Midnight Storm

What Was Your Favorite Moment Of 2023: Ethan West

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to [email protected] The month of October was pretty special. We started out by welcoming our little girl to the world and we closed it out by giving the barn its first graded-stakes victory at Keeneland with Runaway Storm (Midnight Storm) in the Bryan Station.--Ethan West

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Pricey Midnight Storm Colt a Debut Winner at Gulfstream

4th-Gulfstream, $53,000, Msw, 1-29, 3yo, 7f, 1:24.53, ft, 1 1/4 lengths. SWING SHIFT (c, 3, Midnight Storm--Tasunke, by Indian Charlie) and GIII Iroquois S. fourth Bourbon Heist (Practical Joke) were nigh inseparable by the betting public up until the gates opened for the former's career debut; the latter ultimately ending up the slimmest of 5-2 favorites. With first-time Lasix for his unveiling, Swing Shift broke fast from the outside slot and took command going up the backstretch with a stubborn challenger in stablemate and fellow firster Congressman (Constitution) glued to...

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$4.1m Curlin Colt and Most Expensive Midnight Storm Debut in Florida

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency EXPENSIVE MIDNIGHT STORM DEBUTS 4th-GP, $60K, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 12:57 p.m. SWING SHIFT, the most expensive offspring by young sire Midnight Storm, makes his career bow in this test for trainer Todd Pletcher. A $180,000 KEESEP yearling buy, the dark bay blossomed into a $550,000 OBS April juvenile purchase after breezing in :20 4/5. He hails from the family of Grade I winner Tap To Music (Pleasant Tap). TJCIS PPs MOTT UNVEILS $4.1M CURLIN COLT 8th-TAM, $28K, Msw, 4yo/up, 1 1/16mT, 3:48 p.m. Godolphin's $4.1-million...

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Midnight Storm Colt on Top at OBS October Selected Yearling Sale

A colt from the second crop of MGISW Midnight Storm (Pioneerof the Nile) (Hip 67) topped the Selected Yearling portion of the OBS October Sale when bringing $170,000 from Elusive Thoroughbreds. That entity was the session's leading buyer, taking home three head for $323,000. Consigned by Lisa McGreevy's Abbie Road Farm, Hip 67 was bred in Pennsylvania by Mary Katherine Haire. Alejandro Chavez purchased the colt for $27,000 at Keeneland November last year. The highest-priced filly of the day was a $120,000 daughter of Kantharos (Hip 22). Offered by Danielle...

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Body & Soul: Another Freshmen Future Book

Following the completion of the last major 2-year-old sale of the season in each of the past three years, we looked at the potential success of the freshmen sires by creating a handicapping event, noting that the freshmen sires of each year were very competitive bunches, i.e., many of them were capable of rising to the top five or so of their contemporaries after a few crops had raced. With the aberration in sales dates last year caused by the COVID-19 situation behind us, this season's major sales proceeded as...

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Parfait Becomes First Winner for Midnight Storm

Parfait became the first winner for her freshman sire Midnight Storm (Pioneerof the Nile) with a debut score at Belterra Saturday. Tracking from second through a :23.23 first quarter, the homebred rallied late, punching through between foes for a 3/4-length score. Quality Bet (Klimt) was the runner-up. Midnight Storm is a Grade I winner on turf and MGSW on dirt. He stands at Taylor Made for $7,500. Parfait is the first foal out of Miss Emma Maria, who has since produced a colt and filly by National Flag.   2nd-Belterra,...

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Midnight Storm Filly Zips Bullet at OBS

A filly by Midnight Storm turned in the fastest furlong work of the day and a pair of juveniles shared the day's fastest-quarter mile breeze during Wednesday's first session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds. Consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales on behalf of breeder Alex Venneri, the Midnight Storm filly (hip 107) zipped her furlong in :9 4/5 shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday morning. "She's a pretty nice filly, but you never know until they actually get out there," Venneri said....

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Strong Trade at OBS Opener

By Christie DeBernardis & Jessica Martini The four-day Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale got off to a strong start Tuesday. A colt from the first crop of Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Hip 118) was the day's hottest commodity, bringing $850,000 from Donato Lanni, acting on behalf of Michael Lund Petersen. Hip 118 was one of 181 juveniles to sell for a gross of $17,829,500. The average was $98,506 and the median was $50,000. Of the 304 catalogued, 225 were offered with 44 horses leaving the ring unsold...

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Kentucky Value Sires for 2021–First Juveniles, Part II

This is the second part of the latest instalment in our ongoing series assessing stallion options for the new covering season, now tackling sires who have just sold their first yearlings. The first part, which appeared in Tuesday's edition, can be read here. Dixie Union has achieved quite a legacy as a broodmare sire and, following on from Mohaymen (Tapit), two other stallions in this group are out of his daughters. KLIMT (Quality Road-Inventive by Dixie Union) has maintained an industrial output through his first three books at Darby Dan,...

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Not This Time Goes to $40K at Taylor Made
Not This Time Goes to $40K at Taylor Made

Not This Time (Giant's Causeway), whose record-setting, undefeated daughter Princess Noor is a leading candidate for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, will stand the 2021 breeding season for a fee of $40,000 at Taylor Made, the farm announced Thursday. He commanded an advertised fee of $12,500 in 2020. Most of the nursery's other stallions will stand for reduced fees next year. 'TDN Rising Star' Princess Noor is one of 14 first-crop winners for Not This Time and has run the table in her three career starts to date, posting...

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Taylor Made's Stallion Program on the Rise

Since the loss of Taylor Made's signature stallion Unbridled's Song seven years ago, the farm has worked to regain its footing in the ever-evolving, ever-competitive business of stallion development. The first step, finding prospective stallions that fit a specific program, often proves to be the most difficult. "What do you look for in a stallion?" asked Taylor Made's Frank Taylor. "The one thing we know is nobody knows who is going to be a great stallion. If anybody tells you they do, they're not telling the truth." [tdn_vimeo_embed title="Taylor Made...

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Kentucky Value Sires 2020, Part III: First Yearlings

We've taken a breather in this series during the January Sale, where I shared many conversations on themes raised in its first two parts--notably the market's addiction to unproven stallions. Time after time, it was the same story. A shrug of the shoulders, a helpless spreading of the hands: "Yes, we know it's nuts. But we have to make the game pay." Fair enough. It's a bit like the individual who asks why he or she should make a massively inconvenient personal sacrifice, with regard to the climate crisis, when...

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