OCALA, Fla. – Perhaps as much as anyone, Brent Fernung is the face of the horse industry in this sprawling town. Fernung has been an Ocala mainstay since migrating from southern Indiana in 1976, and although his business is faring better than average, he is not without his woes.
“I’m fortunate in that my horses are doing well,” said Fernung, 57. “But it’s sure not like I hit the lottery. I’m struggling to pay my bills like everybody else.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. - A $245,000 Indian Charlie filly who is closely related to two-time champion Indian Blessing topped Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's winter mixed sale here.
SF Bloodstock purchased the dark bay or brown yearling from the Gainesway agency. The filly is out of the stakes-placed Matchlite mare Lady's Legacy, the second dam of Indian Blessing. Indian Blessing, also by Indian Charlie, was 2007's champion juvenile filly and 2008's champion female sprinter.
The session-leading filly sold as Hip No. 76.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – An $245,000 Indian Charlie filly who is closely related to two-time champion Indian Blessing led early selling Monday at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky’s winter mixed sale here.
SF Bloodstock purchased the dark bay or brown yearling from the Gainesway agency. The filly is out of the stakes-placed Matchlite mare Lady’s Legacy, the second dam of Indian Blessing. Indian Blessing, also by Indian Charlie, was 2007’s champion juvenile filly and 2008’s champion female sprinter.
The session-leading filly sold as Hip No. 76.
The Ocala Breeders Sales Company has cataloged 490 juveniles to its 2011 March select 2-year-old auction, set for March 15-16 at the company’s facility in Ocala, Fla. Each session is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.
Under-tack previews will take place March 10 (Hip Nos. 1-244) and March 11 (Hip Nos. 245-490), starting at 8 a.m. The sale and under-tack shows will stream live at www.obssales.com. The auction follows the OBS Championship Stakes races on March 14.
Robert LaPenta's Grade 2 winner Cool Coal Man will enter stud this year at Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds near Ocala, Fla. A 6-year-old Mineshaft horse, he will stand for $5,000 live foal.
Cool Coal Man won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth in 2008, one of five stakes he captured at ages 3, 4, and 5. He placed in six others, most notably finishing third behind Big Brown in the 2008 Haskell. He retires with 10 wins from 30 lifetime starts and earnings totaling $929,728.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Evening Jewel, The Usual Q.T., and Unzip Me are the finalists for the 2010 California-bred Horse of the Year award, which will be announced Feb. 15.
Already this year, Evening Jewel is campaigning to be included on the list of 2011 finalists.
Owned by Marilyn Braly and trained by Jim Cassidy, Evening Jewel was a two-time Grade 1 winner in 2010 – the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland in April and the Del Mar Oaks on turf in August. She also was second by a nose in the Kentucky Oaks in April, losing to eventual champion 3-year-old filly Blind Luck.
Two-time champion Lookin At Lucky will have at least 17 Grade or Group 1 winners or producers in his first book, Coolmore Stud revealed Friday.
The Grade 1 winners booked to the first-season sire in 2011 include Take Charge Lady, who won back-to-back runnings of the Spinster Stakes in 2002 and 2003.
LEXINGTON, Ky. − As the Thoroughbred world speculates about what a Bernardini-Zenyatta foal might look like, there are a handful of people in the sport who already have an inkling.
This possible hint of things to come is named Eblouissante, and she is Zenyatta’s 2-year-old half-sister by Bernardini – the closest thing available to the mating cross Ann and Jerry Moss are planning for their reigning Horse of the Year.
Two-time champion Indian Blessing produced her first foal, a Zensational colt, at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms in Kentucky on Sunday, Jan. 30.
Indian Blessing, a 6-year-old by Indian Charlie, was champion juvenile filly in 2007 and champion sprint female in 2008. She earned more than $2.9 million and won five Grade 1 races: the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and Frizette in 2007 and the Test, La Brea, and Prioress in 2008.
Zensational, a three-time Grade 1 winner by Unbridled’s Song, stands at Hill ’n’ Dale for $22,500 this year.
Breeder and owner Saud bin Khaled, the Saudi prince who bred Group 1 winner Biondetti and 2008 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Maram, died Monday at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after an unspecified illness.
He was 72.
