Al Pike

A memorial service honoring veteran horseman Al Pike will be held at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19 at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Lexington, Kentucky. A reception will follow. Pike, a perennial leading 2-year-old consignor and pinhooker, passed away on July 26, 2025 at the age of 70 after a battle with cancer. Those wishing to speak in memory of Pike at the service are asked to contact Mark Toothaker at 859-421-0151.

Veteran horseman Al Pike, who had been battling cancer, passed away Saturday at the age of 70, according to a release from the Texas Thoroughbred Association. Pike, along with his wife of nearly 45 years, Salley, and their son, Colt, operated Pike Racing. Pike is also survived by daughter Chelsey Pike Hooton. Pike got his start in the horse industry in the 1970s as a Quarter Horse trainer in Texas before he and his wife transitioned to Thoroughbreds, eventually focusing on pinhooking. Pike Racing sold the $1.1-million sale-topper at the...

TIMONIUM, MD - Fasig-Tipton was forced to halt the under-tack preview of its Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Thursday after a fatal breakdown that was followed by a sudden downpour. Sales officials announced Thursday evening that the preview would resume Sunday at 8 a.m. and that the sale, originally scheduled to be held next Monday and Tuesday, will be held in one session Tuesday beginning at 10 a.m. The preview has been beset by weather issues and the sales company postponed Tuesday's scheduled start by a day. The Wednesday...

Al Pike is set to retire from his position as director of sales and the conditioner for 2-year-olds in-training at Highland Training Center, and will be replaced by Colin Brennan after the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale in May ends, the center announced via press release. While Pike will be retiring to Lexington, Kentucky with Brennan making the move to Texas, Pike will continue to work with Highlander in a consulting and advisory role. The retiring director and training began his career with horses in 1978 but eventually transitioned to a fruitful...

A total of four horses sold for more than $100,000 at Wednesday's Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Lone Star Park, with Hip 15 topping the sale at $150,000, the Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) said in Wednesday release. All told, 58 of 85 juveniles offered sold for a total of $1,666,100. The average was $28,726 and the median was $18,000. The 2024 edition of the auction saw 66 head go for a total of $2,294,500, with an average of $34,765 and a median of $24,500. A total of 47 went...

It takes a pretty serious animal to earn $2 million in any racing jurisdiction, let alone accomplishing that feat in a place like Hong Kong. The urban environment is not for every horse--to that end, the Hong Kong Jockey Club operates their state-of-the-art satellite facility in Conghua [shung-pha] on the Chinese mainland--and it takes a special horse to thrive there. Chancheng Glory (Mor Spirit) has done just that over the course of the last 18 months or so. Bred in Iowa by Allen Poindexter, the 4-year-old gelding has won seven...

The Lone Star Park Sales Pavilion in Grand Prairie will once again host the Texas Thoroughbred Association's (TTA) single-session Texas Yearling Sale Monday beginning at 10 a.m. CT. The TTA catalogue includes 207 head from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma, plus a special dispersal of 10 horses consigned by CS Sales, agent for Three Feathers Farm. By the numbers, the 2023 edition, which showcased one of the largest catalogs in sale history with 271 yearlings, reported 175 sold for $3,240,000. The average was $18,542 and the median was $11,000, while...

A colt by Street Boss (hip 28), one of six to share the furlong bullet of :10 1/5 during the under-tack preview show Monday, topped the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale when bringing a final bid of $265,000 from Tracy Williams Wednesday at Lone Star Park. The Texas-bred juvenile, the first foal out of Gemmizell (Gemologist), was consigned by Pike Racing at Highlander. "To be honest, when we came here, we thought he would be one of the better ones," said consignor Al Pike. "You never know if you're going...

GRAND PRAIRIE, TX - A colt by Practical Joke brought $110,000 to top Monday's single-session Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) Summer Yearling Sale at Lone Star Park. By the numbers, a total of 175 yearlings sold for $3,240,000. The figures represented a decrease from 2022 when 161 sold for a record $3,416,000 in gross receipts. This term, the average was $18,542, while the median was $11,000 and 77 horses reported not sold. Foster Bridewell, Director of Horse Sales for the TTA, said of the auction, "Three of our top five offerings were...

As of July 1, two highly respected entities in Thoroughbred training and racing are joining forces as Pike Racing will be relocating to Highlander Training Center in Sulphur Springs, Texas, the facility said in a release yesterday. Pike Racing, owned by Al and Salley Pike, has become a fixture at the two-year-olds in training sales, and their graduates have experienced success in the sales ring and at the racetrack. A native Texan from Palestine, Al Pike said he has been eager "to come back to Texas" for years. "Salley and...

A filly by Tapwrit (hip 167) , who blazed a furlong in :9 4/5 during Monday's under-tack show, topped the Texas Thoroughbred Association's 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale when bringing a final bid of $300,000 from trainer Randy Morse Wednesday at Lone Star Park. Morse, fresh off a runner-up finish with Taxed (Collected) in Saturday's GIII Fantasy S., purchased the juvenile on behalf of owners Randy Patterson, Joe Morgan and Sam Vogel. "She's fast," Morse said of the filly's appeal. "The work was really good. There was a really strong headwind...

TIMONIUM, MD - The three-day under-tack show for the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale began shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday morning under cloudless blue skies and temperatures hovering around 60 degrees and by the conclusion of the day's seventh and final set shortly before 3 p.m., with temperatures approaching 80 degrees, five horses had turned in the co-fastest furlong time of :10 flat. A filly by Collected had the day's fastest quarter-mile work of :21 1/5. A filly by Nyquist (hip 150) was the first to hit the :10...