Highlander: Pike to Retire, Brennan New Sales Director

Al Pike is retiring to Lexington, Colin Brennan is moving to Texas, and both men, it would seem, are getting a reward they deserve.

Brennan will assume the position of director of sales as well as trainer of horses intended for the 2-year-old in-training sales for Highlander Training Center in Sulphur Springs, essentially sliding into the position Pike leaves when he retires following the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in May. Jeff Hooper, Highlander's chairman and CEO, made the announcement following the recent Texas sale of 2-year-olds, where Highlander was the leading consignor.

"I can't thank Al enough for all he has done for us," Hooper said. "He not only has a rare expertise in preparing a horse for the two-year-old sales, he also has an impeccable reputation for honor and integrity that resonates with people throughout the industry.  He's a great horseman and a great friend."

Pike will continue to work with Highlander, Hooper said, in a consulting and advisory role.

A native of Palestine, Texas, which rests inconspicuously about 110 miles southeast of Dallas, Pike began training horses in 1978 and enjoyed moderate initial success, developing a small but loyal group of clients. In 1994, one of those clients asked him to go up to Keeneland for the September sale and pick out a horse. Pike hesitated, as he recalled, pointing out that most of his experience focused on Quarter Horses, but the client insisted. And so Pike packed a bag and pointed his pickup in the general direction of Lexington, Ky. He paid $8,000 for a filly by Sewickley, and with Pike training her, the filly subsequently named Show And Tell won six stakes and earned more than $252,000. The young man from Palestine not only could train a racehorse but also had an eye for potential.

"A fine horseman and a true friend. We cannot thank Al enough for what he has done for all of us. We are excited to welcome Colin, another fine horseman, to the Highlander team," said Larry Hirsch, Owner of Highlander Training Center.

Before long, he became a regular at sales, buying young horses and selling them as 2-year-olds, or pinhooking them, as it's known. Some of the ones that didn't sell to expectations he took to the races himself as a trainer.

Whenever he's asked why he transitioned from training to pinhooking, Pike will say, with typical deadpan modesty, that he became a pinhooker because he wasn't the best trainer.  The truth, however, is that he wanted to stay home with his family, at their farm in Weatherford, Texas -- Salley, his wife, and their son, Colt, and daughter, Chelsey. Pike wanted to see his son play football on Saturdays.

For many years, Pike "short-listed" horses for Becky Thomas, whom he credits with teaching him much about the pinhooking business. And so over the last two decades, he has been a fixture at major sales throughout the country, quietly evaluating and calculating and ever watchful. In 2016, he sold Modest Maven, whom he had purchased for $80,000, for a million dollars. That, he said, was probably the biggest thrill of his career. She's the dam of major stakes winners Overstep and Arctic Arrogance. In 2020, Pike sold another baby for a million bucks, $1.1 million to be exact; he had purchased the son of Uncle Mo, later named Shaaz, for $185,000.

Three horses that Pike sold as 2-year-olds raced in the Kentucky Derby -- Vyjack, a stakes winner of $1.4 million; Vicar's in Trouble, a stakes winner of $1.23 million; and Frammento, a winner of $420,000. Pike also sold Mimi Kakushi, the winner of the 2023 UAE Oaks, and Chancheng Glory, who has earned about $2.5 million racing in Hong Kong. And Touchuponastar, a winner of 12 stakes, including the recent New Orleans Classic, and $1.4 million, got his start with Pike Racing.

"The people here at Highlander have been amazing to work with," said Pike, who came to Highlander in 2023 to focus on developing the 2-year-olds in-training program. "I can't thank them enough. And I can't think of better person than Colin Brennan to come in and continue what we've started."

Brennan was the first person Hooper thought of for the position when Pike expressed his intention to retire. Last summer Colin was: just coincidentally, in Texas for a friend's wedding, and he decided to visit Highlander.

"I had heard a lot about Highlander, and so I wanted to check it out," Brennan said. "It's an outstanding, state-of-the-art facility, and the fitness & therapy center is second-to-none."

Jon Newbold, Highlander's general manager and head trainer, will continue to focus on the "break-to-race" horses, and Brennan on the sale horses, which is just how he prefers it. The Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Yearling Sale, Aug. 10-11 in Saratoga, will be the first where there will be a Colin Brennan Bloodstock at Highlander Training Center consignment. That will be followed by the Texas Yearling Sale on August 26 and the Keeneland September Sale, where Highlander will be represented by a consignment under its own banner for the first time.