Claiborne Makes Foray into Horses of Racing Age Market

With clients seeking to reduce the number of horses they have in training or to capitalize on recent successes, Claiborne Farm for the first time will have a consignment at Fasig-Tipton's July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale.

Since its inception in 2013, this particular sale has proven to be a timely venue for stables seeking to move horses to new homes, either as a result of the individual's successes or to see whether a change of scenery can improve a horse's performance.

Although Claiborne and its clients have sold at the sale previously through other consignors, the numbers this year added up to the farm handling the sale itself, said Claiborne's Walker Hancock.

Hancock said Daisy Phipps approached him and said her family's Phipps Stable, one of Claiborne's long-term clients, wanted to decrease the number of horses in its stable. From there, the consignment grew organically, and as of July 1 totaled 11 head, including entries from Ramona Bass and Waterford Stables.

"Daisy came to us and said she essentially had too many horses in training and needed to cut back on the numbers," said Hancock. "We filled it in by making calls to other clients to see if they had anything they wanted to sell."

Scheduled just prior to the elite race seasons at Saratoga Race Course and Del Mar, the sale represents an opportunity for a quick return for the right individual.

"It is well-positioned before Del Mar and Saratoga, so it gives people the option to buy out of that sale and then run them at those places," Hancock said. "It's an appealing place to sell a horse this time of year rather than waiting until the end of the year. It's a good opportunity, especially for a horse coming off a big effort—strike while the iron is hot."

Included in the Claiborne consignment is Fire Away (Hip 443), a 6-year-old son of War Front  whose three stakes wins include an off-the-turf edition of the May 19 Dixie Stakes (G3) in a record of seven wins and eight placings from 23 starts, with earnings of $613,397. Produced from the multiple graded-placed Unbridled mare Salute, the horse is a half brother to grade 1-winning millionaire Mr Speaker .

The consignment will also offer grade 3-placed Revved Up (Hip 504), a 5-year-old son of Candy Ride  who descends from a rich Phipps family, with champion and elite producer Personal Ensign the third dam. Produced from Phipps' champion mare Storm Flag Flying, Revved Up enters the sale with earnings of $292,117 gleaned from four wins and five placings in 21 career starts.

The July 9 sale in Lexington, beginning at 4 p.m. ET, precedes The July Sale the following day, with the first yearling session of the season starting at 10 a.m.