Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Under Tack Show Starts Strong

After heavy rains pounded the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium over the past three days, a two-hour delay proved a prudent choice for the May 14 opening under tack session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.

Allowed additional time to dry, the dirt track was described as "consistent and fair" by consignors throughout the day, with one juvenile turning in the fastest quarter-mile of :21 4/5 and four others sharing the fastest eighth-mile time of :10 1/5.  

"It was a good day today," said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. "The track was very consistent from beginning to end. We had to have a little bit of a delay in the start because of the heavy rains we had here over the weekend and through Monday. All in all, I thought the track played very consistent and safely all day long. It was a very good first of the three days for our under tack show, so we are very pleased."

Working a quarter-mile in :21 4/5 for Top Line Sales as agent was Hip 156, a Street Sense  colt out of the Forest Wildcat mare Forest Fashion. 

"We knew that colt was pretty fast and we thought the track may dry out a little bit throughout the day," said Torie Gladwell of Top Line Sales. "The plan was to send him later going a quarter, because if the track did dry out it wouldn't be as heavy and tiring on him. 

"He's a big, pretty colt. He was actually supposed to go to the Fasig-Tipton Miami sale and he wasn't quite ready enough. He was just still a bit immature even though he's so big. So we decided to hold him back and take him to Maryland and let him be the big dog up there."

Bred in Kentucky by Galtree, the colt counts among his female family Charleston Rag, an Irish-bred winner of the Frizette Stakes (G1) and prolific producer. His dam, Forest Fashion, has two winners from three to race including a winning 4-year-old Graydar  colt named Hail to the King who placed second in a claiming race Tuesday at Parx Racing for trainer John Servis. 

"I think it (the track) was really consistent throughout the entire day," Gladwell said. "All the usual agents were there doing their homework in the stands, which is a good feeling. I think they like that dirt track so I foresee it being a good sale."

First to breeze an eighth-mile in :10 1/5 was Hip 106, a Competitive Edge  filly out of the Scat Daddy mare Daddy's Lil Saint. Bred in New York by McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds and Spruce Lane Farm, the filly is consigned by Grassroots Training and Sales and is from the extended family of dual English and Irish champion Gentle Thoughts. 

Also from the Grassroots Training and Sales consignment, Hip 118 turned in a speedy eighth-mile of her own. A daughter of Weigelia , the bay filly named Our Dixie Blue was bred in Pennsylvania by Brian Christopher Schartz and WynOaks Farm. She is out of the Dixie Union mare Dixiewood, the dam of four winners from as many to race, including 3-year-old Cardi G, who broke her maiden on debut March 30 at Parx. 

Consigned by Kings Equine as agent for Spendthrift Farm, Hip 152 also worked in :10 1/5 Tuesday. A registered Kentucky-bred son of Race Day , the gray or roan colt is out of the Flashy Bull mare Flashy Lassie, a grade 3 winner of the Debutante Stakes. 

Rounding out the top eighth-mile performers was Hip 167, a colt by Itsmyluckyday  consigned by SBM Training and Sales, agent. Bred in West Virginia by Hector Alcalde, the colt is out of the Monarchos mare Golden Gal Al. His second dam, Boom and Bust, was a stakes-winning producer of six winners.  

The under tack show continues May 15 with the session beginning at 8 a.m. EDT.