Not This Time

Vacay dominated in her stakes debut Sunday to become her fast-starting freshman sire (by Giant's Causeway)'s third black-type winner. A 1 3/4-length first up winner in the Belmont slop Oct. 16, she was backed down to favoritism and soon showed why. The dark bay broke with the pack from her outside five post and settled in second last while always off the fence. Scrubbed on to hold her position into the bend, she mounted a wide bid into a :45.89 half and bounded past rivals over the top en route...

The bloodstock industry in Kentucky is heavily weighted to the commercial marketplace, and when the first yearlings of a stallion sell well, sometimes even experienced commercial breeders can get momentarily caught up in the euphoria. A breeder called me after the Fasig-Tipton October Sale to say that he was going to breed to such a stallion next year. That's great, I told him, if he had a strong opinion on the horse, but I reminded him that he breeds to sell and he'd be breeding to a fourth-year sire, meaning...

You can't really resent someone hoarding the ammunition, if he only needs it because he's being forced to play Russian roulette. That's pretty much how things are for all those new, unproven stallions who corral such huge books of mares. Yes, I remain ever aggrieved on behalf of those quiet achievers who never get commercial traction, despite results that will almost invariably prove beyond their emerging rivals. But I do feel increasing sympathy for the young guns, because their margin for error is zero. They have to land running, or...

LEXINGTON, KY - While Into Mischief secured the top lots during Monday's first session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, it was Quality Road in charge during Tuesday's second session as Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners went to a session-topping $560,000 to secure a son of the Lane's End stallion. The day kicked off with a daughter of Quality Road bringing what was ultimately the session's co-second-highest price of $230,000. Through two sessions, Fasig-Tipton has sold 489 yearlings for a gross of $16,390,500. The two-day average is $33,518, down 12.7% from...

4th-Keeneland, $70,706, Alw, 10-24, (NW2L), 2yo, 1 1/16m (off turf), 1:44.32, gd, 11 3/4 lengths. NEXT (c, 2, Not This Time--Bahia Beach {MSP, $141,104}, by Awesome Again), a midfield sixth when favored on his June 14 debut over the Woodbine synthetic, shed the blinkers and fought his way to a half-length graduation sprinting at Kentucky Downs Sept. 16. The 9-5 second favorite broke running and settled nicely up front through fractions of :23.67 and :47.52 with token pressure to his outside. Rated along on the turn, the gray displayed a...

Much has been made lately in Kentucky on farms reducing stud fees in response to the blighted economy, but there's a group of stallions whose fees would have mostly dropped as a matter of course even in booming times. These are second- through fifth-year stallions; frequently, fees for horses entering their fifth season at stud as their first-crop runners turn three show particularly pronounced drops from their initial fees. A small commercial breeder contacted me the other day to discuss the reduced 2021 stud fee for a stallion whose first...

Not This Time (Giant's Causeway), whose record-setting, undefeated daughter Princess Noor is a leading candidate for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, will stand the 2021 breeding season for a fee of $40,000 at Taylor Made, the farm announced Thursday. He commanded an advertised fee of $12,500 in 2020. Most of the nursery's other stallions will stand for reduced fees next year. 'TDN Rising Star' Princess Noor is one of 14 first-crop winners for Not This Time and has run the table in her three career starts to date, posting...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency PRICEY NOT THIS TIME DEBUTS AT DELAWARE 7th-DEL, $40K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 4:15p.m. Sonata Stable's ARZAK (Not This Time) makes his career bow in this spot for Mike Trombetta. They purchased the chestnut for $575,000 at the delayed OBS April Sale after he breezed in :10 flat. His dam Delightful Melody (Tapit) is a daughter of MGSW & MGISP Bending Strings (American Chance). TJCIS PPs

The adage reckons a picture to be worth 1,000 words. Of course, as has been remarked, that means 1,001 words must be worth more than a picture. (On which wiseguy basis, I will generously trade this column for that Rembrandt in your loft.) But then it might take something closer to 1,000 pages to record everything the owners of Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) have experienced over the past year. This colt gave a literal quality to their topsy-turvy fortunes when rearing and toppling in the Derby preliminaries, sending Bob...

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Princess Noor (Not This Time) looks to punch her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GII Chandelier S. at Santa Anita. After topping the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training at $1.35 million, she ran to the billing with a 'Rising Star' performance on debut for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert at Del Mar Aug. 22, then added a facile win in the seven-furlong GI Del Mar Debutante S. last time Sept. 6. The...

A colt from the second-crop of young sire Not This Time (Hip 3839)  topped the penultimate session of Keeneland September Thursday, selling to Royal Flush Racing for $115,000. The dark bay is out of Race Hunter (Dixie Union), who is a half-sister to MGSW & MGISP Paid Up Subscriber (Candy Ride {Arg}). He was consigned by Trackside Farm for Tenlane Farm, who purchased the colt's dam for $180,000 with this yearling in utero. A total of 169 yearlings changed hands during Thursday's session for a gross of $2,086,800. The median...

The two-session Book 4 portion of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale concluded Monday in Lexington with spirited action at the top of the market. Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, the most prolific buyer of the auction, made the day's highest bid when going to $320,000 to acquire a colt by hot freshman sire Not This Time (hip 2739) for an undisclosed client. For the session, 255 yearlings sold for $11,832,500 for an average of $46,402 and a median of $25,000. The buy-back rate, which was as high as 40% during sessions...