By Jessica Martini
While eight horses tied for the fastest furlong of :9 4/5, a filly from the first crop of Grade I winner Yaupon (hip 181) distinguished herself with a bullet quarter-mile breeze in :20 2/5 during the second session of the under-tack preview ahead of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Monday in Central Florida. Consigned by Tom McCrocklin, hip 181 is out of Moon Over Mag Bay (Malibu Moon), a daughter of stakes winner Believe in Charlie (Indian Charlie).
“She's just naturally fast,” McCrocklin said of the filly. “Typically when I get here, there are no surprises. You kind of know who is fast and who is not. But the interesting thing is, she kind of did a little zig-zag when she switched leads in the stretch, like she saw something, so I think she could have actually gone faster. Her gallop-out was really science fiction–:31 and change and :45 flat.”
McCrocklin purchased the filly for $62,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale.
“She looked athletic and she had a great walk,” McCrocklin said of the filly's appeal last summer. “I am pretty happy with the purchase right now.”
The first yearlings by Yaupon (Uncle Mo), winner of the 2021 GI Forego Stakes, were popular in the sales ring last summer and fall, with 118 selling for an average of $169,830–good for fourth among U.S.-based first-crop sires.
“I have three [by Yaupon] and I wish I had more,” McCrocklin said. “They have been really, really athletic, very classy. They just act like they can run.”
David McKathan and Jody Mihalic's Grassroots Training and Sales, which sent out one of three juveniles to share the furlong bullet during Sunday's first under-tack session, sent out four of the eight to set that bullet :9 4/5 mark Monday.
The quartet was led off by hip 279, a filly by Temple City out of Possession of War (Midnight Lute); and included hip 234, a daughter of Authentic out of multiple stakes-placed Onebrethatatime (Brethren); hip 239, a filly by Army Mule out of Our Irish Lassie's (Yes It's True); and hip 332, a colt by freshman sire Leinster, whose first starter was a winner at Keeneland Sunday. The chestnut is out of Renovation (Alternation).
Also sharing the furlong bullet Monday: hip 190, a daughter of Curlin out of stakes-placed Motivated Seller (Into Mischief) consigned by de Meric Sales; hip 244, a colt by Maximus Mischief out of Overly Indulgent (Pleasantly Perfect) consigned by Cardozo's Brothers; hip 250, a filly by Munnings out of Palmilla Moon (Malibu Moon) consigned by Kings Equine; and hip 329, a filly by Not This Time out of Remarqued (Arch) consigned by Niall Brennan Stables.
McCrocklin said he felt conditions at the breeze show seemed to improve Monday after the opening session Sunday.
“I found the track [Sunday] to be very difficult,” he said. “I can't really put my finger on it, but I texted with Suzanne Smallwood with Equix and she was of the same opinion. She said horses were just kind of getting stuck in it–she used this biometric terminology, they couldn't launch behind. I thought it was better today. We had a crazy wind here today, it's kind of a diagonal crosswind out of the south, but we have seen some fast times today with my filly, obviously, being one of them. It seemed faster today, I thought.”
The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning each day at 8 a.m. The Spring sale will be held next Tuesday through Friday with bidding starting at 10:30 a.m.
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