The BSW/Crow Colts Group acquired two newly minted members Oct. 27 at the third session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale. The group began purchasing yearlings at Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale and continued at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, searching for prospects to send to trainer Brad Cox.
On Wednesday at the October sale, the partnership's talent acquisition team, primarily Bradley Weisbord and Liz Crow, bought a son of Tapit (Hip 890) for $300,000 and an Arrogate colt (Hip 932) for $295,000.
The group's first purchase of the day, Hip 890, is out of multiple stakes winner Awesome Flower (by Flower Alley). The Maryland-bred mare finished her career with $556,593 in earnings, winning at ages 3 through 6. Hip 890 hails from the same female family as Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) winner Well Armed.
Ken and Sarah Ramsey and the Tapit Syndicate bred the colt, who was consigned by Gainesway, agent.
"He was originally scheduled to go to Book 1 in (Keeneland) September but had a hiccup in the road," said Gainesway's general manager Brian Graves. "From our standpoint, I think it was a very good value for the purchaser. If the colt could have made it to Book 1, I think he would have been a half a million-dollar horse, so Liz made a shrewd buy for her clients.
"The horse was bred with the Ramseys and a Tapit Syndicate, so he went through the ring with no reserve," Graves explained. "He stood out here and if he hadn't had the bump in the road he would have sold earlier in the year."
Next up, Weisbord and Crow reached for Hip 932, an Arrogate colt out of grade 1-placed Be Smart (Smarty Jones). He was bred by TFVM Farm and Ken Meng and is a half brother to grade 3-placed Bizwhacks.
Beside the outdoor walking ring, consignor Archie St George spoke highly of the yearling through a grin.
"He was a top physical," said St George. "He looked a lot like his mother. His mother was bred by Tom VanMeter, and he raced her. For a May foal, he was very precocious looking. Arrogate obviously was a top racehorse as everyone knows, and with time Arrogate, I'm sure, will have some (more) winners. Be Smart was a good 2-year-old herself."
St George alluded to Be Smart's juvenile success—she earned $137,200 in three lifetime starts, all as a 2-year-old. At odds of 49-1, she broke her maiden first-out at Saratoga Race Course and followed that upset with a second-place finish in the 2008 Darley Alcibiades Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.
2021 marks the inaugural year of the BSW/Crow Colts Group. Spendthrift Farm seeded the partnership, accounting for one-third of its $8 million in dry powder. Others in the venture include Steve Landers Racing, Martin Schwartz, Michael Dubb, Jim Bakke, Ten Strike Racing (Marshall Gramm/Clay Sanders), Paul Farr, Kueber Racing (Rick Kueber), Big Easy Racing (Chris Jean), and Winners Win (Rick Kanter).
Their pool of colts, which has grown to at least 25, figures to be nearly complete, having surpassed the original stated goal of 15 to 20. The group's impressive roster of sires also includes Ghostzapper, Into Mischief , Justify , Medaglia d'Oro , Quality Road , Street Sense , and Uncle Mo, to name a few.
