2/3/12 - BOURBON COURAGE (c, 3, Lion Heart--Shine Forth, by Carson City), a $15,000 FTKJUL yearling purchase, won at the Fair Grounds first time out of the gate. Hurried quickly from his inside post, he was in contention for the lead in an opening quarter in :21.85, and took off in the stretch while racing a bit greenly to score by 4 1/4 lengths. They went the 6 furlongs in 1 :09 and change. He was purchased by McMahon and Hill for Bourbon Lane Stable & Wayne Lynn. He was bred by Oscar & Eloise Penn (KY). Watch for this one!
Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $22,512.
KALEIDOSCOPE shows her quality
A McMahon and Hill yearling purchase KALEIDOSCOPE (f, 3, Elusive Quality - Instant Coverage, by Storm Cat) was second over a sloppy Aqueduct track in her debut at six furlongs in early December. This out she tracked the favorite through fractions of :22.85 and :45.98 and then moved on the leader following three-quarters in 1:11.69 and zipped past to win by a length. Kaleidoscope was a $260,000 FTSAUG yearling. She is owned by -William Parsons Jr & David Howe, was bred by WinStar Farm LLC (KY) and is trained by -Mark A Hennig.
Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0, $34,300.
1/14/12 - Panthro gets it done in style for McMahon and Hill client Empire Equines
Courtesy of the TDN
PANTHRO (g, 3, Discreet Cat--All At Once, by Touch Gold), a well-beaten fourth in his Saratoga unveiling against Empire-breds Aug. 8, earned a solid 86 Beyer while a good third against open company at Gulfstream Dec. 24. Back with state-breds here, the 3-5 chalk was right there in second early, challenged for command on the far turn and drew off nicely in the stretch to graduate by 2 1/4 lengths
Lifetime 3-1-0-1, $36,450.
O -
Donald H Piser & Stanley M Hough. B-Empire Equines
LLC (NY). T-Stanley M Hough.
1/12/12 - Well Defended...Results from the Keeneland January Sale
Courtesy of the TDN
Sharing top honors for a mare yesterday was La Defense (Wild Again--Captivant, by Deputy Minister), who was knocked down to McMahon & Hill LLC for $90,000. Offered by Jody and Michelle Huckabay's Elm Tree Farm was hip 1198, the 14-year-old sold in foal to Coolmore's young sire Munnings (Speightstown). La Defense was a winner on the track and is a half sibling to five stakes horses, including GSW Noisette (Broad Brush) and MSW & GSP Roi Maudit (Elusive Quality).
La Defense has been good to nearly everyone who's had a connection to her. Her first foal, Quelle Surprise (Slew Gin Gizz), was a homebred stakes winner of over $140,000 for Haras Santa Maria de Araras SA, who had also bred La Defense. Another two of her foals proved good yearling to juvenile pinhooks for Eisaman Equine ($35,000 to $80,000) and the McKathan Bros. ($45,000 to $110,000), respectively, before she provided one of the most eye-catching pinhooking successes of 2011. Her 2009 foal, the colt Macho Rocket, was acquired for $22,000 as a yearling by Tristan de Meric, who then
resold the gray to Frank Fletcher Racing for $825,000 at OBS April last year. Macho Rocket made a favorable impression on debut at Hollywood Nov. 27, leading every step and winning by a half-length for trainer Bob Baffert.
La Defense herself was sent through the 2010 OBS Winter Sale, where the Huckabays acquired her for $32,000 while in foal to Master Command. They sold that resulting foal for $20,000, then hit paydirt at the Keeneland November sale two months ago when they sold her 2011 Colonel John (Tiznow) weanling for $150,000. Michelle and I actually bought her to breed to Colonel John, said Huckabay of WinStar's Grade I winner. We had bought a share in Colonel John, and we didn't have a mare at the time to breed to him, and were kind of up against it. That's the reason she was purchased. On paper, she matched up well. Physically, she's a Quarter Horse type, while he's a long, lengthy horse--a real Tiznow. We thought they would complement each other, and the resulting foal certainly did great in November. She was getting a little bit of age on her, so we decided to enter her here, and obviously with the updates, it was a nice score. She certainly outsold her reserve. But I think there's still juice in the lemon and, hopefully, everybody will come out smelling good.
The people that bought her are bloodstock agents Mike McMahon and Jamie Hill, whose bloodstock agency is located in Versailles. The former said La Defense was purchased on behalf of Sally Anderson's
River Mist Farm in Ocala. "We like the mare a lot, liked the covering, and it looks like that Macho Uno colt [Macho Rocket] can really run," said McMahon. "But we also loved that Colonel John colt. I'd have to check my notes, but we might have been the underbidder on him at November. I've seen all the mare's foals--she gets great-looking babies. She's got a lot of positives. I don't know who we'll go back to--I bought her for a client and we haven't had a chance to talk about it--but possibly Macho Uno."
