Mr. Greeley good to pinhookers

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Tattersalls Craven 2-year-old sale in England that ended Thursday was a good one for American sire Mr. Greeley and for British- and Irish-based pinhookers that took a gamble on his progeny last year.

Juveniles by the Gone West stallion, who stands at Gainesway in Lexington for $125,000, were hot commodities at the English auction. Nine horses by Mr. Greeley sold there for a total of about $4,266,759 and an average price of approximately $474,084. They included the sale-topper, a daughter of the winning Silver Hawk mare Silver Kestrel, who sold for a sale-record filly price of 540,000 guineas, about $1,128,330. Three other Mr. Greeley juveniles sold for 300,000 guineas or more.

There's good reason for the English run on Mr. Greeley horses. The 16-year-old sire has had some excellent advertising in Britain and Europe. His leading earner is European champion Finsceal Beo, and he's also the sire of Irish Group 1 winner Saoirse Abu and English Group 1 winner Reel Buddy.

Mr. Greeley's overseas record spurred Irish and English yearling-to-juvenile resellers to keep him on the short list last year when they shopped for yearlings in Kentucky, where they were helped by a favorable exchange rate. Seven of the nine Mr. Greeley 2-year-olds at Tattersalls last week came out of the Keeneland September yearling auction. They ranged in cost from $45,000 for a colt out of Pracer that sold for about $355,215 at Tattersalls, to $260,000 for a colt out of Dehere of the Dog that brought about $783,562 in England.

The two Mr. Greeleys that did not graduate from Keeneland September also turned handsome profits at Tattersalls. The sale-topping daughter of Silver Kestrel previously sold as a yearling for about $132,921 at the Tattersalls October sale, while a filly out of Danse du Diable that sold for about $100,620 at Deauville last summer went on to make about $710,430 at Tattersalls.

Pinhooker Norman Williamson, a former National Hunt jockey who now operates Oak Tree Farm in Ireland with his wife, Janet, sold one of the less-expensive Mr. Greeleys, a daughter of Flashy Decorator that went for about $167,160. But he scored big with two other horses. Hip No. 158, a Dansili-Red Bravo colt that cost about $188,874 last year, brought about $1,023,855 on a final bid from Robert Ogden, whose success with Group 2 winner Sander Camillo has tempted him deeper into the flat-racing world after his time as a leading jump racing owner. Less than an hour earlier, Oak Tree Farm sent Hip No. 135 through the ring to sell for about $919,380 to trainer John Gosden, on behalf of an unidentified American buyer. The Invincible Spirit-Need You Badly colt cost about $105,179 last season.

American pinhooker Kip Elser of South Carolina-based Kirkwood Stables also was among those bringing 2-year-olds to Tattersalls. Kirkwood sold nine horses for about $1,159,672 for an average price of about $128,852. His consignment included a Thunder Gulch-Yvecrique colt that cost just $15,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale before selling at Tattersalls for about $66,864.

Four share top time at OBS

Four juveniles worked a furlong in 10 seconds Thursday to top the work tab at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's third under-tack session in Ocala, Fla.

The under-tack shows, which were to end Friday, showcase horses selling at the OBS spring 2-year-old sale Monday through Thursday.

The fastest horses over an eighth of a mile were Hip No. 782, an Officer-Not to Be Outdone filly; Hip No. 847, a City Zip-Play Po colt; Hip No. 896, a Langfuhr-Race to Glory filly; and Hip No. 997, a Pleasantly Perfect-Separata filly.

The quickest quarter-mile works, in 21 seconds, were put up by two colts and two fillies. The colts were Hip No. 718, a Songandaprayer-Miss Delta colt, and Hip No. 986, a High Yield-See U at My Window colt. The fillies were Hip No. 826, a Roar of the Tiger-Penn Central filly, and Hip No. 907, a Posse daughter out of Real Crafty Belle.

One juvenile had the day's fastest three-eighths-mile work. That was Hip No. 897, who breezed the distance in 33.40 seconds. She is a Gulf Storm filly out of Raging Dancer.

* The Kentucky International Equine Summit will take place April 28-29 at the Radisson Hotel in Lexington. The conference will feature speakers on three main topics: the well-being of the competitive horse, the equine economy in the 21st century, and the emerging science of horse breeding. More information is available at www.kyequinesummit.com.

* Three Chimneys has hired Jen Roytz as its communications director. Roytz, who replaces Margaret Layton, previously was executive director of Georgetown College's Equine Scholars Program in Georgetown, Ky.