Sales Notebook: Maclean's Music Colt Saudi Arabia-Bound

International buyers flexed their muscles during the second session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale May 21, with Saud Al Qahtani going to $650,000 to secure the bid on a Maclean's Music   colt (Hip 379) named Music Critic for the Najd Stud of HRH Prince Faisal Bin Khaled Bin Abdulaziz. Prince Faisal made headlines earlier this year buying into Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner White Abarrio  ahead of the Saudi Cup (G1) at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.



Consigned by Eddie Woods, Music Critic is produced from the unraced Malibu Moon mare Two Faced Moon  and is a half brother to multiple stakes winner Big Switch  and Hollywood Hills . This is also the family of grade 1 winner Yes It's True and graded stakes winner and grade 1-placed Shancelot  . Bred in Kentucky by George Krikorian, Music Critic breezed an eighth in :10 1/5 at the under tack preview.



Al Qahtani, who said this was his first time buying at Fasig-Tipton, was impressed by the colt and his connections.



"We have the Saudi Derby as our target," said Al Qahtani. "We hope he will do the job. First of all, he has a very good pedigree. He is a good individual, good conformation. (He had) a good breeze. Also, he is from a very good consignor. From A to Z, he looks good. I hope I'm not wrong.



"The market has been good," Al Qahtani added. "So, I had to go for this horse. I think he is one of the good ones."

CLASSIC DREAMS

Wanting a horse that had the pedigree that could bring them to a Classic, Imagine Racing and Marne and Margret Fauber went to $500,000 for a Curlin   colt consigned as Hip 429 out of the Hartley/DeRenzo consignment.

The ticket was signed by Donato Lanni, agent. 

"He's a Curlin. He's got a great female family, it's a fast female family; I know the family well," said Lanni. "He's a big two-turn type of horse."

That family includes grade 1 winners American Gal and Reynaldothewizard and graded stakes-placed runners Americanize, Holiday Runner, and Seventh Street.

Lanni purchased Snead  for $325,000 at this sale last year for the buyers. 

"They want a horse that could possibly take them to some Classic races and he can kind of fit that mold. He worked great, looked great," said Lanni. 

The Curlin colt sold for $600,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September Sale. 

Lanni, who often represents trainer Bob Baffert at sales, said the colt won't be going to the Hall of Famer. But he did say the bay colt will be heading to the owners' base in Ocala, Fla., and will work with a yet-to-be-named conditioner.

As for the price, Lanni said the owners are happy with what they paid. Lanni finds there is plenty of interest in 2-year-old sales. 

"What these young horses are asked to do at a young age, if they do it and do it right, they're a good horse. That's why people buy 2-year-olds. They are tested and you get to see what you're getting," he said. 

Dennis O'Neill Strikes for $400K Blame Colt

Dennis O'Neill shopped the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in search of a horse that has the potential to be a standout 3-year-old. He got his horse. Early in the sale's second session, O'Neill signed the $400,000 ticket for Hip 305, a Blame   colt that will race for a partnership that includes Greg Helm's Roadrunner Racing.



Consigned by Top Line Sales, agent, the bay colt is out of the Medaglia d'Oro   mare Silent Bond , a half sister to stakes winner Winsome . Bred in Kentucky by Pope McLean, Marc McLean, and Pope McLean Jr., the colt was acquired by Nova Thoroughbreds for $95,000 out of Pope McLean's consignment at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He breezed an eighth in :10 1/5 at the under tack preview.



"I thought he was an A-plus physical," O'Neill said. "He vetted good, and he looks like a big, two-turn horse. We'll need to wait on him a little bit. Our guys were looking for a good 3-year-old, and I thought this was the one in this sale. He wasn't real quick or anything, but he galloped out huge. He has a huge stride on him. He looks like he can run forever. I'm excited about him right now. We'll see how it works out."



Jimbo Gladwell of Top Line Sales said of the colt, "Servando (Espinoza) of Little Farm Equine did all the breaking and training on this colt. They did a great job with him and shipped him in sound. He looked great. We're just the tip of the spear here at the sale. They did all the work, and he looked great."

OF NOTE

Among the 2-year-olds who sold near the top of the market on Tuesday are Hip 450, a Practical Joke   filly out of the Wavertree Stables consignment purchased by Case Clay Thoroughbred Management for $525,000; Hip 532, a Practical Joke colt out of the de Meric Sales consignment that sold to Muir Hut Stables for $475,000; Pedro Lanz, agent, for KAS Stables dropped the hammer at $425,000 for Hip 400, a Justify   colt; and Hip 504, a Good Magic   colt, sold for $400,000 out of the de Meric consignment to Spendthrift Farm.