved with Brad Grady we've just been buying a little bit better horses, which make them a little more expensive yearlings. We just buy horses that are big, strong athletic-looking horses who are structurally sound and as much fashionable pedigree as we can afford.” 
    Dodd explained that the interests of Grand Oaks lie in both re-selling yearlings and 2-year-olds, as well as in racing. 
“We're going to buy some yearlings and pinhook some horses and Brad is going to do some racing–that's pretty much our goals–just to pinhook and make some money and race some horses, ” Dodd said. “We bought a few weanlings and we're either going to offer them as yearlings or keep them and train them and sell them as 2-year-olds.” 
Dodd is understandably optimistic about the Fasig Florida Sale. Grand Oaks sold three horses at the OBS March Sale, including a Malibu Moon colt, which they purchased for $200,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, and resold to Coolmore for $1.3 million, the third highest price at the sale.  
   A Majestic Warrior filly, who they purchased for $80,000 at Keeneland September will sell as hip 10. She breezed a furlong in :10 2/5 Friday. 
   Hip 52, a son of leading sire Tapit, is the second foal out of Wild Chant (War Chant), who is out of graded stakes winner Fun House (Prized) and is a half-sibling to Grade I winning millionaire Paddy O'Prado (El Prado {Ire}) and GI Kentucky Oaks hopeful and multiple graded stakes winner Untapable (Tapit). The $270,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga RNA worked in :10 2/5 as well. 
    Hip 88, a Speightstown colt they picked up for $120,000 at Keeneland September, has received a major catalogue update since the last time he went through the ring. The third foal out of dam Dynamite Eyes (Dynaformer) is a half-sibling to General A Rod (Roman Ruler), who won the Gulfstream Park Derby at the beginning of the year and stamped himself as a serious GI Kentucky Derby contender when he finished a game second in the GII Fountain of Youth S. Feb. 22. Hip 88 covered a furlong in :10 flat.
    “We've got three really nice horses, and we feel confident that we'll get them sold for a fair price,” Dodd explained. “I don't know that I have a million-dollar horse, but I've got three really nice horses, so I feel pretty confident that it will go well.”