LEXINGTON, Ky. - If there is anything better than a classic winner for a stallion's reputation, don't tell Northern Afleet. The dramatic Preakness victory of his son Afleet Alex was the crowning moment in an outstanding year for the stallion, who has nearly completed his first season at stud in Kentucky at Taylor Made Farm.
And although siring a winner of the Preakness is a grand accomplishment, Kentucky breeders were high on the potential of the young stallion before the Maryland classic.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Cash Is King Stable, which owns recent Preakness winner Afleet Alex, lived up to its name at the May 23-24 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic juvenile sale.
The partnership group plowed some of its profits from Afleet Alex's racing career back into the 2-year-old market at the very sale from which it bought its star for $75,000 last year. Trainer Tim Ritchey bought three horses for Cash Is King at the Timonium, Md., auction: a $125,000 Old Trieste-Surf City filly, a $75,000 Two Punch-Marion's Dover filly, and a $30,000 Northern Afleet-Twice as Real colt.
Two additional Florida freshman stallions have gotten their first winners.
Victories by offspring of Exchange Rate and Put It Down bring the Florida count to five stallions with first-crop winners.
B L's Appeal, Songandaprayer, and Trippi had their first winners earlier this month.
New York-bred juveniles were in demand at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale on Monday and Tuesday.
Fifty-five of them sold for a total of $2,230,000 - or an average price of $40,545, a major increase over the New York-breds sold at the corresponding sale in 2004.
Last year, the gross was $1,879,700 for 66 sold - an average of $28,480.
The 2005 numbers represent a gain of 19 percent on gross and 42 percent on average. The sale as a whole was up 43 percent in gross and 31 percent in average.
Two-year-old races are beginning to fill at Woodbine, and for the first time in several years, fans and horsemen can look forward to runners from a competitive group of high-profile Ontario freshman sires.
Two stallions have already had local starters - Perigee Moon, who stands at Michael Byrne's Park Stud in Orangeville, Ontario, and Trajectory, a resident at Gardiner Farms in Caledon East.
A son of Grade 1 juvenile winner Hennessy, Perigee Moon was undefeated in two starts as a 2-year-old, winning the Group 3 Killavullen Stakes at Leopardstown in 2000.
Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky and Florida-based Padua Stables have purchased a 50-percent interest in Grade 1 winner Pico Central.
A 6-year-old Brazilian-bred, Pico Central will stand at Padua in Sumerfield, Fla., after his retirement at the end of this season.
Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's May 2-year-old sale in Timonium, Md., set new records by its end Tuesday evening.
Aided by a sale-record-equaling $450,000 Unbridled's Song filly, the second and final session pushed the auction to new marks for gross receipts and average price. The two-day auction sold 386 lots for $18,911,500, up sharply from last year, when just 354 juveniles brought $13,227,800.
Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's juvenile sale in Timonium, Md., posted a record-equaling price of $450,000 at its second and final session Tuesday, one day after posting dramatic increases.
By 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Unbridled's Song filly selling as Hip No. 418 had brought a $450,000 bid from Ahmed Zayat and was the auction's most expensive lot by that point. The filly is out of stakes-placed Michele Royale and is a full sister to the winner Striking Song. Equine Legacy, agent, was the consignor.
LAS VEGAS - It was just another allowance race in 1968. But the "purse" became a major stepping-stone after Stage Door Johnny used it to win the Belmont Stakes. A son of the influential stallion Prince John (by Princequillo), Stage Door Johnny was a flashy chestnut with his blonde mane and tail, and he was just as flashy of a racehorse.
