2009 sales
Genuine Devotion brings $1,000,000 at Fasig Tipton
High in the Park, the dam of Divine Park who was another bargain yearling purchase by CES ($20,000), was sold for $205,000 in foal to Medaglia d'Oro.
Breeding stock sales set to start today
Horses for sale and horses needed
We are looking for racehorses of all varieties. If you have anything that you are interested in moving please e mail me at www.simonracing1@aol.com or www.becbloodstock.com or call at 502 489 7492 or 502 639 0707.
Congrats to Dr. King
Divine Park retired
Mares for Sale
OBS a disaster
Genuine Devotion to be offered at Fasig Tipton November
"Genuine Devotion in Fasig-Tipton catalog
After undefeated Group 1 winner Mastercraftsman's full sister sold for about $1.4 million on Tuesday at Goffs, the Crossroads Sales agency in the U.S. announced that it will offer a three-quarter-sister to that pair, Genuine Devotion, at the Fasig-Tipton November select mixed sale.
Grade 3-winning Genuine Devotion is in "light training" with Kiaran McLaughlin, according to Crossroads Sales, and will be offered as a racing or broodmare prospect. A 4-year-old Rock of Gibraltar filly, Genuine Devotion is a three-time stakes winner, having captured the Grade 3 Locust Grove Handicap and the Upper Noosh Stakes in 2008 and the Xtra Heat Handicap in 2007.
Fasig-Tipton's November mixed auction is set for Nov. 2, starting at 3 p.m. The sale will take place at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington."Also entered in the sale is High in the Park, an Ascot Knight mare whose main claim to fame is being the dam of grade 1 winner Divine Park. He was also purchased by BEC at the same yearling sale as Genuine Devotion.
Click here for a link to the catalog
Horses Wanted
We are also looking for young broodmares, preferably open, also to go overseas for a breeding operation in a developing market. An 'in foal' mare with an early foaling date would be considered.
Fasig Tipton KY Fall Yearling Sale
Finally Over
BEC fared very well in the depressed market, purchasing 7 yearlings all of which we had rated A- or better on our scale which takes into consideration breeding, conformation, athleticism, and price. The first horse that we bought was hip number 568 , a Mizzen Mast filly out of a stakes winning Petionville mare named Slewsville. She was our number one target in book two due to her tremendous balance and athleticism, her mix of classic bloodlines with Caro, Graustark, Seeking the Gold and Seattle Slew and our fondness for her sire, Mizzen Mast. We had her valued far in excess of the $45,000 that it took to secure her for Bob Gary.
Not long after that we went to $45,000 for a son of Theatrical, hip 595 , a very nice son of a stakes placed Peteski mare named Sweet and Firm. The colt is an Ontario bred and was a very good physical for his sire and had a tremendous stride. Both his second and third dams are consistent stakes producers and Theatrical has been a top sire for years. Bob Gary is the main owner of this horse.
Later in the day we spotted a sharp looking Smarty Jones colt that looked exactly like his father walking in the back ring. While we haven't been the worlds biggest SJ supporter (more because of his stud fee than anything) this horse looked promising. Jason Litt of Three Chimneys told me that the colt had not had much action and they weren't sure why. He also told me the owners were there to sell horses and the reserve would reflect that. We wound up securing the colt (Hip number 634) for $25000 which was surprising especially considering that our vet check revealed nothing negative. John Ball wound up winning a small bidding war to own the colt and has since brought Dr. and Mrs. Vince Verdile in on the colt. He is a half brother to million dollar earner West Virginia and looks like he will be more effective as a three year old and older horse and we aren't expecting him to run much next year as a two year old.
We has a good weekend in book three buying hip number 1566 , an Eddington filly, hip number 1899 , a Johar colt and hip number 1998 , a Mizzen Mast filly. The Eddington filly was a fast looking filly who had a great walk despite being a touch undersized. Her size doesn't bother us considering she is by a son of Unbridled and out of a daughter of Broad Brush and a growth spurt will come and if she retains her athletic stride she will be a steal for $30,000. BEC owns her with Paul Harte and there are still shares of her available.
The Johar was a tremendous physical with a great stride and looked like a bigger version of Albin, a Johar colt that we bought last year that has shown a lot of potential. He really was my favorite of the whole weekend and getting him for $40,000 was about 2/3rds of what I had him valued at. He is a half sister to a stakes winning filly who has set three track records on the turf at Monmouth and his second dam has produced grade one winners Auntie Mame and Star de Lady Ann. Bob Gary owns him.
The Mizzen Mast filly that we bought Sunday is a sharp looking filly who is big and strong. She didn't have a deep commercial female family but a little research shows that much of the family showed potential but was unlucky for one reason or another. Her dam, Far Afield, was a promising filly who won two of her first three starts including an allowance at Keeneland and was third in a listed stakes race in her 4th start before an unfortunate injury ended her racing career. This filly was an outstanding horse who is perfectly balanced and and has great size. Bob Gary also owns her.
On Thursday in book five we spotted a Powerscourt colt who was athletic and flashy. He is out of a really young Pleasant Tap mare and also happens to be a California bred. He was hip number 3412 but didn't sell as the reserve price was not met. We contacted the consignor, Mill Ridge Farm and made an offer for the colt which they accepted the next day. He does not look like a big two year old runner but has all the right pieces to be a good racehorse. BEC owns this horse 100% and is looking for partners to race him but would consider selling 100% also.
Overall we bought less horses numbers wise than last year but felt we got a lot of quality for reasonable prices. Most of the horses that we picked up may have brought a lot more in a freer spending environment. We will skip the Fasig Tipton Mid Atlantic sale but will be looking at their fall sale in Lexington where the market will still be in the buyers favor. Today Keeneland released the numbers for the upcoming breeding stock sale in November and they have almost 300 horses more than the massive catalog they had last year. A total of 5709 horses are listed which is an unbelievable number, and the buyers market may really be in effect here as Broodmares and weanlings are a longer term investment than yearlings and that market is thought to be especially hard hit in light of the weakening of the yearling market. I suspect that mares not in foal or in foal to less desirable stallions, especially the older ones, will almost be given away as breeders cull their herds aggressively. We may dip into the market if the right mare comes across our path though we will certainly be looking at many of the 524 horses of racing age cataloged.
This sale still has three more days...
BEC did wind up purchasing one more horse in a deal that was finished yesterday. We wound up buying hip number 4212 , a Powerscourt colt who was an RNA on Thursday. The colt, who is a beautiful horse, was not shown on Wednesday because he popped an abscess out one of his front feet and was sore on it. That most likely led to him being passed over by a number of buyers who simply move on at this point of the sale. We loved him and played it as though he wasn't going to reach his reserve, which he didn't. We offered what we thought was a fair price and after some hand wringing by the colts owner, they accepted our offer. The colt who is a California bred is owned 100% by BEC and any and all portions of him are for sale.
Thursday's results in line
Book 5 starts slow
BEC hasn't bought anything the past few days as our Dixie Union deal fell through as the owners decided to just keep the horse and race him. We are looking for horses that we consider B+ individuals and there just aren't that many left and the really nice ones are still bringing top dollar.
Book Four holds it's own
BEC was shutout for the second consecutive day as one of our potentials had a horrible vet report, one went for about double what we we willing to go to and on the last one we used sound financial principles by not bidding more than 10% over our valuation of the filly.(Though we felt remorseful watching her walk out of the ring despite being so close. A little spoiled after the weekend's fortunate events)
We are negotiating to buy hip number 2516, a Dixie Union colt from Three Chimneys and will get that deal done tomorrow for a very small number. Any interested parties should contact us at (502) 489-7492.
Hip number 2912 was a filly by Street Cry that brought a winning bid of $100000 from Al and Sandee Kirkwood. The filly was out of the stakes winning dam, Mujado, whom BEC Bloodstock purchased on its own behalf in January for $8700. She had a terrific Johar colt who may be entered in the January sale or kept and raced and we are looking for partners on him. The mare is back in foal to Thunder Gulch and is scheduled to be sent to Pennsylvania to drop the foal and take advantage of the lucrative PA breeding incentive program.
Keeneland has respectable weekend
BEC had a great weekend, buying four horses that we had rated as A prospects and paid close to exactly what we had expected. During Saturday's session we were outbid on a couple of lots that we were hoping to steal and simply weren't that close but we did come away with an Eddington filly that was one of my favorite's. Hip number 1566 is out of a Broad Brush mare named Erase who was a winner on both the turf and dirt. She is a bit light on commercial pedigree but is very athletic, she moves like a cat, and I thought she was a nice racing prospect for $30000. During the bidding I actually was the underbidder on her as she sold for $35000 but the winning bidder was bidding on the wrong horse and after Keeneland and Claiborne officials consulted, they agreed to sell her to me for my last bid of $30000.
Sunday was a very good day as the three horses that we had targeted all fell within our price range and we got them all. The first was hip number 1851, a Thunder Gulch colt out of a stakes winning Royal Academy mare named Very Very that we claimed and trained for breeder Ron McKee. He turned out slightly in the right front but had a great walk and was very balanced. He looks like a nice prospect and Mr. McKee is going to stay in and partner with us on the colt.
The second horse that we really wanted was hip number 1899, a Johar colt out of a Shadeed mare named Bartered Bride. The colt is a half brother to a stakes winning filly named In Return who has set three track records on the turf at Monmouth Park. He has a great walk and looks like a larger version of another nice Johar colt named Albin that we have. His dam was bred to Smart Strike this year and she is owned by Jayeff B stables who are obviously supporting her by breeding her to top stallions. I was thrilled to get him for for Bob Gary for $40000.
Bob Gary also bought the third horse that we had targeted, hip number 1998, a Mizzen Mast filly out of the stakes placed Distant View mare, Far Afield. The filly is big and strong and absolutely looks like a runner. Consigned by Mill Ridge for breeder Dr. John Chandler, her mother was a promising prospect who won 2 races in four starts including a Keeneland allowance win and a third place finish in a listed turf stakes at Calder before an untimely injury ended her career just as it was taking off. We went to $37000 for her which is simply a steal.
Today is the first day of book 4 and there is a considerable drop off in the overall quality of horses from what I saw while looking at the barns yesterday. I have very little that I am interested in today though there are some interesting prospects on Tuesday. The better horses will still sell well though the ones with issues will really have a hard time today. The RNA's may rise because I saw a lot of bad horses that have expensive stud fees attached to them and some owners simply wont be able to stomach letting their horse with the $50000 stud fee go for $4000.
The most interesting news out of Keeneland this weekend was the saga of the top selling horse of Thursdays session, a Medaglia d'Oro filly who was purchased for $1.1 million dollars by English trainer Paul D'Arcy for a woman in England who didn't have the proper credit with Keeneland and later was found to have a checkered financial past. Keeneland took possession of the horses and they were later resold but they are taking legal action against the original buyers.
Sale still sluggish on Day 4
The session topper was a filly by Medaglia d'Oro who was a very nice horse but seemingly well sold for $1.1 million dollars. My personal favorite was hip number was 990, an outstanding Johannesburg colt consigned by Lanes End who was purchased for $260,000 for European connections. I liked hip number 1271 a filly by Street Cry but not enough to top the $125,000 they got for her. All in all, I thought that yesterdays cheaper horses weren't worth taking a flyer with and the nice ones were just too expensive. This weekend has a lot of nice horses and there were lots of lookers this afternoon despite the stifling heat. I have a long list of potentials for both Saturday and Sunday and I still have about six barns for Sunday to look at.
The Smarty Jones colt we bought Wednesday has been sold. The Aldebaran filly, Aldebutante, who BEC purchased for Dee Tee Stable at last year's September sale has been entered for her debut at Belmont Park in Sunday's 5th race.
Solid Day Three
We sprung into action buying hip number 568, a Mizzen Mast filly out of a multiple stakes winning Petionville mare named Slewville. The filly, who was consigned by Pope McLean's Crestwood Farm, got extremely high grades from us on her conformation and athleticism. We were thrilled to get her for $45000 which was about 50% of what we thought she would bring. The filly is owned by a partnership of Bob Gary Racing and Bluegrass Equine Center.
We also went to $45000 to purchase hip number 595, a Theatrical colt out of the multiple stakes placed Peteski mare, Sweet and Firm. The colt, who was consigned by Hill n Dale farm, was a very good individual for the sire, had a big athletic walk and had perfect xrays and scope reports. He is an Ontario bred who looks like he will relish a distance of ground over the grass. The colt is owned by the Gary/Bluegrass partnership.
Hip number 634 wasn't on our original list but we were alerted to his potential availability a short while before he was to go through the ring. After looking at him and really liking what we saw we wound up bidding and buying him for $25000. The son of Kentucky Derby winner Smarty Jones is a half brother to million dollar earner West Virginia and is a rangy type that not only looks fast but like he will be able to cover a distance of ground. He was bought on BEC's account and is available to interested parties.
Quite a few of our other potentials went for prices above what we were willing to spend and tomorrow's list is fairly light. We will start examining this weekends horses in the morning.
Mixed results for Day 2
We have some possibilities for tomorrows sale with one filly going through the ring relatively early. There are lots of solid horses that may not quite have book one pedigrees but are really nice individuals. The barn traffic looking at these horses has been fairly light and I am hoping that the sellers are going to be realistic with reserves. We will have more tomorrow.
Keeneland Day One shaky
I spent most of the day looking at horses for Wednesday and Thursday and came out with a list of really good horses that hopefully will fall into our price range. I was surprised that hip #41, an Elusive Quality colt, was an RNA for $285,000 as I thought he was a star and had a lot of European appeal though we didnt vet him and there may be an issue there. #40, a Pulpit filly bought by Starlight Partners for $210,000 was a really nice filly. #59, a Dynaformer, was a nice horse though the $550,000 that he brought was full retail for him. We will have more thorough reports as the sale progresses and we look at more horses. If you have any questions on individual horses write them in the comments link.
September is close when the "outs" are out
Click here for the outs
Albin runs third in debut
Pedigree expert Lauren Stitch talks about Albin's debut on the Thoroughbred Racing Radio Network show on Monday on Sirius channel 126. Click here to listen
Divine Park looks to tackle Curlin in upcoming Woodward
Click here for the story
Keeneland September books out
Brilliant Son now stakes placed, NYB sale recap
As we expected the Fasig Tipton New York Bred sale held its numbers up pretty well. The buy back rate was higher than in previous years which is more of a function of owners overvaluing their horses than any weakness in the market in our opinion. The regional markets will continue to be the place than many mid-range buyers look for value as open Kentucky-breds and Florida-breds are seemingly going to be at a disadvantage without a real state bred program to help out the lower tier horses. Maybe the downturn at the upcoming Keeneland sales after so many years of increases will get the movers and shakers in the Commonwealth to act and pass some kind of alternate gaming bill to help out the racing industry but also to inject some funds in the KTDF program and continue to grow the breed incentive program. My in-foal mares are all headed out of state to PA and NY to drop their foals as the monies for both racing and the breed incentives are simply too great for me and my partners to pass up. Maybe our little broodmare band is considered insignificant by lawmakers but there are a lot more of us out there that are simply looking for the best deal that we can find and increasingly those opportunities are out of state.
On a brighter note the OBS sale kicks off next week and the September catalogs are being sent out later this week! BEC Bloodstock is still accepting clients for the September sale, contact Chuck at 502 489 7492.
Saratoga Shutout
After looking over the OBS books we decided not to attend though we will be looking at a few horses through representatives of ours. The September sale is fast approaching and that is where I feel the best value for the money is found. The books will soon be arriving and we will be spending countless hours pouring over them in hopes of finding our next grade 1 winner.
BEC Bloodstock at Saratoga
Fasig Tipton July thoughts
I was not that thrilled with the pedigrees available in this book and even though we rarely buy much at this sale, I was not that excited by the prospects that I saw. The first year stallions that get so much attention were in my opinion not that exciting. I was surprised to see horses by Eurosilver sell so well. I saw lots of his weanlings at the winter sales and wasn't really impressed nor was most of the others I spoke too. Maybe they are later developers but I remain skeptical about the prospect of him becoming a good sire. What was really interesting was that most of the higher priced Eurosilvers weren't purchased by pinhookers but by racing operations.
Brian Graves hit another weanling to yearling pinooking homerun with hip #145 a yearling colt by Unforgettable Max. Graves seemingly does it every year and it is not like he is doing it with bulk purchases.
I think that way too much is made of market trends after one session or sale. Obviously the rough economy is going to affect the market in some way, shape or form. The next sale at Saratoga is not really a great indicator either because it is really the type of sale where most of the buyers are insulated from economic trends for the most part. Or in other words, the main buyers at this sale are too rich to worry much about the economy at least when it comes to their horse purchases. The real test, and for buyers opportunity, will be in the middle books of the Keeneland September sale. While the buyers may still have a lot of disposable income, many of the sellers are feeling the affects of the economy and as a result may be more reluctant to put high reserves or be willing to try the two year old sales or race if they don't get their price. Buyers will still have to fight for the AP Indy's and Distorted Humor's but the so-called "middle market" may be weaker than usual as sellers simply cut their losses in many cases. Though there will still be plenty of people looking to buy horses especially foreigners, the incidence of bidding against the reserve as opposed to actual "live" bidders may be lessened which makes for a much better buying atmosphere.
I am looking forward to the Saratoga sales and really interested in what Keeneland is going to look like as the rumors are that the sale is expanding once again. The more books, the more horses, the better in my view.
This is from the Racing post (UK) about the july sale. The last paragraph tells of the buyer who bought my filly. "Also making a visit to the sale was Matthew Budden of Elite Racing. He paid $90,000 for a filly by Medallist and $22,000 for a colt by Bernstein"
BEC Bloodstock purchase Genuine Devotion now a Grade 3 winner
Simon on behalf of BEC Bloodstock will be available for consultation at the upcoming yearling sales at Fasig-Tipton in July, all the Saratoga sales, Keeneland September, Fasig-Tipton Fall Maryland and Kentucky. Let us find you a great horse at a good price.
July is almost here
Divine Park to Airdrie
Here is a link to the Bloodhorse story
http://breeding.bloodhorse.com/article/45674.htm