It’s hard to say when obstinacy will pay off. Except in the case of Catch a Glimpse (City Zip), in whose case you can nearly pinpoint the hour.
It was back at the 2014 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, on day seven of the auction, when the future Canadian Horse of the Year refused to go back in her stall at the Warrendale Sales consignment.
As it so happened, Jeff Begg of Windways Farm was walking by, and liked what he saw in the flashy, flaxen-maned chestnut.
“We were in an older barn that was very congested, and we had her down one end, and she was very opinionated about getting back in her stall,” laughs Warrendale’s Kitty Taylor. “So we basically kept her out most of the time. She wasn’t on Jeff’s list, but then he saw this big, nice-looking, well-conformed City Zip filly and loved her. The rest is history.”
(Click here to see footage of Catch a Glimpse selling as a yearling.)
That history includes a win in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last year at Keeneland, and a nod as Canada’s 2015 Horse of the Year, champion 2-year-old filly, and champion grass mare.
Now, Warrendale returns to Keeneland to offer a half-sister to Catch a Glimpse, a weanling from the first crop of Can the Man who goes as Hip 436 at the upcoming November Breeding Stock Sale Nov. 8-20. Warrendale co-bred the filly, who is out of Halo River (Irish River {Fr}), on a foal-share agreement with Branch Equine.
That filly’s maternal family isn’t the only thread that ties her to Warrendale’s Keeneland November Sale draft. Warrendale, in fact, offered her sire, Can the Man (Into Mischief), as a weanling back at the 2011 November Sale, when the future graded stakes winner sold for $40,000.
“It was the first crop of Into Mischief, so he didn’t bring a ton of money, but he was a compact bay horse, and like all the Into Mischiefs, he was a well-made horse,” said Taylor, who launched Warrendale some 15 years ago and has since brought in Hunter Simms as a partner. “He had long forearms and short cannon bones, with very good gaskins. He was just the kind of horse you’d think might be a good racehorse.”
When Can the Man came off the track having fulfilled Taylor’s expectations, she took part in Spendthrift Farm’s Share the Upside program on him, whereby she agreed to send mares to Can the Man in years one and two at stud in exchange for a lifetime breeding right.
“Branch Equine had this mare Halo River, who has been a great producer,” said Taylor. “They have been longtime clients of mine, and last year, I suggested we use the Can the Man season for her.”
Before the Hammer Cont.
Branch Equine is the nom-de-course of Robert Berger, who has had an outstanding season as the breeder of not only Catch a Glimpse, but also of the graded winner and GI Kentucky Derby starter Suddenbreakingnews (Mineshaft). Robert’s son Ben Berger raises Branch’s horses at the family’s Woodstock Farm.
“We’ve sold some really nice horses for them,” said Taylor. “It’s not a big farm, but it’s really well run. And they’ve had such a great year.”
So has Warrendale. The consignment also sold the Derby runners Exaggerator (Curlin) and Mo Tom (Uncle Mo), who went on to win the GI Preakness and Ohio Derby, respectively, as well as the Grade I-winning 3-year-old filly Carina Mia (Malibu Moon). Most recently, Warrendale was represented by the GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity hero Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile). All four of those horses sold at Keeneland.
“It means a lot to us because we’re representing a lot of great breeders,” Taylor said of Warrendale’s recent run. “And generally, they’re people that have been selling with us for a long time. Spendthrift bred Carina Mia. Hargus and Sandra Sexton and Silver Fern Farm bred Mo Tom. Robert bred Suddenbreakingnews and Catch a Glimpse. So they’re people we’ve had relationships with for a long time. I’m glad to see them have success; I’m glad to be the reflection of the success. “
With four individual Grade I winners among its eight graded stakes-winning grads in 2016, Warrendale is indeed a must-shop consignment for buyers at the November Sale.
“People can see that they have a chance of buying a graded stakes horse if you shop our smaller consignment, because the people who sell with us are breeding and raising these horses in a certain way,” said Taylor. “Most of the people I sell for are very organic farmers, for lack of a better description. They don’t always have big-time flashy horses, but they have horses that can run.”
Warrendale is also representing a number of eye-catching racing prospects. They include Hip 350, the graded stakes-placed 4-year-old filly Xoxo (Majestic Warrior). Placed in last year’s GII Santa Ynez S., Xoxo is a half to the good 3-year-old Everqueen (Colonel John), who since the catalog ran third behind Bendable (Horse Greeley) and Enola Gray (Grazen) in the Beverly J. Lewis S. at Los Alamitos Sept. 11.
“We typically don’t get a lot of race fillies,” said Taylor. “We’d love to do more of it. There’s a real upside to those horses and people love getting in on those fillies with a proven record.”
Among Warrendale’s broodmare offerings is the dam of this year’s GI Shoemaker Mile hero Midnight Storm (Pioneerof the Nile), the Bertrando mare My Tina, who goes as Hip 264. On behalf of breeders Alex Venneri and Marjorie Post Dye, Warrendale sold a yearling full-brother to Midnight Storm for $925,000 at the Keeneland September Sale, and My Tina is carry a 3/4-sibling to those colts by Bodemeister.
“We’re excited about our November group,” said Taylor. “I think it’s going to be a good sale. Especially as steady as September proved to be. I think that surprised a lot of people. But I feel like it will also be a great opportunity for people to buy and re-load their portfolio.”
Courtesy of the TDN
