Pick View Finds Success in Sales Ring and on Racetrack

Joe Pickerrell and Courtney Roberts are looking forward to the March 24-25 weekend. The operators of Pick View are preparing horses to be offered at next week's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream selected 2-year-olds in training sale, and they have two sale graduates competing in Sunday's Sunland Derby (G3).

The engaged couple will be represented by three well-bred juveniles at Fasig-Tipton and will keep an eye on the $800,000 race at Sunland Park, a prep for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

Peace, installed at 12-1 on the morning line, was sold as a yearling by Pick View for $75,000, and the son of Violence  was subsequently purchased by Spendthrift Farm and Town and Country Racing for $280,000 from Niall Brennan Stables at last year's Ocala Breeders' Sales April 2-year-olds sale.

Dark Vader, 15-1 on the Sunland Derby morning line, is coming off a third-place finish in the Feb. 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park for Sharon Alesia, Burns Racing, Ciaglia Racing, and R. Christensen. The son of Tale of Ekati  was purchased by Joseph Ciaglia Jr. (through Larry Zap, agent) for $150,000 from Pick View at last year's OBS March sale.

That Pickerrell and his fiancé are showing three juveniles in advance of the only selected 2-year-old sale on the U.S. calendar, while at the same time watching with rapt attention the successes of horses they have sold, is a testament to the business model and professionalism they have brought to the business.

Pickerrell and Roberts, who met at the College of Central Florida while pursuing degrees in equine business management, each have lifelong experience in and passion for the equine industry. They established Pick View near Ocala, Fla., in 2011 and recently expanded the farm and training center on 60 acres. The couple broke and prepared about 50 juveniles this year, with 30-35 targeted to public auctions and the remainder to be sent to the track.

The Pick View horses at Fasig-Tipton are Hip 11 (Take Them On), a Shackleford  colt produced from a stakes-winning daughter of Candy Ride ; Hip 114, a Will Take Charge  filly out of a stakes-winning mare from the extended female family of four-time champion Beholder, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) winner Mendelssohn, and grade 1 winner and prominent sire Into Mischief ; and Hip 120, a Ghostzapper  colt who is a full brother to multiple stakes winner and track-record setter Mt Veeder.

"We selected these horses particularly for this sale," Pickerrell said. "We feel it's a good spot to showcase a special kind of horse, and they are the three we thought fit best this year. They did everything well all winter, and they are coming into it well. They are fresh."

Pickerrell said the prices paid for the three 2-year-olds as yearlings—$100,000, $165,000, and $165,000, respectively—reflect Pick View's emphasis on buying individuals to appeal to the upper end of the marketplace that places a premium on quality.

"You have to be careful with the kind of horses you end up with," Pickerrell noted. "Our (pinhooking partner) clients have given us the opportunity to purchase some higher quality horses. There is not a lot of room for the lower quality stuff. The good horses that do everything the right way will get rewarded. There is still a lot of strength at the top. We try to focus on higher quality individuals and try to bring those kind to the sales."

Pick View comes to Fasig-Tipton off a successful run at the OBS March sale, where they sold six of the seven that went through the ring for healthy returns. As a group, the Pick View OBS juveniles were acquired for an average price of $44,000 and were sold for an average of $129,167.

"We had a really good OBS sale, and we're looking forward to that momentum continuing into this sale," Pickerrell said. "A couple of the horses at OBS brought a little bit more than we thought they would bring, but when multiple people end up on the same horse, the sellers get rewarded. It was very competitive for those horses they wanted. If everything goes right and work up to their potential, the rewards can be substantial for the quality horses."

While Pickerrell and Roberts are proud of the results Pick View has with its sale consignments, it is equally important they have sale graduates performing well on the racetrack.

"We're young, and we plan on doing this awhile, so it's almost as important for us to get results on the racetrack as it is to sell for a big price," Pickerrell said. "We take a lot of pride in selling a horse that buyers can go on with, and we have a high percentage of 2-year-old winners from last year's sale group that testifies to how we bring them to a sale."