Grade I Winner Trikari Outrunning His Sales Price

When bloodstock agent Bob Feld and his son Sean first saw Trikari (Oscar Performance) at the 2022 OBS October Sale, they pegged him as a definite six-figure yearling and, with no clients for whom to buy the handsome bay, they moved on to the next one. But when the father-son team saw the colt had RNA'd for $30,000, they purchased him privately for just $27,500. Now campaigned by the Amermans, Trikari is a Grade I winner with earnings closing in on a million dollars.

“My son and I were at OBS–we go to all the sales–and we loved this Oscar Performance, but we really didn't have anyone to buy an Oscar Performance for,” Feld, a longtime advisor to John and Jerry Amerman, who bred and campaigned Oscar Performance, said. “The Amermans had never bought a yearling at OBS. And nothing really registered as far as we should buy this horse for somebody, mostly because we thought he had a $100,000 to $150,000 kind of body. I was looking at the results and I saw he RNA'd for $30,000. I thought he was way too nice for $30,000. So I went and looked at the vet report and there were some things on the vet report, but I called the Amermans–only because of the Oscar angle–and I told them he's a really nice colt with a nice page, if you can ignore that the dam hasn't done much yet.”

Trikari is out of Dynamic Holiday (Harlan's Holiday), winner of the 2011 GIII Herecomesthebride Stakes and third in the GII Lake Placid Stakes. She had produced five foals before Trikari, with only two making it to the races and no winners.

“She won a Grade III, she's by Harlan's Holiday, who I love,” Feld said of the mare. “The second dam is a Dynaformer, with a really great pedigree and family. So I said, 'How about we vet him out and see what the vet says. If the vet says OK, we will make an offer.'”

Dr. Jared High vetted the yearling for Feld and gave an upbeat report.

“He said, 'You know what, there are some dings here, but this horse just needs time,'” Feld recalled. “If you just give him some extra time and don't break him for six, seven, eight months later than you would normally break a horse, he will be fine.”

The yearling, purchased by Angel Ordonez for $9,000 at the Keeneland January sale earlier in 2022, was consigned to the October sale by Ordonez Thoroughbreds.

“Once Dr. High said it was a go, I went back to the barn and I offered the guy $25,000,” Feld recalled. “And he was wincing and saying, 'Oh, I really want $30,000.' So I said, 'How about we split the difference. I will give you $27,500.' And he agreed, so we went to the office and signed the paperwork.”

“$27,500 is obviously an odd price,” Feld admitted with a chuckle. “I told someone the other day, I would bet there has never been a Grade I winner bought at auction for $27,500.”

Of the issues on the vet report that might have put off some potential buyers, Feld said, “It was sesamoiditis, just stuff that needed time. There was nothing glaring. But a lot of times, especially at the OBS yearling sale, everyone leans on the vet report. They don't hire vets because that gets too expensive. There was just enough on there where I think it discouraged a lot of people. Everyone was kind of looking the other way. But I thought he was the best physical in the sale. I just didn't think I had a client who had $100,000 or $150,000 to buy him.”

Trikari was sent to Barry Berkelhammer's Abracadabra Farm for his early training and, once given the extra time he needed, was sent to trainer Graham Motion.

“He's been pretty much straightforward,” Feld said of the colt's progress. “I think he had a little niggling thing that Graham mentioned to me, but Graham liked him right away. Graham obviously trained [MGISW] Miss Temple City for us and he was very happy with her and excited about her. But he really gushes about Trikari, so that got me excited early on when he said this horse can really run. He went slow with him, too. He knew, full disclosure, that he needed time. So he gave him even extra time when he got to the track.”

Trikari's first start–a last-of-12 finish at Keeneland in October of his juvenile season–may not have inspired much confidence, but the colt returned to graduate over the Tapeta at Gulfstream in December. He added the Rushaway Stakes over the synthetic surface at Turfway in March before upsetting the GII American Turf Stakes as a 47-1 outsider over the Churchill lawn on the Derby undercard. Third best in a blanket finish in the May 31 GIII Penn Mile, Trikari was sent off at 5-1 while trying top-level company for the first time in the Belmont Derby.

Close-up to a sluggish pace, Trikari outbattled resurgent pacesetter White Palomino (Kitten's Joy) in the final strides for a dramatic victory July 6.

“Oh yes, I did,” Feld said when asked if he thought Trikari had gotten the bob. “Actually, I don't want to brag, but I am pretty good with photo finishes. I have been watching the races since I was eight years old, so it's over 50 years of photo finishes.”

He continued, “The Amermans flew out from California to the race. I really wanted to go, but we had to look at the July sale horses. Sean and I went to McCarthy's to watch it on TV and we were screaming. People were giving us dirty looks, but we were screaming.”

The Felds have built a steady reputation for finding future graded-stakes runners at bargain prices. They purchased multiple graded-placed Sueno (Atreides) for $61,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale and Hot Rod Charlie (Indian Charlie) for $17,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton February sale before reselling the future Grade I winner and GI Kentucky Derby runner-up for $110,000 at Fasig-Tipton that October.

“Maybe I am Pollyanna, but every time my son and I buy a horse, we think it's potentially a Grade I winner,” Feld said. “We really do. We have been very fortunate buying Grade I winners at low prices and it's been fun to kind of get a reputation that we can buy a nice horse for not a whole lot of money. So honestly, no matter what I pay, I believe could be a Grade I winner. That's just my attitude.”

Finding those bargains is a labor of love for Feld.

“What I love the most about the auction is the process,” he said. “The process is so amazing. There is so much going on. Everyone has their team and their notes. It's like sifting for gold. My son and I work every sale by ourselves–including the September sale–we look at every horse at every sale. We split the horses up. We swap short lists and then we get that down to a short, short list. Then we go together and look at the horses. When you get to the point where you buy a Trikari, the feeling is so amazing and so satisfying.”

Feld continued, “And I am proud of our numbers. We don't buy 20 or 30 horses a year. We buy 10 or 12. Our only pinhook, the one year that Sean and I bought our own horse to pinhook, was Hot Rod Charlie. The only horse the Amermans have ever bought at OBS as a yearling is Trikari. I remember one year, the only filly I bought at OBS–and we only bought two that year the whole season at OBS–was a champion 2-year-old filly [in Florida], K P Dreamin. The percentages are what we are really proud of. But it's all part of the process. And through the process, you find a vet report that you can deal with, you find a so-called bad sire that no one wants that has a rock star body. If Trikari was by Gun Runner or Uncle Mo, he would have brought $250,000. A lot of the horses we buy, if they were by different sires, they would be a lot more money. So we are definitely buying physicals and the physical does seem to outrun the pedigree a lot.”

As the Felds continue their quest for their next Grade I winner, Trikari's summer agenda is still to be determined.

“There are a couple of different options that Graham is looking at,” Feld said of a potential next start for the newly minted Grade I winner. “But nothing is etched in stone. He is going to see how he trains. Graham didn't think he was going to the Penn Mile, but he was training so good, he went there. So it's going to just depend on how he is training. But there are so many options for 3-year-old colts in the summertime on the grass. And there is plenty of money out there.”