As the highly anticipated 2-year-old sale season commences with this week's Ocala Breeders' Sales. Co.'s March Sale, the newest class of blue-chip recruits is poised to make a strong first impression on prospective buyers. Among the offerings is a trio of well-connected juveniles whose siblings are already making names for themselves on the racetrack this year, including a pair of Classic hopefuls.
Ciaran and Amy Dunne's Wavertree Stables are the consignors of Hips 121 and 609 to the March 15-16 sale. Hip 121, a bay colt from the first crop of WinStar stallion and 2017 Kentucky Derby (G1) Presented by Yum! Brands winner Always Dreaming out of the stakes-winning Candy Ride mare Silent Candy, is a half brother to Epicenter , winner of the Risen Star Stakes presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) since the catalog was published.
The colt, who was bred in Kentucky by Westwind Farms, could prove to be quite a bargain. He first sold to Mike Pender for $25,000 out of the Blandford Stud consignment at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The colt breezed a brisk eighth at the under tack preview in :10 1/5.
"He was very immature and backward when Mike bought him as a yearling," Ciaran Dunne related between showings on a busy Monday morning at the barns. "The horse has done really well since. I think he is more of a racehorse than a 2-year-old in training type of horse. He moves beautifully, and he has a good repeatable rhythm. He will go as far as you want him to go. He still worked well, I thought. What you see is not what you get. There is a lot more to come with this horse.
"He is one of just a couple of Always Dreamings that we have," Dunne added. "We have this one and another one for Gulfstream (Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale). I really like both of them. Both are big, free-moving horses that look like they will go a route of ground."
Epicenter (by Not This Time ), a $260,000 Keeneland September purchase for Winchell Thoroughbreds, captured the Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds last year at 2 and finished second, beaten just a head by Call Me Midnight in the Lecomte Stakes (G3) on Jan. 22. Epicenter put it all together with a facile front-running score in the Risen Star Stakes presented by Larmarque Ford (G2) on Feb. 19, defeating Smile Happy by 2 3/4 lengths, and he currently ranks second with 64 points on the Road to the Kentucky leaderboard.
Hip 609, a dark bay or brown colt by the Lane's End stallion Connect out of Mary's Follies, by More Than Ready, is sure to turn heads. A $425,000 RNA in the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment at last year's Keeneland September sale, the colt was a $185,000 acquisition by OXO Equine at the 2021 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, where he was consigned by Lane's End, agent for the estate of Paul Pompa Jr. The colt is a half brother to Café Pharoah (by American Pharoah ) a two-time grade 1 winner in Japan and a $475,000 OBS March sale graduate himself in 2019; grade 1 winner Regal Glory (by Animal Kingdom); and multiple grade 3 winner Night Prowler (by Giant's Causeway).
Like his stablemate, the colt, who was bred in Kentucky by the late Paul Pompa Jr., breezed a lively eighth in :10 1/5 at the under tack preview.
"That is a mare (Mary's Follies) that keeps on giving," Dunne said. "The colt is a typical Connect. He is a two-turn horse, and we are asking him to go an eighth of a mile in March. He acquitted himself really well on the racetrack, and again, he is a horse that is going to get better and better as time goes by."
Niall Brennan Stables, agent, consigns Hip 125, a half sister to Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) winner Simplification . From the first crop of Ashford Stud stallion Mendelssohn and out of the stakes-placed Candy Ride mare Simply Confection, the dark bay or brown filly, who was bred in Florida by France and Irwin Weiner, was a $190,000 RNA in Indian Creek's consignment at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. She breezed a quick eighth in :10 at the under tack preview.
"We have always felt like she was a pretty special filly," said Niall Brennan. "All fall and winter she has been the definition of class. She has so much balance. Most of these Mendelssohns seem to be very focused, very mature and are good movers across the board. She moves great on the dirt, and she breezed super here (over the synthetic track). She is a filly that ticks all the boxes. She has a lovely pedigree, and it is even better now with the update."
The noteworthy update came courtesy of Tami Bobo's Simplification, who stamped himself as a classic hopeful with an impressive victory in the Fountain of Youth on March 5. The Florida-bred son of Not This Time is fourth with 54 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. Prior to the Fountain of Youth, Simplification finished second to White Abarrio in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) and before that was a runaway four-length winner of the Mucho Macho Man Stakes in January.
Simplification isn't the only accomplished runner in the filly's rich pedigree. This is also the deep black type family of two-time champion Ashado, grade 1 winner Sunriver, and graded stakes winners Saint Stephen, Inflexibility, and Halo Again.
"We had Inflexibility," Brennan shared, "so we have an attachment to the family. We think this filly is special. She is from a wonderful family, and she has a ton of class."
