Top Line on the Rise

by Brian DiDonato 
   After a banner year in 2013 in just its second season of selling 2-year-olds, Jimbo and Torie Gladwell's Top Line Sales looks poised to continue its upward trajectory at next week's OBS March Sale. 
   The couple sold “TDN Rising Star” Our Amazing Rose (Yes It's True) at this venue 12 months ago for $325,000, and hit another home run just two weeks later when a Medaglia d'Oro colt they were offering brought $500,000 at Fasig-Tipton Florida. 
   Considering their backgrounds and how they met, it should come as no surprise that the Gladwells have done well at the sales. 
   “My granddad was in the Quarter Horse business, and my dad also started out with Quarter Horses and was one of the first ones to transfer over into Thoroughbreds and he's been doing it for 35 years probably,” said 30-year-old Jimbo, whose father is veteran horseman Jimmy Gladwell. “I've been doing it ever since I was 16–prepping yearlings, helping at the training barn–different things.” 
   Torie, a 31-year-old Missouri native, got her start with show horses before making the move into Thoroughbred racehorses about six years ago. Her mentor, prominent pinhooker Tony Bowling, introduced Torie to Jimbo at Fasig-Tipton Florida. With the support of Jimmy Gladwell, Bowling and other friends and family, they founded Top Line in 2008. Jimbo and Torie will celebrate their four-year wedding anniversary in April. 
   Despite their 2-year-old roots, Top Line started out selling yearlings. 
   “We've focused on the yearlings in the past,” acknowledged Jimbo. “We've sold between 50 and 70 yearlings each year for the past five years.” 
   The Gladwells sold an Unbridled's Song colt for $650,000–their biggest sale to date–at the 2009 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. They consigned their first 2-year-olds at the 2012 OBS April Sale, and sold for the first time at the March sale last season. 
   “My wife worked for Tony Bowling running his shedrow for about four years learning firsthand how to get the babies ready at the 2-year-old sales,” explained Gladwell when asked why he and Torie decided to branch out into juveniles. “We were approached by a client that we sold yearlings for about taking a couple to the 2-year-old sale and we recruited a couple more that year. We had six for two different clients in 2012 then had 18 last year for seven different clients last year. This year, we will have about 40 for the 2-year-old sales.” 
   The Gladwells will offer six juveniles at OBS March compared to two last year. 
   “It's a spot where you have a shot of hitting a home run,” said Gladwell of the appeal of OBSMAR. “If your horses stand out against this group, the buyers coming in are expecting to spend big money for the elite individuals, and it just gives you a real shot of getting paid.” 
   It's not just about increased quantity for Top Line, but also quality. 
“We've actually got a really strong consignment this year,” stated Gladwell, who rents stall space at the Robert Scanlon Training Center in addition to operating a 270-acre farm in Williston. “We don't press on them quite as hard, so it's tough for me to say whether I think I have any :9 4/5 or :10 flats, but I think I've got three especially that will probably go pretty fast.” 
    Standouts from the Top Line consignment include hip 10, a Colonel John 3/4-brother to GI Belmont S. winner Da' Tara (Tiznow); hip 254, a daughter of the late Harlan's Holiday and a half to MSW and GSP Western Prize; and hip 410, a Henny Hughes colt out of MSW Swifty Victress (Macho Uno). 
    “He's a nice colt with a big, pretty stride,” said Gladwell of hip 10, who was purchased for $145,000 by Thoroughbred Management at last year's Keeneland September Sale. “It'll definitely be exciting for us [to sell a sibling to a Classic winner].” 
    Gladwell hopes the Henny Hughes colt, a $60,000 purchase by Thoroughbred Management at the Breeders Sales Company of Louisiana Yearling Sale, will prove particularly attractive thanks to the exploits of Asia Express (Henny Hughes), a $230,000 buy here 12 months ago who went on to annex the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. in Japan en route to being named that nation's champion 2-year-old colt. 
    “We've got a Henny Hughes colt that should really cater to the Japanese,” Gladwell offered. “Hopefully he'll follow in the footsteps of that Henny Hughes that was champion last year over there that they got from OBS.” 
In addition to positive expectations for the Top Line consignment, Gladwell expects continued growth in the juvenile market overall. 
    “I think it's going to be a great marketplace,” he said. “Last year the 2-year-old sales were really strong, and I think it's just building on itself. I think the elite stand-outs will bring far and above what we would expect them to bring [in past years].” Gladwell continued, “It's just a good season going in. Supply and demand have really leveled off and I think this should be a good place to sell a horse.” 
    The Gladwells will get their first chance to see if the sale will live up to their expectations with the first of two under tack sessions, scheduled to begin today at 8:00 a.m. Sales officials are monitoring the weather in Ocala, where forecasts are calling for rain and the possibility of thunderstorms Thursday. An announcement on the start of the breeze show is expected at 6:30 a.m. Visit obssales.com for more information.