Not This Time Progeny Draw Attention at Midlantic Sale

The timing couldn't have been better for pinhookers last year who took a shot by buying foals from the first crop of Not This Time .

Either chalk it up to astute horsemanship skills or luck, but those selling sons and daughters of Not This Time at the June 29-30 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale are in a position to capitalize on the fervent demand for the stallion's foals. 

After all, the son of Giant's Causeway who stands at Taylor Made Stallions has emerged as the second-leading first-crop sire based on progeny performance by earnings, and 25 of his 2-year-olds have sold this year for $4,627,000, with the $185,080 average representing a healthy multiple of his 2017 fee of $15,000 when this year's juvenile crop was conceived.

In an effort to help market the stallion and his 2-year-olds, Taylor Made had face masks emblazoned with Not This Time's name and logo sent to consignors of his juveniles at the Midlantic sale, where face coverings are part of the COVID-19 pandemic protocols.

Four of the five Not This Time 2-year-olds cataloged in the sale breezed an eighth-mile in :10 1/5, the second-fastest at the distance during the presale under tack show, and the other worked a quarter-mile in :21 3/5.

While those fast times are typical of the precociousness of Not This Time's foals, Midlantic consignors say the individuals have every indication that they can carry that speed, ostensibly because he is by Giant's Causeway.

"I think he may be the best horse on the grounds," Classic Bloodstock's Danzel Brendemuehl said of Hip 213, a Not This Time colt produced from the winning Indian Charlie mare Sanctissima. "Two of the breeze reports (private observers) do said he had the best breeze of the day and best gallop out of the day. He's an effortless kind of horse."

The colt was bought by Brendemuehl and partner, Robert Lambe of Lambe Bloodstock, for $40,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale. Because Brendemuehle and Lambe had gone to lunch when the colt went through the ring, agent Peter Penny handled the bidding. The colt bred in Maryland by Cordelia Stables was subsequently named Mr. Penny.

"He's a gorgeous horse," Brendemuehl said, adding that the colt's appearance was a factor in the purchase price. "People have asked how I could get him bought so cheaply. Nobody knew Not This Time was going to turn out the way he has. We're just blessed to have him.

"If you don't like him, you don't like horses. He has a great attitude. He's just a solid horse. He shows up every day, and he does everything right. He has such a giant stride and does it so easily. He's very impressive. You're going to hear about him."

Brendemuehl said the owner has nominated the colt to the Breeders' Cup series since he was entered in the sale, which is a "big catalog update."

Hip 331, a colt consigned by King's Equine out of an unraced half sister to the dam of grade 1 winner and $1.5 million earner Bar of Gold, was bred in New York by Hidden Lake Farm & Axle Ahlschwede. The chestnut that showed his speed in a :10 1/5 work went unsold on a final bid of $110,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale.

King's Equine's Raul Reyes said he did not know much about Not This Time when he bought the colt privately after he was an RNA at the New York sale.

"I bought him just because I liked the horse," Reyes said. "Not This Time has become popular, and I'm just lucky to have one of his horses. Every year I buy a couple sired by first-crop sires, and I just got lucky."

In addition to being speedy, the colt is strong-willed, Reyes said. "He stands his ground," Reyes said. "You have to respect him."

Consigned by Pike Racing, agent, Hip 452 was purchased in the name Oakmont for $30,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale. Bred in Kentucky by Jack Swain III, the colt is out of Choir, a Pulpit mare out of the stakes-winning, grade 3-placed Graeme Hall mare Emmy Darling.

"He's very forward, but he's kind of immature mentally right now," Al Pike said. "He still looks around a lot, but he's a pretty horse with a lot of talent."

The colt was initially destined for the 2-year-old sale scheduled in April by the Texas Thoroughbred Association that was eventually canceled due to restrictions related to COVID-19. The time from that scheduled venue to the Midlantic sale could provide a windfall for Pike because Not This Time's stock has improved over the past two months.

"The Not This Times are popular because they are smart, they look the part, they came out running, and they're bred to go long," Pike said. "Things have worked out pretty good here."

Hip 457, a filly from All Dreams Equine, agent, breezed the quarter-mile in :21 3/5. Bred in Kentucky by Jeff Little, Teresa & Marilyn Little, Travis Price, and Conrad Little, the filly was produced from the winning Hard Spun  mare Civility Pledge, a half sister to Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner and sire Sinister Minister. The filly was purchased for $10,000 in the name Three E.S. at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Rounding out the Not This Time 2-year-olds cataloged at Fasig-Tipton is Hip 491, a colt bred in Kentucky by Burleson Farm and bought for $200,000 by Sweetwater Trading Co. for Cool Breeze Sales at the Keeneland yearling sale.

Out of the winning Pulpit mare Differ, the colt consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales, agent, is from the immediate female family of champion and $2.19 million earner Safely Kept.