Texas Yearling Sale Grad Direct Dial Posts Impressive Keeneland Win

by Posted in Yearling Sale

Direct Dial (Photo by Coady Photography)

Texas-bred Direct Dial, a colt by leading Texas stallion Too Much Bling of Valor Farm, rolled to a 7 ¾-length win on April 26 in a $60,000 maiden special weight race at Keeneland. Ridden by Florent Geroux for trainer Steve Asmussen and breeder/owner W.S. Farish, the 2-year-old clocked 4 ½ furlongs in a quick :51.65 in his career debut.

Direct Dial, who was prepped at Keith and Marilyn Asmussen’s El Primero Training Center in Laredo, Texas, earned $36,000 for the win. He sold for $105,000 to top last year’s Texas Summer Yearling and Mixed Sale at Lone Star Park.

Direct Dial is out of the Mineshaft mare Fast Find, who has produced three other winners by Too Much Bling: $71,434 earner She has Bling, $88,232 earner and Texas Thoroughbred Futurity winner Shaded, and $113,006 earner and Bara Lass Stakes winner Scooter’s Choice.

Fast Find, in foal to Too Much Bling, also went through that same sale at Lone Star, where she sold from Lane’s End Texas to Ken Carson, agent.

To view a video of Direct Dial’s race, click here and select race 2 on April 26.

Texas 2-Year-Old Sale Posts Huge Increases in Second Year of Operation

by Posted in 2-Year-Old Sale

Hip 49 (Photo by Denis Blake)

The Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale held Tuesday on the grounds of Lone Star Park posted numbers that dwarfed those of the first juvenile auction held last year by the Texas Thoroughbred Association, which took over as the sale’s operator from Fasig-Tipton. With 70 of 93 head sold, this year’s auction recorded gross receipts of $1,873,900, a jump of 91% from last year when 53 of 66 sold for $981,300. The average soared to $26,770, up 44.6% from last year’s $18,515 while the median jumped 33.3% to $16,000 from $12,000. Buybacks this year were 24.7% compared to 19.7% last year.

“There were a lot of questions about the viability of the Texas sale when Fasig-Tipton decided to leave,” said Texas Thoroughbred Association Executive Director Mary Ruyle, “but the results of this auction clearly show that the market is very strong here. We are extremely gratified with the results and are looking forward to our summer yearling sale on August 21.”

Last year’s sale topper was a Texas-bred daughter of Too Much Bling eventually named Bling on the Music who sold for $95,000 and has since won two stakes, placed in a Grade 2 and banked $153,082. This year, three horses topped the $100,000 mark and a total of eight brought $70,000 or more, compared to just the one last year.

The sale-topper was hip 49, a Kentucky-bred colt by Tale of the Cat consigned by Benchmark Training Center, agent, who brought a bid of $120,000 from Carrol Castille. Named Dicken’s Tale, the February 1 foal worked an eighth-mile in :10.2 in the under tack show, which was delayed from Sunday to Monday due to weather.

“The top end of the market was extremely strong today thanks to some high-quality stock brought in by our consignors,” said Sales Director Tim Boyce. “And I’m also encouraged by the middle and lower end. We had a very good median for this sale and the sales pavilion has not been filled with so many buyers in quite a while. After having last year’s sale under our belt, I think consignors and buyers had the confidence to fully support the sale this year and now going forward.”

To view results as a PDF, click here, or to view the interactive results, click here.

Redding Colliery Colt Posts Fastest Time in Rescheduled Texas Juvenile Under Tack Show

by Posted in 2-Year-Old Sale

Hip 31 (Photo by Denis Blake/Texas Thoroughbred Association)

Under sunny skies at Lone Star Park, the rescheduled under tack show for the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale was held Monday morning with a Louisiana-bred colt by Redding Colliery, hip 31, posting the fastest eighth-mile time of :10.1. The under tack show was originally scheduled for Sunday but had to be pushed back due to heavy rain and thunderstorms in the area.

“We really appreciate all the consignors and buyers being flexible to make the revised schedule work,” said Sales Director Tim Boyce. “It’s never an ideal situation to push back the under tack show, but today’s weather was perfect and we had some very nice workouts.”

Consigned by Richardson Bloodstock, agent, the fastest 2-year-old in the breeze show is from the second crop of the Mineshaft stallion Redding Colliery, last year’s leading freshman sire in Louisiana. The gray or roan is out of the winning Johannesburg mare Bond’s Babe, whose family includes graded stakes winners Soviet Sojourn and Indian Charlie.
A total of eight horses tied for the second-fastest time of :10.2.

The sale has been pushed back to 2 p.m. Central tomorrow from the originally scheduled time of 12 noon. The sale will be broadcast live at www.ttasales.com.

For a complete list of under tack times, click here. Videos of the under tack show will be posted this evening.

Under Tack Show for Texas 2-Year-Old Sale Postponed Until Monday

by Posted in 2-Year-Old Sale

The under tack show for the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, originally scheduled for today at 11 a.m. at Lone Star Park, has been postponed due to weather and now will be held Monday starting at 9 a.m. The sale will still be held on Tuesday as scheduled but the start time has been pushed back to 2 p.m. instead of noon.

“For the safety of the horses and riders, and because of heavy rain, lightning and the deteriorating forecast for later today, we really had no other option than to postpone the under tack show,” said Sales Director Tim Boyce. “We appreciate the patience of all the buyers and sellers, and we look forward to much better weather on Monday and Tuesday.”

Videos of the under tack show will be posted late Monday, and a live video feed of the sale will be available at www.ttasales.com.

Under Tack Show and Online Video Information

by Posted in 2-Year-Old Sale

The under tack show for the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale is set for Sunday, April 2 at 11 am at Lone Star Park. It is free to attend and open to the public. Videos of each horse will be posted by Monday morning.

The sale is set for Tuesday, April 4, at 12 noon at the Texas Thoroughbred Sales Pavilion on the grounds of Lone Star Park. It is also free to attend and open to the public. Live video of the sale will be available. To view the online catalog, click here.

TTA Office Hours to Change For Sale

by Posted in 2-Year-Old Sale

Texas Thoroughbred Association office staff will be traveling to the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale on Saturday, April 1 and will be back in the Austin office on Thursday, April 6.

The Sale Office phone number is 972.237.4886 and fax number is 972.237.5257. Sales Director Tim Boyce may be reached at 972.523.0332 and Mary Ruyle may be reached at 512.695.4542.

DO NOT FAX ANY SALE-RELATED DOCUMENTS TO THE TTA OFFICE (512.453.5919) AFTER 2PM ON FRIDAY, March 31st – – SEND YOUR FAX TO 972.237.5257.

Six Supplements Added to Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale

by Posted in 2-Year-Old Sale

The Texas Thoroughbred Association has announced a supplement of six horses to the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale to be held April 4 at the Texas Thoroughbred Sales Pavilion at Lone Star Park. The under tack show is set for April 2, also at Lone Star.

The supplement includes five Louisiana-breds and a Texas-bred with sires Uncle Mo, Custom for Carlos, Half Ours, Astrology, Langfuhr and Tale of Ekati represented.

“We had a very strong catalog before this supplement, and the addition of these horses, particularly the filly by Uncle Mo, only adds to the sire power,” said Tim Boyce, sales director. “We’ve already seen considerable interest from buyers around the region and around the country, so we are anticipating another good sale here.”

View the online catalog by clicking here.