Bloodstock agent Brooke Hubbard finding success on a budget

A frugal buyer rarely makes headlines at Thoroughbred auctions, but bloodstock agent and racing manager Brooke Hubbard was the name on the lips of owners Steve Young and Greg Hall when their horse Blended Citizen won the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on Saturday at Turfway Park.

Hubbard secured the Proud Citizen colt for $85,000 at last year’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March 2-year-olds in training sale, on behalf of Young’s Sayjay Racing. Hall bought in soon after the drop of the hammer.

“Physically, he had a lot to offer,” Hubbard said of Blended Citizen. “You could tell he was really immature, but I figured why not take a shot? He was the right price. My budget is under $100,000, so I don’t have much to work with.”

Hubbard, 28, entered racing in 2014 after getting her base in the equine industry as a hunter-jumper and dressage rider in Southern California. She honed her eye for horseflesh as a show judge, and has zeroed in on Thoroughbreds through the mentorship of Dennis O’Neill, brother of Blended Citizen’s trainer, Doug O’Neill.

:: Get breeding & sales news, Beyer info, and more delivered right to your email!

Blended Citizen is the latest success in the partnership between Hubbard and Young, which also includes stakes winner Ms. Bad Behavior, bought for $75,000, and multiple allowance winner Mistressofthenight, who was secured for $60,000. In addition to buying racing prospects, Hubbard and Young also purchase yearlings to pinhook.

“I generally like longer-backed, longer-legged horses,” Hubbard said. “I somehow always tend to pick grass horses over dirt. It’s just what my eye attracts.”

While Blended Citizen hammered within the budget at the OBS March sale, bidding on the horse at all was a significant leap of faith. He covered a quarter-mile in 22 1/5 seconds during the pre-sale under-tack show, more than two full seconds slower than the sale’s fastest workers at the distance, and among the six horses with the slowest times.

Working in the colt’s favor was his page. Bred in Kentucky by Ray Hanson, Blended Citizen is a half-brother to Lookin At Lee, who was a Grade 1-placed stakes winner at the time of the sale, and finished second in the Kentucky Derby two months later. Grade 1-placed stakes winner Battlefield Angel is a full sister to Blended Citizen.

“It definitely was not the best time,” Hubbard said. “Most people buy the fast-breezing horses. He went 22 and 1/5, which is pretty slow, but his breeze looked good and he had good movement. When you saw him, it was the whole deal.

“I thought for sure he was a two-turn horse. You’re not going to go sprint with him.”

Hubbard made two purchases on behalf of Sayjay Racing at this year’s OBS March sale, buying a Morning Line colt for $75,000, and stretching to $120,000 for a Tizway filly.