Denali Stud

LEXINGTON, KY - A large group of interested parties turned out at Fasig-Tipton as an offering of 23 mares and foals from the dispersal of Josephine Abercrombie's historic Pin Oak Stud went through the sales ring Sunday evening at Newtown Paddocks. Bloodstock agent Lincoln Collins, bidding on behalf of John and Susan Sykes's Woodford Thoroughbreds, made the evening's highest bid when going to $650,000 to acquire multiple graded stakes winner Don't Leave Me (Lemon Drop Kid) (hip 18). The 9-year-old mare sold in foal to 2020 Horse of the Year...

An offering of 24 broodmares, weanlings and horses in training from Josephine Abercrombie's Pin Oak Stud will be on offer through the Denali Stud consignment at Fasig-Tipton Sunday evening, with bidding slated to begin at 6 p.m. "This sale provides people with an opportunity to access these wonderful families that have been cultivated and expertly maintained through Mrs. Abercrombie and Clifford Barry," said Denali's Conrad Bandoroff. "You look through the catalogue, you have a lot of mares from good Pin Oak families and one of the main common denominators is...

The breeding of Thoroughbreds being such a notoriously long game, a dispersal as uncommon as this one offers the most privileged of short cuts. It's as though you can transplant an oak overnight from a mature plantation. Someone else has put in all the necessary, painstaking seasons, years, decades since the acorns were first sown. So it's a given, absolutely, that the root-and-branch dismantling of Pin Oak Stud into the Lexington lumberyards next week--two dozen mares, fillies and weanlings at Fasig-Tipton on Sunday evening, with 14 yearlings to follow across...

The daily number of U.S. deaths from the COVID-19 virus neared 1,000 per day last week, the highest level the country has seen since February. The seven-day moving average of COVID-19 cases reported by the CDC, is at 149,263, and continues to rise. There are currently four variants circulating in the United States; Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Gamma, with Delta making up over 99% of all cases. It seems like every day, someone we know in racing has contracted COVID, from trainer Todd Pletcher to the TDN's own Christina Bossinakis,...

A Tapit filly from the deep female family of A.P. Indy, et al. gave the million-dollar mark a scare midway through the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale Monday night when she brought $990,000 from West Point Thoroughbreds, Scarlet Oak Racing and John Ballantyne. Consigned by Denali Stud, Agent VIII as hip 61 on behalf of WinStar Farm and Winchell Thoroughbreds, the Mar. 28 foal is half to unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Carribean Caper (Speightstown). West Point and partners bought the $1.5-million co-topping First Captain (Curlin) here two years ago. The 'Rising Star'...

Josephine Abercrombie's Pin Oak Stud, one of the country's most successful Thoroughbred breeding and racing operations over the past six decades, will be offering its remaining broodmares, weanlings, and some racing fillies at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Sept. 12. Denali Stud will handle the sale as agent for Pin Oak. Separate from this main group are 14 yearlings which will be offered in the upcoming Keeneland September Sale and an additional yearling entered to sell at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga Sale. Some 14 retired mares and horses will remain on the farm. "This has...

If anyone sees Conrad Bandoroff on the Churchill Downs backside Friday morning, be sure to check in on him. With the possibility of a Denali-consigned exacta in the GI Kentucky Oaks, the farm's vice president said the flutter of butterflies in his stomach will probably have doubled in size by the dawning of Oaks Day. "During the lead up throughout the week, there's always so much going on that you can kind of keep yourself distracted," he said. "I imagine that Thursday night, that's when it might start to set...

Felicita (More Than Ready), an unraced 4-year-old half-sister to Grade I-winning juvenile and Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief), topped Tuesday's Keeneland December Digital Sale when hammering for $250,000 to Jon Clay's Alpha Delta Stables. The auction, Keeneland's third foray into the nascent online sale marketplace after its June Online Select Horses of Racing Age Sale and October Digital Sale, was seen by leading consignors as a clear improvement while still having kinks that need ironing out as the sector evolves. The one-day sale grossed $508,000 for 15 lots, for an average of...

Congratulations to Alexis Kolasa, one of three finalists in the Newcomer Award category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. Currently an administrative assistant at Denali Stud, Kolasa was the captain of her college equestrian team at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. At Denali, she works on billing, gives tours via Horse Country, posts on social media, and tracks racing and sales graduates. "We kind of call her our Swiss Army Knife; she has lots of different skills and assets rolled into one," said Denali vice president Conrad Bandoroff....

LEXINGTON, KY - The curtain comes down on a most unusual yearling sales season with the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Sale which begins its four-day run in Lexington Monday at 10 a.m. The auction will be following up on a record-setting 2019 renewal which saw new high marks for average and--from its largest-ever catalogue--gross, and will be held over four days for the fourth straight year as it continues to build its reputation as a must-attend auction for both buyers and sellers. "This sale has been so good to us almost...

A son of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was the first to set off fireworks at Fasig-Tipton Thursday, igniting a spirited round of bidding between a trio of powerhouse connections in Donato Lanni, Coolmore and Marette Farrell, acting on behalf on Speedway Stables. Lanni was the first to throw in the towel, leaving Coolmore and Farrell to duke it out and it was Farrell left to sign the winning $1.25-million ticket on behalf of her longtime clients, Speedway's K.C. Weiner and Peter Fluor. "K.C. Weiner and Peter Fluor are two...

Working in racing has always been a stressful occupation; a roller-coaster of emotions, triumphs and tragedies, long hours and travel. Add a global pandemic and unprecedented economic worry, with many participants fearing for their health, livelihoods and businesses, and the stress can become almost overwhelming. It's the sort of topic many people don't like to talk about, but we asked several industry participants to open about what particular stresses they were feeling during these very concerning times, and how they were dealing with them. CRAIG BANDOROFF, Denali Stud  This business...