Gift Horse Proves Profitable for Martinez

As the lead showman at horse sales for Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, Everardo Martinez has a lot of experience displaying horses to potential buyers.

At The July Sale, Fasig-Tipton's July 9 selected yearling sale, Martinez had the rare opportunity to not only show off a Maclean's Music  filly he bred, but also to stand by after leading the youngster into the ring to watch it sell for $120,000 to Kenny McPeek, agent for Susan Moulton.

Consigned as Hip 23, the filly was the only one in the sale for Blake-Albina and represented a major home run for Martinez, who was given the filly's dam, the Dixie Union mare Ruth's Proof, by Ron Blake.

In addition to assisting Blake-Albina at sales, for 24 years Martinez has worked at Windhaven Farms, which was previously managed by Blake.

"Ron Blake gave me this mare and I bred her to the right stallion," Martinez said of Maclean's Music, who was represented by Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Cloud Computing  in his first crop. The Hill 'n' Dale Farms stallion's fee was $8,500 when Martinez bred his mare to the stallion 2017 and was hiked to $25,000 after getting a classic winner.

Following Cloud Computing's success, Martinez twice turned down offers for Ruth's Proof, a half sister to the dam of the hard-knocking multiple grade 3 winner Rose to Gold.

"It worked out good for me," Martinez said of his success with the filly.

"It's hard to do everything right, but he did," Hanzly Albina said. "All these years he's been working for us and for Windhaven, he paid attention. He got this mare for free, he chose the right mating, he chose not to sell her twice, and he chose this sale. He is our number one guy for our sales and all of his brothers work for us in some capacity. We're very close to the family."

The timing of a windfall like the Maclean's Music filly couldn't have come at a better time for Martinez, whose future at Windhaven is uncertain after the death of the farm's owner William Graham.

"He will be fine, but when your boss of 24 years dies there is some uncertainty," Albina said.