With the 2-year-olds sale season hard upon us, BloodHorse MarketWatch editor Eric Mitchell contacted some of the leading pinhookers and breaking and training outfits to collect their insights on the progeny of this year's freshman sires.
WinStar Farm's Fed Biz (Giant's Causeway —Spunoutacontrol, Wild Again) has been one stallion consistently mentioned by pinhookers as a horse to watch at the Ocala Breeders' Sales March sale and the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale. His progeny sold well enough as yearlings to make him the fifth-leading sire of his class by average, with 57 sold for an average of $80,705. The sire has eight cataloged in the OBS March sale and five at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale. Seven of the horses cataloged at these sales brought a six-figure price as yearlings. The highest-priced pinhook is a $300,000 colt out of Lawless Miss (Posse), who is Hip 154 at Gulfstream sale and is consigned by De Meric Stable for Klaravich Stable.
Here are the observations Fed Biz's progeny from Ciaran Dunne of Wavertree Farm, Nick De Meric, Eddie Woods, Jeanne Mayberry, and John Gleason, general manager of Woodford Thoroughbreds' training center near Ocala, Fla.
Dunne: He looks to be a really exciting horse we are very high on. They are beautiful, lean horses with tremendous motion.
De Meric: His weanlings the previous November got our attention and his yearlings validated that early promise in terms of looks and athleticism. They are scopier than a lot of Giant's Causeways, but they all have that lovely body type and seem to be handling the pressure well.
Woods: They're good-minded horses, very nice horses. They are pretty precocious-looking and very forward. The whole training process doesn't bother them, getting broken and going on and working them a little bit, they take it in stride.
Mayberry: I have two fillies that are very good, I really like both of them. They look like they will be precocious and they are good-minded. They went through the breaking process with no problem, they have handled training with no problem. I am still turning my horses out after they train and they come back in, no problem. They look like they have some class and want to eat, sleep, and train. They are not big, heavy horses. They are racy-looking and well-balanced.
Gleason: I have a filly for a client who is going to the races. I have had her for 60 days. She is a big, strong filly that moves well. She has a lot of frame to grow into, so I think she'll (mature) a little later. I can remember seeing some of his yearlings I thought would be more precocious-type horses, so I don't think that's the case with this crop, just this one. We tried to buy a few and couldn't get it done. They walked good, looked good, and had a lot of substance.
During the next few days, BloodHorse Daily will profile other freshman sires whose juveniles are standing out ahead of the 2-year-olds in training sales. They will be presented alphabetically and include Flashback , Goldencents , Noble Mission , Strong Mandate , Verrazano , and Will Take Charge . Some of the regional stallions attracting attention will be profiled as well and include Florida sires He's Had Enough and Uncaptured and New York sire Central Banker . More in-depth statistical information for all the freshman sires will be available in the BloodHorse MarketWatch section of the March 10 BloodHorse Magazine.
