Everyone who spent any time around the second foal produced by stakes-placed Minesave knew without a doubt the chestnut daughter of Candy Ride was special.
The filly bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm stirred imaginations again April 26 when she became the highest-priced filly to sell on day 3 of the Ocala Breeders' Sales April 2-year-olds in training sale, selling for $650,000 to bloodstock agent Mike Ryan on behalf of Minnesota owner Jeff Drown.
"She was exceptional," said Ryan. "I saw her the week before the breeze show looking around the barns, and she knocked me out then. I was hoping she might breeze a little slow. No disrespect to the consignors or the owners, but I knew when she breezed as well as she did (:21 1/5) that it was going to be a battle, and it was."
"She looks like a filly that will run this summer at Saratoga, and she's bred to get two turns," Ryan continued. "You don't get many like this. Obviously, she was an expensive yearling. I give credit to those people because they bought an exceptional filly, and she showed it out here."
Ryan said the filly will be sent to trainer Chad Brown in New York.
Rick Kanter's Stallionaire Enterprises bought the filly as a yearling for $270,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale out of the Select Sales consignment. Kanter sent the filly to Brandon and Ali Rice's RiceHorse Stable to be broken and trained for the 2-year-old market.
"Whether you are racing her or selling her, she's a winner," said Brandon Rice, a third-generation Florida horseman. "We liked her from the moment she arrived at the farm as far as her looks and her attitude."
Ali Rice broke the filly and was in the saddle for her under tack show performance.
"She has the stride, the stamina, and the mental tenacity to handle the pressures of the game," she said. "Since about Christmas when we start to let them open up their strides a little bit with those two-minute licks, her ability on the racetrack really shone through. We knew she was a serious racing prospect and knew she would be a star."
Drown has been breeding and racing for several years, but he is now ratcheting up the quality of his stock, according to Ryan.
"He said to me, 'Find me something really good that you think is stakes quality, New York stakes quality,'" said Ryan. "The Malibu Moon filly (Hip 534) yesterday afternoon that made $700,000, it was a flip of a coin which one you were going to go for because they were both exceptional. We were pretty close on price."
Bloodstock agent Marette Farrell picked out the Malibu Moon filly for Speedway Stable owner Peter Fluor. She also picked out the Candy Ride filly for Stallionaire Enterprises at the Keeneland sale.
"Brandon and Ali did a great job with the filly. I love their program," Farrell said. "They keep the horses out during the winter without shoes, they take their time, and raise them to be racehorses. I want a good horse, but I also want a racehorse."
