Record Tiznow Colt Lives Up to Expectations

The scene in the sale pavilion at Ocala Breeders' Sales was electric April 27, when a Tiznow   colt—the buzz horse of the sale—was led into the ring midway through the second session of the spring sale of 2-year-olds in training.

After an opening bid of $500,000, competition for the colt consigned by Bobby Dodd on behalf of Brad Grady ebbed and flowed up to $2 million, when three different parties went to and fro, in $50,000 increments. Bidding stopped at an OBS record $2.45 million.

Initially there was some confusion about the identity of the winning bidder, as Spendthrift Farm's B. Wayne Hughes, seated inside the pavilion and to the left of the auction stand, was in the mix; and Kerri Radcliffe, bidding from the rear of the pavilion, was also active.

But it turned out that agent John Moynihan, seated in the office of OBS sales director Tod Wojciechowski, secured the colt on behalf of Coolmore's M. V. Magnier. Moynihan said Coolmore put together a partnership to race the colt.

"Beautiful horse who moved beautiful," Moynihan said. "He's a great big horse. Any horse that can go that fast and looks like that, we've got to take a chance on. It's like I told them, I don't want to have to run against him. He's that good, I think. We just hope he materializes into what I think he can be."

Grady  set a reserve he was comfortable with, and lined up partners to race the colt should expectations fall short. Then he enjoyed watching the bidding fireworks.

"We knew he was a really nice horse," Grady said. "Bobby told me he was one of the nicest horses he's saddled. I set a reserve we were comfortable with and we would have raced him. But this is a business and we had to make sense business-wise."

The record-priced colt is a testament to the breeding, racing, and pinhooking program put together by Grady, Dodd, and their Grand Oaks operation. Grady-owned Girvin is one of the top prospects for this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) and Irap, a successful Dodd pinhook, is being pointed to the Derby for owner Reddam Racing.

Dodd said he had been shown some 300 times leading up to Thursday.

The colt's attraction stemmed from not only being speedy—he turned heads when he breezed an eighth of a mile in :09 3/5, co-fastest time during the pre-sale under tack show—but also his breeding. He is out of the Distorted Humor mare Moonbow and his second dam is multiple stakes winner Storm Beauty, a Storm Cat half sister to champion sprinter Gold Beauty, who has produced grade 3 winner Buffum, multiple stakes winner and grade 2-placed Stormy West, and graded stakes-placed Renaissance Lady.

Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, the colt was bought by Grand Oaks for $125,000 from Woodford Thoroughbreds, agent, at the Keeneland September yearling sale.