Daylight Savings colt tops 2010 MTOBA Yearling Sale

Carter Road took home top honors in every stage of Sunday’s Michigan Thoroughbred Owners And Breeders Association Yearling Show and Sale at Michigan State University.

The bay Daylight Savings colt started the day by earning grand champion honors in the yearling show, then followed through by dropping the hammer for a sale-topping price of $16,000. For the second straight year, the top seller was the only horse offered to draw more than $10,000.

The uncertain present and future of Michigan’s racing industry led to only 23 yearlings entering the sales ring, with 13 finding new owners. Of the 41 percent of the entries that failed to meet the reserve, seven did not draw the minimum $1,000 bid and two received bids, but did not meet the price set by their consigners.

For the second straight year, Dan McCarthy was the sale’s leading buyer on the strength of one purchase, which also happened to be the top-seller.

Also enjoying repeat success was leading consignor Opportunity Lane, who sold four horses for a total of $25,500, including the top bid-getter. Opportunity Lane sent out three of the top five sellers in this year’s sale.

Earlier in the day, Carter Road took home the top honors at the yearling show. The reserve champion award went to Dickinson Stable’s Equality filly Bubbicious.

For a detailed breakdown of the sale results, click here.

Let’s take a look at the top sellers from Sunday’s sale, along with a few others who were noteworthy for one reason or another.

Top Five Sellers:

#1: Hip #20 – Carter Road – $16,000

Top bid-getter and yearling show grand champion Carter Road was purchased by leading buyer Dan McCarthy for $16,000. The bay Daylight Savings colt was brought to the ring by leading consignor Opportunity Lane. Carter Road is out of stakes winning Matchlite mare Just Tricks, who notched five wins for career earnings of $96,889. Her two foals of racing age have yet to hit the track. Daylight Savings is the sire of 2007 Michigan champion two-year-old Hot Chili, Sire Stakes winner J.P.’s Big Boy and multiple stakes winner Baba Booyah.

“He’s a phenominal colt,” said Opportunity Lane’s Cami Cumper. “It’s a tough market. The racing industry is really not well. So for the buyers to stand behind a nice colt like that and still pay for him – I’m honored.”

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The rest of the notables from Sunday’s sale can be found behind the jump. Did the horses on your watch list crack the top five? Click below to find out!

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Michigan Notebook: August 26, 2010

Jockey Oscar Delgado has found success at tracks across the country, including Mount Pleasant Meadows.

– Crain’s Detroit Business has been monitoring the situation surrounding Pinnacle Race Course’s sale of a parcel of land to the Sault Ste. Marie Band of Chippewa Indians and the ensuing controversy it has generated in the local government. The publication has published several updates since the deal was publicly announced, outlining Pinnacle’s economic situation, tax snafus by the Huron Township government, and concerns by local leaders about the handling of Pinnacle’s incentives to purchase and build on the property.

Here is a list of stories published on the site in recent days. There are some inaccuracies in a few of the details (most notably suggesting the racetracks themselves are footing the bill for additional State regulation when it is actually coming from the horsemen’s purse pools), but the general idea paints an unsettling picture of the relationship between the track and local government.

8-25 – Text of Wayne County Commission’s concerns about Pinnacle Race Course

8-25 – Commissioners weigh legal issues of Pinnacle land deal

8-24 – Tax bill snafu puts Pinnacle in arrears, Racecourse fights assessments, battles other financial problems

– Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley discussed the state government’s treatment of Michigan’s horse racing industry in his column on Thursday. Finley notes the hypocrisy of offering movie studios hundreds of millions in breaks and incentives to film in Michigan, while leaving horse racing, an industry that generates money for the state and provides jobs without the massive state investments, out to dry. Michigan Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association president Patti Dickinson and Pinnacle Race Course owner Jerry Campbell are quoted in the piece, as is spokeswoman for Governor Jennifer Granholm, Liz Boyd.

– Hoosier Park put out a news item on Aug. 12 about Quarter Horse jockey Oscar Delgado, also a regular at Mount Pleasant Meadows. The piece profiles Delgado’s life and racing career, where he has won riding titles at Mount Pleasant and the inaugural Quarter Horse meet at Hialeah Park. He also discusses racing against his brother, Juan, who is among the leading Quarter Horse riders at Mount Pleasant and the Indiana circuit. Oscar Delgado currently hangs his tack at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa.

– The Michigan Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association Yearling Sale is this Sunday at the Michigan State University Pavilion’s south barn. The yearling show begins ay 9 a.m. followed by the sale at 1 p.m.. For an online catalog of the sale, click here. To view this site’s preview of Sunday’s sale, click here.

2010 MTOBA Yearling Sale Preview

A full sister to last year's sale topper Noequal will be offered in the Aug. 29 MTOBA Yearling Sale.

The increasingly unsteady condition of Michigan’s racing industry is reflected in the low number of entries in the Aug. 29 Michigan Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association Yearling Sale.

This year’s sale catalog features 25 yearlings, a ten-horse decrease from the 35 offered after outs in last year’s installment.

The sale will once again be held at the Michigan State University Pavilion’s south barn in East Lansing, Mich.. The first horse will go through the ring at 1 p.m., preceded by the yearling show at 9 a.m..

Though the catalog may be small, the MTOBA Yearling Sale is a historically fertile ground for Michigan stakes winners, and there are plenty of prospects here with the potential to have successful careers on the racetrack.

To view the online catalog for the 2010 MTOBA Yearling Sale, click here.

Behind the jump are some of the yearlings that caught my attention for one reason or another while browsing the catalog. I welcome reader input on who you think will make a splash in the sale as well.

Equality colt tops MTOBA Yearling Sale

Equality colt Noequal attracted the high bid of $12,000 in last Sunday’s Michigan Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association Yearling Sale at Michigan State University.

The gray or roan Noequal, out of stakes-winner Rapid Reaction was the only horse of the 35 offered to eclipse the $10,000 mark.

Results were down in all major categories, largely stemming from a 52% decrease in entries from last year’s sale. The economy and the uncertain future of racing in Michigan were without a doubt factors in the decline (As well as Mount Pleasant Meadows running at the same time as the sale? MPM trainer Don Evans was among the leading buyers at last year’s yearling sale).

Noequal’s purchase alone produced the sale’s top buyer, Daniel McCarthy (one horse, $12,000) and top consigner, Opportunity Lane (three horses, $26,500). Opportunity Lane sent out three of the sale’s top four sellers.

The MTOBA sale may not have drawn in high rollers the likes Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum or IEAH Stables’ Michael Iavarone, but this auction did have one thing on the Fasig-Tiptons of the world: free pizza. The organization provided several buffet tables of Papa John’s pizza and breadsticks to consigners, potential bidders, onlookers and internet writing types in the middle of the sale barn. Things like this are what make going to the sale so enjoyable, even if all I can afford to do is window shop.

The pizza was well deserved for many of the horsemen and women in attendance who had been inside the MSU Pavilion’s South Barn since well before the yearling show at 9 a.m.. Equality gelding Meachem Road took home Grand Champion honors and the top prize in the colts and geldings division. Noequal, another Equality colt, took reserve champion, while Daylight Savings filly Daytime Tricks took first prize among the females.

For a complete listing of the sale’s results, click here.
For a statistical breakdown of the sale, click here.
For a listing of the yearling show’s results, click here.

Let’s have a look at the top five sellers from last Sunday’s yearling sale, as well as some other notable hits and misses. I apologize in advance for the less-than-ideal quality of the photos. Indoor arena lighting paired with bright outside lighting is the bane of many a photographer.

Top Five Sellers:

#1: Hip #3 – Noequal – $12,000

Noequal, the MTOBA Yearling Sale’s top selling entry, was bought by leading buyer Daniel S. McCarthy for $12,000. The gray or roan Equality colt was consigned by leading seller Opportunity Lane. Noequal is out of stakes-winning Monetary Gift dam Rapid Reaction, full sister of two multiple stakes winners of over $380,000; That Gift, a Michigan champion three-year-old, and That Monetary. Rapid Reaction is the dam of six other foals, sending five to the races with four winners, including stakes-placed Impeachment gelding Red Line. Equality is the sire of Michigan champions Equalitysdebutante and Bipolar Express.

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This post is heavy on the pictures, so the rest can be found behind the jump. For loads more coverage of the MTOBA Yearling sale, just click the link below.

2009 MTOBA Yearling Sale Preview

Even the greatest champions of the turf started out as freaked out yearlings in a sale ring.

The time has come again for the next crop of Michigan-bred yearlings to take one step closer to the racetrack in Sunday’s Michigan Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association Yearling Show and Sale . The yearling show will begin at 9 a.m. in the Michigan State University Pavilion’s South Barn and the sale will follow at 1 p.m.

This year’s sale will feature 38 yearlings going through the sale ring, a significant decrease from the 74 offered last year. However, the yearling sale has been a rich source of Michigan stakes winners, including last year’s champion Valley Loot and 2008 stakes winners Clever Idea, Equally Good and Ittybittymeadow. Past results suggest there is plenty of blacktype waiting to happen from this sale.

In preparation for Sunday’s sale, I have compiled a few categories I found to be interesting. I have also singled out three yearlings I predict will command the highest prices of the day. If anyone thinks someone else will command the top dollar, I welcome your reasoning.

DISCLAIMER: Keep in mind I am by no means a bloodstock expert. Not even close. The following post is not a suggestion of who to buy, but simply a series of my observations and predictions regarding the upcoming yearling sale. I have seen none of these horses in person and am going strictly by what I see in the sale catalog and online, along with general vibes I get while looking over the catalog. However, if someone should purchase Michigan’s next millionaire based on something written here, a “thank you” would be nice.

So, without further ado, let’s have a look at a few of the horses that stand out from this year’s sale catalog.

For a full list and details of the horses offered in this year’s sale, view the online catalog here.

This gets pretty long, so I am putting it behind the jump to save space on the front page. Click the link below to keep reading.

Michigan Notebook: August 4, 2009

Mount Pleasant Meadows jockey Amanda Keller earned her first career victory on July 26. Keller heads out to the track aboard Tans Terminator.

– The catalog for the August 23 MTOBA Yearling Sale is online for review. The sale drew 38 entries, which is a significant step down from last year’s total of 67 yearlings. When the sale draws closer and I get some time to sit down and look at the catalog, expect to see a preview of the event right here.

– Mount Pleasant Meadows jockey Amanda Keller earned her first two career riding victories on July 26. Keller brought home Quarter Horse Lucky’s Rambler in the day’s sixth race for her first victory, then followed it up with another trip to the winner’s circle in the ninth on Struttin Feathers. After her first win, Keller was greeted at the jock’s room door by a bucket of ice water.

Last Sunday, Keller added one more notch to her win column, finishing first aboard Quiet Apple.

– Speaking of exciting things from last week, Pinnacle Race Course valet and famous dog trainer John Flowers appeared July 28 on Live! with Regis and Kelly with his dog Spencer. A video of their performance does not appear to be readily available, but Spencer did several balancing acts for the audience.

He began by jumping on the middle of a large spool turned on its side and riding back and forth across the stage similar to a log roller. Flowers then took Spencer to a series of open-ended barrels, which the dog balanced on, then jumped to a new barrel before standing on the final barrel with only his hind legs. With time running out on the segment, Flowers went to the big finish. The show’s hosts held a bar at knee-height, which Spencer jumped on and perched. Flowers then instructed Regis and Kelly to stand up with the bar, which they did while the dog maintained his balance the entire time.

– Pinnacle Race Course is connecting with Facebook users on its new fan page. The page offers information on upcoming events and specials, as well as photos from previous events. Definitely worth a look for Pinnacle fans on Facebook.

– The Michigan Strategic Task Force on Agriculture has been holding open-ended meetings across the state to generate ideas on how to improve the state’s agricultural industries.

I attended one of the meetings held in Fremont Monday morning. Political figures in attendance included Reps. Geoff Hansen, Kevin Daley, Cindy Denby (who chaired the meeting), Ken Kurtz and Sen. Jerry VanWoerkom. It was an informal setup, beginning with each Representative giving a quick rundown about themselves and Michigan’s situation both as a whole and in the Ag sector. Afterward, they opened up the floor to anyone with something to say. 

Though nothing was officially accomplished, the elected officials appeared receptive to the concerns of those in attendance, ranging from crop and livestock farmers to members of the racing industry, and offered constructive feedback. Whether anything will come from the meetings remains to be seen, but the fact that they are offering such a forum might mean they are open for suggestions.

According to the Michigan HBPA website, there are two more meetings scheduled. Members of the racing industry in or near the districts are encouraged to attend and voice their opinions and concerns. Attaching faces to the statistics may help advance the cause, and if anything else, it provides an opportunity for attendees to become more familiar with those representing them in Lansing.

Here are the dates, times and locations of the remaining two meetings…

August 10
10:30 a.m.
Ionia Intermediate School District
2191 Harwood Rd.
Ionia, MI                              

August 24
6:00 p.m.
Lapeer County ISD Educational Technology Center
690 Lake Pleasant Rd.
Attica, MI