Texas Sale Grad Texas Chrome Poised to Become a Millionaire

by Posted in Yearling Sale

Texas Chrome at the Breeders’ Cup (Photo by Steve Queen)

Texas has a long history of producing exceptional racehorses, including 1946 Triple Crown winner Assault, 1950 Kentucky Derby winner Middleground and legendary racemare Pan Zareta. However, the state has only produced a single millionaire in Groovy, the 1987 Eclipse Award winner for Champion Sprinter who banked more than $1.3 million. That could change on Saturday at Lone Star Park after Texas Chrome runs in the $50,000 Assault Stakes against his fellow Texas-breds. The 4-year-old colt by Grasshopper enters with earnings of $990,762 and will hit seven figures with a win or second-place finish.

“I wanted to bring him back here (Texas) to reach $1 million in earnings,” said owner Danny Keene. “He has a following here. The people here seem to really care about him and like to watch him race, so what better place.”

Keene purchased Texas Chrome for $10,000 at the Texas Summer Yearling Sale in 2014 from the consignment of Craig Upham and Sue Dowling’s Stoneview Farm. Upham also bred Texas Chrome out of the Texas-bred mare Margarita Mistress, who is by the late Texas stallion and former Stoneview resident Naevus. Texas Chrome’s sire, Grasshopper, previously stood at Lane’s End Texas and now stands at Valor Farm in Pilot Point, Texas.

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Texas Sale Grad Direct Dial Favored in Grade 3 Sanford at Saratoga

by Posted in Yearling Sale

Direct Dial (Photo by Coady Photography)

Eight juvenile colts each looking to pick up their first graded stakes win will battle in the 103rd running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Sanford on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. The morning line favorite is Texas-bred Direct Dial at son of Texas stallion Too Much Bling of Valor Farm who sold for $105,000 at last year’s Texas Summer Yearling Sale.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will enter a formidable pair in Baffin for owners Corinne and William Heiligbrodt and Direct Dial for owner William Farish. Purchased for $170,000 as yearling at the Ocala Breeders’ Sale and a son of multiple graded stakes winner Justin Phillip, Baffin made his debut on June 22 at Churchill Downs besting a field of nine to win by an impressive 4 ¾ lengths.

“Baffin broke his maiden very impressively at Churchill in his only start,” said Asmussen. “I’m kind of concerned if he got enough out of it. He won very easily and is now stepping up into a stakes [race] but I think he deserves the opportunity.”

“Direct Dial has two nice races in him. A win at Keeneland and a nice second-place finish in the Tremont. I feel very good about how both have trained up here at Saratoga as well. Justin Phillip has been a very good horse for us and this is very first crop [so] it’s kind of exciting to see him pass that talent along.”

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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.

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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.