Pre-Sale Breeze Sold Biancone on Ete Indien

When trainer Patrick Biancone went to last year's Arqana May Breeze-Up Sale in Deauville, France, he was specifically looking for a filly to purchase on behalf of a client at the auction that is the equivalent of a 2-year-old in training sale in the U.S.

While watching the horses breeze during the pre-sale exercise regimen, the French-born and American-based conditioner was smitten by a Kentucky-bred colt from the first crop of Summer Front , the Airdrie Stud stallion who stands for $10,000.

"The first time I saw him was when he was breezing," Biancone said of the colt later named Ete Indien, who now leads the points board for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) following his victory in the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park. "When you see the action he has, he is very effective. I said, 'I cannot not buy him.' So I just sat in my corner, and I bought him."

With no order from a client who would likely have placed a ceiling on how high Biancone could bid, the trainer was determined to go home with the colt, topping the bid board at €240,000 (US$269,640).

"Nobody could beat me on the price," he explained this week. "Whether it was €240,000, €340,000, or €440,000, I wanted him," Biancone said, noting that he then put together a syndicate among his friends to own the colt, with the trainer retaining part interest. "Everybody took a little bit."

The colt, who posted an impressive frontrunning 8 1/2-length romp in the Fountain of Youth in 1:43.02 for 1 1/16 miles, races for Linda Shanahan, Sanford Bacon, Dream With Me Stable, Horse France America, D P Racing, and Patrick L. Biancone Racing.

Biancone said he was unaware Ete Indien was sired by the first-crop sire Summer Front, noting that he does not use pedigree to determine his 2-year-old purchases.

"When I buy 2-year-olds, I don't look at the (catalog). I just want to buy the athlete," he said.

Bred in Kentucky by Robert Tillyer and Eric Buckley, Ete Indien was produced from the Mizzen Mast  mare East India and descends from the extended female family of Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Raven's Pass.

The colt went unsold on a final bid of $85,000 when offered at auction as a weanling and then was acquired by Tom and Alexandra Whitehead's Powerstown Stud for $80,000 from the Betz Thorouoghbreds consignment to the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Pinhooked into the Arqana sale by Powerstown Stud, Ete Indien is the latest successful 3-year-old racing in North America to emerge from last year's Arqana breeze-up sale. Other graduates include Mr. Monomoy, the winner of the Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) who cost the equivalent of $202,230, and Vitalogy, the Palm Beach Stakes (G3T) winner who was bought for $134,820.

This year's Arqana Breeze-Up Sale is scheduled for May 8-9.

Once with Biancone at Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, Ete Indien worked on turf before making his first two starts on grass, all part of the trainer's unorthodox methods.

"At Palm Meadows, we have a turf track we can use three times a week in the summer and four times a week in the winter," Biancone explained. "Most of my main horses work on turf because I think it is much more kinder to their legs. Most of the time, if I can, I give them their first two starts on turf to build them up and then on the dirt to answer the question if they can run on the dirt. It is a little bit unconventional, but I do my own thing."

Ete Indien was successful in his debut at five furlongs on the Gulfstream turf Sept.13 and then finished eighth on the Keeneland grass in the Dixiana Bourbon Stakes (G3T).

The colt showed his affinity for the main track when he posted a victory in allowance-level company before finishing a clear second to Tiz the Law in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) prior to the Fountain of Youth.

With Ete Indien's emergence on the Derby trail, Biancone, who saddled Lion Heart to finish second in the 2004 edition of the Derby for Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith of Coolmore Stud, has two early contenders for this year's classic.

Sole Volante, a $20,000 purchase by Biancone at last year's Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, is a son of Karakontie  whose two stakes wins include the Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3). Sole Volante races for Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Andie Biancone, and Limelight Stables. Andie Biancone is the trainer's daughter and assistant.

Among the best horses conditioned by Biancone have been All Along, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) winner who was voted Horse of the Year in the U.S.; Angara and Gorella, consecutive winners of the Beverly D. Stakes (G1T); and French Derby (G1) winner Bikala.

Not unlike most trainers, Biancone would relish a Kentucky Derby win.

"In France, you want to win the French Derby, which I won. If you train in England, you want to win the Epsom Derby (G1). And if you train in America, you want to win the Kentucky Derby. But you have to have the right horse."

And about that filly Biancone went to France to buy?

"She is very average, and he is very, very good," he said, adding with a chuckle, "You only hear about the good ones."