By Jessica Martini
Carradine (Grasshopper–Summer Moon, by Maria's Mon), a multiple-stakes placed 3-year-old, topped Tuesday's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December Mixed Sale when bringing a final bid of $105,000 from trainer Linda Rice. The bay colt (hip 256), second in the Gander S. in January and third in last year's Damon Runyon S., was part of the auction's first-ever section of horses of racing age. He had been trained by Rice for the D A S L Stable of the late Harry Weisleder, who passed away in November.
“He'll ship back to Belmont tomorrow morning,” Rice, who purchased Carradine on behalf of an undisclosed client, said as she drove back to New York from the Timonium sale Tuesday evening. “I'd had him since he was a 2-year-old and trained him for Dr. Weisleder. I was happy to get him back through the auction and it's unfortunate I won't be able to train him for Dr. Weisleder, that's all.”
Carradine, off since finishing fourth in the Apr. 22 Federico Tesio S., worked five furlongs in 1:01.38 Nov. 29 at Penn National.
“When Dr. Weisleder passed, they picked up all of the horses he had with me in New York and they took them to Penn National,” Rice said. “And then they decided to put everything in the auction.”
Clovis Crane's Crane Thoroughbreds handled the Weisleder dispersal, which sold 34 horses for a total of $649,500 and an average of $19,103.
The auction missed out on its second six-figure offering when the 2-year-old filly Gibby (Tizway) (hip 285) RNA'd for $205,000.
In all, 221 horses sold in Timonium Tuesday for a total of $2,448,200. The average was $11,078 and the median was $5,000. Fifty nine horses were reported not sold for a buy-back rate of 21.1%.
Carradine was Rice's only purchase of the December sale, but the trainer admitted the horses of racing age section was a valuable addition to the auction.
“Frankly, if I had had a little bit more time, I may have bought a few more horses out of that auction,” Rice said. “There were a few other horses I thought would have been useful for New York winter racing. Unfortunately, I didn't get down to the sale until late this morning. But I think [the racing age section] is a good thing.”
A weanling filly by the late City Zip brought the top price during the bloodstock portion of the December sale when bringing a final bid of $80,000 from Doug Arnold, agent. Out of multiple stakes winner Geeky Gorgeous (Devil His Due), hip 160 was consigned by Gracie Bloodstock, as agent for her breeder, Joe-Dan Farm. The mare's first foal, a filly by Hey Chub, sold for $4,500 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Yearling Sale in October.
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