One of Top Prospects Withdrawn from Saratoga Sale

The Saratoga select yearling sale has lost one of its top prospects, it was learned Thursday. Bill Casner and Kenny Troutt have scratched the bay Storm Cat colt that they bred in the name of their WinStar Farm near Versailles, Ky. The colt was scheduled to be sold on opening night (Aug. 5) by Lane's End. Produced from the multiple graded winner Colcon (by Pleasant Colony), the colt is a full brother to Felidae, who brought a $900,000 bid from John Ferguson Bloodstock at last year's Keeneland September yearling sale.

A spokeman for WinStar Farm declined to comment on Thursday morning about the reason for scratching the colt, which was one of only three Storm Cat offspring in the auction. WinStar bred the Storm Cat--Tacha colt that topped this year's Keeneland July select yearling sale at $3.1 million. Taylor Made Sales Agency was the consignor.

"Obviously, we're disappointed," said Boyd Browning, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Fasig-Tipton, which conducts the Saratoga auction. "He's a very nice yearling, and he would have sold very well."

Browning added that the colt was considered "a potential sale topper."