With his Churchill Downs suspension having been lifted, trainer Bob Baffert wasted no time in setting his sights on the first Saturday in May.
For Zedan Racing, agent Donato Lanni signed a ticket for $3.4 million for Hip 72 after a protracted bidding battle on the first night of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale for a Not This Time colt out of the Tiznow mare Kayce Ace , the highest price for the session.
"We came here to try to buy a horse that you can get to the Derby," said Baffert, emphasizing the last four words. "That's why we bought him."
"Mr. Zedan and Bob Baffert really wanted this horse," said Lanni. "He's a beautiful horse and the sire has done very well. He's just a very beautiful horse and they wanted him."
Neither consignor Kim Nardelli of Nardelli Sales nor the buyer thought that the dark bay brown/colt would bring the price he did.
"We didn't expect that, but we knew he was a lovely horse," said Nardelli. "He's been lovely since the day he was born. He's always had such class, and he got here and never missed a beat."
Hip 72 is the only horse that Nardelli brought to the sale.
"We hope to get them as cheap as we can," said Baffert. "We knew he'd be expensive, but we didn't think he'd be that expensive."
The colt's dam is a full sibling to multiple grade 1 winner Colonel John , who retired with earnings of $1.8 million, and to Mr. Hot Stuff , grade 1-placed on dirt and a grade 1-winning steeplechase horse.
"This colt has a good female family and was raised right," said Lanni.
The colt was bred by Susan Casner, whose family is traveling out of the country and listened by phone as the bidding rose.
"Bill Casner was just beside himself," said Nardelli. "He never sold a horse like that on his own."
A former trainer, Casner co-founded WinStar Farm with Kenny Troutt. He sold his interest in the farm in 2010, the same year that WinStar-bred and -owned Super Saver won the Kentucky Derby (G1).
Nor had Nardelli sold a horse at that level, with her highest previous sale a Quality Road colt for $1.7 million at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Lanni also signed the ticket for that colt, Coach Prime , for the same connections. Coach Prime was bred by Nardelli in partnership with Rodney Nardelli, William Werner, and William S. Farish.
He indicated that his signature might appear on a few more receipts before the sale is over.
"It's exciting and fun to be here," he said. "Boyd Browning and his team put together a good group of horses, and we're still shopping."