To sell a $3,000 yearling and watch him score impressively in stakes company at 3 would be discouraging for some people. But not Donald Schmidt.
"It's as much of a thrill winning with the ones I've bred as the ones I own," says Schmidt, who celebrated the first stakes win of his career with Call Me Clash's front-running three-length victory in the Horatius Stakes on March 3 at Laurel Park.
California's Barretts March select juvenile auction will take place Tuesday in a sale season that, so far, is showing signs of getting over last year's mania.
Recent select 2-year-old auction returns have returned to earth after a record-breaking season last year, and Barretts officials are hoping for a sound, profitable auction, with maybe some million-dollar cream on top.
The Barretts March sale has some positives lining up in its favor.
Several New York stallions will be represented by their first crops of runners when 2-year-old racing gets under way this spring and summer.
Let's take a look at two of the eight known first-crop sires. Others will be covered in next Sunday's column.
Desert Warrior: This son of Deputy Minister entered stud at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where he has remained since 2004. His 2007 fee is $3,000.
The Adena Springs Farm's auction of 2-year-olds in training takes place on Monday, March 26, with a 5 p.m. starting time. The sale will be held at Adena Springs's Williston, Fla., farm and training site, approximately 20 miles north of Ocala. The Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. manages the auction, and this year 141 Adena Springs homebreds are cataloged for this sale.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Keep an eye on the California-breds that sell for big prices at Tuesday's Barretts March sale of 2-year-olds in training. Recent history indicates that one of them could become a major stakes winner.
In 2005, the California-bred Brother Derek was sold for $275,000. He won the 2006 Santa Anita Derby. Last year, Notional was sold for $235,000. He has won two graded stakes this year - the San Rafael and Risen Star stakes - and is among the top Kentucky Derby hopefuls.
At this year's sale, there are 17 California-breds among the 200
LEXINGTON, Ky. - With a victory in the Gulfstream Park Handicap, Corinthian has reasserted his ranking among the best racehorses in the country. This appeared to be the case a year ago when the handsome chestnut son of Pulpit finished first in the Fountain of Youth, a race that his sire had won in 1997.
A poorly chosen path to the wire, however, cost Corinthian the victory. He was disqualified and dropped to third in the Grade 2 race. A subsequent physical issue kept him on the sidelines until earlier this season.
Two New York-bred colts who each brought $400,000 topped the state's contingent at last Tuesday's Fasig-Tipton Calder selected 2-year-olds in training sale.
First through the ring, as Hip No. 110, was a son of Stormy Atlantic out of the Conquistador Cielo mare Quistador, from the consignment of Nick de Meric, agent.
A half-brother to stakes winners Sophisticated Cielo and Patuxent River, the colt was purchased by Doug O'Neill and descends from the family of Coaching Club American Oaks winner Two Altazano.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The partners that sold the recent Fasig-Tipton Calder sale-topper, a $2.5 million Storm Cat colt bought by Coolmore agent Demi O'Byrne, haven't all met each other face to face. But they have three things in common: a willingness to play the volatile and risky yearling-to-juvenile pinhooking game, trainer Hoby Kight, and exceptional luck. Now they have also achieved a personal best at auction, thanks to the well-bred colt they bought for $1 million as a yearling.
ARCADIA, Calif. - When Bettersweetmoment and Phar to Win start in stakes for California-breds next weekend, rivals owners and trainers can only shake their heads and move on. The ex-claimers could have been their horses.
Considering how their careers began, both Bettersweetmoment and Phar to Win have made remarkable ascensions to this level. Bettersweetmoment has won 8 of 11 starts, while Phar to Win has won 5 of 8. They won optional claiming races a few hours apart on March 1 to emphasize their excellent form.
Mike and Britt Mulligan's Leprechaun Racing was among the many pinhooking operations doing business at this past Tuesday's Fasig-Tipton Calder auction of 2-year-olds in training. For the record, Leprechaun Racing cataloged 10 pinhooked 2-year-olds to this sale, representing a yearling investment of $1,429,000. Two of these were not sold and three more had to be scratched, leaving five which brought bids of $1,325,000. The two listed as unsold cost a total of $305,000.