By Jessica Martini
HALLANDALE, FL – The under-tack preview of the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Selected 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale was held under brilliantly blue skies and temperatures reaching up to the high 70s in Hallandale Monday. Two juveniles shared the fastest furlong time of the preview, with a colt by Sky Kingdom hitting the :9 4/5 mark during the day's second set and a filly by Uncle Mo reaching that mark in the day's fourth of five sets. It was the first time in the auction's five years at Gulfstream Park that a horse broke :10 for the furlong. The fastest quarter-mile of :20 3/5 was shared by a colt by Uncle Mo and a filly by Into Mischief.
“It was a very productive day on the racetrack,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “We saw a huge number of quality horses that worked over the racetrack today. There were some beautiful movers and there are some spectacular videos that we've already had a chance to see. I thought the track was very consistent from beginning to end and we were very, very pleased with the quality of horses that our consignors have brought to us. They had shown well earlier in the week and we felt very good about the physicals and they performed, for the most part, across the board on the racetrack today spectacularly.”
The breeze show attracted a broad swathe of onlookers to the Gulfstream grandstand Monday, with trainers like Todd Pletcher, Steve Asmussen, Mark Hennig, Eddie Kenneally and Neil Drysdale in attendance. Among the bloodstock agents in the grandstand were Patti Miller, Kim Valerio, Shawn Dugan, Marette Farrell, Kerri Radcliffe, Donato Lanni, Deuce Greathouse, Patrick Lawley-Wakelin, Jason Litt, Jamie Hill, and Pete Bradley. Major operations were also represented, with Stonestreet's Barbara Banke watching the works alongside John Moynihan, as well as Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds.
“The under-tack show was well attended,” Browning said. “There certainly seems to be a high level of interest and we are optimistic heading into the sale on Wednesday. It is a 2-year-old in training sale. There will be some polarization in the marketplace without any question because there are lot of evaluative tools that people go through, watching the video, stride analysis, hearts, veterinary scrutiny, so there are a number of factors that will come into play in making buying decisions, but I think we'll see lively competition for a significant number of horses on offer.”
Hip 155 was the first horse to shade :10 for a furlong work at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale when he covered the distance in :9 4/5 Monday. The dark bay is from the first crop of graded stakes winner Sky Kingdom (Empire Maker) and is out of the unplaced Truelladeville (Yes It's True). He is consigned to the sale by Wavertree Stables.
“He advertised himself as a good horse all year,” Wavertree's Ciaran Dunne said. “We thought he would work really well, but you're never thinking :9 4/5. But the good ones tend to show up.”
Dunne purchased the colt for $115,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale.
“Everybody at the sale wanted to buy him, it was just a question of who was going to be the last man standing,” Dunne recalled of buying the youngster last summer. “He's just a gorgeous horse; they don't make horses any prettier than he is. He is big, he's strong, he moves good and we just took a shot.”
Asked if he had any reservations about bringing a lesser-known pedigree into the boutique Gulfstream sale, Dunne said, “Not after that [work]. Physically he is as good as they come and he worked really well. I think if he had missed on either the physical or the way he worked, we would have been in trouble. But he will sell himself. He's a bit special.”
Wavertree sent out 15 juveniles to work Monday and Dunne said the track seemed consistent throughout the day.
“We were really happy [with the results],” he said. “For the most part, they showed up like we thought they were going to. You always want them to go a tick quicker than they did, but I think the great thing about down here is, that while the bullet is the bullet, they are willing to forgive you a tick or two if they do it the right way and they gallop out. For the most part, these are big two-turn horses and they shouldn't be expected to all go in :10 flat.”
Late in the day, a daughter of Uncle Mo (hip 12) equaled the :9 4/5 work for the Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds consignment. The juvenile is out of Coin Broker (Montjeu {Ire}), a daughter of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Cash Run (Seeking the Gold) and her third dam is Grade I winner Shared Interest (Pleasant Colony). She was purchased by Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo for $450,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.
“She is a special filly,” said Hartley. “She has done everything right since the day I bought her. She has a demeanor that nothing bothers her.”
Of the decision to work the speedy filly late in the day, Hartley explained, “When you have a small group of horses like these, it was hard to decide. So I thought, we'll take two of ours and two of Chris [Baccari]'s and then our last two last. I think it shows that the track stayed consistent throughout the day, if you have the horse.”
A son of Coolmore's Uncle Mo (hip 82) shared the day's fastest quarter-mile work of :20 3/5. Consigned by Hoby and Layna Kight, the $350,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase is out of Grade I placed Modification (Vindication) and is a half-brother to multiple graded placed Sawyer's Hill (Sprint at Last).
A daughter of Into Mischief (hip 139) matched that :20 3/5 quarter-mile time later in the preview. The bay filly is out of Specification (Empire Maker), a half-sister to Grade I winner Skimming (Nureyev). She is consigned by Tom McCrocklin as agent for Steve Gasparelli's Slugo Racing and Scott Dowell's Paymaster Racing which purchased her for $450,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.
The Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale will be held Wednesday in the track's paddock beginning at 2 p.m.
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