From TDN
Another Pharoah for Beckerle
Tom Beckerle, who already has a stakes winner by American Pharoah, purchased another filly by the 2015 Triple Crown winner for a sale-topping $350,000 Tuesday at the Fasig-Tipton California sale. The yearling (hip 196) was bred by Terry Lovingier and was consigned by his Lovacres Ranch. In partnership with Lovingier and Amanda Navarro, Beckerle campaigns Fi Fi Pharoah (American Pharoah), who won the Melair S. in June.
“I have some partners that wanted to get an American Pharoah,” Beckerle said. “We liked her for breeding down the road and Fi Fi Pharoah has already made us a couple hundred thousand dollars. We think this one can do the same thing. We will see what happens.”
Hip 196 is out of the unraced Ez Indy (A.P. Indy), who is a half-sister to champion Banshee Breeze (Unbridled). The mare, in foal to Animal Kingdom, was purchased by Lovingier for $85,000 at the 2016 Keeneland November sale.
Beckerle, based in Fallbrook, California, purchased three other yearlings from the Lovacres Ranch consignment Tuesday. He acquired a colt by Stay Thirsty (hip 134) for $100,000 and a pair of fillies by the GI Travers S. winner (hip 8 and hip 31) for $50,000 each.
Siegel Strikes Early For Practical Joke Filly
Trainer Brian Koriner, bidding on behalf of Samantha Siegel’s Jay Em Ess Stable, got the Fasig-Tipton California sale off to a quick start when purchasing a filly by Practical Joke (hip 10) for $300,000. The yearling was consigned by Barton Thoroughbreds and was bred by Richard Barton Enterprises, which purchased her unraced dam Miss Lavinia (Speightstown) for $4,200 at the 2016 Keeneland November sale.
“She is by Practical Joke and she is out of a Speightstown mare,” Koriner said of the yearling’s appeal. “She’s bred to be very fast and maybe early and precocious.”
The 14-year-old Miss Lavinia is a daughter of Miss Seffens (Dehere), who is also the dam of GII Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner More Than Real (More Than Ready). Miss Lavinia is the dam of graded placed Arch Cat (Arch), as well as the dam of multiple Grade I placed Cassies Dreamer (Flatter).
Jay Em Ess Stable was making its first purchase of the yearling sale season, according to Koriner.
“She is very excited,” he said of Siegel. “She hasn’t bought any yearlings all year, she waited and she’s very excited to get a Cal-bred by Practical Joke.”
Barton Thoroughbreds also had sales success Tuesday with a filly by Palace Malice (hip 79) who sold for $135,000 to Legacy Ranch. The operation purchased her dam, Smiling Cruise, with this foal in utero, for $22,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November sale.
Nyquist Colt a Classic Purchase
Ocala horsewoman Danzel Brendemuehl returned to her California roots to purchase a colt by Nyquist (hip 83) in the name of her Classic Bloodstock as agent for partners Sasulito and Breckenridge Bloodstock in Pomona Tuesday.
“We loved everything about him,” Brendemuehl said. “He’s by Nyquist, he’s a California-bred and he’s a very nice colt. We are probably going to pinhook him in a Fasig-Tipton sale–probably Miami.”
Brendemuehl did not rule out a return trip to California for the yearling.
“California needs a 2-year-old sale and Boyd Browning is working real hard with Fasig-Tipton to make it happen,”@ she said. “If it happens, we’ll be here with that colt and we’ll top the sale.”
Hip 83 is out of Soul Crusader (Fusaichi Pegasus), a daughter of graded winner Michigan Bluff (Skywalker). He was consigned by Woodbridge Farm and was bred by Bud Petrosian who purchased the mare with this foal in utero for $22,000 at last year’s Keeneland January sale.
Also Tuesday, Brendemuehl purchased a colt by Smiling Tiger (hip 44) for $27,000. Coleen Smith’s Breckenridge Bloodstock returned later in the session to acquire a filly by City of Light (hip 208) for $170,000.
Slugo Racing Gets in on the Light’
Steve Gasparelli’s Slugo Racing added a colt by in-demand young sire City of Light to its roster when acquiring hip 171 for $260,000 Tuesday in Pomona.
“We like the City of Lights,” Gasparelli, who did his bidding alongside trainer Mike Puype, said. “We think he has a lot of potential as a stallion. And I really liked the way this colt looked, very correct. And the mare has dropped winners already. We only came for a couple and he was on our short list.”
The yearling is out of Chicalelee (Cherokee Run) and is a half-brother to stakes-placed Touchdown Brown (Cairo Prince). He was consigned by Bruno DeBerdt’s Excel Bloodstock on behalf of his breeder, PT Syndicate #1 LLC.
Impressive Return for Christophersons
Neal and Pam Christopherson, owners of Bar-C Racing Stables, enjoyed a huge return on their investment in the mare Joyce and Me (Discreet Cat) Tuesday. The couple purchased the mare, in foal to Stanford, for just $1,000 at the CTBA January sale in 2020. They sent the mare’s Stanford filly (hip 230) through the ring in Pomona to sell for $100,000 to Slugo Racing.
“That’s a nice return on the investment. I like to gamble on stuff that looks like that,” Neal Christopherson said.
Joyce and Me produced a filly by Stanford this year and was bred back to Harbor the Gold. Bar C Racing Stables was already coming off a big score in the sales ring this month. As part of a foal-share, the operation sold a filly by Uncle Mo out of Fresia (El Prado {Ire}) (hip 371) for $700,000 at the Keeneland September sale. The Christophersons purchased Fresia for $35,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. She was carrying subsequent multiple stakes winner Galilean (Uncle Mo) at that auction.