Machmer Hall big shots of Midlantic winter sale

The Brogden family’s Machmer Hall operation has been a longtime believer in the “leave no stone unturned” philosophy.

That is perhaps best demonstrated by the success of Life Happened, a mare bought deep in the 2008 Keeneland November breeding stock sale catalog for $4,500 who went on to produce two-time champion Tepin and Grade 2 winner Vyjack.

The Paris, Ky., farm takes a similar stance on yearling pinhooks and has made the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic winter mixed sale a regular place to shop, especially for horses born into statebred programs and sired by young stallions.

Machmer Hall has purchased the most expensive weanling or newly turned yearling in each of the auction’s past three renewals, and it bought the second-highest weanling four editions ago. The only break in its run at the top of the young-horse market came in 2015, when a move on the calendar from December to January meant the auction was not held that year.

Machmer Hall is owned by Craig and Carrie Brogden and Carrie’s mother, Sandy Willwerth. Carrie Brogden is also a partner in consignor Select Sales, whose weanling and short-yearling purchases are pinhooked during the proper yearling auction season.

At the recently completed Midlantic sale, Machmer Hall made three purchases totaling $104,000, led by the sale-topper, a $70,000 Pennsylvania-bred Dialed In colt. The operation also landed a pair of colts from the first crop of Mucho Macho Man, one for $19,000 and the other for $15,000.

Continuing the run of notable streaks at the sale, the Dialed In colt’s purchase marked the second straight year that Machmer Hall bought the sale-topper at the Midlantic sale.

Last year, the Brogdens purchased a $76,000 Curlin colt to lead the trade. The colt, also a Pennsylvania-bred, was resold to Repole Stable for $180,000 at the most recent Keeneland September yearling sale.

In 2014, Machmer Hall made a first-crop Shackleford colt the auction’s most expensive weanling, and its second-most-expensive overall offering, dropping the hammer at $48,000. A year prior, the Brogdens landed the auction’s second-highest-priced weanling, a first-crop Trappe Shot filly, for $62,000.