From Bloodhorse.com
ARCADIA, Calif. (June 23, 2021) – A California-bred filly by first-year stallion Shaman Ghost sold for $100,000 at Wednesday’s Fasig-Tipton Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Santa Anita.
The filly, the first foal out of the Greeley’s Galaxy mare Pearls for Girls, was bred by Premier Thoroughbreds, consigned by Excel Bloodstock, agent for Lebherz Racing, and was purchased by High Tech Racing.
The filly was one of eight six-figure purchases at the sale, conducted in the winner’s circle at Santa Anita Park. A large crowd occupied the boxes during the sale, which saw 52 sell for a total of $2,966,000, an average of $57,038, and a median of $50,000. A total of 16 were not sold for a buyback rate of 23.5%.
Trainer Carla Gaines purchased the sale-topping Tiznow filly (Hip 36) for B. Wayne Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm for $250,000. The sale topper is out of the Empire Maker mare Soot Z, who has also produced 2019 Sorrento Stakes (G2) winner Amalfi Sunrise and stakes-placed Gotti and Senatus. Geoff Nixon’s Tolo Thoroughbreds and Art Tanaka bred the sale-topper in Kentucky. The filly previewed at the under tack show in :10 3/5 for a furlong.
“She’s fast and she had a very strong pedigree,” said Gaines. “We’ll probably give her a little time now, maybe 30 days.”
Consignor Al Pike Racing sold eight of its nine 2-year-olds for a total of $540,000.
“We were very happy with the results,” said Pike. “Everybody was very nice. I thought the sale as a whole went OK. Of course, you always like to see it do better.”
The Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita sale was in its second year, after having to cancel in 2020 due to the pandemic. The first year, 2019, came amid the difficulties Santa Anita had with a rash of equine deaths and new safety protocols track management put into place.
“We started coming to California in 2019, and the first year we had the racetrack situation at Santa Anita, which they’ve clearly addressed and made amazing progress on that on the safety initiatives,” said Boyd Browning Jr., president and CEO of Fasig-Tipton. “Then you have the COVID year of 2020. Then you get the further complication of the difficulty in air transportation right now.”
Nevertheless, Browning saw positive aspects of the sale.
“We saw today there’s a viable marketplace,” he said. “There were plenty of buyers in attendance at the sale. Overall, I thought horses sold well—they were well received. The demand outstripped supply by a considerable amount.”
The catalog consisted of 105, with an additional 10 in a supplemental catalog, and Fasig-Tipton listed 44 as withdrawn prior to the sale.
Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds bought three for a total of $307,000, including the second highest-priced horse. Consigned by Kim McCarthy’s McCarthy Bloodstock, the filly (Hip 65) is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Maclean’s Music —Bauble, by Tale of the Cat , and cost $155,000. She previewed a furlong in :10 3/5.
Many of the buyers were local trainers, including Peter Miller, who purchased two horses—one from Pike Racing and the top-priced colt of the sale, Bochombo , from Andy Havens’ Havens Bloodstock Agency.
Miller went to $150,000 for Bochombo (Hip 20), a son of Street Boss —Parading Lady, by Storm Cat. Bochombo attracted interest, not only as a half brother to stakes-placed J K L’s Legacy , but also because he himself is already stakes-placed. Owner Dan Northrup and trainer Luis Mendez started Bochombo three times at the Santa Anita meeting. The colt ran second in a maiden race, broke his maiden, and then ran second in the June 20 Fasig-Tipton Futurity, for total earnings of $68,800.
Coffee Pot Stable bred Bochombo in Kentucky, and Sunset Stables had purchased the colt for $15,000 from the Beau Lane Bloodstock consignment at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Bochombo was listed as not sold for $100,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.
Miller said he bought Bochombo for a partnership that includes Tom Kagele, a partner in the Miller-trained multiple graded stakes winner C Z Rocket .
“He’s a very nice colt who looks like a two-turn colt,” said Miller of Bochombo. “He beat one of my best 2-year-olds, so I have to like him.”
When Bochombo broke his maiden May 23, he defeated Miller-trained Bet On Mookie by 2 1/4 lengths. Bochombo then ran second to Big City Lights in the Fasig-Tipton Futurity.
Miller also successfully bid $35,000 for Pike Racing’s filly (Hip 7) by Classic Empire —Mischievous Misty, by Into Mischief .
Several Florida consignors brought horses to the sale, including Hartley/de Renzo Thoroughbreds. Hartley/de Renzo sold a daughter of Nyquist —Moon Music, by Malibu Moon, for $140,000. Andrew Andrews bought the filly (Hip 9), with the help of trainer Charles Treece.
Andrews is from Pasadena and is in the asphalt paving business. He and Treece liked the filly’s breeding, both top and bottom. Nyquist is having much success as a sire, and Moon Music has already produced stakes winner Uncle Brennie , a son of Nyquist’s sire Uncle Mo .
“I liked her size, and I also liked the people we bought her from—she was well taken care of,” said Treece.
Andrews also bought a son of Tapiture —Giulietta, by Dunkirk (Hip 89), from Raul Reyes’ Kings Equine for $70,000 and a son of Carpe Diem —Wicked Obsession, by Tapit (Hip 114), from McCarthy Bloodstock for $12,000.