A full brother to world-record-setter Cogburn put in a sharp work ahead of the Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale and is poised for a strong reception when he's offered during the opening session March 11.
Consigned as Hip 212 with Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds, the flashy chestnut battled a 17 mph headwind Thursday to clock a :21 1/5 quarter-mile during the sale's opening under tack show.
"His breeze was incredible," said Dean DeRenzo. "That was just fantastic. It was such a strong headwind that we had. He just really overcame it and went out like a good horse is supposed to. He's pretty special, we're excited to have him here.
"He's a spitting image of another horse that we had a few years ago named Taiba (multiple grade 1 winner who sold for $1.7 million at Fasig-Tipton's 2021 The Gulfstream Sale). He looks just like him, acts like him, and he was a great horse, a grade 1 horse. We have high hopes of presenting a horse like this."
On paper, the Kentucky-bred son of Not This Time boasts one of the strongest pages in the sale due to Cogburn.
An Eclipse Award finalist, Cogburn captured three of four starts during his brilliant 2024 campaign, highlighted by a hair-raising victory in Saratoga Race Course's Jaipur Stakes (G1T) on Belmont Stakes Day. The speedy bay scorched 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf in a world record time of :59.80. Cogburn has since retired to WinStar Farm, where he stands for $30,000.
Cogburn is one of three winners produced by the Saintly Look mare In a Jif. A stakes winner herself in Turfway Park's Holiday Inaugural Stakes, In a Jiff also beget Churchill Downs maiden special weight winner Empire of My Own (Classic Empire), who sold for $450,000 to Flying Dutchmen at the 2024 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
Hartley/DeRenzo went to $300,000 for Hip 212 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he was consigned by his co-breeder, Taylor Made Farm. The farm near Nicholasville, Ky., is the home of Not This Time, the leading second-crop, third-crop, and fourth-crop sire of his class. Already the sire of seven grade 1 winners, Not This Time commands a fee of $175,000 for the 2025 breeding season.
"He's just the way you'd want a horse to be," said DeRenzo of how Hip 212 has prepped at the farm. "He did the same thing when he came here, just easy. He's been shown a lot. Hopefully he goes to the right home, and the right trainer to show off his potential."
