July Fireworks at Fasig-Tipton

The Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale returned for its fifth edition Monday evening in Lexington with a vibrant marketplace and across-the-board demand.

“It was a fun night,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “Obviously we are very pleased with the results of the sale today. It was a vibrant market. There was lots of interest in the sales grounds prior to the sale. You could feel the energy the last day, day and a half, on the grounds. We had quality horses–it's no secret at the end of the day. When you have a nice group of horses, it gives you the opportunity to attract the proper buyers and create an atmosphere for a strong sale. And it was certainly a strong marketplace tonight.”

Graded stakes winner Distinta (Summer Bird) (hip 423) brought the auction's top price, selling for $600,000 to the Taylor Made-managed partnership Medallion Racing.

Brad Weisbord and Liz Crow's Elite Sales, debuting its first consignment at the July sale, blasted out of the gates when Adorable Miss (Kitten's Joy) (hip 403), its first horse through a sales ring, sold for $585,000 to Bluewater Sales. The consignment sold seven of the top 11 lots on the night.

“One of the factors of the success of the sale was Elite Sales,” Browning said. “They made a statement. They recruited quality horses and worked with their clients to present a top-class group of horses and they sold very, very well. They certainly were a welcome addition to the sale.”

After watching the final Elite-consigned horse of the evening go through the sales ring, Crow said, “I think the market is strong. I think people are really looking for horses that are in-form and ready-to-race. You see that in Europe and it's starting to trend here in America. Bad horses don't sell, and it doesn't matter where you bring them–but if you bring good horses, the top end is strong…I think, hopefully, we changed the market.”

In all, 84 horses sold for $8,083,000. The average of $96,226 was up 37.23% and the median rose 33.33% to $56,000. With 99 horses through the ring, 15 failed to sell for a buy-back rate of 15.2%.

Last year's sale, which was dominated in large part by the Eutrophia Farm dispersal, saw 72 horses sell for $5,048,500. The average was $70,118 and the median was $42,000.

Action returns to Newtown Paddocks Tuesday morning when Fasig-Tipton presents its July Yearling Sale beginning at 10 a.m.

“Tonight's results set things up for tomorrow morning,” Browning said. “It created a buoyancy, a vibe in the marketplace. Almost everybody on the sales grounds tonight will wake up in the morning and think the game is pretty good.”

Distinta to Medallion Racing

Graded stakes winner Distinta (Summer Bird) will continue her racing career in the colors of Medallion Racing after the Taylor Made's partnership group paid a sale-topping $600,000 during Monday's Fasig-Tipton Horses of Racing Age Sale.

“Medallion Racing was an offshoot of the experience we had with California Chrome and Cathryn Sophia, who we bought into last year,” explained Mark Taylor. “We just saw that buying into proven horses that can run in high-level graded stakes was a great way to get new people in the business. Because if you go buy an unproven horse, it's still a great experience, but you might go through a lot of partnerships and never get to the promised land. I think this will be like training wheels for people to get in, see what it's like to own a graded stakes horse. And then figure out if it's something they want to pursue on their own. We're just trying to get our own vehicle so when we meet people and they ask how do we get into the racing game, our answer used to be, 'Well, we don't really do that.' And we always meet a ton of people, so we wanted to have a vehicle to get people in and then hopefully they go on and do business with other people too. And it's just good for the game.”

Campaigned by VEB Racing Stable, Distinta (hip 423) captured the GII Inside Information S. at Gulfstream Park in March (video). The 5-year-old, who was an $80,000 OBS March purchase in 2014, returned to run a strong second in the July 1 GII Princess Rooney S. (video). She is out of the unraced Miss Kitty (Storm Cat), a half-sister to multiple graded stakes placed Gold Dollar (Seattle Slew).

The mare's current graded stakes form was her major attraction to Medallion Racing.

“Basically we are looking for instant access to graded stakes races,” Taylor said. “We have bought some horses coming off maiden wins, but we're tryng to get asset allocation where you have some that are coming off maiden wins, but the bulk of them we want to know that they are going to run in a graded stakes very soon. These guys have done a great job campaigning Distinta. It's not going to be easy to sustain what they've done, but we're going to give it a shot and hopefully have a lot of fun in the process.”

Medallion Racing, which is also represented by Noble Freud (Freud), who was third in Sunday's GIII Victory Ride S. at Belmont, teamed with three other longtime Taylor Made clients to secure Distinta. No trainer has been picked out for the mare and long-term plans remain flexible.

“This particular group for Medallion doesn't close out until the end of 2018, so the door is open that she could run a few races early next spring and then we could breed her or we could sell her in November,” Taylor said. “So the door is open to many options.”

Distinta's victory in the Inside Information gave Victor Barboza, Jr. his first graded stakes win in the United States and the trainer admitted it was bittersweet to watch the chestnut mare sell.

“Obviously, it's a dream of mine to go to the Breeders' Cup, but for the owners, it is a business and you have to respect the owner's decision,” Barboza said with Fasig-Tipton's Ramiro Restrepo acting as translator. “It's always bittersweet to part with a filly that you have that level of success with. You get very attached to them after being with them every day and all the effort that goes into them, but I have a lot of pride in the success that we had with her and we wish the new owners additional success.”

Taylor Made Sales Agency also consigned Distinta.

“My nephew Marshall and one of our sales associates, Sebastian Angelilo, who is from Uruguay, they were dealing with Ramiro Restrepo, who works with Fasig, and that's how we got the contact with the owner and trainer,” Taylor said. “So Marshall and Sebastian were handling the seller, and Lief Aaron, Phillip Shelton and I were handling the Medallion Racing part.”

Taylor continued, “I really didn't think we were going to get her bought, so I hadn't put a lot of thought into what's next. I thought we were going to get blown out of the water. I'm happy we got her and I'm happy for the seller that they got her moved.”

Elite Sales Rises to the Top in Unveiling

Bradley Weisbord and Liz Crow's Elite Sales venture launched with the stated goal of doing right by both sellers and buyers, and by all accounts that mission was accomplished as they entered the marketplace Monday evening. Highlighted by two high-priced 3-year-old fillies, Elite Sales finished the day squarely as the sale's leading consignor, with a total of 11 hips selling for just shy of $2.8 million.

“I'm so honored that we got the client support from all the sellers and buyers,” said Weisbord, who recited an extensive list of owners and trainers who entered their horses with Elite Sales. “Being a buyer the last 10 years, we thought there was room for a strong racehorse consignment. We provided a ton of information through our 'buyer passports' and tried to educate all involved about how good the horses are. I can't thank the clients that trusted us in our first year of business enough.”

Elite fittingly provided some early fireworks, as their first offering, Adorable Miss (Kitten's Joy) [Hip 403], hammered for $585,000 as the third horse to pass through the ring Monday evening. Mike Levy of Bluewater Sales signed the winning ticket on behalf of an anonymous owner, and confirmed that the filly will remain under the care of trainer Todd Pletcher.

“She'll go right back to the track,” said Levy, who signed the ticket from the pavilion's balcony. “She is a beautiful physical. The owner picked her out and I was just doing a job.”

Campaigned by Mathis Stable–which was dispersing three horses co-owned by family patriarch Leonard Mathis [click here for more]–Adorable Miss notched three wins from four starts, including stakes triumphs in the May 6 Honey Ryder S. (video) and July 4 Martha Washington S. at Gulfstream Park (video). The filly is a full-sister to Noble Beauty, winner of last year's GIII Pucker Up S. Her second dam, Favorite Funtime (Seeking the Gold), captured the GI Santa Maria H.

Shortly thereafter, Mathis Stable's stakes winner Bronson (Medaglia d'Oro) [Hip 411] sold for $275,000 to Three Diamonds Farm, which enjoyed recent success with $32,000 claim Bigger Picture (Badge of Silver), winner of the July 1 GI United Nations S. for trainer Mike Maker.

Maker himself was an active player all evening, signing the $525,000 winning ticket for Happy Mesa (Sky Mesa) [Hip 440] on behalf of Justin and Stephanie Carroll's Out of This World Racing. Yet another Elite Sales offering, the versatile dark bay is a two-time stakes winner over the turf in Maryland by virtue of scores in the 5 1/2-furlong Selima S. (video) last September and the May 19 Hilltop S. (video) at Pimlico.

“She's a lovely filly–a 3-year-old–and she has pedigree,” Maker said. “[Running her longer] is the plan.”

While Maker said he did not have a specific spot picked out for Happy Mesa, he noted that he plans to keep her in training for the summer. From the deep family of champion filly Chris Evert, Happy Mesa is out of a SP dam who is herself a half to SW router No Use Denying (Maria's Mon) and MGSP Badge of Truth (Silver Deputy).

Elite Sales' sophomore hit parade continued with Lady Alexandra (More Than Ready) [Hip 458], who hammered for $375,000 to Heider Family Stable (see below for more). In total, Elite Sales sold 11 of their 12 horses who passed through the ring.

“I would've loved to get them all done, but at a racehorse sale–or any sale–I think it's a pretty good percentage,” said Weisbord, who gave credit to Crow and his staff for laying the groundwork for an exceptional debut. “Most importantly, we want all these buyers to kill it at the racetrack…Buyers and sellers are both clients…Every horse of ours exceeded expectations. Our clients had very realistic expectations and our appraisals were right.”

While the Elite Sales crew took some time to savor the success back at Barn 10, Weisbord said their focus immediately shifts to the autumn sales season.

“November is next,” Weisbord said. “We start tomorrow, because it's a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business. We would love to try to continue the momentum.”

@BMassamTDN

Banner Day for Heider Family

Scott Heider enjoyed a successful Monday on the track and in the ring, as his Heider Family Stable sent out the well-bred Private Client (Kitten's Joy) to a front-running victory in a Delaware Park allowance race hours before adding another filly to their stable in Lady Alexandra (More Than Ready) [Hip 458]. Signing the winning $375,000 ticket alongside his son, Grant, Heider said the filly had the right combination of appealing bloodlines and ability on the racetrack.

“She's got a beautiful pedigree,” Heider said. “We love the pedigree–we only really buy fillies. We breed and sell colts and keep fillies and race them. This filly had a really exceptional pedigree. Donato Lanni loved her, and he's been buying them for us for 15 years.”

A three-time winner who placed in the Jan. 7 Ginger Brew S. at Gulfstream Park (video), the 3-year-old filly hails from a deep female family. Her well-traveled second dam Flagbird (Nureyev) was a Group 1 winner in Italy, as well as a group stakes winner in Italy and France. She polished off her career with a Stateside campaign, adding a second-place finish in the GI Gamely H. As a broodmare, she is responsible for Dubai Belle (Mr. Prospector), dam of GISW Little Belle (A.P. Indy) and granddam of GISW Dickinson (Medaglia d'Oro).

Heider said that Lady Alexandra, fresh off a second-level allowance win at Belmont June 22 (video), will remain in training.

“She'll go straight to Tom Proctor at Fair Hill,” Heider said. “We would hope that we'll take good care of her and get her in some stakes races to earn some black-type.”

Heider pointed to Private Client as another example of a filly with pedigree who is coming into her own on the racetrack. A half-sister to three graded stakes winners, the 4-year-old notched her second career victory for Proctor Monday.

“Private Client's win put us in a very good mood,” Heider said with a laugh.

A successful day was made even better for Heider, who was accompanied by Grant, who recently graduated from high school.

“He's the next generation and we hope to keep it in the family,” Heider said. “He's off to college in the fall at Loyola Marymount. He started going to Del Mar with me when he was six and sales when he was eight. I told him, 'This is why you have to work hard.'” @BMassamTDN

Looking for Moore Fame

Amy Moore will return to the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion as a seller Tuesday, but the retired lawyer was a buyer Monday, going to $195,000 to secure unbeaten juvenile Rose to Fame (Gemologist) during the Horses of Racing Age Sale.

“I will send her to Michael Matz at Fair Hill and I hope to continue racing her and eventually retire her and breed her,” Moore said.

The addition of Rose to Fame doubles Moore's fledgling racing stable, which until Monday consisted solely of multiple stakes winner Queen Caroline (Blame). That 4-year-old, a $170,000 Keeneland September Yearling purchase also trained by Matz, recently won the Nellie Mae Cox S. at Laurel.

Asked how she first became involved in racing, Moore laughed, “It's hard to know.”

She added, “I've been pinhooking for a couple of years and I rode many years ago, broke horses and galloped horses briefly. And then I had to make a living. So I abandoned the horses for the practice of law for 30 years. And now I've retired and I'm coming back to my roots.”

Trainer Antonio Sano purchased Rose to Fame for $65,000 at this year's OBS March Sale. The filly, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes placed Dazzling Gem (Misremembered), immediately proved worth the investment with a first-out victory at Gulfstream in June (video). She added a hard-fought win in the July 1 Brave Raj S. last time out (video).

“She looks very athletic to me and she has a nice attitude,” Moore said of the chestnut filly. “She's quiet and nothing seems to phase her, but obviously when it's time to race, she does what it takes to win. I watched the video of her stakes win and other horses passed her and she fought back and got her nose in front at the wire. She looks like she has the right mind, as well as the right build to be a success. She just looks like an athlete to me. She has a big shoulder and a nice walk and it looks like she can go on. I hope she can go on.”

Of the filly's final price tag, Moore said, “I would have preferred not to go that high. But I thought it was a reasonable price for her. She is a stakes winner and she's two for two. The folks that are selling her are making, what I hope they think is a good profit, but they deserve to. She's done very well. That's the way the game works.”

Moore returns during Tuesday's Yearling Sale with a pair of offerings with the Warrendale Sales consignment: hip 134, a filly by Violence, was a $20,000 purchase at this year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February sale; and hip 177 is a daughter of Cairo Prince who was acquired for the same price at the Keeneland January sale.

“I've been pinhooking for the last two years,” Moore said. “I bought horses in 2015 that I sold in 2016. And I bought some this past year that I'll be selling.” @JessMartiniTDN