The following appeared in The Paulick Report May 21st.
Paul Fireman has seen good fortune in the Baltimore area, having sent Senior Investment to a third-place finish in the 2017 Preakness Stakes. He left his mark on the city’s Thoroughbred industry again on Monday, buying a $500,000 Street Sense colt through trainer Kenny McPeek at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale.
The bay colt, who went through the ring as Hip 156, is out of the unplaced Forest Wildcat mare Forest Fashion, who is the dam of two winners from three foals to race. His extended family includes Epsom Oaks winner Casual Look and Grade 1 winner Charleston Rag.
“I thought he was a real standout here,” McPeek said. “The sire is a Derby winner, and the bottom line has speed. He did great breezing and presented himself really well out back. He had an injection of Deputy Minister on the bottom line through the second dam, which I’m always fond of. I’ve had a lot of luck with that line.
“Paul Fireman, the principal on this one, is always looking for a good horse,” the trainer continued. “He had Restless Rider in the Kentucky Oaks this year, so we’ve been sniffing around at some top-end stuff, and this is what he’s after.”
The colt breezed a quarter-mile in :21 4/5 seconds, a fifth off the overall fastest effort, during the pre-sale under-tack show at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Md.
“He can run short if you needed him to, but I think he’s really going to want to go longer than that,” McPeek said. “He certainly showed the turn of foot you need to win big races.”
Top Line Sales consigned the colt, as agent for Carlo Vaccarezza, who bought him for $280,000 at last year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
“He’s nice colt, he just took a little bit longer to get ready,” said Top Line’s Torie Gladwell. “We actually had him entered in the [Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream] sale, and he was just a bit heavier than the other horses that we took down there, so we opted to scratch him out of Miami and just keep him, train him, and bring him up here. We knew he’d be a big fish up here, and then he was.”
The transaction was the high point for what has been a highly productive day for the Top Line Sales consignment. The Williston, Fla.-based operation handled two of the day’s four most expensive horses, with the early bar being set by an Uncle Mo filly who went to Bob Lothenbach’s Lothenbach Stables for $350,000.
The bay filly, offered as Hip 90, is out of the placed Unbridled’s Song mare Claire’s Song, whose first foal to race is the stakes-placed Elusive Mischief. The Virginia-bred’s extended family includes Canadian Horse of the Year Wonder Gadot and Grade 1 winner Secret Spice.
Trainer Ian Wilkes signed the ticket on behalf of the Lothenbach operation, which also picked up a Pioneerof the Nile colt on Monday for $195,000.
“She’s a nice filly,” Wilkes said. “We’ll just ship her back and see if she needs a little time, and we’ll talk to Bob and make a plan from there.”
The filly breezed an eighth of a mile in :10 2/5 seconds during the under-tack show.
Top Line Sales handled the filly as agent for Zayat Stables, which bought her for $160,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale.
Candy Bar, by Uncle Mo, Goes To Schwartz For $475,000
Martin Schawrtz wasn’t on the property for the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale, but he still made a splash, bidding by phone to land the Uncle Mo colt Candy Bar for $475,000.
Sold as Hip 236, the dark bay or brown colt is out of the unraced Unbridled’s Song mare Lady Godiva, making him a half-brother to G1 winner Leofric. Residing further down the page are G1 winners Golden Ticket, Well Chosen and Telling.
Eddie Woods, as agent, consigned the colt, who breezed an eighth in :10 2/5 seconds. Woods’ Quarter Pole Enterprises bought the colt as a yearling for $225,000 at the Keeneland September sale.
Webber Buys Ghostzapper Filly For $400,000
A Ghostzapper filly reached the high end of the Midlantic sale market, going to Temple Webber for $400,000.
A dark bay or brown filly who went through the ring as Hip 205, she’s out of the stakes-winning Indian Charlie mare I’m Mom’s Favorite, whose eight foals to race are all winners. Also included on the dam’s produce record is Grade 3-placed Toutsie Rules and stakes-placed Charm City Girl. Her third dam is the Grade 1 winner Tout Charmant.
“I loved her topline, her breeze was very impressive, and she had a great shoulder and hip to match,” said bloodstock agent Lauren Carlisle. “All the angles were there.”
The filly breezed an eighth of a mile in :10 2/5 seconds.
“She galloped out very well on my clock, so that was good enough for me,” Carlisle said.
Pelican State Thoroughbreds consigned the filly, as agent. She was a $185,000 purchase at last year’s Fasig-Tipton October sale by Mountmellick Farm.
Average, Median Up On Day One
The opening day of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale kept up with a strong pace set in previous years, posting improved average and median sale prices compared with last year’s first day of trade.
A total of 156 horses changed hands on Monday for revenues of $11,402,500, down 5 percent from last year’s opening-day gross of $12,066,000 from 172 horses sold. The average price rose 4 percent to $73,093, while the median grew 19 percent to $43,000.
“It’s pretty much the market that we’ve seen throughout the 2-year-old season of 2019,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. “I think we’ve probably got more top-end horses tomorrow, based on the chatter on the sales grounds from consignors and buyers, so hopefully we have some fireworks, but it’s a good, solid, consistent marketplace at a variety of levels.”
Monday’s buyback rate finished at 26 percent, compared with 22 percent during last year’s opener.
“I think that’s the nature of a 2-year-olds in training sale,” Browning said. “When the consignors have less than the desired activity in terms of veterinary action on a horse, owners have the opportunity if they don’t think it’ll be a successful effort going through the sales ring, they’ll retain those horses and most of them will go enter their racing stables.”
To view the full results from Monday’s session, click here.