In a sale that has been strong throughout as it dives into the middle market, consignor Carrie Brogden of Machmer Hall is optimistic about the start of Book 4 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Sept. 19.
“We’ve been slammed over here all day,” Brogden said Sept. 18, waving to the flocks of potential buyers viewing horses outside of Machmer Hall Sales, the consignment run by Brogden and her husband, Craig.
The consignor has three exciting pinhook prospects on offer that have been responsible for the revolving circus surrounding Barn 34.
Brogden has had a hand in selecting each of the trio from their previous trips to the ring. Two of them, Hip 2223 and Hip 2065, she signed under the Machmer Hall name. The third, a burly son of Good Samaritan, she bought in partnership with Alejandro Chavez and an undisclosed partner through agent Colt Pike after seeing the colt at last year’s Keeneland November Sale.
“I wasn’t even shopping for a horse, but you know I’m such a horse addict," said Brogden. "I was in the back ring (at Keeneland November) and saw him and I was watching him walk and was like 'Ohhh, I like this one’ to my husband. Good Samaritan is a son of Harlan’s Holiday and he’s a hell of a sire of sires.”
Secured for $60,000 at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale in 2021, Brogden has been pleased with how the colt, consigned as Hip 2175, has developed since his weanling days.
“He’s been one of our most popular colts,” Brogden said. “He prepped beautifully. He’s showing like a boss. He has good vetting. So hopefully, he’ll represent the WinStar stallion (Good Samaritan) well.”
First-crop sire Good Samaritan was both precocious and versatile on the racetrack. An earner of more than $1.3 million, the son of the late Harlan’s Holiday broke his maiden at first asking at Saratoga Race Course as a 2-year-old in a career that saw him capture graded stakes on both the turf and dirt at ages 2, 3, and 4. He is represented by six 2-year-old winners so far this year, including the stakes-placed colt Coffee Caliente.
Despite Good Samaritan’s success around two turns, Brogden feels the colt “looks very speedy,” which explains his apparent popularity among the 2-year-old consignors and pinhookers.
“He’s one (I see doing well in the 2-year-old market next year),” Brogden said. “A lot of 2-year-old guys have been looking at him. He’s making a lot of shortlists. He looks very fast.”
Bred in Kentucky by Kathryn Day and ThoroughBred by Design, the colt is the second foal out of the Uncle Mo mare Conquest Bad Uncle, herself a daughter of grade 2 victress Worstcasescenario (Forbidden Apple).
“This horse just had so much presence,” Brogden said. “For a really fast-looking horse he has a tremendous walk. He’s really settled down now. He’s had 82 shows today.”
Among the other pinhook prospects are Hip 2223, a filly by Jimmy Creed , and Hip 2065, a Catalina Cruiser colt.
“She’s just very uncomplicated and beautiful,” Brodgen said of Hip 2223. “She came in from Florida in incredible condition and prepped beautifully for us up here.”
Brodgen says the elegant bay filly, purchased for $50,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale this year, was the “best physical of the entire sale.”
The filly’s sire, Jimmy Creed, has been represented by four stakes winners this year, highlighted by the brilliant Casa Creed , the winner of the Jaipur Stakes (G1T) and Fourstardave Handicap (G1T). He’s also the sire of recent Kentucky Downs Global Tote Juvenile Sprint Stakes hero Private Creed.
“Jimmy Creed to me is such a super stallion. We have two breeding rights in him,” Brogden said. “He just gets your mare a runner.”
The filly, bred in Kentucky by Michael Lewis, is produced from the winning Colonel John mare Fourscoreandseven. The mare’s family hails back to blue hen mares Weekend Surprise and Lassie Dear.
“One of our former clients used to own Kimberlite, (Hip 2223)’s second dam,” Brogden said. “And when Magna Light (runner-up in the 2015 Hopeful Stakes (G1) came up, they sold her. I’m just a big fan of the family. It goes deep and back to Lassie Connection and Weekend Surprise. Great mares.”
The final offering is Hip 2065, a chestnut son of new sire Catalina Cruiser, whose first yearlings have been well received at the 2022 yearling sales. One of his yearlings, a colt consigned as Hip 480, brought $300,000 during the second session of Book 1 last week. The multiple graded stakes-winning Lane’s End stallion has averaged $97,088 with his yearlings as of Sept. 18.
“(Hip 2065 has) been very popular, too,” Brogden said. “He’s had 85 views so far today—the most views of any of our colts so far.”
The bargain of the trio, Hip 2065, was picked up for only $31,000 out of the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale. Bred in Kentucky by the combined partnership of Jay Goodwin, Meredith Krupp, and John and William Hess, the chestnut colt is produced from the Kitalpha mare Unbelievable Dream. The 12-year-old New York-bred mare, the dam of one winner on the track from three foals to race, captured the Appalachian Stakes presented by Japan Racing Association (G3T) at Keeneland as a 3-year-old on her way to earnings of $225,397.
“I'm very optimistic the strong sale will continue tomorrow. The pinhookers haven’t been able to buy anything," Brogden said. "We’re finally in an ideal supply-and-demand scenario. The purses right now, especially in Kentucky, are just astonishing. You can actually break even by breaking your maiden. You can buy a horse for $60,000 and win once at Churchill Downs and you can get your money back in one start."
