Selecting the correct sale in which to enter a just-turned 2-year-old can be something of a crapshoot.
The consignor must predict the pace at which the youngster will develop in order to have it in top form when the auction takes place. With no less than eight juvenile sales spread out from March through June, there are plenty of opportunities for a horse to be entered in more than one sale.
Such was the case with a son of Scat Daddy cataloged as Hip 68 in next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales 2-year-olds and horses of racing age sale. Consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables, the colt is the top-priced previously purchased offering in the June 13-14 auction in Ocala, Fla.
The colt, bred in Kentucky by William Duignan and Tranquility Investments, is out of a winning Smart Strike mare who is a full sister to grade 2 winner Bel Air Beauty (the dam of Canadian champion Stacked Deck). Consigned to the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale by Paramount Sales, the colt was purchased for $260,000 by agent Justin Casse on behalf of a partnership group.
Entered in the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale that took place March 1, the colt breezed an eighth-mile in :10 3/5 but was withdrawn after getting only tepid interest from buyers.
"He is a lovely horse," Dunne said of the colt foaled April 3, 2015. "He went to (the Gulfstream sale), which was probably the wrong place for him, because he was a later foal and needed the extra time. He has developed well since Miami and he is a top-level horse."
Dunne also has another pricey pinhook prospect with Hip 362, a Super Saver filly who is a half sister to Firing Line , the 2015 Sunland Derby (G3) winner who went on to finish second in that year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1). Produced from the grade 1-placed mare Sister Girl Blues, the filly was also bought by Casse, as agent for JSM Equine, for $200,000 from breeder Clearsky Farms at the Keeneland yearling sale.
"She had an up-and-down winter for us and she is just now coming into herself," Dunne said of the filly, who will be making her first appearance in a 2-year-old sale and breezed an eighth of a mile in :10 2/5. "She is a beautiful filly with a smashing pedigree."
Three other 2-year-olds added to the sale as part of the supplemental catalog are also among the top pinhook prospects, Hip 721, 745, and 707 (see table).
| Hip | Description | Previous Price/Sale | Consignor |
| 68 | C., Scat Daddy—Intelyhente, by Smart Strike | $260,000/16KeeSept | Wavertree Stables (Ciaran Dunne), agt. |
| 721 | C., Street Sense—Miss Dolce, by Unbridled’s Song | $250,000/16FTSAug | Niall Brennan Stables, agt. |
| 745 | C., Curlin—Tapaline, by Eavesdropper | $220,000/16KeeSept | Brick City Thoroughbreds, agt. |
| 707 | C., Malibu Moon—Holiday Soiree, by Harlan’s Holiday | $210,000/16FTSAug | Bobby Dodd, agt. |
| 362 | F., Super Saver—Sister Girl Blues, by Hold for Gold | $200,000/16KeeSept | Wavertree Stables (Ciaran Dunne), agt. |
| Sale key: FTSAug—Fasig-Tipton Saratoga August selected yearling sale; KeeSept—Keeneland September yearling sale | |||