By Jessica Martini
When a colt by The Big Beast (hip 418) sold for $450,000 at last month's OBS March Sale, it marked the biggest result to date for Gina Fennell, who had purchased the youngster for $45,000 at the 2018 OBS October Yearling Sale. Fennell, who has been pinhooking for some 10 years now, will look to keep the success going at next week's Keeneland April 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Through Luis Garcia's L.G. consignment, Fennell will offer a colt by Wicked Strong (hip 154) during the one-day auction.
Fennel was first exposed to Thoroughbred racing through her cousin, trainer Joe Manzi. Manzi trained Fran's Valentine (Saros {GB}), winner of the 1985 GI Kentucky Oaks.
“We met him in Kentucky for the race,” Fennell recalled. “That's what initially sparked my interest in racing back when I was younger.”
An introduction a decade ago in Ocala led to her involvement in pinhooking.
“A friend introduced me to Luis Garcia,” Fennell said. “He works for Hartley/DeRenzo. We'll get together and get a couple of horses a year and then we just kind of go from there. Once he is done working for Hartley/DeRenzo, he has spare time, so whatever we get he starts to work on and get going for some of the sales.”
Fennell usually picks out only one or two pinhooking prospects at the yearling sales, but last year found herself taking six yearlings home to Ocala.
“We decided to branch out this year,” Fennell said. “We didn't expect to get so many, but we love the industry and just ended up getting more.”
She hit a home run with first of the group to go through the sales ring this year. The colt from the first crop of The Big Beast turned heads when working the fastest furlong (:9 3/5) at the March sale's under-tack show.
“I really didn't think he was going to be that fast,” Fennell admitted. “We really honestly didn't have any idea. He was a nice big, good-looking horse. We were hoping that he'd work a :10 flat. That was kind of what my expectations were and then we'd just see what happened from there.”
Fennell, who owns the Ocala-based Gator Truck Center, is no stranger to the horse world. But her main experience with racing is in the barrel racing venue.
“I still compete with NBHA and PRCA on the rodeo division,” the New York native said. “I don't do it very often anymore because [the Thoroughbreds] have gotten to be a little bit more my ambition. And I have a truck center in Ocala. I've been in business four years now on my own and that takes a lot of my time. But I know about horses and every year I seem to learn a little bit more about the Thoroughbreds and the Thoroughbred industry.”
Fennell said she has been able to put the knowledge she has developed with Quarter Horses to good use in the Thoroughbred industry.
“You are looking for an athlete no matter which way you're going, whether it's a Quarter Horse or a Thoroughbred,” she said. “So you're looking at the conformation and the way the horse moves. You have to have horsemanship to be able to get an idea. With the pedigrees, it's a total different world than the Quarter Horse world. But every year, I learn more and more about Thoroughbred pedigrees.”
Fennell's next step on the juvenile sales calendar is the Keeneland April sale, which returns Tuesday after a four-year absence. Her lone offering at the auction is another colt from the first crop of a Grade I winner. Hip 154, a colt by 2014 GI Wood Memorial winner Wicked Strong (Hard Spun), is out of The Right Bird (Birdstone)–a half-sister to Grade I winner Karlovy Vary (Dynaformer) and graded placed Rocket Legs (Dynaformer). The bay colt was purchased for $10,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.
Of expectations for the youngster, Fennell said, “I am hoping he is fast–I'm hoping he's wicked fast.”
Following the Keeneland auction, Fennell will offer a pair of juveniles through the Circle D Thoroughbreds consignment at the OBS April Sale and another at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale in May with L.G. She also purchased a pair of short yearlings at the OBS Winter Mixed Sale in January and expects to offer both colts at the OBS October sale.
In addition to her expanded pinhooking roster this year, Fennell's Thoroughbred interests are also widening into the breeding industry.
“We claimed back one of our early pinhooks, Silver Sashay (Eurosilver),” Fennell said. “We purchased her for $4,200 [at the 2012 OBS January sale] and we sold her for $27,000 [at the OBS April sale]. She went on to win $390,000 on the track and then we claimed her back. We bred her to Vancouver (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) and she just had a filly.”
Expect to see that foal in a sales ring somewhere in the future.
Fennell, who started with one pinhook prospect some 10 years ago, is looking forward to expanding her operation further in the years ahead.
“Hopefully, with the little extra money we'll have from The Big Beast, we will be able to buy a little nicer pedigree and a nicer page this year,” she said. “And we're hoping to have more success with the four horses still to sell this year.”
Keeneland will host an under-tack preview of its April sale Monday, beginning at 11 a.m. The sale, which opens with a horses of racing age section, will be held Tuesday beginning at 2 p.m.
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