Maclean's Music

TIMONIUM, MD - The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale concluded its two-day run at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium Tuesday with a lively session of bidding led by a $1.25-million daughter of Bolt d'Oro. Through two sessions, 343 horses sold for $32,766,500. The average of $95,485--up 2.9% from a year ago--just ticked up from the sale's previous record average of $95,391 set in 2022, while the median of $50,000 tied the sale record set in 2021 and equaled again in 2023. "I thought we had two very...

2nd-Keeneland, $64,254, Msw, 4-10, 2yo, 4 1/2f, :52.17, sy, 2 1/4 lengths. RAISE THE BAR (c, 2, Maclean's Music--Paschali, by Bernardini) ran to the money for trainer Wesley Ward as the even-money favorite on debut over the sloppy going at Keeneland Wednesday. The rail-drawn Douglas Scharbauer homebred was hustled to the front beneath John Velazquez, kicked for home under very confident handling and was never seriously asked for run while crossing the wire 2 1/4 lengths clear of Tuxedo Park (Complexity). Paschali, a daughter of MGISW Pure Clan (Pure Prize),...

When Domestic Product (Practical Joke) bullied his way through traffic to get his nose in front in the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby Saturday, he not only earned valuable qualifying points to the GI Kentucky Derby, he also provided a timely update for his half-sister who is scheduled to sell during the first session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales' Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Tuesday. "She's been very popular today, let's put it that way," Becky Thomas said of the filly from the first crop of Complexity (hip...

The first foal of Grade I-winning sprinter Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music-Manki, by Arch) arrived Wednesday, Jan. 17 at Machmer Hall in Lexington, Kentucky. The colt is out of the mare, Egyptian Bride, a half-sister to Grade I-placed Generous Tipper. Drain the Clock stands for $10,000 at Gainesway. "Very pretty boy born of a maiden mare. Good bone and such a sweet expression!" said breeders Carrie and Craig Brogden. A debut winner at Gulfstream at two, Drain the Clock returned the following season to add wins in the GIII Swale...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, which hadn't had a million-dollar mare since 2019, had two reach seven figures during its opening session Monday in Lexington, with 19-year-old Tom Wachman making the day's highest bid of $1.6-million to acquire the broodmare prospect Prank (Into Mischief) on behalf of his grandfather, John Magnier's Coolmore. Late in the session, Tomoyuki Nakamura of K I Farm purchased Curlin's Voyage (Curlin) for $1 million. "I think we've got to be very happy with...

Now we're really entering nosebleed altitudes for most breeders, between $30,000 and $50,000: a zone where you should feel that you're improving the odds of coming up with an elite horse. It tells you a lot about our business that the majority of the two dozen stallions operating at this level can only do so because they have yet to send a single runner into the starting gate. A quarter of these we immediately set to one side, as absolute beginners, because those received separate consideration in the opening instalment...

by George Adams, Housatonic Bloodstock Wasabi has been focused on upgrading the quality of the foals that it's breeding over the last few years, and to that end will be using some higher-end stallions in 2024 than what we've bred to in the past. A stallion that we'll be patronizing heavily this year is Maclean's Music.  He's about to jump from a crop of 2023 2-year-olds numbering 41 and conceived off of a $20,000 stud fee (out of which he already has nine winners, three of whom have also picked...

GSW Uncle Chuck (Uncle Mo--Forest Music, by Unbridled's Song), whose first foals are yearlings of 2024, was humanely euthanized Dec. 22 according to Brent Fernung, owner of Journeyman Stud in Florida. The 6-year-old stallion was standing at Journeyman at the time of his death. Uncle Chuck was determined to be suffering from untreatable lymphoma. "We're devastated by this loss," said Fernung. "He was a beautiful horse, and his first crop of foals are carbon copies of him. Beyond that, Uncle Chuck had a great demeanor and was a pleasure to...

2nd-Aqueduct, $85,000, Msw, 12-2, 2yo, 7f, 1:21.99, my, 9 1/2 lengths. EL CAPI (c, 2, Maclean's Music--Nightlife Baby, by Flatter) was chilly on the board at 13-1 from a morning line of 6-1, but ran them off their feet in Saturday's second race at Aqueduct to open his account in impressive fashion. Hustled away from the inside gate by Jose Gomez, the bay was in front after 100 yards and had already opened an imposing advantage through a quarter in :22.03. Still going great guns after a half-mile in a...

Hill 'n' Dale Farms multiple leading sire Curlin will have a stud fee equal to Spendthrift Farm's Into Mischief at $250,000 LFSN, as the breeding operation published its roster for the 2024 season in a press release Thursday morning. Farm stalwart Curlin, who has defined himself as one of the most preeminent sires at stud today, had his fee raised from $225,000. The 19-year-old is the sire of five individual Grade I winners this year, including Idiomatic, Cody's Wish, Clairiere, Elite Power and Bright Future. Curlin's champion son Good Magic...

Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at both Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced offspring from a variety of top national outfits. Summer Breezes highlights debuting 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, with links to their under-tack previews. To follow are the horses entered for Monday's rescheduled races as Ellis Park: Monday, July 31, 2023 Ellis 5,...

5th-Ellis Park, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 1mT, post time: 2:45 p.m. ET    Pure Poetry (Quality Road), produced by GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. heroine Dickinson (Medaglia d'Oro), gets his career started on grass for Brad Cox. The Godolphin homebred, tabbed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite, is a full-brother to Wadsworth, winner of the American Derby over this same course earlier this month. The Quality Road over Medaglia d'Oro cross is also responsible for 2023 GI Preakness S. winner National Treasure. TJCIS PPs 6th-Ellis Park, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, post...