Malibu Moon, Tapit Colts Could Shine at F-T

Two well-bred colts that were specifically pointed toward Fasig-Tipton’s October yearling sale are among the top horses to watch during the Oct. 26 closing session of the three-day auction in Lexington.

The first of the two, consigned as Hip 950 by Taylor Made Sales Agency, is a son of Malibu Moon   produced from Christie Village, the Deputy Minister mare who is a half sister to three-time grade I winner Take Charge Lady. The yearling colt was bred by Three Chimneys Farm, which purchased Take Charge Lady for $4.2 million at the 2004 Keeneland November sale. The mare has produced champion Will Take Charge and grade I winner Take Charge Indy and was 2013 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year.

“He’s a horse that clearly could have gone to an earlier sale, but decided to make him a big fish here in October,” said Taylor Made’s Mark Taylor, adding that the consignor is testing the late-season market with a top prospect. “He’s got a stallion pedigree. He is a very good individual. We are doing a trial balloon to see how a horse like this will work in this market.”

Scheduled to go through the ring right behind that colt is a gray son of leading sire Tapit   who is a half brother to grade I winner and sire Cuvee and grade II winner Will He Shine. Bred by Winchell Thoroughbreds, the May 23 colt consigned by Gainesway is from the immediate female family of grade I winners Tapizar and Olympio.

“We looked at this horse in the spring and decided he would be better equipped to sell himself for his real value in a later sale,” said Gainesway sales director Michael Hernon. “We have moved him into a sale with fewer yearlings for the stallion and therefore elevate the horse.”

One colt on a lot of shoppers’ short lists is Hip 1145, a Pioneerof the Nile   colt from the Warrendale Sales consignment. Bred by Randal Family Trust, the colt is a half brother to grade II winner Forty Tales and multiple stakes winner Bear Character. The colt recently went through the ring at Keeneland September yearling sale and was bought back for $190,000.

Hip 1034, a Bernardini   colt consigned by Brookdale Sales, was bred in Kentucky by Godolphin and is a son of the winning Smart Strike mare Desert Gazelle. The colt’s third dam is Secret Status, a daughter of A.P. Indy who won two grade I stakes, including the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) and produced Dunkirk, the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) and Florida Derby (gr. I) runner-up.

From Craig and Holly Bandoroff’s Denali Stud, Hip 965 is a daughter of Bodemeister out of the grade III-placed Smart Strike mare Clever Strike, a half sister to grade I winner Victor’s Cry.