Ciaran Dunne

Oh, for a daughter to take the legacy forward! That was the late Marty Wygod's thought, year after year, when his dual Grade I winner Tranquility Lake (Rahy) persisted in stubbornly producing colts. True, her Storm Cats had served his program well: After Market and Courageous Cat both won Grade Is, while their brother Jalil made $9.7 million as a yearling. But then, finally, the mare delivered a filly--her very last foal, by Smart Strike. Emily Bushnell, his daughter, recalls ecstatically calling Wygod at 5 a.m. when the foetal test...

One of the first horses on track in the penultimate breeze show ahead of next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, a colt by Nyquist (hip 634) wasted no time setting a new high-water mark of :9 3/5, the fastest time of the sale thus far. Consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables, the colt is a homebred for Cypress Creek Equine out of Paquita Coqueta (Chi) (Scat Daddy), a Chilean champion female sprinter purchased by Cypress Creek for $170,000 at Keeneland November in 2021 in foal...

April Mayberry, bidding on behalf of an undisclosed partnership, went to $1 million to secure a colt by Nyquist (hip 79) early in Tuesday's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. The chestnut colt, who worked a furlong last week in :10 2/5, is out of Deja Vu (Giant's Causeway) and is a half-brother to stakes winner and Grade I placed Crystal Ball (Malibu Moon). He was consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables and was purchased as part of Dunne and Paul Reddam's Red Wings pinhooking partnership for $200,000...

TIMONIUM, MD - The under-tack show for the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, delayed a day and an hour by rain storms, opened under gray skies and an intermittent drizzle Wednesday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds as seven juveniles splashed down the lane in co-fastest :10 1/5 furlong breezes. First to hit the :10 1/5 time was a colt by Tiz the Law (hip 189), who worked early in the second of the day's seven sets. Consigned by Wavertree Stables, the bay is out of stakes-placed Janis's Joy...

A colt from the first crop of Independence Hall (hip 619) tied the time for the fastest quarter-mile of the week so far in Ocala when he worked the distance in :20 2/5 at the fourth session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Wednesday. Consigned by Wavertree Stables, the juvenile is out of Waltzing (Candy Ride {Arg}), a half-sister to graded winner Dancing Solo (Giant's Causeway) and to Grade I-placed Dancing (Bernardini). He was purchased by Ron Fein's Superfine for...

With the first major 2-year-old sale, OBS March, now in the books, it's time for some predictions. We asked the experts who their pick is for leading freshman sire and also asked them for a "sleeper pick" or a stallion that will perform beyond expectations. Here's what they had to say: Jimbo Gladwell Top Pick: Charlatan, Standing for $50,000 in 2025 at Hill 'n' Dale Ten percent of the horses I've had on the farm are by Charlatan, so I am a Charlatan fan. They are really smart horses that...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training opened Tuesday with a colt from the first crop of Grade I winner Maxfield (hip 119) leading the way when selling for $1 million to Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida. The colt was consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables. At the end of the session, 117 juveniles had sold for $15,902,000 for an average of $135,915 and a median of $85,000. At the conclusion of last year's opening session, 152 head...

The under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, delayed a day by weather and beset by a strong and persistent headwind when it opened Thursday, nonetheless got off to a fast start when the first horse on track, a colt by Charlatan (hip 176), worked a furlong in :9 4/5. Just a few minutes later, a son of another freshman sire, Maxfield (hip 119), equaled that time and the trio of bullet workers on the day was completed later in the first set...

System seems to work pretty well. Donato Lanni buys their standout for Amr Zedan, and on they go: win their Grade Is, make another ton of money at stud. In 2022, it was the $2.3- million Uncle Mo colt we now know as Hill 'n' Dale stallion and 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight; a year later, it was a $2-million son of Good Magic, 'Rising Star' Muth, meanwhile underway at Gainesway. With horses, however, there's always something you could do to make things even better. Last year Zedan called Jimbo...

When it comes to racing, breeding and sales, Justin Wojczynski has done just about everything. He's been a pinhooker, he's broken horses for others and prepared them for the races, he's handled layup horses and he's been a trainer. One might think that's plenty, but Wojczynski is intent on expanding his stable of race horses while keeping his other side jobs. That might sound like a lot, but it has been made easier by the emergence of the 6-year-old mare Awesome Treat (Awesome Patriot). In her last start, she sprung...

Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced offspring from a variety of top national outfits. Summer Breezes highlights debuting 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, with links to their under-tack previews. To follow is the lone such horse entered for Sunday at Saratoga: Sunday, July 14, 2024 Saratoga 1, $100k, 2yo,...

TIMONIUM, MD - The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale concluded its two-day run at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium Tuesday with a lively session of bidding led by a $1.25-million daughter of Bolt d'Oro. Through two sessions, 343 horses sold for $32,766,500. The average of $95,485--up 2.9% from a year ago--just ticked up from the sale's previous record average of $95,391 set in 2022, while the median of $50,000 tied the sale record set in 2021 and equaled again in 2023. "I thought we had two very...