Sires to Watch: Interesting Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale Sires

Spring is in the air and 2-year-old breeze up sales are kicking into gear with everyone flocking to Florida to add some horses to their stables. This week the fun kicks off with Fasig-Tipton’s The Florida Sale taking place on March 1 at Gulfstream Park.

When the catalog was released, 162 hips were cataloged for the sale with 44 declared out as of the evening of Feb. 27. That same day, those still in the sale took part in the under tack show, giving buyers a preview of the sale's offerings. No one broke the 10 second barrier at the show, though five tied for the bullet time of 10 seconds flat on Monday.

Here are just a few sires (other than the typical Uncle Mos and Tapits) who look like they may be interesting when their 2-year-olds go through the ring on Wednesday night.

Candy Ride’s (Ride the Rails) 2-year-olds didn’t miss any time grabbing attention this sales season. While none of his five sale horses in the under tack show clocked the bullet, one clocked in at :10.1, three others at :10.2 and his fifth at :10.3. Of his Florida Sale entries, one is out of a Grade 3 winning dam, one out of a graded stakes producer and two others are out of stakes winners. The only 2-year-old with non-black type included with the first dam is Hip 84, a colt whose third dam is Number (Nijinsky II) so he definitely has class behind him too. Candy Ride was hot at the sales and on the track in late 2015 and 2016 and is currently No. 8 on the General Sires list so he could make some noise at Gulfstream this week.

Gun Runner is one of Candy Ride's top runners this year

At a sale like this, it can be hard to stand out when you aren’t a big sire but Custom for Carlos (More Than Ready) took the right step at the breeze show. His only entry (Hip 157) breezed in :10.1 to put his sire in lights next to some of the top Kentucky stallions. A Florida stallion, Custom for Carlos has three crops on the ground with 40 winners from 66 starters, including three stakes winners. This colt is a full brother to the best of Custom For Carlos’ runners in Grade 3 and multiple stakes winner Big World, who has won five of her nine career starts so far. Custom for Carlos did have a horse in this sale last year, a colt who sold for $50,000 who has won both his starts this year. Custom for Carlos may not have a sales topper here but a horse with a good breeze is a good start to getting buyers’ attention.

A horse that got better as he got older, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Flat Out (Flatter) produced later maturing runners. But if the breeze show is any indication, they may come out firing sooner than expected. His Hip 150 was one of the fastest breezers by a freshman sire when clocking in at :10.1, with only Paynter (Awesome Again) joining him as a freshman with a time that fast (no freshman had a horse breeze :10.0). Both Flat Out and Paynter have two horses each entered with Flat Out’s other entry clocking in at :10.2 and Paynter’s at :10.3. That :10.1 breezer for Flat Out (Hip 150) is a half-brother to Grade 3 winner Arella Rockstar (Astrology) while Paynter’s :10.1 breezer (Hip 117) is a half-brother to multiple stakes winner La Rocca (Toccet). It’s always a little hard to figure out how buyers will like freshman sires as they hit new markets but these two at least got started the right way here.

Hip 150 as a foal

Looking at the catalog before outs were published, Into Mischief (Into Mischief) seemed to be everywhere with 11 entries. That number dropped down to eight in the days before the sale but those eight didn't disappoint. One of those eight, a filly (Hip 66) split the bullet on Monday with her :10.0 breeze while three others were just a tick behind her at :10.2 and another three right behind them at :10.3. This crop is the first conceived after Goldencents’ first Breeders’ Cup victory so it should be Into Mischief’s best group to hit the track yet. Based on catalog page, it’s looking good with every entry being either a sibling to a multiple graded stakes winner or out of a half or full sibling to stakes winners. Last year, Into Mischief’s most expensive horse from this sale was a $280,000 colt.

Life can’t get much better for Pioneerof the Nile (Empire Maker) right now but his connections he takes another big leap at the 2-year-old sales. Siring a champion three of the four years he’s had runners (two of those championships coming from the same horse), this group of 2-year-olds was bred the year after American Pharoah was named champion 2-year-old and should be his best crop yet. One of his fillies (Hip 126) was one of five horses to capture the bullet while three others clocked in at :10.2 from five to breeze. Pioneerof the Nile’s five entries include a colt (Hip 51) out of a half-sister to European champion St Nicholas Abbey (Montjeu), a son (Hip 86) of multiple graded stakes winner Katz Me If You Can (Storm Cat), a filly (Hip 126) out of a half-sister to a stakes winner and multiple stakes placed horses and Hip 132, a half-sister to a stakes winner. Pioneerof the Nile had a colt sell at this sale for $1-million last year, who broke his maiden in his second start a few weeks ago.

Classic Empire is one of Pioneerof the Nile's champions