How'd You Do 2016

Auctions Annual Select Auction
1

I said that I want to buy just one horse… and came home with four  ::) but I didn’t spend as much money as I thought, so that is good.

[color=red]Intricate - this is that only horse I really wanted to buy, and surprisingly her reserve was rather low (comparing to others) and no one else wanted her. She is a tall, but unraced 2yo filly by NCh. The Fighting Fifty (B), out of Ch. Gilded Affair. I quite like her sire, and the dam has a speed record on turf and placed in many stakes races, even at the age of 6. She was running really good from age 3 to 6 so hopefully her daughter will do the same.

Then I bought two yearlings and a weanling filly, which adds some renaming fun :wink:
[color=red]
Esprit d’Escalier - 15.0h bay yearling filly by Holy Bull (B), out of Ch. Winning Strike. Holy Bull is a real-life Hall Of Fame horse which is going to be retired next year, so it’s always nice to have his daughter. Dam was really successful from age 4 to 6, with a speed record on dirt. “Definition of: Esprit d’Escalier” -  thinking of a witty remark too late; hindsight wit or afterwit. The French call it the staircase wit, indicating that one thought of that perfect retort on his or her way out.

[color=blue]Aguirre - 16.0h chestnut yearling colt by Smart Strike (B), out of Wonder Why (B). Dad is another real-life Hall Of Fame horse, but this colt’s dam line is really impressive: second dam is a Gold rated Reine-de-Course (I) Ashleigh’s Wonder (dam of ICh. Prince Of Wonder), and third dam is Gold rated Reine-de-Course (B/I) Townsend Holly (dam of stallion Ch. Mr. Townsend). So I hope that this will be another stud. Lope de Aguirre was a Basque Spanish conquistador in South America. Nicknamed El Loco, ‘the Madman’, Aguirre is best known for his final expedition, down the Amazon river, in search of the mythical El Dorado.

[color=red]Lointaine - 12.3h bay weanling filly by Octagonal (B), out of GCh. Little Lass (S). Octagonal is another real-life champion that is going to be retired next year :wink: and dam is silver rated mare with Eclipse Award for 2004 three year old filly. Grandsire is Chef-de-Race (I) Crimson Lad, Gold rated as a broodmare sire. So this is definetely a nice and unique pedigree. Princesse lointaine, (in French, “distant princess”) is a stock character from medieval romances.

All four costed $100,000.

Last year I bought only one filly, [color=red]Embellished. She made us wait quite long until she finally decided to run, but now she’s multiple stakes placed (grade 1 and 2) and her dam is now Gold rated, so it was worth waiting.

2

Well I said I wasn’t going to look, but I did, I wanted Lasting Spirit where I own his sire, but he was out of my price range. So I went through bloodlines to find some gems.

[color=red]Grace and Style-An 8yo broodie by Abracadabra Who produced just 5 foals With Mumbojumbo(s)being the only unraced and prob most well know producer. (of which I own her oldest SW crack the code) her dam produced 11 foals 8 winners only 1 unplaced. She is an SW herself.She comes in foal to Dixie Time.$75k

[color=red]Count me Twice- a 2yo filly by King David out of Royal assault.( X-Conspiracy Theory-G)((who is the sire of my mare crack the code)) Her dam has produced all winners so far with 2 sp ponies. I like king David and with the addition of the conspiracy lines I was hoping nobody else saw the combo. $40k

[color=blue]Superman Snuggler-A cute yearling, the name caught my eye, he is by simply heroic, which I hadn’t really heard much about but his record is pretty good, and hes produced a 53% success rate in runners. He has multi SP/SW babies. His dam has just 1 racing unplaced as of yet. I’m hoping he takes after dad, I might be sending some girls to him In the future! $25k

Have 2 more bids going, taxes are going to get me! Lol  :smiley:

3

So the one mare I REALLY wanted (for sentimental reasons, I owned her dam Reason Enough) was Optimistic. Unfortunately $900,000 was my cap and she sold for over that. Oh well… Cricket Hill, maybe a deal for a foal in the future? :wink:

I ended up with the following ponies

[color=red]Central Park
[WCh. Highland Bandit (G) x Pardon Me Mister (S)]
Purchased this champion, MSP broodmare for her lines. Shes currently in foal to Silver Charm
Price: $75,000

[color=red]GCh. Water Nymph
[Created]
This created mare had a fantastic running career, very very rarely running below 4th place. She is a SILVER placed broodmare with only one foal currently running as a 2yo. She is in foal to Chivalry who is relatively unproven as a stud.
Price: $150,000

[color=red]Unnamed
[ICh. Candidate (G) x Stayalittlelonger]
Had to battle for this filly a bit, I love her bloodlines. I mean a Candidate (Whats It Worth) foal crossed with a Highland Bandit foal, thats often a pretty deadly combination. Candidate’s foals have so far been very successful and I look forward to running this weanling. Worth every penny!
She has been named Young At Heart
Price: $120,500

[color=blue]Unnamed
[NCh. Call To War x Ch. Kickedouttadaclub]
I’m surprised no one else jumped on this boy. I don’t really have any Man Of War lines so figured this guy would be a good one to snatch up. Call To War is a new stallion, his first foals hit the track in 2017 and i’m looking forward to seeing them run.  Kickedouttadaclub had a phenomenal racing career, its too bad she wasn’t raced longer. She only had 11 starts and became a champion in only 11 starts. She never placed below 3rd and her one and only stakes race she won, not too shabby! This colt is her first foal. I look forward to seeing this boy run, I think he has alot of potential.
He has been named Battle Royal
Price: $15,000

[color=blue]Unnamed
[WCh. Crystal Rainbow (S) x Cherokee Glory]
Another boy i’m surprised that no one went after. Crystal Rainbow is a fabulous stallion with some really nice running foals, I also don’t have too many Crystal Rainbow foals in my stable so I could use the lines. Cherokee Glory is a deceased mare with only 3 foals on the ground, one is a 2yo but has never raced. She is a SW and SP with only 10 lifetime starts. She made $650,000 in a very short racing career.
He has been named Chasing Rainbows
Price: $25,000

4

Well the last 2 went through, I renamed the Yearling colt and named the weanling

[color=blue]Hometown Hero A dark bay,(previously hope of the town) by mr Townsend out of Don’t give up.
Of course no need to go on about his sire, and his dam has produced 11 foals,9 racing,8 winners,2 SW, 1 MSW,and a millionaire. I’m hoping this guy inherits some of that talent. I own a few Townsend line horses and only my 2yo filly is unplaced.$30k

[color=blue]Home Invasion A strawberry roan.by cool thief out of Almost classy.His sire had a good career and his first crop hits the track next spring. His dam Has produced 2 foals so far, him being the youngest, I’ll have to watch when his sib hits the track next spring! $25k

5

All my top choices went far beyond my price range, including the yearling I really really wanted (350k+), and really I shouldn’t be spending any money but I felt like I had to bring SOMETHING home!

[color=blue]Planet Hell, 12.3hh black weanling colt
By retired NCh. Gimme a Shot (S) out of Ch. West L.A. Fadeaway by Planet Hollywood (S). I have little to no Planet Hollywood in my herd, and I really like this guy. Planet Hell is the first foal out of West L.A. Fadeaway, a stakes winning half-sister to 3 MSW’s and 2 additional SW’s. Two of those half-sisters have produced a SW or SP foal. Really hopeful about this guy! 30k.

6

Came home with five, three from the original wish list and two afterthoughts  :slight_smile:

[color=blue]Unnamed Weanling colt by FFCh TakeMeToHollywood out of GCh Mississippi (Irish River). Got this little guy for his reserve of $30,000 which I was really surprised about considering his pedigree. His sire needs no introduction and his dam is a MSW, MSP daughter of NCh American Black who’s last two foals sold for high prices at this sale last year. He’s his dam’s first foal so who knows what potential he may have.

Second on the wish list was [color=red]Ch My Little Runaway. Very excited to get her for her reserve of $125,000. She is a daughter of CDR sire Run For It and out of Time’s Healing, herself a daughter of RDC mare Tea Time, making her a half sister to the dams of ICh What’s Your Point and ICh Witness. There’s plenty of other stakes performers in the family. Runaway is MSW, MSP herself and is due to Tiznow in mid-January.

We also secured SW, MSP created mare [color=red]Ch Dynamyte  She’s still running as a 6yo but a decision on whether she races again is yet to be made. As a strawberry roan with a bald face and four stockings I think she’s officially the flashest horse in the barn.

The two other mares we picked up were [color=red]Ch Starry-Eyed a SW, SWP daughter of Sir Barton. Her pedigree’s less common plus she’s due to Strider in March. [color=red]Too Cute Too Skip is a SP created mare in foal to Spock. Also cost $75,000.

7

Ended up coming home with five broodmares/yearlings. I was originally after [color=red]Optimistic but she was a little pricey even for me (I’m sure she’ll throw some MSW’s just to contradict that now).  I spent a bit of money, but I wanted some new/different bloodlines for the barn.

[color=red]Savethebestforlast
Bold Ruler (G) x Grand Finale (G)
8yo blood bay broodmare

Couldn’t resist picking up a 1/2 sibling to ICh. Dr. Evil, GCh. Supreme Justice, and 5 other SW’s. Can never have enough Bold Ruler lines in the barn either so it was a win-win for us. She is in foal to Oscillation for 2017.

[color=red]Ch. Legally Bay
Ch. Heza Gallant Gent (B) x Jacket Required (G)
9yo bay broodmare

1/2 sibling to GCh. Battle Strike, NCh. Formal Occasion & NCh. Ilsaheri.  Again I was looking for bloodlines we were lacking (Class Act, Gallant Fox) and couldn’t resist a mare originally bred by Central Coast Lodge  :wink:  She is in foal from Silver Wizard for 2017.

[color=red]Ch. Bright Belles
NCh. Government Secret (B) x Ch. Flames of War (S)
4yo chestnut broodmare

Just couldn’t resist a grand-daughter of Playing With Fire who was Platinum & Reine-de-Course I/C rated (ICh. Ring of Fire, FFCh. Can’t Catch Me, WCh. Do You Dare). We already had Tempting Fate, but I wanted another one, Shanthi  :wink:  She is in foal from Holy Bull for 2017.

[color=blue]Phantomized
FFCh. High Chances (S) x ICh. Evening Twilight (B)
black yearling colt

Apparently looking at my barn/this auction I get drawn in by names with flame/fire in them :wink:  Evening Twilight’s dam is Platinum/Reine-de-Course B/I rated Evening Flame (ICh. Twilight Embers) Just was drawn to him and good solid bloodlines.

[color=red]Best Gal
Tiznow (B) x Ch. Celtic Princess (G)
bay yearling filly

1/2 sibling to ICh. Celtic Glory, GCh. War Engine and other SW/SPs. From the lines of Irish River as well, so I couldn’t resist this girl.

Total Damage: [color=red]$730,500 but still cheaper than buying Optimistic  :wink:

8

I had wanted a couple of decent broodmares but in the end settled for just the one:
[color=red]Danzig Queen (Danzig x Best Bet) she is half to my mare NCh Best Queen and I have no Danzig bloodlines in my stable so she was the main one I wanted - but went waaaay over budget for her  :astonished:
So no more pretty ponies for me this auction - hope she throws some decent foals  :wink:

9

Good luck with her! :slight_smile: I hope she does well for you.

10

We aimed for 5, came home with 4, and are pretty happy with our new ponies. :slight_smile:

[color=blue]Take Me Away, 11yo stallion, Cigar (G) x Take Account §. We love Cigar, and are really interested to see what this young stallion will do. His first crop hit the track this year, and he already has two winners and six placed horses from 15 to race.

[color=blue]Thin Client, 2yo colt, Take Me Away x Have A Hayday. He’s pretty big for a baby, so we’ll have to see what he can do on the track. His mom was a MSW on the track, and he’s her first foal.

[color=red]Rock Star, 8yo created mare. She was a MSW millionaire on the track, and has a weanling filly by Chivalry. She’s in foal to What’s Debatable for 2017, which was one of the main attractions, as well as the fact that we have very few created mares in our herd.

[color=red]Cameo Way, 2yo filly, Stressed x Brilliant Gold. She’s placed in 3 starts, and is still quite small, so time will tell what she can do. She’s the first foal from her MSW millionaire dam.

So, four ponies (plus we sold one! So really three :wink:) for just over $1.25mil. Not bad for us.

11

Well, I told myself I wasn’t going to purchase anything this time around, but of course I got sucked in again by all the pretty ponies…

We came home with 4 this year.  Some more expensive than they were probably worth but we are glad to have them anyway.

[color=red]Ch. Go West (Red Sunset (S) X Jet Set Go(G))
We just love the Jet Set Go lines and couldn’t pass on the rare Red Sunset cross.  She comes to us in foal to War Chant which is a bonus.  Purchased for a meager 125K.

[color=red]GCh. Valid Ballad (Created)
This mare holds multiple speed records and won a 2013 Eclipse Award as Steeplechase Mare.  She’s a MSW and a millionaire who raced until age 7 where she was still showing promise but was retired after a second place finish in the Spectacular Bid stakes.  Would have been neat to see how she did the rest of the year…but then again that maybe would have made her more expensive.  She’s in foal to Boldness Shows and was purchased for $550,500.

[color=red]GCh. Engaging (Created)
Another created mare with a decent but short racing career.  She was golden as a 2yo winning 3 grade 1 stakes including winning against stallion WCh. Express Yourself in the Golden Slipper Stakes.  She’s a MSW Multi-millionaire and raced a few races into her 4yo year where she won 2 of 3 races.  We are excited that she comes in foal to Dark Demand and can’t wait to get her bred to Nightfight next year for another 2yo monster. :wink:  She was our most expensive purchase at 800,500.

And last but not least is [color=blue]Night Of Angles (WCh. Nightfight § X Angels Away)
He is a cute black yearling Nightfight colt.  I missed out on a couple earlier in the year and needed one more for next year. :slight_smile:  Mom was a Grade 1 stake winner at 3 and unraced at 2.  I’d like to think she was an early maturer and will cross well with Nightfight.  :wink:  Other than that he’s still kinda small and his siblings have yet to do anything on the track despite being barely raced.  Bought for 200,500 so hopefully we still have room for profit.

So we spent nearly 1.7 million.  Back to the drawing board…:stuck_out_tongue:

12

After I bought four ponies instead of just one, why not buy the fifth?  ::)

A yearling filly joined the herd - Iyaiyai by Giant’s Causeway (B), out of Always In Trouble, by Citation (B). Because how can I not have any Citation blood in my herd? And my two other fillies by Giant’s Causeway are very successsful. Iyaiyai is from January and she already reached her estimated height. She is named after a fossil chaoborid fly :wink:

13

I typically try to avoid the large pricetags of the Select Auction, but for once, I had money in the account to a level that I could justify.  Still, several good-looking horses became less appealing when I realized how high up the reserves on them must be.  So I ended up with 3 whom I considered a good deal for the price:

[color=red]IT’S ALL YOURS is a multi-stakes placed broodmare who comes in foal to the new stallion, Dixie Time.  She is half sister to our stakes winning Ch. Twirlaway, which is part of the appeal.  In addition, her sire is gold-rated AND rare - Forget It.  He only had 7 daughters, including It’s All Yours.  I’m excited to play around with her matchmaking and see how this girl’s pedigree crosses with others.

[color=red]WAR CAT is a petite created monster of a sprinter - while only stakes placed, she holds 2 speed records in sprints.  She is in foal to Octagonal.

[color=red]WINNING IN STYLE is a promising looking yearling filly.  While her parents don’t look too impressive on paper (as producers, according to their bronze rankings), they have a number of stakes offspring between them.  Her sire is fairly new - his first, small crop is only 4, and all of them are at least winners, if not stakes placed/stakes winner - about 50% are stakes level.  Her dam has produced all winners except for one, including multi-stakes winner Ch. Margarita Rose.  Her dam is also 1/2 to our broodmare, Fizzix, and to MSW GCh. Torrid - I’m a fan.  The only regret with this purchase?  I was a dumb-dumb, and outbid my own valid bid on accident.  D’oh.

14

Came to the Auction looking to buy four. Got the four that we wanted, although we had to fight for one of them.

2 Broodmares
[color=red]Ch. Deborah, 9yo Broodmare by our newly retired sire [color=blue]WCh. What’s Debatable out of  [color=red]Last Loser. We wanted to get some of the [color=blue]What’s Debatable bloodline in the stable. She has two foals and is in foal to [color=blue]NCh. Lasting Spirit for March of next year. 200k (a bit more than we had anticipated spending but still acceptable).

[color=red]Ch. Stereotype,  8yo Broodmare by [color=blue]Secretariat out of our broodmare [color=red]Whirlagirl. She has a weanling filly and is in foal to [color=blue]WCh. Strider for March of next year. $75K.

2 Unnamed Weanling Fillies
By our Stallion [color=blue]GCh. Tottenham Hotspur out of [color=red]Obligatory Manner. First foal for the dam. Has been renamed [color=red]Tottenham’s Way. $30.5K.

By [color=blue]WCh. What’s Debatable out of silver rated [color=red]Executive Session. The dam has produced 3 MSW’s and 1 Millionaire. Has been renamed [color=red]PresidentialDebate. $156.5K. (Was made to fight hard for her after somebody outbid me with about 15 minutes to go in the 24 hour window early on the second day of the Auction).

Ended up spending $462K (had budgeted $500K) so am not unhappy with the outcome.

Have added one more to our wish list and will update this report when that Auction has finished.

[Updated 9/10]

Successfully bid on the last horse:-
[color=red]Fairly Odd, 7yo bm by [color=blue]Whirlaway out of [color=red]Fairly Even. She is in foal to our home-bred stallion, [color=blue]Tottenham Hotspur, and is due early April, 2017. $125k.