Top Line Brings Quality Lineup to OBS Spring Sale

Jimbo and Tori Gladwell of Top Line Sales have become synonymous with quality horses on offer at the juvenile sales along the East Coast. Beginning April 19 at the 2022 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, they have 52 horses to go through the ring over four days of selling, many of which produced top times during the under tack show.

After the first day of showing, Tori Gladwell walked BloodHorse through the consignment and highlighted some exciting horses on their stacked card.

"We started with 60 juveniles cataloged and have 52 horses to go through the ring, hopefully," Gladwell said. "We have two horses who are sort of 'no-brainers,' (the first of which is) an Uncle Mo   colt (Hip 206). He was supposed to go to the March Sale and got some warm shins, so we stopped on him and gave him some time, which is why he is in this sale. He's still a little bit immature, but he has all the right parts and is a beast."

Hip 206 is the first foal out of the Astrology mare Borealis Night, bred in Kentucky by Corser Thoroughbreds. He clocked an eighth-mile in :9 4/5 during the second day of the under tack show. His dam is sister to the Congrats daughter Kinsley Kisses , third in the 2016 editions of the Adena Springs Beaumont Stakes (G3), Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2), and Delaware Oaks (G3). Santa Ysabel Stakes (G3)-placed Spooky Woods , by Ghostazapper is her other fast sister, all from the family of grade 2-placed Ever Elusive  and stakes winner Saratoga Summer . The colt initially went through the ring at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he sold to Scott and Evan Dilworth from Terrazas Thoroughbreds' consignment for $250,000.

Another standout is Hip 301, the City of Light   colt recently went through The Gulfstream Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select sale of 2-year-olds in training, where he failed to meet his at $575,000.

"He went through The Gulfstream Sale, breezed in :9 4/5 in Miami. He was the last horse in the ring; he had interest in him but couldn't get it done," said Gladwell. "Thankfully, I had him double entered in this sale, so we could bring him down. We didn't train him between the two sales; it was a two-week turnaround. He returned and worked again in :9 4/5 here at OBS, and I think he is special and extremely talented horse."

The Kentucky-bred colt went through Keeneland September for breeders Pam and Martin Wygod and Oliver and Emily Bushnell, selling for $275,000. He comes from the family of $1.4 million-earner Raging Fever , a winner of seven graded stakes and sister to grade 3-winning sire Stormin Fever  and the grade 3-placed Roaring Fever , all by prominent sire Storm Cat .

"The March OBS Sale seems to be the super precocious horses (that) want to do too much too quickly. So we pick our March and April horses from that delineation; sometimes the April Sale horses are later foals who maybe have bigger bodies and need a little more time to come around and be ready for this sale," Gladwell commented. "Right now, we have 18 horses for the (Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training), which are usually our late bloomers or maybe had a hiccup earlier in the spring. It's also a good dirt surface that buyers like seeing the horses change from the polytrack to the dirt."

The March OBS Sale yielded solid results for Top Line, with 17 of the 18 head sold for gross receipts of $4,534,000. Two of their precocious juveniles were among the top horses sold at that sale. An American Pharoah   homebred filly sold for $1 million to Donato Lanni for long-time client Susan Chu of Baoma Corp., who has named the filly Muteki. The other topper came when Japanese trainer Hideyuki Mori went to $900,000 for a son of Bolt d'Oro   out of Foolish Cause.

"This year, we have killed it with the Bolt d'Oros we have had," Gladwell said. "Everyone is talking about him. They are smart and want to do it, but not to the point where they are hurting themselves. They seem to be very sound-training horses, which I like. Mentally they are chill, and they go with the flow."

On the second day of selling at the OBS Spring Sale, the Gladwells will offer an Accelerate   filly (Hip 461) out of the Vindication mare Full Moon Frolic, a winner and sister to grade 3-placed Frolicing . The filly turned in a :9 4/5 breeze Tuesday at an eighth to be the co-fastest of the day at the distance. She was bred in Kentucky by Frank DeSavino and consigned by the late James Herbener; she sold for $160,000 to Elusive Thoroughbreds at the Keeneland September Sale.

Gladwell commented: "(Hip 461) who is very nice; I keep telling people she is a Saratoga filly. She's average size, super speedy, extremely sound, and she wants to do it. I could see her going up to Saratoga and doing well."

"Our West Coast   filly (Hip 507) is excellent; she's a big strong filly—we own her in a partnership that we put together every year. The muscle on her is impressive; her forearm and gaskin are massive," Gladwell commented. "I don't think she will be the sprinter, five-furlong type; I think she will want to go a little further."

The chestnut filly is out of the Smart Strike  mare Hatpin , grade 3-placed in Canada and sister to grade 3 winner Shaishee and to Dannhauser , a stakes winner on both surfaces. The Kentucky-bred breezed in :10 flat Tuesday at an eighth-mile. She was initially sourced from Small Batch Sales' consignment to the Keeneland September Sale for $85,000 by Grade One Investments.

Top Line also sells a talented Mo Town   filly who put in a fast show Wednesday, going in :9 4/5 to share top honors with four other juveniles at the distance. Bred in Kentucky by Moreau Bloodstock International, the filly went through the OBS October Sale, selling for $42,000 to Bishop Bloodstock from KP Sales' consignment.

"I like the Mo Town filly," Gladwell said. "I'm not sure how many of them are out there, and this is the only one I have had all year; she is a monster of a filly. She went in :9 4/5 with a huge gallop out; I think it was the fastest of the day. She could be an exceptional filly down the road for somebody."

"The other horse I land on would be the filly by Good Magic   (Hip 1083), another freshman sire that I only have one of," Gladwell said. "This filly has done everything right. She is a decent size, put together well, and has a nice balance."

The chestnut Good Magic filly is from the family of Up With the Birds , the grade 1-winning turf machine that bankrolled $1.8 million for owner/breeder Sam-Son Farm. Bred in Kentucky by Breeze Easy, this will be the filly's fourth trip through the sales ring after failing to sell as a yearling. The Good Magic filly worked in :10 flat on the final day of the under tack show over an eighth-mile.

"We had a tough time getting yearlings bought last year, so we are doing more homebreds this year," Gladwell noted. "We have 17 mares, we sell a few as yearlings, and the ones that we think will fit the 2-year-old sales we bring. That is where the American Pharoah filly came from in March."

The healthy market that was seen last year has carried over into the 2-year-old market, a trend that is predicted to continue through this sale and into the summer.

"As soon as the war kicked off overseas, we were worried about what the actual stock market would do; we dabble in that a little as well," Gladwell said. "I know buyers tend to put extra spending money in the market, so we were worried if it was going to tank, the Thoroughbred market might follow suit, but luckily it hasn't. The March sale was very strong, and I feel this sale will be strong; all the players are here shopping. I haven't really seen anyone not here."

The Gladwells started Top Line Sales in 2007, initially selling yearlings, but found their stride in Ocala selling juveniles. Their 26-acre farm serves as a home base and is where all the pinhooks from the previous year go to get ready for the juvenile season.

"All of our horses get to go outside as soon as they get home from the yearling sales. We pull their back shoes (if they had them), and then they all go out together in a couple of paddocks until we ship in for the sale," Gladwell said. "I think the turnout is important for them, it keeps them mentally sound, and they continue to lay down bone as they progress on the track."

While the farm only has 55 stalls, they rely on Jimbo's sister Nelly Breeden and past farm manager Omar Ramirez to handle the overflow.

Gladwell commented: "Between 90 to 100 horses get trained between the three of us working together for the training sales. Our focus is mainly the sales horses; we don't take many of the horses that will go straight to the racetrack for our clients because our specialty is getting these horses ready for the 2-year-old sales."