Pocket Aces Racing LLC is extremely excited to introduce the newest addition to the stable, a yearling filly by Drain the Clock out of Red Hot Mama by Cupid. She was purchased out of the Fasig-Tipton October Sale earlier this week.
One of the greatest values Pocket Aces Racing affords its Partners are the relationships we’ve established with sales consignors over the years. Pocket Aces Racing has been an active buyer for more than 20 years at the Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton yearling sales and during that time we have been able to establish important contacts with many of the consignment owners, managers and show people. The purchase of our latest racing prospect is a direct result of maximizing those relationships. Over the years we have purchased several horses from Taylor Made’s consignment (including one of the stables best runners in Aces High) and through that process we’ve gotten to know several of the key players in that organization. The relationship has gotten even closer over the last few years as Marc has been boarding a few of his breeding client’s mares at the farm. Marc talks to Brooks Taylor (grandson of founder Joe Taylor) on a weekly basis to review the status of those mares. Before the sale, Marc sat down with Brooks and asked him for a list of the best, moderately priced, yearlings they would have on offer at the Fasig-Tipton Fall Yearling Sale. Brooks gave Marc a list of approximately 10 horses and our new filly was on that list.
Brooks told Marc that he loved this filly but was a little concerned she might be above our budget. When Marc saw her at the sale, he was just as impressed as Brooks but shared his concerns regarding price. She sticks out with all her flash and flaxen mane and she’s the physical sort the market loves – quick, athletic, precocious with a body built for speed. In addition, she is completely correct, vets out clean and has a Grade 1 throat. As the filly prepared to go through the ring, Marc knew this wasn’t going to be a typical Pocket Aces later to develop “value play” but he also felt like value was going to be difficult to find at this sale. He had already spent a day and a half looking at hundreds of horses, most of which were nowhere near good enough physically. The few that made the cut sold well beyond our budget. So, Marc felt like we needed to get aggressive if we were to get anything done. Her reserve was $40,000, however, there were several other buyers determined to get her as well and Marc had to go to $70,000 to get her.
After the purchase, things really got interesting. Marc found out from Brooks that the underbidders (the competition that was driving the price to $70,000) were leading 2-year-old consignors RiceHorse Stables and Grassroots Thoroughbreds. What’s more, Marc was approached by the owners of Six K’s Racing and Sales and Golden Rope 2YO consignments asking if we would be interested in taking her to the 2YO sales with them. The amount of interest in this filly from the Florida 2YO pinhooking crowd is a real testament to the speed and precocity this filly brings to the table. However, we don’t think this filly is just a good prospect for a 2YO sale, we think she can be just as successful as a racehorse. Besides being “built for speed” the filly has a great deal of substance and quality about her. She has a big, deep girth and short cannons, for a high stride frequency, and a “big walk” behind that covers a lot of ground. Most importantly, she displayed a great mind on the sales grounds and those are the sorts that tend to be the most “coachable” and exit the 2YO sales process set up for success as a racehorse.
For several years we have discussed the possibility of purchasing horses to pinhook as 2YOs. The reality is that we don’t buy very many horses that are suitable for going through that process. We tend to buy later to develop types that are unlikely to be ready to breeze a furlong in 10.0 seconds in March or April. This filly is obviously different. While we purchased her as a racing prospect, the interest displayed by the pinhookers has prompted us to make this our first yearling to 2YO pinhooking prospect. However, we are in an unusual situation which will allow us to take a more cautious approach. If she isn’t holding up to the training, suffers an injury, gets sick before the sale, has a bad breeze, or anything else goes wrong along the way, we have the option to keep her to race.
The filly will go to Scott Kintz’ Six K’s Racing and Sales in Florida. We’ve worked with Scott a number of times over the years and have an exceptional working relationship with him. We’ve spoken with him at length and shared with him that while we want to have her ready for a March or April Sale, we don’t want to push her in such a way that will jeopardize her racing career. He is on board and doesn’t believe that approach will pose a problem having her ready for the sale.
She is eligible for the multi-horse discount.
