By Jessica Martini
Keen Ice, who has been flying under the radar behind some heavy-hitting first-crop sires, has been non-existent at the 2-year-old sales so far this year, but that's about to change when the Calumet stallion has two juveniles catalogued for the upcoming Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. And the timing couldn't be better following his son Rich Strike's dramatic victory in Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby.
Ron Fein of Superfine Farms and partner Juan Centeno will offer the first colt by Keen Ice to sell at a 2-year-old auction when they send hip 95 through the sales ring in Timonium May 23. The gray colt will be consigned by Centeno's All Dreams Equine.
Fein and Centeno purchased the colt for $17,000 as a weanling at the 2020 Keeneland November sale, but the youngster's appeal wasn't really about his GI Travers S.-winning sire, according to Fein.
“We bought him because of the individual,” Fein recalled Monday. “At that particular time, COVID was in its height, I didn't go to the sale. Juan went to the sale. He looked at the conformation. I worked the book and watched the sale virtually.”
The colt is out of Tap Spin (Arg) (Tapit), a full-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Tapiture, as well as graded winner Rotation and stakes winners Remit and Retap.
“I took a look at the pedigree and I thought was terrific,” Fein said. “Juan liked his conformation and we bought him.”
Fein continued, “We decided instead of selling him as a yearling, we would sell him as a 2-year-old and because of his May birthday, we held off selling him until the Maryland sale.”
Fein and Centeno have already had success selling purchases from that 2020 November sale. The partners purchased a son of Tapwrit for $35,000 as a weanling and resold the colt for $450,000 at last month's OBS Spring sale.
Knowing he had this colt to sell, Fein had been keeping an eye out for other juveniles by Keen Ice to be offered at auction this spring.
“It was just strange that there were no Keen Ices sold,” Fein said. “There weren't any in the earlier sales.”
Asked if he had started to worry about the stallion's commercial appeal, Fein admitted, “You always think about that. But you always look at the individual horse, that's the important thing.”
And Fein is optimistic about the individual he will be offering at the Midlantic sale.
“Absolutely super,” Fein said of how the colt was doing ahead of the sale. “He's got a super head on him. He's got an excellent physical. He seems like he's going to be fast. With his pedigree, I hope that he is. There have been only good things. We are pretty excited about him.”
And the extra buzz of being by a stallion who just sired a Kentucky Derby winner couldn't hurt either.
“I would think it has to help,” Fein said. “I think people should start to look at Keen Ice now. He's a horse that won $3 million, won the Travers. He was a super horse. I have no idea why everybody turned off on him.”
Keen Ice is also represented by a filly in the Midlantic catalogue. Parrish Farms consigns hip 597, a daughter of multiple stakes winner Quality Lass (Exclusive Quality). The juvenile was purchased for $5,000 by Ramiro Salazar, agent, at the 2020 Keeneland November sale. She RNA'd for $29,000 at last year's OBS October Yearling sale.
The under-tack show for the Midlantic sale will be held May 17-19, with sessions beginning daily at 8 a.m. at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. The auction will be held May 23 and May 24. Bidding begins each day at 11 a.m.
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