By Steve Sherack
REDMOND, WA – With auctioneer Cris Caldwell handling emcee duties, 27 juveniles were showcased through a series of open gallops during Monday's training preview ahead of Tuesday's Pegasus 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale held in the Pacific Northwest.
Partly sunny skies and cool temperatures in the low 50s greeted those attendance on the first day of spring, including: trainers Blaine Wright, Frank Lucarelli, Kathy Walsh; owner/breeder Glen Todd; West Point's Jeff Lifson; and Hill 'n' Dale's Rita Riccelli.
“It worked out well. I was very happy with it,” Mike Puhich, trainer and director of horse operations at Pegasus, commented shortly after the two-hour under-tack show wrapped up. “There are some other people from California who called last minute that are coming tomorrow now, too. I thought the people that were here were pretty interested and I recognized them all as players, so that's pretty encouraging. And I thought the horses put on a good show, too. I'm pretty optimistic. It was a great turnout and the horses did great.”
Some highlights from the 37 juveniles consigned–down to 27 after scratches–to this year's Pegasus Sale include: Hip 3, a Street Sense granddaughter of Caress (Storm Cat) ($50,000 KEESEP yearling); Hip 5, a colt from the first crop of GI Donn H. hero Graydar ($50,000 KEESEP yearling); Hip 9, a Union Rags filly from the extended female family Girolamo and Bluegrass Cat ($45,000 KEESEP yearling); Hip 14, a Shackleford half-brother to millionaire Bourbon Courage (Lion Heart) ($37,000 RNA KEESEP); and Hip 17, an Into Mischief granddaughter of GISW Jilbab (A.P. Indy) ($20,000 KEESEP).
The Pegasus Sale, the vision of Dr. Mark Dedomenico, was last held in 2012. Previous sale graduates include MGISW Belle Gallantey (After Market).
“We probably bought a little bit stronger of a catalogue page for some of the horses this time around, but tried to keep it to where they'd still be affordable, too,” Puhich said.
A total of seven juveniles bred in Washington and British Columbia and a handful of others consigned by California sires, including a trio by freshman sire Smiling Tiger, should also help facilitate activity from local horsemen in the Pacific Northwest as well, Puhich reports.
“I'd be disappointed if we didn't have some really nice horses come out of here,” Puhich concluded. “I really think it's a good group of horses and these have pedigrees that are a little bit stronger than the ones that have gone out there and done some real damage. I'm pretty happy with what we've got.”
Tuesday's Pegasus Sale gets underway at 1:00 p.m. PDT.
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