By Bloodhorse.com
ARCADIA, Calif. (June 3, 2019) — Much of the Southern California training colony came to the Santa Anita Park grandstand for the June 3 under tack preview of the June 5 Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. With more than 100 people in the box section, the horses garnered plenty of attention, which was the idea when Fasig-Tipton returned to the Southern California market.
“I’m very pleased to complete the inaugural under tack show at Santa Anita,” said Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning. “It was a very, very well-attended under tack show, with a diverse group of people in attendance—trainers, buyers, and a lot of folks that weren’t mainstream Southern California trainers.”
To view the workouts, click http://www.fasigtipton.com/2019/Santa-Anita-Two-Year-Olds-in-Training?section=4537#/uts
Breeze times were somewhat slower than previous similar sales in California, primarily due to the deeper Santa Anita surface. Only one horse—Hip 45, a Bernardini filly out of the Dansili mare Elbe consigned by Raul Reyes’ Kings Equine—completed an eighth-mile in :10 1/5. Three others went in :10 2/5. In earlier previews at other tracks the fastest times have often shaded :10.
“It was really good to see these slower times on the deeper track,” said David Meah of Meah/Lloyd Bloodstock and a potential buyer. “Myself and my wife are getting on the track every day galloping horses. We know the track is slow—:11 at any other track is slow; :11 here is a pretty decent work. But it’s a safe track, and that’s what we need.”
Sale horses were also required to adhere to the new Santa Anita safety protocols regarding medication and crops. Riders could carry whips, but only use them primarily for safety and guidance.
“Riders had to keep both hands on the reins, and they could not reach back and strike the horse,” Browning said. “You could tap the horse on the shoulder a few times. But you couldn’t reach back and strike the horse at any point in time, before or during the breeze, which is consistent with (Santa Anita’s) house training rules in the mornings. It’s a little bit different environment in that regard, and I thought we had, frankly, great cooperation from the consignors and riders.”
Bruno DeBerdt, who has a consignment under the Excel Bloodstock banner, liked the new crop regulation.
“As an ex-rider, I know you sometimes need a whip to steer them along,” DeBerdt said. “But I have never sold a 2-year-old that didn’t have natural ability that moved up off of a whip.”
Excel’s three-horse consignment included one of the horses who breezed in :10 2/5. Hip 127, a daughter of Union Rags out of the unraced Seeking the Gold mare Seeking Simplicity. The filly is from the female family of grade 1 winners Trumpet’s Blare, Albert the Great, and Rushing Fall
Others to breeze in :10 2/5 were Hip 59 and Hip 99, a daughter of Uncle Mo and a son of Commissioner , respectively.
Kings Equine, agent, consigned the Uncle Mo filly, who is the first foal out of the Smart Strike mare Garnet. Her third dam is dual grade 1 winner Dream Supreme, dam of grade 1 winner and sire Majestic Warrior.
TIP Thoroughbred Investment Possibilities consigned the son of Commissioner. Named Code of Law, he is out of the stakes-placed Out of Place mare Missing Treasure.
Plenty of attention focused on the lone American Pharoah 2-year-old, who did not disappoint. Breezing an eighth-mile in :10 3/5, as the colt crossed the finish, a cheer went up from Tom Mansor, the principal in Blue Chip Thoroughbreds, who is selling the juvenile through Adrian Gonzalez’s Checkmate Thoroughbreds. Consigned as Hip 88, the youngster consigned is the first foal out of the War Front mare Loudly, a half sister to two stakes winners.
With the auction held late in the juvenile sale season, several horses breezed a quarter-mile, and one worked three-eighths.
Andy Havens’ Havens Bloodstock Agency sent a son of Creative Cause three-eighths of a mile in :36 3/5. The colt, consigned as Hip 161, is out of the Langfuhr mare Victoria’s on Fire, a daughter of multiple stakes winner The Beter Man Can.
Tom McCrocklin had Hip 12, a son of Tapiture out of the Awesome Again mare Awesomekaylee—the horse with the quickest quarter-mile time of :21 1/5.
Several consignors galloped some of their charges, either solo or in pairs.
Browning noted an advantage to selling at Santa Anita is that trainers have been able to watch the horses train daily.
“A horse may not have had its best performance today,” Browning said. “If somebody has been watching it train here for a week or two weeks, they can say, ‘I really like that horse. I’m watching it every morning.’ It gives the consignors and those horses a little bit of an additional opportunity as well.”
Browning also praised Santa Anita as a sale site.
“Santa Anita really is a special place,” he said. “What a spectacular setting; what a historic setting. You look around and see the racetrack and the mountains and the palm trees. There’s just no question that this can be a very important and valuable opportunity for 2-year-old sales and for sales in general.”