On the third and final day of the Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale March 13, Marquee Bloodstock secured a filly by freshman sire Maxfield for $1.25 million from the de Meric Sales consignment. The bay filly breezed an eighth of a mile in :09 4/5 at the under tack show March 8.
Hip 721 is out of the Quiet American mare All in With Aces, making her a half sister to grade 1 winner Hard Aces and stakes-winning and graded stakes-placed Astrollinthepark. She was bred in Kentucky by Taylor Made Stallion, Louis Brooks Ranch, Baysore Stables, and Spence Houlihan, Brian Kahn, Hugh Owen, and Pollock Farms.
She was purchased as a weanling for $165,000 by Machmer Hall at the 2023 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, and RNA'd the following year at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale at $210,000 with consignor Machmer Hall.
"For whatever reason, I cannot tell you why, she didn't sell in September," said Carrie Brogden of Machmer Hall. "We thought we were being conservative, she sold very early in Book 2. Maybe it was just a sign."
Hip 721 had many small partners who were happy to share the success, including Dan Quickhill who works at Fasig-Tipton as a ticket signer, Ben Posen from Little Red Feather Racing, and Emil Spadone, Brogden's daughter's riding trainer.
"It kind of gets repetitive the superlative you hear all the time when everybody buys an expensive horse," said Ramiro Restrepo, who signed the ticket for Hip 721 for his Marquee Bloodstock. "Her work was outstanding, not just in the time, but in the way she did it. It was very obvious that she was a talented filly.
"Obviously, there was a lot of people on her, you could see that in the bidding process. It was just a big battle."
"You never expect that much," said Tristan de Meric. "We knew everybody that was there could get her over that million mark. When it does happen, we have to be really thankful."
Ramirez said the filly reminded him of multiple graded 1-placed Ferocious, a horse Marquee Bloodstock purchased at this sale last year for $1.3 million.
"She reminded me a little bit of Ferocious," he said. "Just a little bit more feminine, but she had a lot of the same characteristics that he did, from the work to how they carry themselves out back.
"We're trying to buy a nice group of fillies, who will hopefully be broodmares for our group later on, but we're very excited to ecstatic to have her, and we'll see what the future holds. We're figuring out where she''ll be going to train, we haven't picked that out yet, but we're very excited to have her."
Epic Horses Lands $1 Million Nyquist Colt
Hip 725, a colt by Nyquist and half brother to multiple stakes winners Street Lute and Alottahope, brought $1 million from Epic Horses. The colt was bred in Maryland by Bowman and Higgins Stable.
The Scanlon Training & Sales-consigned colt breezed an eighth of a mile in :10 during the third day of the under tack show.
"He was a great mover on the track," said Shannon Potter, who signed the ticket on behalf of Epic Horses. "We really liked him physically, he's just what they're looking for. He'll go to Todd (Pletcher).
"We knew he (Hip 725) was going to be expensive. I was waiting to see if he was going to give me the okay to hit it one more time or not, and he did."
Epic Horses also bought Hip 606, a filly by Vekoma , for $165,000 from the Kings Equine consignment. She also breezed an eighth in :10. On the second day of the sale, they bought a Tapit colt (Hip 419) in partnership with Spendthrift Farm for $550,000 from de Meric Sales.
Amo Racing Goes to $1.05 Million for Quality Road Filly
Amo Racing USA went to $1.05 million for Hip 636, a daughter of Quality Road from the Wavertree Stables consignment. Hip 636 is out of the stakes-winning and multiple graded stakes-placed Congrats mare Toasting, who won $565,035 on the track for owner West Point Thoroughbreds.
Ben McElroy, acting as agent for Amo Racing, signed the ticket for the filly who clocked an eighth of a mile in :09 4/5 during the last day of the under tack show March 8. The bay filly was purchased as a yearling for $350,000 at Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale by Havertz Stables.
"Amo (Racing) is looking for some high-end fillies that can go two turns on the dirt and be a classic filly," said McElroy. "This filly fit the mold. She breezed very well, she's by a top sire of fillies, like Abel Tasman, Bellafina—he's just been great over the years. And, she was that type of physical, and she's been on our hit list right from the get-go."
McElroy said no immediate plans were set for the filly.
"We'll take her back, we'll assess her, and then we'll make a decision on a trainer. Obviously, she's not a filly that's going to be running super early. So, we have time to make decisions. She'll probably head off the early part of the summer."
Consignor Ciaran Dunne of Wavertree Stables said he was expecting a price like what she brought.
"She's by a proper stallion," said Dunne. "Not to denigrate any other horses, but he's a proven commodity. He's got two (Kentucky) Oaks winners, multiple grade 1 winners. She has a license to be a good horse; she's out of a mare that could really run (Toasting), and she proved herself on the racetrack. If ones like that can't do it, I don't know what can."
