When Sandman won the Arkansas Derby (G1) March 29, he stamped himself as a legitimate Kentucky Derby (G1) contender with his breakthrough performance. Much like his development as a juvenile, the son of Tapit was able to slowly come into himself and prove he belonged among the top 3-year-olds.
Prior to becoming a contender for the first leg of the Triple Crown, Sandman delivered another standout effort when he was part of the complete dispersal of Robert Lothenbach's stable at the 2024 Ocala Breeders' March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, selling for $1.2 million to the partnership of West Point Thoroughbreds, D.J. Stable, and CJ Stables. His seven-figure price was especially notable for the fact that, unlike a majority of horses who sell at 2-year-old auctions, he only galloped during under tack portion instead of recording a traditional timed breeze.
Forty-one juveniles, a mix of homebreds and auction purchases, were split between four consignors as part of the Lothenbach dispersal. Due to the lack of preparation, these horses were offered as gallop-only horses.
Although the 2-year-old sales are typically performance-based, this brought a new perspective to the buying bench as dispersals are usually well-received, especially well-bred horses from a successful program like Lothenbach's. According to Equibase, Lothenbach Stables has earned more than $30 million in purses since 1992 with 37 black-type winners.
By virtue of his on-track achievements, Sandman has become the "poster child" for gallop-only horses as the Mark Casse-trainee has career earnings of more than $1.2 million. Will his success lead to more 2-year-old consignors choosing to gallop only? There are mixed reviews on the sales grounds.
"As somebody who's a breeder and a seller, we try to breed sound, two-turn horses," said Jon Green of D.J. Stable. "It's important for us to have an opportunity to showcase those horses to the best of their abilities, which is not necessarily for them to go nine and change for a furlong. As a buyer, again we're looking for the classic two-turn horse. Encouraging horses to breeze that quickly in their careers isn't necessarily the best thing for the horses."
Beginning with this year's March Sale, OBS has offered a new entry option of “Gallop Only” where sellers can enter their horses with the designation ahead of the under tack shows.
"When we were given the opportunity to enter some horses as gallop-only horses, we jumped at it," Green said. "We've done it in the March sale, we've done it again here in the April Sale, because it's important for us a breeder, a buyer, a seller, and also as an OBS shareholder, to focus on what's best for our athletes and our homebreds and the horses that we try to buy.
"We're not only pleased that the pendulum is swinging in the other direction, but we're pushing the pendulum in the other direction through our actions as a buyer, and also our actions as entering horses as gallop only."
Tom McCrocklin, consignor of Sandman, brought a strong group of 2-year-olds to the OBS Spring Sale's under tack show last week, with his juveniles at the top of nearly every session. While he stressed that he is not against only galloping, he is not sold on the idea.
"If you take ordinary horses out there and gallop them, it's still an ordinary horse," said McCrocklin. "Look at Bob Baffert, he has no problem coming here and identifying and buying a very good 2-year-old in training and turning it into a (Kentucky) Derby horse, a Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, on and on and on.
"So, while Sandman was a statistical outlier, I think going forward it's not going to work," McCrocklin continued. "Sandman just stands out on his own. And I'm not against galloping 2-year-olds, I gallop 100 2-year-olds every day at the farm. To me, galloping is foundation, breezing is preparation for the racetrack. We cannot identify the fast horses from a gallop. You can identify a pretty horse with a big pedigree and a good mover, but that doesn't equate to that."
McCrocklin mentioned a Tiz the Law colt (Hip 508) that has stood out in his consignment after breezing a quarter in :20 3/5. He is the twelfth foal out of the mare Taboo, who has seven winners, including stakes winner Let My People Go, and graded stakes-placed Der Lu. Taboo is the daughter of grade 1 winner and millionaire Dream of Summer, making her a half sister to graded stakes winners Creative Cause , Vexatious, and Destin.
"He seems like a very proper horse, two-turn dirt kind of horse," McCrocklin said. "You know, he's the kind you could project being on the Derby trail for next year."
Long-time consignor Niall Brennan consigned some of the Lothenbach dispersal horses last March and sold two horses last month who galloped only at the OBS March Sale for $300,000 and $210,000 to trainer Michael Maker, and D.J. Stable and Robert Cotran, respectively.
"They were later developing types; big, growthy horses," said Brennan. "They (Mt. Brilliant Farm) just wanted to do a two-minute lick, and we did, and they both sold well. There were a lot of buyers here in March that came to me and appreciated that the owners did that, they really enjoyed looking at those horses."
Brennan will offer two more gallop only horses April 17—Hip 705 and Hip 849, fillies by Curlin and Candy Ride , both bred by Stone Farm and Speedway Stables.
"We're not trying to reinvent the wheel here," said Brennan. "We're not going to dramatically change the 2-year-old format. Last year with the dispersal, there was quite a few really nice horses. We had some, and it was amazing the attention they got, and they all could only gallop. People weren't shying away because they only galloped."
Brennan explained that a couple of their clients have chosen the gallop-only route this year, but the situation has to be ideal, such as an owner or a breeder of a well-bred colt or filly that they could keep to race.
"If you have a really nice, well-bred filly and a very nice physical, and they just gallop down there strong and look good doing it. And you come to the barn and like them on a shank, well what's the difference?" said Brennan. "If you would buy that horse (as) a yearling, why wouldn't you buy it as a 2-year-old? And you just saved six months of training. There's no reason not to look at those horses.
"Conversely, 2-year-old sales decades ago were built on horses that had to prove themselves, and that's not going to change. We still have a lot of that, but I think there is a niche for well-bred horses, colts or fillies, that do a nice strong gallop," added Brennan. "I think some people will really appreciate that. Some buyers feel like we're just going too fast for these 2-year-olds anymore, and the wear and tear effect. So, for those people, we're giving them something to look at. You're giving them an option, to put your money where your mouth is.
"If you really want us to do that, then go buy those horses. There's nothing against the format, of survival of the fittest. The horses that breeze really fast, some people want to see that. Like, I said, we're not going to reinvent the wheel or go back to square one."
A total of eight juveniles are entered as gallop only horses in the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training April 15-18. Seven individual consignors represent these 2-year-olds, including Katie Miranda's White Lilac consignment. She has a filly by first-crop sire Maxfield entered for the same connections who own Sandman.
"I think the addition of the gallop-only horses has been an excellent option for OBS to provide," said Miranda. "Consignors have surely hesitated to gallop in the past because there's a negative connotation to it when you can't legitimize a reason to buyers. With making a decision to gallop months in advance, I hope it does grow in popularity because it gives the horses that aren't meant to be the speedy, precocious types the space to be showcased properly."
