Niall Brennan

By Francis LaBelle, courtesy Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Celestial City learned how to be a racehorse by continually proving himself against top competition. Each time he raced, he showed that the lessons he was learning were taking hold. Celestial City became a graded stakes winner, but just when his promising career was finally taking flight, he sustained an injury that ended his days as a racehorse. Now, he has a new home and a new purpose. On February 12, Celestial City joined the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's (TRF) herd at the Lowell...

A total of 15 juveniles shared the bullet :9 4/5 furlong work time during the second session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Thursday in Central Florida. Three of the bullet workers came from the Wavertree Stables consignment: a filly by Nyquist (hip 304) out of High Heeled Girl (Malibu Moon); a filly by American Freedom (hip 400) out of Limitless (Discreet Cat); and a colt by Shancelot (hip 421) out of Magnolias in Bloom (Flatter). Wavertree also had a McKinzie...

A pair of colts from the first crop of McKinzie and a filly by Munnings shared the fastest furlong time of :9 4/5 during the first session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company' March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Wednesday in Central Florida. Consigned by Niall Brennan Stables, the daughter of Munnings (hip 26) was the first to set the bullet mark some 15 minutes into the under-tack show. The bay is out of the unraced Ansaam (Bernardini), a half-sister to Grade I winner Denman's Call...

A filly by Good Magic (hip 1112) turned in the fastest quarter-mile work of Saturday's final session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training when covering the distance in :20 3/5 for consignor Tom McCrocklin. "I don't clock my horses at any point," McCrocklin said. "All these 2-year-olds I sell, I never have a stopwatch in my hand. But at this point, I think I know who can run and who can't. That filly has appeared to be fast for a...

From this year's class, which freshman sire will emerge on top? And what sire currently flying under the radar will be the year's biggest surprise? With 2-year-old sales season upon us, over the next few days, we will be hearing from some of the experts. NIALL BRENNAN Top Pick: Vino Rosso (Curlin--Mythical Bride, by Street Cry {Ire}). Spendthrift Farm, 2023 fee: $15,000. The Mitoles were popular at the yearling sales and they sold well at the OBS March sale. They look like they will be early types. There will be...

Six 2-year-olds previously purchased at last year's Keeneland September Sale for a collective $4.875 million through bloodstock agent Richard Knight have been resold, according to a report in Blood-Horse. Keeneland did not reveal the buyers or purchase prices. "All six 2-year-olds were sold in the reoffer," said Tony Lacy, Keeneland's vice president of sales. "The 'invitation to make an offer' format met our goal of being a fair and transparent process for prospective buyers in this unique, one-time situation." Prospective buyers were to submit only one offer on each horse...

Keeneland will accept offers Monday at 9 a.m. for the six now two-year-olds previously purchased at Keeneland September for which the company was never paid. The six, purchased for a collective $4.875 million in September through bloodstock agent Richard Knight, have been in training in Ocala with Niall Brennan and David Scanlon since they shipped from the September sale. Their pedigrees, videos are photos have all been posted by Keeneland, here. Interested parties have the opportunity, as do their veterinarians, to inspect the horses in-person or virtually. Radiographs and endoscopic...

A half-dozen recently turned 2-year-olds--four colts and two fillies--originally sold for a cumulative $4.85 million at last year's Keeneland September Sale, are being reoffered by Keeneland, the auction house announced Friday. Offers will be accepted from Feb. 27 through Mar. 1. Details on the horses and the offer process are available here. Each of the six horses is currently in training in Ocala with David Scanlon or Niall Brennan and are available for in-person inspection by appointment. Contact info may be accessed at the link above. The six horses were...

Fasig-Tipton will not be holding a select 2-year-olds in training sale at Gulfstream Park in 2023. The news was first reported by the Blood-Horse. "The Gulfstream Park facilities are not available for 2023 due to some stabling issues," said Fasig-Tipton's President and CEO Boyd Browning. "The stalls are not available this year. We learned about this in the fall, and we determined this year that the best approach would be to concentrate our efforts on the Midlantic Sale, which last year produced the highest price of a 2-year-old in training,"...

Colin Brennan hit a home run with the first horse to represent his consignment during its inaugural appearance at the Keeneland September Sale when he sold a $55,000 pinhook for $100,000 during the eighth session of the sale. Brennan purchased the Flatter filly out of stakes-placed Summer Reading (Hard Spun) at last year's Keeneland November Sale. Before the yearling went through the ring on Tuesday, Brennan walked alongside his pinhook prospect for the long trek to the sales pavilion and discussed how he was first drawn to the filly after...

Anyone else who had trained this many Grade I winners--there's barely space for their photographs in the barn office--would by now be knocking at the door of the Hall of Fame. But how many even know the name of Johnny Burke? How many know his cheerful, friendly face or the store of experience that draws together so many evocative names, on two legs and four, of his own and past generations? As an adolescent, Burke was the first person ever to sit on the back of Midnight Court, subsequently winner...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Fasig-Tipton will be looking to continue the momentum set by its record-setting select sale when bidding returns to the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Sunday evening for the first of two sessions of the New York-Bred Yearlings Sale. Bidding begins Sunday at 7 p.m. and Monday's session will begin at 12 p.m. With the end of the sweltering conditions which punctuated the last week in upstate New York, activity was high at the sales barns on a picture-perfect Saturday morning as a mixture of end-users, pinhookers and...