Carrying the torch for the legendary Eddie Woods, David Scanlon and his wife, Blair King, head into the Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale with a seven-horse consignment. The couple acquired Woods' storied 240-acre training facility last summer, marking the dawn of a new era.
Scanlon and King have a long-standing presence in the Thoroughbred industry. Built on a foundation of historic success, Scanlon has followed in the footsteps of his father Robert Scanlon, a great horseman whose program set the gold standard by producing legendary champions Afleet Alex and Bernardini, among others. The elder Scanlon was a well-respected 2-year-old trainer and pinhooker, who broke the then-world record for a 2-year-old sold at public auction in 2005, when he sold a Tale of the Cat colt for $5.2 million at Fasig-Tipton's Florida Select Juvenile Sale at Calder Race Course.
Scanlon and King have assembled a premier client roster that boasts Calumet, Coolmore, Don Alberto, and Godolphin. Among the recent graduates of their program are 2024 champion 3-year-old colt Sierra Leone and Paladin, who currently tops the Road to the Kentucky leaderboard with 60 points.
"Things are amazing. It was probably one of the scariest moments of our lives, but also probably one of the best moments of our lives," said Scanlon about purchasing Woods' facility. "It's just been absolutely a dream. We picked up a lot of new clients, and the farm, I can't say enough about the farm and the job that Eddie and Angela did. I can say it's one of the best career moves I have ever made."
Around the same time Scanlon secured his new facility, he was busy at Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale, where he acquired an eye-catching colt by Practical Joke for $350,000. The colt is the second foal out of the stakes-winning and graded stakes-placed mare Market Rumor.
"He's a big, strong horse. He was always really striking," Scanlon said. "We saw him at the Saratoga select sale, and my wife and I, we always like to shop that sale. It's slipping through the cracks for us, but it's still actually a lot of money, whatever slips through the cracks for pinhooking.
"We just thought he was so strong and muscular. I love the sire. We were like, 'Well, let's take a shot.' So, even though he's a bargain at Saratoga's select sale, he was a stretch for us."
Scanlon's confidence in the colt, consigned as Hip 143, has paid off, as he zipped a furlong in :09 4/5 during the first day of the under-tack show.
"I loved his breeze," he said. "For a horse that is so strong, he actually just floats over the track. He looked like he did it effortlessly."
The demand for quality yearlings has been at an all-time high over the past few years, with Keeneland's 2025 September Yearling Sale setting a record of $531.7 million in sales, the highest gross ever realized at a Thoroughbred auction worldwide.
The higher stakes of this year's market have introduced a layer of apprehension for some pinhookers entering the 2-year-old sales season.
"When you're in the moment there, and you're in Saratoga, and everybody else is dropping millions, at the moment, in the atmosphere you're in, $300,000 doesn't seem like a lot at the time, but then when you're here, you realize all the hoops you have to jump through.
"But, at the same time, the strongest part of the market is for high-end horses. It's a really competitive business nowadays. Everybody wants a good horse. Sometimes in those high-end horses, you've gotta risk a little bit for the ones you love. I've never done good with a horse that I just said, 'Yeah, let's just go ahead and buy him.' But, the ones that I leave thinking about that I really want, those are the ones that I've always done good with."
In addition to Hip 143, Scanlon will consign four other juveniles on the first day of the sale, including a colt (Hip 114) and a filly (Hip 100), each by Nyquist . They breezed in :10 2/5 and :10 1/5, respectively.
Hip 114 topped last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale, when selling for $370,000 to Scanlon. The Maryland-bred colt is the first foal of the stakes-placed Lookin at Lucky mare Lookin Dynamic.
Later in the day, he will send a Jack Christopher filly (Hip 240) and a filly by the 2025 leading freshman sire Yaupon , consigned as Hip 269, to the ring.
Hip 240 is out of the Bernardini mare Party of Interest, making her a half sister to graded stakes winner Five Star General. The filly from the first crop of Jack Christopher breezed a furlong in :10 1/5.
The Yaupon filly, who breezed a furlong in :10, is the first foal of the Practical Joke mare Pretty Paper, who is a half sister to the grade 1-placed Next Level. She was purchased by Scanlon for $265,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton The July Sale.
This year marks the first full season without Eddie Woods' banner at the 2-year-old sales, representing a changing of the guard. The legendary horseman capped a spectacular career last March, when he broke the OBS record with a $3 million sale of eventual Del Mar Futurity (G1) winner, Brant.
"It means a ton," said Scanlon about taking over Woods' former facility. Eddie was always well-represented. I remember working for my father, just watching Eddie, and I've always admired how Eddie handled himself. He was very successful with the horses, but he's also a great guy. He and Angela have been very supportive. He recommended a lot of his clients to us. I can't say enough about how great he and Angela have been to us, and just what an icon he was in the 2-year-old business.
"It's big shoes to fill, but the legacy he has left with that farm has made it a lot easier. You can tell when you step on that farm, you know that somebody who really knows what it takes and what you need designed it."
