Oaklawn: Now I Know sold, headed to Kentucky
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Now I Know, a Grade 3 winner of 6 of 7 starts who was recently retired because of injury, has been sold privately and was to ship from Oaklawn Park to Kentucky on Wednesday, said trainer Don Von Hemel, who raced the filly with Wayne Stockseth.
Now I Know was purchased by Sy and Bonnie Baskin, who operate Blue Heaven Farm, a commercial breeding operation in Lexington, Ky. They are a client of Vinery, said Steve Castagnola, the director of bloodstock services at Vinery who brokered the transaction with Pedigree Consultants.
“They’re excited to own her,” Castagnola said of the Baskins. “Right now, they’re mulling over breeding options. We think we have it narrowed down to three options. We are deciding between More Than Ready, Congrats, and Tiznow.”
Castagnola said Now I Know was to ship to Blue Heaven Farm.
Now I Know suffered her first career loss in the $75,000 Martha Washington for 3-year-old fillies at Oaklawn on Feb. 11. She finished second in the race, from which she emerged with a fractured left knee. Now I Know underwent surgery in Oklahoma, and has since returned to Oaklawn.
“She’s stabilized,” Von Hemel said Monday. “Everything went great.”
Castagnola said Vinery had followed the career of Now I Know, an Oklahoma-bred daughter of Pure Prize whose biggest career win came in the Grade 3, $500,000 Delta Downs Princess in November. She also won the $50,000 Dixie Belle at Oaklawn in January.
“Pure Prize stands at Vinery, so she was a filly we were watching closely,” said Castagnola. “It’s a shame we didn’t get to see all she was capable of. I think she was a Grade 1 filly in the making.”
Castagnola said Now I Know’s natural speed and her ability to carry it over a distance of ground made her an appealing broodmare prospect. He also liked that Now I Know was just the first foal from her dam, Now U Know. Castagnola said Now U Know, owned by Von Hemel and Stockseth, has been booked back to Pure Prize.
Now I Know retires with earnings of $461,721.