Hip 104 (Fasig-Tipton photo)
by Sarah Mace
A pair of fillies bred by Marlene Brody’s Gallagher’s Stud topped the nine New York-bred offerings in the opening session of the Fasig-Tipton select yearling sale in Saratoga on Monday evening.
Hip 9 by Malibu Moon, the first of nine New York-breds to pass through the ring, fetched a cool half-million dollars, only to be trumped by the last offering of the night, Hip 104 by War Front, who was purchased by Glen Hill Farm for $570,000 to become the top-selling filly of the session. Both yearlings were consigned by Craig and Holly Bandoroff’s Denali Stud, agent.
Hip 104, the $570,000 War Front filly, is a bay foaled on February 6, 2014. She is the third foal out of Hostess, a multiple graded stakes winner by Chester House and $383,918-earner, who set the current course record for 1 3/8 miles over the Saratoga inner turf in the 2008 Grade 3 Glens Falls Handicap.
Purchased by Marlene Brody for $650,000 at the 2008 Keeneland November sale, Hostess has produced two winners: 3-year-old Courageisamajority, by Medaglia d’Oro, who won an allowance race at Saratoga on July 26, and her first foal Z Maitre D, by Awesome Again, who won on debut at two. Hostess produced a filly by Giant’s Causeway this spring and has been bred to Scat Daddy.
Craig Bernick of Glen Hill Farm who signed the ticket for the top filly, said that she will be broken at their farm in Ocala and then go to Tom Procter, probably to train at Fair Hill.
Gallagher’s Stud’s Malibu Moon filly (Hip 9) was hammered down earlier in the night to Crupi’s New Castle Farm, agent for $500,000. A chestnut foal born on February 17, 2014, she is a product of four generations of Gallagher’s Stud breeding.
The filly’s dam Tulipmania is a winning daughter of Empire Maker out of Gallagher-bred multiple stakes winner Eventail (Lear Fan), dam of the talented New York-bred multiple graded stakes winner Straight Story. The whole star-studded “Take Charge” clan appears under the third dam, Gallagher-bred Felicita – champion broodmare Take Charge Lady, the dam of champion 3-year-old Will Take Charge, Take Charge Indy and second dam of juvenile filly champion Take Charge Brandi. Tulipmania produced a colt by Animal Kingdom this year and has been bred to Fed Biz.
Gallagher’s Stud wasn’t the only New York breeder to produce fireworks in the premier sale’s opening session. The top-selling colt was Hip 51, a grey/roan individual by Tapit, who sired the top three horses in Monday’s session. The New York-bred was purchased by Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds from the Winter Quarter Farm consignment for $400,000.
Bred by John Meriwether’s Waterville Lake Stables Ltd LLC, and foaled on March 5 at Doug Koch’s Berkshire Stud, the colt is out of multiple graded stakes-placed Charming Legacy (IRE) by Danehill. His second dam is multiple graded stakes winner and graded stakes winner producer Olympic Charmer by Olympio. Charming Legacy produced a filly by Elusive Quality this year and was bred to Curlin in the spring.
In all eight of the nine Empire-breds offered changed hands for an average of $269,337 and median price of $205,000. For the general population of the sale, the session average was up 8.8% to $310,643 and the median dipped 3.2% to $225,000. The buy-back rate was 17.6%.
