Colts by Street Boss, Vekoma Tie for Fastest Furlong in Timonium Thursday

TIMONIUM, MD – After an unexpected day off Wednesday and a two-hour delay, the under-tack show for the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale resumed for its second session at 10 a.m. Thursday with a lively surface and a significant tailwind which persisted throughout the day. The first horse to work Thursday matched the :10 flat bullet time of Tuesday's opening session of the three-day show and was followed in that first set by six more to hit that mark in the first set before a colt by Street Boss (hip 314) broke out of the pack with a :9 4/5 work in the day's third set. It wasn't until the day's seventh and final set that that bullet time was matched by a colt by Vekoma (hip 285, video).

Consigned by Longoria Training and Sales, hip 314 is out of Snow Mesa (Sky Mesa) and from the family of graded winner Fort Prado.

“I thought he could go as fast as any horse here could go,” Jessie Longoria said of the colt. “I worked him a quarter at home and he worked really big and I was almost tempted to go a quarter here. But then I was worried–what if I make the wrong call? I didn't want to mess it up. I told my rider, 'He's really fast, just let him do his thing.' And sure enough, when he left, my phone was ringing off the hook and I couldn't answer because I had him and we were coming back. Everyone was calling me at the same time. It's an awesome feeling.”

The colt is a family affair of the Longorias, who purchased him under the name 3 Sisters for $35,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“I have three daughters,” Longoria said. “I buy a lot of horses and they help me and they have a good eye for it, but this was the first year I took them up to short list with me. They picked a bunch of horses and then I said, 'Now pick one for yourselves.' They said, 'We found one.' They took me back there and I liked him, he looked fast.”

“I said I would buy one for them for $20,000 and then when we sell him, they could pay me back,” Longoria said. “So we got up there [to bid] and they kept asking are you going to keep going? You're going to keep going? I was hitting him back, and anyway, I ended up buying the horse for $35,000. I wanted them to learn and appreciate the whole process instead of just giving it to them. I said I would buy him, but you guys have to take care of him and you've got to feed him and do it all. And they've done that. It's going to be a big reward, hopefully, if everything goes good.”

Longoria's daughters, now between 20 and 26, have grown up around the business, but the consignor isn't sure any of them will make it their career.

“One of them lives in Hawaii and the other two help me with the horses,” Longoria said. “My youngest one is getting her pilot's license and when we came up here, she said if he does good she wants to pay for the rest of her school. She wants to go to Embry-Riddle. My middle daughter, when I leave, she runs the barn. But does she want to do it? I don't know. She's a really good artist. She is taking art classes online. She doesn't really know what she wants to do.”

Asked if it was more stressful to train for family, Longoria said, “Not really. When it's our own horses, we know the game. It can go good, it can go bad. Things can happen. But we know that and we accept that and we just do what we have to do and go on to the next one. When you have customers–I don't have many, but I do have some–it's hard because they don't understand that. It's more pressure. You want to do good for them, but in this business, it doesn't always go that way. I think it's less pressure for us when it's for us. We know the game and we know what can happen.”

Longoria consigned Maymun (Frosted), a $50,000 yearling purchase by the consignor and Paul Neatherlin, who sold for $900,000 at last year's OBS April sale and is now unbeaten in two starts for Bob Baffert and Zedan Racing Stables.

“It's not over until you get all the X-rays and scoping done,” Longoria said. “There are a lot of hoops. But it's exciting and we are going to enjoy the moment right now.”

With only a handful of horses left to work Thursday, hip 285 equaled the day's bullet for Wavertree Stables. From the first crop of multiple Grade I winner Vekoma, the chestnut is out of Scion Power (Wildcat Heir), a full-sister to graded winner Derwin's Star. He was purchased for $175,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale.

“The colt was in [OBS] March and worked really good there,” said Wavertree's Ciaran Dunne. “He came up with a tiny little P1 flake in his ankle and we didn't want to sell him compromised. So we took it out and brought him here. He came in here off of limited training, but he's always been really talented.”

Hip 285 | Fasig-Tipton

While rain forced the postponement of the under-tack show Wednesday, Dunne said conditions were favorable Thursday.

“They did a good job getting the track back from where it was after all the rain we had,” he said. “And there was a tailwind as opposed to the headwind [from Tuesday's first session], which was probably good for a bit of a push.”

Thursday's session of the under-tack show concluded with 10 horses working the furlong in :10 flat, while four horses shared the day's fastest quarter-mile time of :21 1/5. Three of the four bullet workers came in the day's second set, with a filly by Instilled Regard (hip 203, video) first to hit that mark for Hoppel LLC, agent. That gray filly was followed by a filly by Authentic (hip 374, video) from the Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds consignment; and a Maclean's Music colt (hip 225, video) consigned by Golden Rock Thoroughbreds. The quartet was completed by a colt by Bolt d'Oro (hip 258, video) consigned by Pike Racing at Highlander.

Thursday's session of the under-tack show was marred by the fatal breakdown of hip 275, who fell to the track during her gallop out.

Officials at Fasig-Tipton later released the following statement:

“Fasig-Tipton is saddened by today's incident. The company is focused on ensuring that the highest standards of equine safety and welfare are adhered to, and are conducting a thorough review of the incident including a full necropsy.”

The under-tack's final session is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Friday. The Midlantic May sale will be held next Monday and Tuesday with bidding beginning each day at 11 a.m.