Larry Best

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Following a bidless 2020, the sizzle was back at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion with a vibrant concluding session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale Tuesday in upstate New York. The session was punctuated by three seven-figure transactions, led by a colt by Into Mischief who sold for $2.6 million to Coolmore's M.V. Magnier. "Whatever adjectives you want to use to describe it: fantastic, vibrant, energetic, dramatic," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said Tuesday night. "You've heard me say it...

Shortly after selling an $800,000 Quality Road colt (hip 114), Larry Best's OXO Equine put those funds to good use, landing a Bolt d'Oro half-brother to none other than Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra for $1.4 million. The colt's MGISW sire is by Medaglia d'Oro--just like Rachel. The Mar. 2 foal was consigned to the sale by Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency as hip 132 on behalf of Dr. Dede McGehee's Heaven Trees Farm.

by Christie DeBernardis & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - It was a very strong day of trade across the board at Fasig-Tipton's July Selected Yearlings Sale Tuesday, and, to no one's surprise, offspring of Into Mischief proved to be the auction's most coveted offerings. The Spendthrift kingpin accounted for three of the day's top four sellers, including the $800,000 sales topper (hip 123), who sold to Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and LNJ Foxwoods. "He is an amazing stallion," Fasig Tipton President Boyd Browning. Jr. said of Into Mischief. "He is always...

Three months after it was announced that Larry Best's OXO Equine would venture into the stallion business with 'TDN Rising Star' Instagrand (Into Mischief) at Taylor Made Stallions, a second addition was made to the farm's 2021 roster in Best's leading earner Instilled Regard (Arch). The 6-year-old will stand his first year at stud for a fee of $12,500 and Taylor Made's Frank Taylor said that demand has been high since his retirement was announced in December. "We are very excited about having Instilled Regard added to our roster at...

by Jessica Martini and Christie DeBernardis The four-day Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale opened with a workmanlike session in Lexington Monday as the industry continued to adjust to the market's new pandemic-induced reality. "I think it was a continuation of the November sale," said Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations Geoffrey Russell. "I think people have adjusted to the marketplace and I think it was a good, steady start to the January sale. Consignors are very happy because they have adjusted to the new normal." From a catalogue of...

Grade I winner Instilled Regard (Arch--Enhancing, by Forestry) has been retired from racing and will take up stud duties at Taylor Made. The 5-year-old will stand for a fee of $12,500 S&N for the 2021 season. Bred by KatieRich Farms, Instilled Regard RNA'd for $110,000 at Keeneland September, but brought $1.05 million from Larry Best's OXO Equine at the OBS March Sale. Turned over to Jerry Hollendorfer, he began his career on dirt, finishing second in the 2017 GI Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity S. and captured the 2018 GIII...

Rowayton (Into Mischief--Rosemonde, by Indian Charlie), who placed behind champion Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GI Del Mar Futurity and GI American Pharoah S., will enter stud in 2021 at Glenn and Becky Brok's Diamond B Farm in Mohrsville, PA. He will stand for $5,000. A $320,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga graduate, Rowayton broke his maiden at first asking at Del Mar and was third to Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) in the GIII Dwyer S. last season. The bay was beaten a neck into fourth in the GI...

5th-Aqueduct, $70,000, (S), Msw, 11-22, 2yo, f, 1m, 1:40.42, ft, 5 1/4 lengths. BRATTLE HOUSE (f, 2, Malibu Moon--Savvy Sassy, by Street Sense), who set a Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale record when she brought $775,0000 from Larry Best last August, began repaying that investment Sunday with a facile debut win against an overmatched group of New York-bred fillies. Looking to follow in the hoofsteps of stablemate Harper's in Charge (Malibu Moon), who dusted an open group of maidens here a week earlier to be named a 'TDN Rising Star',...

Despite the upheaval and chaos caused by COVID-19 this year, the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale proceeded during its usual spot on the calendar following the Breeders' Cup, which was held at the Lexington oval this year. Starting on Nov. 9, the auction concluded its 10-day run Wednesday with nine million-dollar mares, topped by Grade I winner Concrete Rose (Twirling Candy), who sold to Larry Best's OXO Equine for $1.95 million. "If I had a takeaway from this whole fall, it's a word we usually use this time of the...

Over the past eight months, there have been very few jobs more demanding, more exhausting, more defeating, than that of an ER nurse. Malia Hopkins can attest to that. She's the ER nurse manager for not one, but two ERs in Stuttgart, Arkansas. It's been an unimaginable year for the well-practiced RN, but she said one event last week made the ongoing battle against the pandemic more than worth it. In the fourth session of the Keeneland November Sale, her first-ever horse to go through a sales ring hammered down...

Taylor Made Farm welcomed dual Grade I winner Serengeti Empress (Alternation) home to her birthplace on Monday afternoon. The 2019 Kentucky Oaks victress will be bred to red hot sire Into Mischief. Shipping in from the Tom Amoss barn at Churchill Downs, Serengeti Empress will become barnmates with several other high-profile maiden mares, including Larry Best's recent $1.95 million Keeneland November purchase Concrete Rose (Twirling Candy). "It's just special," said Frank Taylor, the Vice President of Boarding Operations for Taylor Made. "When you get these Grade I winners come to...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale's two-session Book 3 section concluded with another day of steady trade Friday in Lexington. Bill Betz made the day's highest bid, going to $270,000 late in the day to acquire the racing/ broodmare prospect Divine Queen (Divine Park) from the Trackside Farm consignment. The mare was one of four to bring $200,000 or more during the session. While only 292 of the 401 catalogued head went through the ring Friday, 235 sold for a buy-back rate of just 19.52%. Through the...