Spendthrift Races an Incentive for 2YO Buyers

B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm, among the most innovative operations in the industry–be it with its Breed Secure and Share the Upside programs, or its recent expansion into Australia–introduced another initiative last fall designed to promote its stallions and support its breeders. The inaugural Spendthrift Stallion S., restricted to 2-year-old progeny of past and current Spendthrift stallions, carried a $300,000 purse split up 50/50 among owners and breeders of the top finishers and was contested over seven panels by a field of 12 at Churchill Downs in late October. The race was won by Warrior's Club (Warrior's Reward), owned by Churchill Downs Racing Club–another endeavor geared towards the “little guy” and championed by Spendthrift–and this year two races will be run, one for fillies and one for males each with $200,000 purses,
Oct. 29.

“When we were in Australia, we saw some great restricted stakes races that were being offered, in particular by Magic Millions,” said Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey when asked how the idea for the race first came about. “We thought it was a great idea–they had great purses, they promoted the day, it was great for the region and the track and great for owners and breeders. It's really great for the industry overall.”

With 26 stallions in Kentucky for 2017 and another four more in regional markets, the Spendthrift roster is particularly well-suited to support stallion-restricted races. Toffey noted that when asked by Churchill Downs if a Spendthrift-restricted race could generate a full field, Spendthrift determined that approximately 600 qualifying 2-year-olds had been working or running in advance of last year's inaugural event.

“We really loved the idea, and we bounced it off a number of people and nobody really jumped on it, so we finally decided to do it ourselves and offer it for Spendthrift-sired horses,” Toffey recalled. “We felt we had a big enough pool to make it a legitimate thing. It's the kind of thing that's great for our breeders because hopefully it'll help them sell their horses, and they may pick up some awards money; and it's a great promotion for our stallions. We hope it ends up working out well for the track, as well, and it looked like it did last year–there was some added handle there and some added buzz… We just felt that it was good for the industry as a whole, and just one more way to promote our stallions and help our breeders along. That's what a lot of our programs are about–to help make things work for our breeders.”

While many horses have already changed hands from their original breeders by the time the 2-year-old sales come along, Toffey said response from consignors has been mostly positive, and he hopes end-users will take advantage of the program, as well.

“We ask that consignors put a hip sticker on all the Spendthrift-sired horses that are eligible,” Toffey noted. “In general, people are starting to understand what it's all about, and we've gotten good feedback from everybody.”

Consignor James Layden, who sold a $300,000 Malibu Moon colt at last week's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale and who has an Into Mischief filly (hip 100) entered at next week's OBS March sale, is among those consignors who have used Spendthrift stakes eligibility as a tool to market his consignment.

“They sent out hip stickers and I've been putting them on,” he said. “It does draw a little bit of interest. Anything's a help nowadays.”

There are a total of 57 Spendthrift-sired horses in the OBS March catalog, and Jenn and Quincy Adams's Q Bar J Thoroughbreds has two of those offerings. Q Bar J also sold a colt from the first crop of Spendthrift stallion Flat Out at the Gulfstream sale for $400,000–he was acquired for just $50,000 at Fasig-Tipton July last year.

“I've got a Flat Out filly (hip 541) and an Into Mischief filly (hip 583), and I like them both a lot,” Quincy Adams said. “I love the Flat Outs–I sold that big one in Miami–and Into Mischief's just a no-brainer. We have several of them in the barn and they're all class acts. Into Mischief as a stallion is really coming into his own right now.”

When asked if he thought the Spendthrift stakes races served as effective motivation for buyers to look a bit closer at eligible offerings, Adams replied:

“I think it is a little bit of an incentive for people when they know they've got that bonus. It's almost like a breeders award–any time you've got any incentives going, it's always a plus for a buyer.”

OBS President Tom Ventura echoed the sentiment: “Any time you add races with significant purses for people to have an opportunity to run and earn back some of their investment, I think it can only be a positive.”