Posts Tagged ‘a.p. indy’
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
Take Control, an A.P. Indy colt who is the first foal produced from 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri, posted an impressive last to first victory while making his career debut for trainer Bob Baffert and owner Kaleem Shah in Wednesday’s third race at Santa Anita Wednesday.
The colt, purchased by Shah for a sale-topping $1.9 million at the 2009 Keeneland April auction of 2-year-olds in training, was the center of some controversy seven months earlier when he was listed as a $7.7 million buy-back at the Keeneland September yearling sale. He was bred by the Allen Paulson Living Trust, controlled by Michael Paulson, son of the late Allen Paulson, who bred and raced a number of champions, including two-time Horse of the Year Cigar. Pinhooker Eddie Woods sold the colt at the Keeneland 2-year-old sale.
Wearing blinkers and a shadow roll, Take Control broke well from the rail under Martin Garcia in the one-mile maiden contest on the Pro-Ride main track, fell back to last shortly after the start and remained there through fractions of :24.14 for the opening quarter, :49.61 for the half and 1:12.98 for six furlongs. He switched off the rail at the head of the stretch, moved up to fifth near the furlong grounds while racing greenly, then put in a burst of speed in the final eighth of a mile to win going away by a length and a half. The final time for the mile was1:37.64. Pacesetter Ivory Fudge finished second, with Line of David third. Take Control paid $7.60 to win as the third choice in the betting in the seven-horse field. Click here for a chart of the race.
Shah, a new client of Baffert’s, founded CALNET, a Virginia-based telecommunications comany that also does intelligence analysis. (Click here for a company profile of Shah.)
"I didn¹t think he could win first time out," said Baffert, "but he really impressed me. He was green, but he settled well and he overcame a lot of trouble. That was a good one to get; now we¹ve got our 2-year-old start out of the way. He¹ll run all day, and we¹ll let him tell us what¹s next.
"We¹re not going to ship out of town until March because the weather¹s terrible all around the country. I think we¹re seeing two stars develop here I thought Martin rode him great. He rode him like he had ice water in his veins."
Baffert, who trains the probable 2-year-old male champion Lookin at Lucky, was logging his seventh victory of the Santa Anita meeting that opened on Saturday. He also won Wednesday’s second race with Tiny Woods, a 2-year-old Roman Ruler colt racing or Legends Racing.
"He ran like he¹s supposed to,² Baffert said in the winner¹s circle. "He¹s probably a sprinter, and he¹s been training real good. We¹ve always been high on him, and I think we¹ll just stay here with him and hopefully he keeps running good."
Tags: a.p. indy, allen paulson, azeri, Bob Baffert, calnet, eclipse awards, eddie woods, kaleem shah, lookin at lucky, michael paulson, take control, tiny woods
Posted in California, Horse Racing | 6 Comments »
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
By Ray Paulick
In the sale ring, on the racetrack and in the breeding shed, A.P. Indy has been a star. The son of Seattle Slew topped the 1990 Keeneland July yearling sale when he sold for $2.9 million. He was the champion 3-year-old and Horse of the Year in 1992, his victories including the Belmont Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic. He’s been leading sire in North America on two occasions—2003 and 2006—and he has sired the winners of 10 or more Graded/Group stakes races in eight of the 14 years he’s had runners on the track.
Furthermore, A.P. Indy has developed into a leading sire of sires, with eight sons ranking in the top 100 on bloodhorse.com’s leading sires by North American earnings for 2009. One of those sons, Pulpit, has two of his own sons on the list, Tapit and Sky Mesa. So, including A.P. Indy, his sons and his grandsons, 11 of the top 100 positions by North American earnings trace to this horse sired by a Triple Crown winner, produced from a broodmare of the year, Weekend Surprise, who is a daughter of another Triple Crown winner, Secretariat.
A.P. Indy is also the leader by number of American Graded Stakes winners of 2009, with nine sons and daughters winning 14 AGS races. His sons Pulpit and Malibu Moon rank second with seven AGS winners each. A.P. Indy has achieved this great success at stud without the benefit of super-sized foal crops. Only one of his 14 crops exceeded 100 foals, and the average size of each of his foal crops of racing age is 71. The average number of foals in each of Pulpit’s nine crops is 62, and the average for Malibu Moon’s seven crops is 79.
Perhaps less is more.
Three of A.P. Indy’s nine American Graded Stakes winners of 2009 won Grade 1 races: Flashing (Test and Gazelle), Music Note (Ballerina and Beldame) and Telling (Sword Dancer Invitational). Malibu Moon has two Grade 1-winning daughters, Funny Moon (Coaching Club American Oaks) and Devil May Care (Frizette); Pulpit sired Grade 1 winners Pyro (Forego) and Mi Sueno (Del Mar Debutante). Two other sons of A.P. Indy sired Grade 1 winners of 2009, Jump Start (Rail Trip, Hollywood Gold Cup) and Stephen Got Even (I Want Revenge, Wood Memorial).
One of his most exciting sons to enter stud is Bernardini, whose first crop turns two years old in 2010. A.P. Indy has already solidified his position as one of the most influential and important sires of the modern era, but his final chapter is yet to be written.
Tags: a.p. indy, American Graded Stakes Standings, belmont stakes, breeders' cup classic, Devil May Care, Flashing, Funny Moon, I Want Revenge, Jump Start, Keeneland, malibu moon, mi sueno, music note, Paulick Report, pulpit, pyro, Ray Paulick, seattle slew, sire, sky mesa, Stephen Got Even, tapit, Telling, Triple Crown
Posted in American Graded Stakes Standings, Keeneland | 9 Comments »
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
Know and Trust is a 2-year-old filly owned by some former clients of bloodstock agent Jim Cullen and trained by Cullen’s childhood friend and college roommate William Denzik Jr.
The filly’s name is something of an inside joke: “know and trust” is an expression Cullen often used when communicating with his clients. Today, many of those clients and a variety of others in the Thoroughbred industry feel they have been betrayed or misled by the man who operates Cullen Bloodstock, the Oakland Group advertising and marketing firm, and the now-defunct Four Board Stables. Cullen is currently licensed as a trainer by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. He trains a string of horses for his wife under the name Florence Racing Stable and recently claimed a horse on behalf of Margaux Farm’s Steve Johnson. He also sells horse insurance for Old Colony Insurance Company of Lexington.
“We named the filly as an homage to Cullen,” said John Trumbulovich of Chicago, who first got involved with the Kentucky native in 2006. “Obviously we didn’t know him and certainly shouldn’t have trusted him.”
 Cullen was recently given a one-year banishment from participation at Keeneland Association auctions, based on violation of a Code of Conduct written by the Sales Integrity Task Force, an initiative of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. Fasig-Tipton is also enforcing the one-year suspension, which runs through 2010, and other sales companies around the country are considering taking the same action. The sanctions came earlier in November, nine months after Trumbulovich, Kevin Geiger of Colorado and Vincent Colbert of Massachusetts contacted the Task Force with complaints about their former bloodstock adviser. “We could easily have turned our back on this, walked away and say we got screwed,” Colbert said. “We talked it over and decided we didn’t want this to happen to somebody else.”
But that is just the beginning of Cullen’s troubles. He has been sued by several parties, including horse owner Cam Horton, the stallion season firm Early Season Income, National City Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank. The Internal Revenue Service says Cullen owes $233,143.72 in taxes from 2003-05. He agreed in 2007 to pay Cam Horton $333,000 for not reimbursing Horton for a season to A.P. Indy after Horton’s mare aborted, and has not met that obligation. A Fayette County judge has ordered him to pay National City Bank $348,181.65. Wells Fargo is in the process of foreclosing on Cullen’s home.
Cullen has acknowledged under oath that he hasn’t paid stud fees to a number of farms with which he’s done business, that he may have misstated his ownership or equity in horses used as collateral for a line of credit, and that, at the time of the deposition in March 2009, he couldn’t even examine his own books because “I owe my accountant $1,800.”
Several other parties claim Cullen owes them money, but they’ve given up trying to collect. “I lost quite a bit of money but I just had to get away from him, said Banshee Farm’s Scott Mallory, who “inherited” Cullen as a business partner following the 2006 crash of the Comair flight in Lexington that killed his father, Dan Mallory. “You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip, so I just decided to leave it alone. He’s always promised ‘I’ll get you paid one of these days,’ but it gets to the point that you want to get as far away from him as you can. That’s what most people have done”
Cullen calls the ban by Keeneland the result of “a banking situation…I understand that two of my clients did not receive my proceeds (from sales of horses),” he told the Paulick Report. “The difficulty is that at least one of the people who filed complaints against me (with the Sales Integrity Task Force) owes me money. This has nothing to do with unscrupulous behavior on my part.”
“Everyone’s always gotten what they paid for,” Cullen continued. “I have not held stud fees. I have had trouble with ESI (Early Season Income)—two separate situations that are not applicable to this decision by Keeneland. I have been working in good faith with ESI and everything, for all intents and purposes, is satisfied.”
A number of people would dispute that statement, including an official at Early Season Income. Cullen’s deposition in the National City lawsuit contradicts what he told the Paulick Report about holding stud fees and everyone he’s done business “always” getting what they paid for.
FROM JOURNALISM TO PINHOOKING
Cullen is a former journalist who worked for Thoroughbred Times as a news reporter, then served as editor of the Texas Thoroughbred magazine while contributing to the Blood-Horse as a free-lance correspondent. He also was employed for a short time by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association based in Lexington. As recently as August of this year, he was a guest speaker at a new owners’ seminar Blood-Horse Publications sponsored in conjunction with the Texas Thoroughbred Association prior to a Fasig-Tipton yearling sale.
He went to work for Terry Finley’s West Point Thoroughbreds in 2001, operating out of a Lexington office until parting ways in 2003. (Finley opted not to comment on Cullen to the Paulick Report, saying only that he strongly urged Cullen not use Finley as a reference in future job applications.) He also worked briefly selling stallion seasons for Adena Springs in 2006. That ended, according to Jack Brothers, a longtime bloodstock adviser to farm owner Frank Stronach, because of “misappropriated funds.” Cullen claims that Adena owes him money.
A $40,000 purchase of an El Prado yearling in 2003 that turned into a $360,000 pinhooking success the following year put Cullen on the map as a bloodstock agent, and he was able to establish a significant line of credit with National City Bank.
Cullen bought horses at public auction and formed syndicates to race or breed and charged administrative or management fees. Among the partners were Trumbulovich, Geiger and Colbert. Geiger first started asking questions of Cullen about some of the financial aspects of the partnership, among them: how were purse earnings or sales proceeds being distributed? When he didn’t get satisfactory answers Geiger started networking with some of the other partners, including Trumbulovich and Colbert. “It opened a floodgate,” Trumbulovich said.
“Nobody that dealt with him knew who owned what,” said Mallory.
‘I’M A GOOD HORSEMAN. I’M OBVIOUSLY NOT A GOOD BUSINESS PERSON’
A number of mares in the partnerships were bred, and the partners were billed for stud fees, which they subsequently paid for, according to Cullen’s sworn testimony in the March 2009 deposition involving the National City Bank lawsuit. Under questioning from attorney Emily Cowles of Morgan & Pottinger (representing National City) and Mike Meuser of Miller Griffin and Marks (representing Trumbulovic, Colbert and Geiger), Cullen admitted that on numerous occasions he did not use the money billed to clients for stud fees to pay those fees. Many of the fees were never paid to the farms.
Here is an excerpt regarding Cullen’s purchase of stallion seasons, the billing of clients and non-payment to farms:
MEUSER: Okay, and I can show you the other invoices. But on each occasion that you billed Mr. Colbert or Mr. Geiger or Mr. Trumbulovic for these stud feeds you labeled them specifically on your invoice that that’s what they were being billed for.
CULLEN: Correct. Yes, sir.
MEUSER: All right. And you had made the contractual arrangements with the farms to obtain those seasons?
CULLEN: Correct.
MEUSER: And you knew that when you received those monies from my clients you were obligated to to use them to satisfy those obligations?
CULLEN: See, I didn’t know that. I thought like I, like I’ve made clear, I thought that the whole protection of an LLC was designated to give you license to use that to the best benefit of the company as provided you satisfied what this obligation was for.
MEUSER: Well, you can certainly understand…
CULLEN: I can understand. Yes, sir.
MEUSER: … that a client who received this bill and paid it would have the expectation that their agent who they trusted would use those monies properly?
CULLEN: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I, I agree to that. I mean.
MEUSER: That’s all I have.
CULLEN: Okay.
Meuser and Cowles coaxed out of Cullen admissions that sale proceeds from horses had not been distributed to partners, that stud fees to stallions had not been paid, and that farms often attached liens to the horses being sold, at times without the knowledge of the partners who had paid the stud fees to Cullen. He called the incidents inadvertent errors, and at one point said, “I’m a good horseman. I’m obviously not a good business perso.”
Cullen also admitted that he had not paid Fasig-Tipton for at least two horses he had purchased from the company, including a $100,000 yearling by Yankee Gentleman out of Silver Spool, later named Patsy Ann. Cullen said in his deposition that he has a signed agreement with Fasig-Tipton to pay for the horses because, as he told Fasig-Tipton executive Boyd Browning, “I don’t have it,” when asked for the money to pay for them. He had made no payments on the agreement as of March 2009. “There isn’t a hard schedule…basically it’s open-ended,” he told Cowles under questioning.
“Wow,” was all Cowles could say in response.
“Again,” said Cullen, “I think he’s (Browning)—given the economic climate and the fact he knows I’m a good pay I think he’s—well there’s been one payment made of $4,000….”
“So do you still owe Fasig-Tipton a hundred grand for Patsy Ann,” Cowles asked.
“I do,” said Cullen. “I, I owe them. Technically when we discussed it, and I hope, I don’t think Boyd would mind me sharing, he was willing to basically write it off. And I’m the one that said no. I bought it. I owe you. I will pay you. Just give me the time to pay it off. Anybody that I, I again, I haven’t declared bankruptcy. I’m not running. Any of the accounts I’ve made I’ve been—I will acknowledge and be responsible for. And Boyd knows me and knows that my word is good and I think that’s why he’s allowing me to pay this off.”
When I called Browning at Fasig-Tipton and asked if Cullen owes money to the company, he said, “I’m not going to answer that question. I’m uncomfortable answering that question. It wouldn’t be prudent. His banning (from participation in sales) is not related for any failure to pay money.”
I then told Browning that Cullen said in the deposition that Browning thought Cullen was “good pay.” If put under oath, I asked, would Browning agree with that statement?
There was a pause, followed by a long, slow chuckle. “If I was under oath I would have to answer that question, but I’m not under oath,” Browning said. “I would rather not have Mr. Cullen speak for me.”
Cullen’s relationship with homebuilder Cam Horton began in Dec. 2005 when Horton agreed to buy a season to A.P. Indy through Cullen Bloodstock for $318,000 to use to breed to his mare, Private Pursuit. Cullen would receive a $15,000 fee. The agreement called for the fee to be refunded if the mare did not get in foal or lost her pregnancy. On Oct. 12, 2006, after being pregnant to the cover of A.P. Indy, Private Pursuit aborted, but Horton didn’t get his money back from Cullen. Cullen wrote a letter to Horton in February 2007, saying he was owed $105,000 from Adena Springs for his commissions in “selling $21 million in stud fees,” would sell some horses. In addition, he wrote, he was owed $42,000 in stallion fees and $34,000 was “owed to me by a multi-millionaire who just refuses to pay me even though he acknowledges the debt.”
Horton never got paid and took him to court. In July 2007, Cullen agreed to pay $333,000, with $25,000 payable at the time of the agreement, $75,000 due on or before Aug. 1, 2007, $100,000 due on or before Oct. 1, 2007 andd the balance due by Dec. 31, 2007. Horton’s attorney, Phillip Scott, said Cullen didn’t meet the obligation. “The agreement wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on,” Scott said.
‘YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH A LOT IN THIS BUSINESS’
Of all those who have dealt with Cullen in recent years, no one knows him better than trainer Denzik, who went to grade school, middle school and high school with Cullen, then roomed with him in college. He trained several horses for Cullen’s Four Board Stable partnership until their relationship went sour a couple of years ago.
“We were best friends,” Denzik told the Paulick Report, “but I haven’t talked to him for a year and a half. He wasn’t paying his bills. He was collecting the money from the people in the partnerships and kept it. I know most of the clients and they were a bunch of good people. He owes me over $20,000. We spent about $10,000 on an attorney, but once I got that bill I said this is ridiculous. We probably lost $30,000, but it may be the best $30,000 I ever lost, just to get him out of my life.”
Denzik, like many of the others who have been involved with Cullen, said he has an engaging personality and is a smooth talker.
“He did some acting when he was younger, and he can pull a different personality out when he needs too,” said Denzik. “When I look at him now and look back I can see he was well prepared to do what he’s been doing. People love him at first. He uses his acting ability, his writing ability and he’s personable…but it’s a bunch of b.s. He steals from people. The big questions we’ve all got is where the money went.
“There was always a little bit of a shady side to him,” Denzik said. “As we’ve gotten older it brought out the crook in him that probably has been in him a long time. He figured out you can get away with a lot in this business. I hope he gets put in jail."
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: a.p. indy, adena springs, blood-horse, boyd browning, cam horton, cullen bloodstock, dan malory, early season income, emily cowles, fasig-tipton, florence racing, Jack Brothers, jim cullen, john trumbulovich, kevin geiger, know and trust, mike meuser, national city bank, oakland group, old colony insurance, patsy ann, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, sales integrity task force, scott mallory, steve johnson, Terry Finley, texas thoroughbred association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, thoroughbred times, vincent colbert, west point thoroughbreds, william denzik jr.
Posted in People, Thoroughbred Auctions, Thoroughbred Business | 55 Comments »
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
By Ray Paulick
What does a former longtime editor of Blood-Horse magazine have to do with one of the leading sires of American Graded Stakes winners of 2009?
Plenty, if you ask Josh Pons, who helps run his family’s Country Life Farm in Maryland, where top sire Malibu Moon got his start at stud in the year 2000 for a modest fee of just $3,000 live foal.
This is not about yours truly, who served as Blood-Horse editor in chief from 1992-2007, but Kent Hollingsworth, who held that post (as well as publisher) with great distinction for nearly a quarter century, from 1963-86. Hollingsworth was a mentor to Pons, a former two-time Eclipse Award-winning writer for the weekly magazine (and to many others who respected Hollingsworth for his insights, intellect, sense of humor and courage). When Hollingsworth died in 1999, Pons traveled from Maryland to Kentucky to attend a memorial service at the Kentucky Horse Park.
While in Lexington for the July 1 memorial, Pons ran into horseman John Stuart, who told him about an A.P. Indy colt that suffered a career-ending slab fracture of the knee after an impressive Hollywood Park 2-year-old maiden victory for owner B. Wayne Hughes and trainer Mel Stute. Pons was looking for a stallion to add to the Country Life roster and thought, “Hey, I’m halfway to California, maybe I can find a cheap flight and go take a look at the horse.”
It meant Pons would have to miss the annual Fourth of July celebration at the farm, but he followed his instincts, got that cheap flight, and struck a deal with Hughes to buy a half-interest in Malibu Moon and bring him to Maryland. He admits there wasn’t a lot of competition to stand the horse at stud.
 To this day, even after Malibu Moon was moved to Kentucky, standing first at the late Dr. Tony Ryan’s Castleton Lyons Farm and now at Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm, that deal is paying dividends to Country Life, which retains a 25% share in the horse. In a strange kind of way, Hollingsworth gets more than a little credit.
“That such an important person in my life made this kind of a beneficial impact—even from the grave—is really kind of amazing,” Pons said of Hollingsworth. Pons said he stops by a small marker memorializing Hollingsworth at the Kentucky Horse Park when he is in Lexington.
Despite having only that one win from two starts, Malibu Moon was well received by breeders in the Midatlantic region, getting over 100 mares his first year for a stud fee of $3,000 live foal. “He was such a handsome horse that he really stood out,” said Pons. From his first crop of 62 foals came 44 winners, 13 of them as 2-year-olds, and seven stakes winners, including multiple American Graded Stakes winner Perfect Moon. At the end of 2003, he was moved to Castleton Lyons, which bought half of Country Life’s half interest. “It was a little bit like a game of poker,” said Pons, “but Mr. Hughes said 25% of the horse would be worth more in Kentucky than 50% in Maryland.” Malibu Moon’s fee went up to $10,000 for 2004, and then to $40,000 in 2005 after Declan’s Moon (from his second crop) won an Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male of 2004. He stood four years at Castleton Lyons, then moved to Spendthrift before the 2008 breeding season. He stood for $40,000 in 2009.
“Country Life did a great job getting him rolling, and Castleton did a tremendous job while they had him,” said Ken Wilkins, who joined the Spendthrift team as stallion director in October 2007. Wilkins said the book was closed for Malibu Moon after he was bred to 152 mares in 2008 and, with overall demand down, 136 mares in 2009. Hughes, who owns about 120 mares, bred 11 to Malibu Moon himself this year.
“The last four years he’s been A.P. Indy’s leading son of stakes winners,” Wilkins of Malibu Moon. “The next hurdle for him is to be a sire of sires. With better mares coming, it’s a matter of time for that to happen.”
Malibu Moon has sired six American Graded Stakes winners of 2009, the same as Giant’s Causeway, Dixie Union, Pulpit and Candy Ride. Only his sire, A.P. Indy, has more, with eight. Malibu Moon’s six AGS winners are Grade 1 winners Funny Moon (out of an Easy Goer Mare), winner of the Coaching Club American Oaks, and Devil May Care (Red Ransom mare), winner of the Frizette; Grade 2 winner Luna Vega (Rock Royalty mare), winner of the Molly Pitcher Handicap; and Grade 3 winners Ah Day (Thirty Eight Paces mare), winner of the Toboggan Handicap, Sweet August Moon (Royal Academy mare), winner of the Las Flores Stakes, and Sara Louise (Mt. Livermore mare), winner of the Victory Ride Stakes.
Mr. Prospector’s 17-year-old daughter Macoumba, a stakes winner in France who produced Malibu Moon, is currently in foal to Distorted Humor and has a yearling by Dynaformer.
In some respects, Malibu Moon winning even one race was something of a longshot. As a foal, he was stepped on by his dam and suffered a cracked pastern. According to Pons, Hughes was told the horse would probably never race, though he recovered from that injury and blossomed in training for Stute, showing unusual precocity for a son of A.P. Indy. “Not many A.P. Indys win in May,” Pons said.
It’s a longshot for any horse that wins just one race to have the opportunity to succeed at stud, but Malibu Moon has overcome the odds. The credit for that success can be spread around, to farms in Maryland and Kentucky, and to an editor that Josh Pons will never forget.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: a.p. indy, American Graded Stakes Standings, b. wayne hughes, blood-horse, candy ride, castleton lyons, Country Life Farm, Dixie Union, giant's causeway, Josh Pons, Keeneland, ken wilkins, kent hollingsworth, macoumba, malibu moon, mel stute, mr. prospector', pulpit, spendthrift farm
Posted in American Graded Stakes Standings, Keeneland, Stallions | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
This is the fifth in a series of articles written by Edwin Anthony examining the pedigrees of leading contenders for this year’s Kentucky Derby. Previously, he looked at Louisiana Derby winner Friesan Fire, Florida Derby winner Quality Road, Santa Anita Derby winner Pioneerof the Nile and the talented Dunkirk.
This week, Anthony examines the bloodlines of I Want Revenge, who made a miraculous worst to first finish in the Wood Memorial after severely stumbling out of the gate. Anthony, who spent six years as the staff pedigree consultant for Three Chimneys Farm and has contributed to numerous publications, is the author of a newly published book, “The American Thoroughbred (Volume I).” Click here to learn more about the book. – Brad Cummings
I WANT REVENGE (Stephen Got Even—Meguial, by Roy)
By all indications, Stephen Got Even was a quality racehorse (G2 winner at 3, G1 winner at 4—on dirt) and has a pretty darn good pedigree (by A.P. Indy from a G1 placed Cox’s Ridge mare, next dam is a G3 winner by Blushing Groom). But it seems that demand for his services in the breeding shed have waned somewhat in recent years, gauging by his unbelievably low $7,500 stud fee for 2009. This is somewhat difficult to process, given that we are talking about a horse that had the champion 2YO colt a few years ago (Stevie Wonderboy) and has also sired useful campaigners like Don’t Get Mad (G2, $793,000 in earnings), For All We Know (G2, $292,000), Sweet Vendetta (G2, $224,000), and Steve’s Double (G3, $479,000).
With this kind of capability, it should surprise no one that Stephen Got Even has come up with another tough and genuine racehorse in I Want Revenge, who proved capable of delivering an astonishingly brave effort in winning the Wood Memorial (G1) over the weekend. I’ve never made a complete list of ways that a horse can get into trouble during the running of a race, but I Want Revenge certainly tested the boundaries of what a horse can overcome and still win. Mind you, this wasn’t the 3rd race at River Downs we’re talking about (no offense to my friends in Cincinnati), this was the Wood Memorial—one of the most prestigious races on the racing calendar, against quality horses being forced to the limit in an effort to make it into the Kentucky Derby.
While he displayed speed and an explosive bit of acceleration during the stretch run of the Gotham (G3)—his first race on dirt—I Want Revenge was absolutely left at the start of the Wood Memorial. Only a patient ride by the young but skilled Joe Talamo allowed them to salvage victory from the jaws of defeat and enable the colt to gain valuable traffic experience in the process. One can guess that what transpired Saturday wasn’t exactly what I Want Revenge’s connections had planned, and a disastrous beginning seldom translates into such a rosy outcome. Thus, his ability to overcome such adversity bodes well for his chances in the Kentucky Derby (G1), where a troubled trip is not only probable; it is expected.
I have a bit of personal experience to glean from Stephen Got Even and his damsire, Cox’s Ridge. My family raced Cox’s Ridge, and he was undoubtedly the most sound and consistent racehorse that we have owned during 30+ years of racing. He was an excellent stallion for us (and others), siring forward extraordinary soundness in his progeny. I personally raced an allowance winner named Bullion from Stephen Got Even’s first crop of runners, and he was both sound and a genuinely hard-trying racehorse.
I certainly endorse Stephen Got Even, and all that he seems to need to get a really nice campaigner (or even a G1 winner) is the willingness of a breeder to send him a quality mare. I Want Revenge is certainly a good example of this, given that his dam by Roy placed 2nd in both the Argentine 1000 Guineas (Arg-I) and Argentine Oaks (Arg-I).
It’s not difficult to fall in love with I Want Revenge’s chances of winning a classic race, going by his form line. He broke his maiden at 2 in California, and then lost a photo to subsequent Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Pioneerof the Nile in the CashCall Futurity (G1). He certainly has the jump on his competition prepping on synthetic surfaces, as he has logged two impressive victories on dirt and has already displayed the ability to overcome trouble. What does his pedigree tell us about his chances in the Triple Crown series?
While Stevie Wonderboy did not have the opportunity to run in the classics, he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) impressively and most of Stephen Got Even’s progeny seem to prosper at a distance. His sire, A.P. Indy, is most definitely a classic influence, and Stephen Got Even himself won 2 notable races over 9 furlongs (1 1/8 miles). Cox’s Ridge was capable of racing as far as the classic distance of 1 π miles and sired champions that could win G1 events going as far as 1 ∏ miles. I Want Revenge’s damsire Roy was primarily a sprinter, being a son of Fappiano from a mare by Never Bend. Roy has a high concentration of the Frizette family in his pedigree, carrying 6 crosses, including tracing to her directly in tail-female line. This mixes well with Seattle Slew (sire of A.P.Indy), as he carries Frizette’s daughter Frizeur (dam of Myrtlewood) 2x—neither of these sources being found in the pedigree of Roy. This Seattle Slew / Roy combination (and Frizette concentration) has already been seen in the pedigree of Great Hunter (G1), and now I Want Revenge makes 2 G1 winners bred that way.
We also see the Blushing Groom / Fappiano combination in I Want Revenge’s lineage, which can also be found in the pedigrees of top performers like Awesome Gem (millionaire), Candy Ride (G1, undefeated), First Samurai (G1), Heatseeker (G1), Intangaroo (G1), Lady Joanne (Alabama), 2009 Lane’s End (G2) winner Hold Me Back, 2009 G3 winner The Pamplemousse, and Broken Vow (G2, sire of G1 winners).
Beyond American-bred Roy, the dam side of I Want Revenge’s pedigree has a very South American influence. Fitzcarraldo, the sire of his 2nd dam, was bred in Argentina and raced there, winning a G2 event and finishing among the top 4 in all 3 races that comprise the Triple Crown events in that country. Vervain, the sire of his 3rd dam, was 1st or 2nd in 7 of 8 starts in Europe, and was exported to Argentina to stand at stud.
In attempting to gauge the quality of the Fitzcarraldo / Vervain portion of I Want Revenge’s pedigree, it is interesting to compare it to the family tree of Horse of the Year Invasor. In crossing these 2 pedigrees, we see a daughter of the stallion Cipayo in Invasor’s pedigree, while Fitzcarraldo is a son of Cipayo. A mare named Twins is the 4th dam of Invasor, while a full-sister to Twins named Sigma Septima produced the stallion Stallwood, damsire of Fitzcarraldo. Needless to say, Invasor is closely related to Fitzcarraldo.
The European stamina influence Wild Risk sired the dam of Blushing Groom (grandsire of Invasor), while Wild Risk appears prominently in the pedigree of Vervain. Thus, the 2nd dam of I Want Revenge (a mare named Starry Night) has a pedigree that is very similar to that of Invasor. And given that Invasor was an entirely legitimate racehorse going 1 π miles (Breeders’ Cup Classic, Suburban, Dubai World Cup), this would seem to bode well for I Want Revenge’s chances of getting the Derby distance and possibly winning a classic. At the very least, one has to admire the horse’s toughness. Personally, I hope that breeders will take note of Stephen Got Even’s admirable habit of siring sound campaigners. The industry needs more good mares to visit stallions like him.
–Edwin Anthony
Edwin Anthony was the staff pedigree consultant at Three Chimneys Farm for six years and has penned dozens of articles on pedigree research. He recently published a reference book, The American Thoroughbred (Volume I), which can be ordered via the banner ad link on this this web page.
Tags: a.p. indy, Brad Cummings, Edwin Anthony, gotham Stakes, I Want Revenge, kentucky derby, Meguial, pedigree reports, Stephen Got Even, The American Thoroughbred, Triple Crown, wood memorial
Posted in Edwin Anthony Pedigree Report, Triple Crown preps, kentucky derby | 9 Comments »
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
This is the fourth in a series of articles written by Edwin Anthony examining the pedigrees of leading contenders for this year’s Kentucky Derby. Previously, he looked at Louisiana Derby winner Friesan Fire, Florida Derby winner Quality Road, and Pioneerof the Nile, who goes for his fourth straight win in this Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby.
This week, Anthony examines the bloodlines of Dunkirk, who ran second behind Quality Road in last Saturday’s Florida Derby in just his third career start. Anthony, who spent six years as the staff pedigree consultant for Three Chimneys Farm and has contributed to numerous publications, is the author of a newly published book, “The American Thoroughbred (Volume I).” Click here to learn more about the book. – Ray Paulick
By Edwin Anthony
DUNKIRK (Unbridled’s Song — Secret Status, by A.P. Indy)
America has always been preoccupied with “winners,” so much so that an Olympic silver-medalist might be considered lucky to be welcomed home with a parade, much less expect to see his or her smiling face appear on the cover of a Wheaties box. It’s certainly the same story in racing Thoroughbreds, where a horse that runs a credible or even a close second in an important race is basically relegated to “also-ran” status. Racing historians know better this time of year.
Despite their G1 status, races like the Florida Derby, Wood Memorial, Santa Anita Derby, Blue Grass, and other key races like the Arkansas Derby and Louisiana Derby are indeed PREP races for the Triple Crown. The history books are full of cases in which horses run a solid second in one of these races and either win the Derby or become the dominant horse in the Triple Crown altogether. You never know what tricks a canny and experienced trainer might have up their sleeves or how tightly wound their horses are for these races. One should never mistake the fact that their eyes are focused intently on the prizes that await in May and June, with training schedules and races planned months in advance to arrive in peak form the week of the Kentucky Derby.
Secretariat had a piece of straw infecting his cheek, causing him to run a dull race in the Wood Memorial. Of course, he went on win the 1973 Triple Crown, setting a track record in each race. Thunder Gulch and Swale had been the best horses in Florida in their respective years, but each ran a terrible race at Keeneland and were somewhat discounted, although both went on to win the Kentucky Derby and Belmont and be named champion 3-year-old colt. Other horses like Real Quiet (second, Santa Anita Derby), Funny Cide (second, Wood Memorial), Go for Gin (second, Wood Memorial), and Silver Charm (second, Santa Anita Derby), didn’t really need an excuse. These entrants had run very respectable prep races and perhaps didn’t have the right pace scenario or weren’t quite fit enough to get the job done on the day in question. But they did prove to be the best horses when experience mattered and the distance questions asked became a true test of stamina.
Each horse we discuss in this column certainly has its strengths and weaknesses. Any vulnerability is likely to be exposed in a big field, where horses are certain to get bumped, checked, or cut off. And if a horse is speedy enough to draw clear of the melee of runners traveling with the pack and run with the pacemakers, they are not likely to have a relaxing time “on the engine,” either. The ideal horse for the classics has some tactical ability and is not bothered by the roaring crowds or the excitement of running through a rain-shower of dirt clods. In fact, all that is really required, assuming they have the quality to get the job done, is for them to run their “A” race. Most horses simply can’t handle the competitive nature of the occasion or don’t get the distance. In the end, it’s the horses that are able to simply maintain a steady, forward momentum that win the day. In Europe, the best classic horses are called “stayers,” as they gallop at a continuous clip to the wire, outlasting their peers.
Most fans are used to seeing their favorite 3-year-olds display visually-impressive, explosive moves to win prep races and expect to see similar efforts in the Triple Crown races. That is a bit like comparing a 440-yard dash at a track meet to perhaps an 880-yard race. A half-mile race (880-yards) for humans is an exhausting event, as it is too short of a race to settle into a relaxing pace and too long for true sprinters to maintain their unrelenting pace. It is the same with horses, where equine athletes built to go six to nine furlongs simply can’t stretch their abilities effectively beyond that distance. Their muscle structure and physical limitations simply won’t allow them to.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have horses like DUNKIRK (click here for his pedigree), who are bred to excel at classic distances. Their form is supposed to improve as the distances get longer, as they don’t really lengthen their stride until the first mile of a race has already been run. Many fans have difficultly envisioning the running of a classic race unfolding, expecting to see a re-run of what happened in the prep races. The factors that they discount in the process are numerous: 1) Horses become more fit and can be expected to deliver improved efforts/peak performance in the races that their trainers have been pointing for; 2) The distances have increased substantially, changing the landscape and tactics of the challenge at hand; 3) The best horses from each region of the country and even other countries are meeting to decide who the best horses are — many horses are simply outclassed at this level; 4) Horses with no dirt track experience or that don’t show an affinity for the track in question (Churchill, Pimlico, Belmont) are at a distinct disadvantage, etc.
There is little doubt that Dunkirk should be able to get the 1 ¼ miles of the Kentucky Derby. I’ve never been a particularly big fan of his sire, Unbridled’s Song, as his progeny are brilliant but not particularly sound animals—and a horse needs to be sound to carry the weight and get the distance in the Triple Crown events. Despite public opinion (especially at the yearling sales), I don’t think that Unbridled’s Song has really proven to be a good source of classic runners. While he is a son of Unbridled (an undeniable classic influence), the best runners by Unbridled’s Song have prospered more in the mile to 1 1/8-mile (nine-furlong) range. Perhaps his better runners simply don’t hang around long enough to run in the classic races, but the proof is in the results, or lack of results.
Dunkirk did not race at 2, and that is a piece of history that he would have to make if he were to win the Derby. As things stand, he may not even have enough graded stakes earnings to make it into the starting gate, although I think that might be a shame, as he looks to have the class and stamina, if not the experience, to have an impact on the classics.
Dunkirk’s dam, Secret Status, won the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Mother Goose (G1), both of which are considered filly classics. Since she also placed in both the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1, third) and Alabama (G1, second), there seems little doubt that she was the best “staying” filly of her crop in America. Secret Status is a daughter of A.P. Indy, who was not only able to stay the distance (Belmont/Breeders’ Cup Classic winner) but has been a consistent sire of classic-distance runners. Likewise, the dam of Secret Status was sired by the tremendous classic influence Alydar — sire of Kentucky Derby winners Alysheba and Strike the Gold, as well as Belmont winner Easy Goer. Alydar’s name is also found in the pedigrees of Preakness/Belmont winner Point Given, filly classic winners Lakeway (Mother Goose) and Ajina (Coaching Club American Oaks, Mother Goose), Travers (G1) winner Colonel John and Alabama (G1) winner November Snow.
The Mr. Prospector/Alydar combination found in the pedigree of Dunkirk is also seen in the lineage of Point Given (Horse of the Year), Anees (champion 2-year-old colt), Pine Island (Alabama), and at least 10 other G1 winners. I am also a big advocate of combining the similarly-bred stallions Unbridled and Quiet American with Seattle Slew and his son A.P. Indy in pedigrees. Examples of this combination include Bernardini (Preakness, champion 3-year-old colt), Midshipman (champion 2-year-old colt), Country Star (G1), First Defence (G1), Sky Diva (G1), and Tapit (G1, sire of G1 winners).
With two impressive wins at Gulfstream and a very solid second in the Florida Derby (G1) to his credit, I believe that Dunkirk has the class to impact the running of this year’s Triple Crown races. I also believe the distance of those races should be well within his scope. But the lack of experience and lack of demonstrated soundness we see in his three past performances makes one wonder if he’s the super-horse that Big Brown nearly proved to be last year (coming into the Derby off of only three starts). The fact that Dunkirk’s mother was a classic winner by A.P. Indy with a dam by Alydar may be enough to stack the cards in his favor. Let’s hope for entertainment’s sake (and that of the sport) that he’s a late bloomer, with the ability to substantiate his $3.7 million price tag and prove Unbridled’s Song to be a classic sire after all. We don’t need horses like Dunkirk standing on the sidelines.
Edwin Anthony was the staff pedigree consultant at Three Chimneys Farm for six years and has penned dozens of articles on pedigree research. He recently authored the reference book, The American Thoroughbred (Volume I). Click here to learn more and order your copy today
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Tags: a.p. indy, alydar, anthony's anthony's pedigree report, dunkirk, Edwin Anthony, Florida Derby, kentucky derby, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, secret status, The American Thoroughbred, Triple Crown, unbridled's song
Posted in Edwin Anthony Pedigree Report, Triple Crown preps, kentucky derby | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
Haven’t you always wanted to own an original work of art? ReRun, a horse adoption organization created in 1996, is currently offering you the opportunity to go online and buy original art work by such famous equine “artists” as leading sire A.P. Indy, champion filly Rags to Riches, the undefeated Zenyatta and many others.
 These aren’t self-portraits or Impressionist interpretations of haystacks but colorful expressions by some of your favorite horses (A.P. Indy’s work is pictured here). The annual collection is called “Moneigh” artwork, which came by combining the name of the famous artist, Monet, along with the neighing sound a horse makes. The horses create the art works (with help from volunteers) using their muzzle, tail and hooves.
The best part is proceeds from the Moneigh auction of the more than 30 works of art and related merchandise will help ReRun serve as a non-profit agency to take retired Thoroughbreds, rehabilitate and retrain them, then find people interested in adopting them for a second career.
A 501(c)3 organization, ReRun was founded in Kentucky in 1996 and now has additional locations in New Jersey and New York. ReRun’s volunteer directors understand that not every ex-racehorse can adapt to a second career, but each one that is saved from neglect or slaughter is considered a success. To read a New York Times profile on ReRun from earlier this year, click here. The organization was also featured in June on the NBC Nightly News. Click here to view the video.
The Moneigh art auction began Nov. 23 and will close this Sunday, Nov. 30. Click here to visit the Moneigh auction on eBay.
To learn more about ReRun, read their most recent newsletter, ReViews, by clicking here.
The Paulick Report will spotlight a different charity each day of Thanksgiving week, when we traditionally take time to reflect and give thanks to the blessings we have and to help those less fortunate. This is a difficult time for many Americans, and charitable organizations are feeling the effects of the global economic crisis. We hope you’ll spend a few minutes to learn about some of the charities that make us a better industry, and consider giving to these or to others that we won’t have the opportunity to publicize. Remember that no gift is too small.
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Tags: a.p. indy, horse adoption, horse racing charities, horse rescue, horse slaughter, Horse Welfare, moneigh, moneigh artwork, Paulick Report, rags to riches, Ray Paulick, rerun, rerun.org
Posted in Horse Slaughter, Horse Welfare, Industry Organizations | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed struck again Tuesday morning to purchase the first seven-figure yearling of the Keeneland September sale’s second session when he stood in the back-ring area with bloodstock adviser John Ferguson and bought an A.P. Indy filly out of the Grade 1 winning Smart Strike mare Shadow Cast for $1 million. It was the third purchase of the morning for the ruler of Dubai, who paced all buyers in Monday’s opening session with $8,835,000 in expenditures. He has now spent nearly $11 million, and there are many top lots left to sell. The A.P. Indy filly was consigned by Lane’s End, agent
noon update…One of the rituals of any major Thoroughbred sale at Keeneland or Fasig-Tipton is the immediate crush of the local newspaper reporters and trade press upon any buyer of a top-priced horse (usually defined at Keeneland as $1-million-plus). With purchases by Ferguson, there is a snake of reporters out of the press box, around the corner and down a hallway into the back ring, where they cross a horse walkway and form a circle of cameras, notebooks and tape recorders.
The interviews usually start with something like this: “What did you like about this (colt or filly)?” To which Ferguson attempts to provide an answer slightly different than the one he gave yesterday or earlier in the session. “(He or she) was a lovely individual from a good family and Sheikh Mohammed was really struck by (him or her) at the barn earlier today.”
John Magnier’s Coolmore camp, rivals of Sheikh Mohammed on the racetrack, breeding shed and auction ring, are often challenged with the same questions from reporters, usually relying on Irish veterinarian Demi O’Byrne to provide and answer. In a moment of candor a few years ago when asked about what he liked about a specific horse that he had just purchased – one of many high-priced horse he bought at that particular sale — O’Byrne pulled the glasses off his nose, looked up from his catalogue and said, “What the #@!# do you want me to say? I’ve run out of comments?” I couldn’t blame him. The stress on buyers and agents can be enormous. They look at hundreds of horses, and aren’t paid to come up with great descriptive terms for them.
12:05…TDN reports that Hip 329, a Storm Cat colt out of multiple Grade 1 winner Tranquility Lake, by Rahy, and one of the leading prospects to top the sale, has been withdrawn by Marty Wygod, who raced the mare and one of her foals, Grade 1 winner After Market (also by Storm Cat). After Market stands at Lane’s End, which also had the Storm Cat yearling in its Keeneland consignment.
12:30…There’s the buzz that’s been lacking for most of the sale. In just a few minutes, three horses reach seven figures, beginning with Hip 317, an El Prado colt out of the Clever Trick mare Swift and Classy, that Tom Evans’ Trackside Farm, agent for Liberation Farm and partners, sold for $1 million to Legends Racing, Monday’s leading domestic buyer. The next horse through the ring, an A.P. Indy colt out of Taegu, by Halo, brings $1.5 million from Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Farm chief Rick Nichols, A few minutes after that, Hip 323 also reached $1 million. That colt, by Mr. Greeley out of stakes winner and stakes producer Tempest Dancer, by Storm Cat, is sold by Gainesway, agent, and is also picked up by Legends Racing, whose bidding is being done by Olin Gentry of Gaines-Gentry Thoroughbreds, which put the partnership together. Legends Racing is no named because it is being advised by three Throughbred training "legends," Hall of Famers D. Wayne Lukas, Nick Zito and future Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. The Legends horses will be divided among those three trainers.
3:00 update…A little lunch, a little nap, and I’m back. Ready for some numbers?
Today’s session is going much better from the standpoint of horses getting sold. The RNA or buyback rate is a more palatable 25% through the first 121 horses through the ring, and there have been at least eight million-dollar yearlings, including four from the Legends Racing Partnership, which ranks as the day’s leading buyer with about 90 more to be offered after spending $4,350,000.
Legends purchased four so far: Hip 317 (colt by El Prado) for $1,000,000; Hip 323 (colt by Mr. Greeley) for $1,000,000; Hip 331 (colt by Storm Cat) for $1.2 million; and Hip 355 (colt by Unbridled’s Song) for $1.15 million. The partnership has made no secret that it hopes to compete in the Triple Crown races using Lukas, Zito and Baffert as trainers.
First-day leading buyer Ferguson, spending Sheikh Mohammed’s money, signed five tickets for $3,495,000, and Darley Stud was listed as buyer of two more for $600,000, for a grand total of $4,095,000 with 90 left o sell. Ferguson’s purchases were Hip 272 (Elusive Quality colt) for $350,000; Hip 274 (Kingmambo colt) for $775,000; Hip 288 (A.P. Indy filly) for $1,000,000; Hip 345 (Kingmambo colt) for $1,000,000; and Hip 384 (Elusive Quality colt) for $370,000. The two Darley purchases were Hip 332 (Mr. Greeley filly) for $400,000; and Hip 373 (Street Cry filly) for $200,000.
Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Estate Co. Ltd. spent $2,000,000 on three yearlings (with 90 hips left to go), and Demi O’Byrne of Coolmore bought three for $1,490,000. The Shadwell purchases included the day’s highest price (so far), Hipe 318 (A.P. Indy colt) for $1.5 million; Hipe 387 (Awesome Again filly) for $200,000; and Hip 388 (Dynaformer filly) for $300,000.
O’Byrne’s buys were Hipe 279 (Arch filly) for $500,000; Hip 320 (Giant’s Causeway filly) for $400,000; and Hip 352 (Giant’s Causeway colt) for $590,000.
Two other $1,000,000-plus yearlings sold went to Troy Steve Bloodstock (Hip 360, Giant’s Causeway filly) for $1,250,000; and Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation (Hip 340, Giant’s Causeway filly) for $1,150,000. I’m not very familiar with England-based Troy Steve Bloodstock, but here is Web site.
3:35 update…Maybe I spoke too soon about the reduced buyback rate. From Hip 390 to 409, there were nine yearlings not sold from 19 through the ring, which moved the RNA needle upwards to 27.9%, very close to Monday’s final percentage of 29.0%. Shadwell bought another one, Hip 395 (Distorted Humor colt), for $850,000, bringing its total to 16 purchases in two days.
Final numbers to be posted in a separate story.
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Tags: a.p. indy, coolmore, demi o'byrne, Horse Racing, john ferguson, Keeneland, keeneland september yearling sale, Lane's End, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, sheikh mohammed, Thoroughbred Auctions, thoroughbred media
Posted in Keeneland, Thoroughbred Auctions | 5 Comments »
Monday, September 8th, 2008
All the economic indicators were down at Monday’s opening session of Keeneland’s bellwether September yearling sale — to no one’s surprise. The world economy is slumping, financial markets are turbulent, the American racing industry is going through hard times and even the U.S. dollar’s recent strengthening was a case of bad timing for breeders hoping that foreign money might make up for a shortfall of American investment. Also to no one’s surprise, oil money from Dubai dominated the early action, accounting for 27% of the gross receipts.
(Note: An early version of this post incorrectly reported Dubai interests were responsible for 37% of the day’s gross receipts.)
When the final horse went through the ring, Keeneland reported sales revenue of $56,047,000, a 16.8% decline from the $67,395,000 sold during last year’s opening session. Average price of $363,942 was a 7.7% decline from the $394.123 from last year, with median holding steady at $300,000. There were fewer horses sold this year, 154 to 171 in 2007, largely because of a spike in the percentage that failed to exceed their reserve price. There were 63 yearlings not sold from the 217 offered for an RNA rate of 29.0%. Last year’s buyback percentage was 24%.
(Keeneland did not report the number or percentage of RNAs in results sheets handed out after Monday’s session.)
One of those RNAs, an A.P. Indy colt out of Horse of the Year Azeri, was the talk of the sale when he was bought back by Michael Paulson for $7.7 million, which set a new record price for a buy-back. The previous record of $7.5 million was established in 1985 at the now-defunct Keeneland July selected yearling sale that also resulted in a $13.1 million world record price for a yearling sold. The 1985 buyback was for a Northern Dancer colt, Ajdal, who became England’s champion sprinter.
Paulson told Bloodhorse he is looking for partners with whom to race the colt.
The A.P. Indy-Azeri colt was consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency, agent, which also was listed as the seller and buyer of a $1.2 million Storm Cat filly out of Starrer. That yearling was listed as a sale but was a buy-back by breeder George Krikorian, according to an adviser to Krikorian. That filly was one of five Keeneland listed at prices of $1 million or higher, a decline from the 11 seven-figure yearlings sold on day one last September.
The Darley and Shadwell operations of Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed and Sheikh Hamdan, respectively, bought 21 yearlings for $15,045,000, which represents 27% of the first day’s gross receipts. John Ferguson, Sheikh Mohammed’s chief bloodstock adviser, signed the tickets on nine yearlings for $8,825,000 (another bought for $160,000 was listed in the name of Darley Stud), with Shadwell purchasing 12 for $6,220,000.
Among those purchased by Ferguson was an A.P. Indy filly out of Chimichurri that he went to $3.1 million to buy from Gainesway, agent for Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings. The filly was the highest price among yearlings sold on Monday.
Legends Racing, a new partnership organized this year by Gaines-Gentry Thoroughbreds, was the leading domestic buyer with five purchases totaling $2,005,000. Two American buyers went to seven figures for yearlings: Jon Kelly bought an Empire Maker filly out of Aurora for $1.7 million and Briggs and Cromartie Bloodstock Inc, as agent, bought a Giant’s Causeway colt out of Voodoo Dancer for $1 million.
Demi O’Byrne bought two yearlings for $1,375,000 on behalf of John Magnier’s Coolmore operation.
Taylor Made Sales Agency sold 40 yearlings for $13,065,000 to be the day’s leading consignor by gross, with Eaton Sales next with 19 sold for $7,810,000 and Gainesway third with seven sold for $5,090,000.
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Tags: a.p. indy, azeri, briggs and cromartie, coolmore, darley, demi o'byrne, dubai, empire maker, george krikorian, giant's causeway, hill 'n' dale sales agency, Horse Racing, john ferguson, Keeneland, keeneland september yearling sale, legends racing, michael paulson, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, shadwell, sheikh hamdan, sheikh mohammed, thoroughbred auction, yearling auction
Posted in Keeneland, Thoroughbred Auctions | 3 Comments »
Monday, September 8th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
The Paulick Report will be live blogging and/or providing frequent updates from Monday’s first session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale from Lexington, Ky. The sale is scheduled to kick off at 10 a.m. EDT, but as most auction viewers know sessions do not begin on time.
First, a bit of news from John Ferguson, chief bloodstock adviser to Sheikh Mohammed, who is expected to again pace all buyers in expenditures. Ferguson told the Paulick Report that Dubai’s ruler is "here," meaning the United States, though he wasn’t sure when he was expected to arrive in Lexington or on the sale grounds.
Ferguson also said the purchase of Keeneland’s rival sale company, Fasig-Tipton, by an associate of Sheikh Mohammed would have "absolutely" no bearing on his spending decisions at Keeneland. He said he is excited about what Fasig-Tipton will be doing to promote horse racing internationally. "We want a lot of speed boats out there promoting the sport" — as opposed to cruise ships, said Ferguson, who alluded to the numerous slow-moving organizations that can’t seem to get things done. Looking ahead to future sales at Fasg-Tipton, that should be exciting news for breeders. But first, there is this little business of getting some horses sold at Keeneland.
11:30 update… First chuckle of the day when the initial result sheets come out with Morning Wood Farm listed as the buyer of Hip 5, a Ghostzapper filly consigned by Four Star Sales, agent, that brought $185,000. That’s the same "business entity" that purchased Silverbulletday for Mike Pegram for $155,000 at the 1998 Fasig-Tipton July Kentucky yearling sale. Bob Baffert picked out and trained Silverbulletday.
11:;45 update…John Ferguson makes his first purchase of the Keeneland sale, Hip 38, a Storm Cat colt out of Runway Model, by Petionville, sold by Taylor Made Sales Agency for $700,000. Among Runway Model’s racing wins was the Grade 2 Darley Alcibiades at Keeneland. This colt is her first foal.
Looks like the first seven-figure yearling is in the ring, Hip 56, an Unbridled’s Song filly. Hammer price is $1.7 million for the Taylor Made consigned filly on behalf of Aaron and Marie Jones. She is half to champion Speightstown.
Judging by the size of the crowd in the back ring area, Sheikh Mohammed has arrived. Sure enough, he has, and he’s bought the half sister to Speightstown. Sheikh Mohammed assumed his customary bidding spot along the wall with his advisors nearby. The Coolmore outfit, including Demi O’Byrne, is situated less than 25 feet behind the sheikh.
2:20 update…Alaska had its chance for a "Bridge to Nowhere," and Keeneland looks like it just produced a $7.7-million "Bid to Nowhere." Hip 127, a chestnut colt by A.P. Indy out of Horse of the Year Azeri (by Jade Hunter) has a prolonged bidding battle that finally ends up with a $7.7 million hammer price. The auctioneer says the final bid came from bidspotter Pete’s area right in the front of the press box, but no live bidder can be found by the press horde that snakes down the aisle in search of a buyer. Turns out the buyer’s initials are "R.N.A.," or reserve not attained. Sheikh Mohammed’s camp was bidding on the horse but dropped out (see 3:05 update). There are instant rumors that the colt was purchased privately beforehand, but that’s the nature of the business. Rumors abound, and there is seldom any substantiation. The colt is consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency, agent.
A $7.7-million buyback certainly figures to be a record, but we’ll let the trade reporters answer that question officially.
2:45 update…(Bloodhorse reports it is indeed a record, besting by $200,000 the previous high RNA established in 1985 at the now-defunct Keeneland July yearling sale for Ajdal, who went on to become a champion sprinter in England.)
3:05 update…Turns out Sheikh Mohammed and John Ferguson were not bidding on the $7.7 million buy-back, Ferguson tells the Paulick Report. Demi O’Byrne of Coolmore also said he wasn’t involved. So the question is, was any live money on the A.P. Indy colt? Michael Paulson was in attendance, but one back-ring source said he left the area immediately after the colt went through the ring.
A short time later, Gainesway, agent for Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet, sells an A.P. Indy filly out of graded stakes winner Chimichurri for $3.1 million, with Ferguson signing the ticket for Sheikh Mohammed.
5:35 update….The first session is about to wrap up and it will be interesting to see the final numbers from the day. Anecdotally, it seemed to lack any buzz, and several consignors described the action as "spotty" or "uneven." Going into the day, several leading buyers shared the observation that the 2008 yearling crop wasn’t vintage, at least at the top of the market. Combine that with the worldwide economic slump and the negative publicity that has surrounded horse racing in the United States this year, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see a fairly steep decline in the average.
"This is an emotional business," one consignor said. "You can’t really put a tangible value on an unraced yearling, so we are depending on emotions to drive prices. The emotions surrounding the sport right now are not very good."
One final note. John Sikura, whose Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency consigned the A.P. Indy-Azeri colt Michael Paulson bought back for $7.7 million, spoke briefly about the deal. It seemed clear he wasn’t thrilled being the consignor of a record-priced buyback and insisted there was live money on the colt up the end. "I still don’t know who it was," he said. "We came very close to having the horse sold." Bloodhorse got ahold of Michael Paulson, who said he wants to find a partner and keep a piece of the horse.
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Tags: a.p. indy, azeri, chimichurri, dubai, gainesway, jess jackson, john ferguson, John Sikura, Keeneland, keeneland record, keeneland september yearling sale, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, record RNA, reserve not attained, RNA, sheikh mohammed, stonestreet, storm cat, Thoroughbred Auctions, yearlings
Posted in Keeneland, Thoroughbred Auctions | 11 Comments »
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