TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2019 A WHIP-FREE DAY OF RACING STRONG OPENER TO by Dan Ross FASIG MIDLANTIC SALE It was Constitution Day last Friday when racing was held at Norway's Øvrevoll racecourse, a leafy green little country track nestled on the outskirts of Oslo, the famous Holmenkollbakken ski jump soaring high in the far distance. Constitution Day commemorates the signing in 1814 of the Norwegian Constitution, declaring the nation a sovereign entity --Norway, at the time, had been ceded by those sneaky Danes to the king of Sweden (and it would take Norway until 1905 before they finally became an independent nation, but that's a story for another time). On this day every year, droves of Norwegians throw on their glad rags--lavish folk costumes called bunad. And there was bunad aplenty at Øvrevoll last Friday. But this wasn't perhaps the most eye-catching memento from the day. Cont. p10 Session-topping Hip 156 in the ring | Fasig-Tipton IN TDN EUROPE TODAY by Jessica Martini DIVINE SPIRIT EARNS TDN RISING STAR STATUS TIMONIUM, MD--The two-day Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year- Godolphin’s Divine Spirit (GB) (Kingman {GB}) becomes a new Olds in Training Sale kicked off in Timonium Monday with a TDN Rising Star at Royal Windsor . Click or tap here to go strong session punctuated by competitive bidding from a broad straight to TDN Europe. buying bench. Trainer Ken McPeek made the day’s highest bid, going to $500,000 to secure a colt by Street Sense (hip 156) from the Top Line Sales consignment. In all, 156 juveniles sold Monday for a total of $11,402,500. The average of $73,093 ticked up 4.2% from last year’s opening session and the median rose 19.4% to $43,000. The buy-back rate was 25.7%. It was 22.9% a year ago. Eleven horses sold for $200,000 or more during the session, compared to 13 a year ago. “It was a solid start to the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year- Olds in Training Sale,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “Statistically, it was very similar to last year. It was pretty much the market that we have seen throughout the 2-year-old sales season of 2019 and it was about as expected.” A traditional strength of the Midlantic sale is its diverse buying bench, which was on full display Monday, according to Browning. “We feed a number of racing jurisdictions and you see buyers from literally all over the United States, from California to the Southwest and obviously a lot of Eastern trainers and some Midwestern support,” Browning said. Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Tuesday, May 21, 2019 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Amie Morosco Advertising Assistant/Dir. Of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Social Media Strategist Foaled on May 14 at Denali Stud, a colt by Gun Runner and out of Golden Artemis Justina Severni (Malibu Moon) explores the camera. Owned by DATTT Farm, Golden Artemis, the granddam of Bourbon War (Tapit), will be bred back to Curlin. | Mikala Bidwell Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes [email protected] Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen JUMP START DEAD AT 20 12 Leading Mid-Atlantic sire Jump Start (A.P. Indy) died Sunday Director of Information Technology morning due to complications from colitis. He was 20. Ray Villa [email protected] Bookkeeper ‘RISING STAR’ SOUPER TAPIT SCORES IN ECLIPSE 13 Terry May ‘TDN Rising Star’ and son of GISW Zo Impressive (Hard Spun) [email protected] Souper Tapit (Tapit) gutted out a narrow victory in the WORLDWIDE INFORMATION GII Eclipse S. on Victoria Day Monday at Woodbine. International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 14 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • MAY 21, 2019 Strong Start to Fasig Midlantic cont. from p1 “I thought he was a real standout here,” McPeek said. “There was activity from Korea and some folks from Dubai,” “Obviously the sire is a Derby winner and the bottom line is Browning continued. “It’s a very broad-based buying bench that speed. He looked great breezing and presented himself well out participated in this sale.” back. He had an injection of Deputy Minister on the bottom line, The day’s top 10 lots were all purchased by unique buying too, in the second dam, which I am always fond of. I have had a interests. lot of luck with that line.” The Midlantic sale continues Tuesday and Browning is looking The juvenile (hip 156) is out of Forest Fashion (Forest Wildcat), for another strong session. who is a daughter of Fashion Editor (Deputy Minister) and she is “I think we probably have some more top-end horses a half-sister to graded stakes placed Luxembourg (Wild Rush). tomorrow, based on the chatter on the sales grounds amongst The 75-year-old Fireman, who races as Fern Circle Stables, was both consignors and buyers,” he said. “So we should hopefully represented in this year’s GI Kentucky Oaks by Restless Rider have some fireworks tomorrow, but it was certainly a good, (Distorted Humor). solid consistent marketplace at a variety of levels today, which “Paul Fireman, the principal on this one, is always looking for a was encouraging.” really good horse,” McPeek said. “We had Restless Rider in the The Midlantic sale’s final session begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Oaks this year, so we’ve sort of sniffed around at some top-end stuff and that is what he is after. And this is certainly a high-class Colt Makes Sense for McPeek colt.” The colt worked over a challenging surface during last week’s Ken McPeek made good use of his time in Baltimore. While in first session of the under-tack preview and turned in the fastest town to saddle Signalman (General Quarters) in Saturday’s quarter-mile time of the day, covering the distance in :21 4/5. GI Preakness S., the trainer went through the Fasig Midlantic “He showed a turn of foot that you need to win big races,” sales barns and came up with a colt by Street Sense. McPeek McPeek said of the work. purchased the bay on behalf of Reebok founder Paul Fireman Cont. p4 for $500,000 Monday in Timonium. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 14 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • MAY 21, 2019 Patience Pays for Uncle Mo Colt Consignor Eddie Woods admitted it had taken some time for his colt by Uncle Mo to come to hand, but the juvenile did it handsomely in Timonium this week before ultimately selling for $475,000 to Martin Schwartz. Woods’s Quarter Pole Enterprise partnership purchased the dark bay for $225,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale. “He is a lovely horse,” Woods said. “He is just very immature and very backward. It took a long time for him to come around. We never took him to another sale. We had him entered in [OBS] March and he just wasn’t ready for it. His butt is still up in the air, way above his withers. We could just never get him to balance out and in March he looked awkward. But we just gave him the time. This is sort of the last place to come with a horse. I Ken McPeek | Fasig-Tipton had a partner who wanted to sell here and I said, ‘Okay.’ It went really well.” He added, “Because I was here for the Preakness with Hip 236 is out of the unraced Lady Godiva (Unbridled’s Song) Signalman, I looked at every horse myself. I had some time to kill and is a half-brother to Grade I winner Leofric (Candy Ride going into the race. I trained in the morning and then I had the {Arg}). Lady Godiva, in foal to Candy Ride, sold for $600,000 at afternoon [to look at horses]. So I looked at every horse by last year’s Fasig-Tipton November sale. Sunday and narrowed it down. This was a horse who made the The juvenile worked a furlong last week in :10 2/5. short list and he certainly deserved to be on it.” “He breezed great,” Woods said. “He had a beautiful video The colt was consigned by Top Line Sales, as agent for Carlo because he’s a beautiful-moving horse. He struggled with the Vaccarezza, who purchased him for $280,000 at last year’s turn a little bit, he was going a bit quick and he kind of blew the Keeneland September sale. Vaccarezza has enjoyed a string of turn and went into the middle of the track a little bit and then successful pinhooking scores this spring. At the Fasig-Tipton drifted back in and cost himself a tick.” Gulfstream Sale, he sold a colt by American Pharoah for As the juvenile sales season winds down, Woods observed of $775,000.