Lexington Yearling Sale: Brother to Father Patrick tops sale at $475,000
History has a way of repeating itself. At least that is what trainer Jimmy Takter was thinking when he plunked down $475,000 at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale for HIP 80, Custom Fit, a full brother to current stable standout Father Patrick.
The Brittany Farms-bred Custom Fit is by Cantab Hall out of Gala Dream. The pairing has already produced a millionaire in former 2-year-old Trotting Colt of the Year Pastor Stephen and the top ranked rookie trotting colt of 2013, Father Patrick.
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“To us he was the number one horse in the sale. The way he moved; the way he looked. I just had to take him,” said Takter.
“He was tough to fault,” he continued. “All of his previous brothers have been very nice horses. We paid $65,000 for Pastor Stephen, I think, and $105,000 for Father Patrick last year, and both have done well so far. I was afraid I would have to go higher on him. There are a lot of European players here and they want a horse like that. It is tough to find a really nice trotting colt like him.”
Takter purchased the Pennsylvania-eligible bay colt for the same group that owns Father Patrick. And while he loves the colt, the name is another story.
“I don’t like the name he has; Custom Fit,” said Takter, who already picked out God Almighty as the colt’s replacement moniker. “We have to stay the religious path. It has worked for us.”
Hammered down a close second in the sale-topper list was HIP 57, Mr Lucky Luke. The $450,000 purchase by John Cancelliere is by first crop sire Lucky Chucky out of Graceful Touch.
“He’s a beautiful horse; he looks just like Lucky Chucky,” said Cancelliere about the Hunterton Farm-bred colt. “And what is better than him going back to the place that Lucky Chucky trained, Magical Acres (the former farm of Chuck Sylvester and now owned by Cancelliere).
The night started off with a bang when HIP 2, Bright Eyes, a New Jersey-bred daughter of Muscle Hill-Caught My Eye brought $260,000. The Diamond Ride Farm yearling was scooped up by Robert Lindstrom for Swedish interests.
Also checking in at the $260,000 mark was HIP 64, Madrid, a New York-eligible black colt from Hunterton Farm. The April foal is by Credit Winner and out of Starcelona.
On Tuesday, 105 yearlings went through the ring for a total of $9,064,000 and an average price of $86,324, which was basically flat from the first day of 2012 ($86,455).
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Thirty-six horses sold for at least $100,000, with four coming in below the $10,000 mark. Topping the $100,000 list of sires was Somebeachsomewhere with seven reaching the plateau. Credit Winner and the first crop of Rock N Roll Heaven came in second with five each.
The Lexington Selected sale continues on Wednesday, October 2 with the first horse coming into the ring at 7pm.