Shah Takes Home $1.2M Sale-Topping More Than Ready Colt

Kaleem Shah fired fast on Day 2 of the Ocala Breeders' Sales' March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, securing a quick son of More Than Ready March 16 for $1.2 million, the top price paid at the sale. Consigned by Wavertree Stables, the colt went an eighth-mile in :09 4/5 March 11 at the under tack show. "In horse racing I've realized you've got to be more lucky than smart, so I'm hoping next year at this time we've made the right decision on this horse," Shah said. The WinStar Farm-bred is a half sibling to stakes-placed scorer Broad Approval, out of the unraced Indian Charlie mare Broad Spectrum. This is the family of the stakes-winning Featherbed, second-best in the Matron Stakes (G1) and dam of Illinois Derby (G3) winner Dynamic Impact. Wavertree Stables consigned the speedy youngster after picking him up for $120,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where Taylor Made Sales Agency consigned him for his breeder. "You just hope he is as lucky for Kaleem as he was for us. Horses like him are easy. We were just in the right place at the right time in September, and he trained flawlessly for us all winter," Ciaran Dunne said after the sale. "He acted like a good horse the entire time. "We came in with big expectations; not that big. He exceeded them," Dunne added. "He is a wonderful horse. I've been telling people all week, 'If you come here to buy a 2-year-old, how can you leave without him?' I think they got the best one, but we'll see." Shah, no stranger to purchasing and racing future sires, campaigned 2014 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Bayern with conditioner Bob Baffert, accumulating $4.4 million in earnings during his two-year career of 15 starts with a 6-1-3 record. The son of Offlee Wild began his stud career here in the United States, but has since been sold to South Korea. Another juvenile sale score for Shah was Dortmund, the son of Big Brown who was purchased at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale by agent Donato Lanni for $140,000. Also now standing in South Korea after three seasons at Bonita Farm in Maryland, he won the 2015 Santa Anita Derby (G1) for Baffert and ran close thirds in the 2015 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) and 2016 $1 Million TVG Pacific Classic (G1) while bankrolling $1.9 million for the Shah family. Baffert picked up Klimt from this sale for Shah in 2016 from the Eddie Woods consignment for $435,000. The same year he captured the Best Pal Stakes (G2) and Del Mar Futurity (G1), and was second in the FrontRunner Stakes (G1). He began his stud career in 2018 at Darby Dan Farm and has since been sold to the Jockey Club of Turkey. "My son Arman was the driving force behind this; it was his spring break and these were a gift to my son," Shah said of the 23-year-old, who is working toward his masters in cybersecurity at George Washington University. "Almost everybody who goes to Florida wants to go Disney World, but he wanted to go to the OBS Sale."