In an exciting final hour of the May 22 session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in training, a Union Rags colt from Bobby Dodd's consignment was purchased for $925,000 by Michael Lund Petersen.
"I have no words," Dodd said of the price, second-highest of the two-day sale. "It was a nice horse. Everything went right and it ended right. That's about all I can say."
The colt, who turned in the show-stopping fastest eighth-mile breeze of :10 flat during the three-day under tack show, was offered as Hip 561. While the pace prior to his entering the ring was quiet, once he arrived there was no denying he was exactly what the audience had been waiting for as he set off a bidding war that surprised even Dodd.
"I was expecting it to bring the upside of $500,000," he said. "I didn't think we'd get that close to a million but I did think we'd get $650,000, maybe $750,000. But you know, you never know when lightning is going to strike in this business. That's why we do it.
"That is huge on this racetrack," Dodd said of the colt's under tack show time. "I'll take :10 2/5 all day long here, and :10 1/5 is awesome. But :10 flat with a gallop out like he had in :20 3/5 ... that's unbelievable. And then we came back and got my veterinarians and the horse had a good physical, so we are truly blessed. "
Named Tangled Union, the colt was bred in New York by Avanti Stable and was purchased for $90,000 by Grand Oaks from Paramount Sales' consignment at the 2017 Saratoga New York-bred preferred yearlings sale.
The bay 2-year-old is out of the winning Tale of the Cat mare Tanglewood Tale and is the second foal from his dam. He is a full brother to winner Big Thicket and a half brother to a yearling filly named Lemonina. Tanglewood Tale foaled a colt by Tiznow in 2018.
Union Rags is a sire of three crops including 2-year-olds of 2018. He entered stud in 2013 and stands at Lane's End Farm, where his advertised fee was $60,000 this year.
