Bargain

Wicked Strong was a $6,000 value sire that I had some interest in before the sale. He was not a great at 2, but but then won the Wood Memorial and the Jim Dandy. Then at 4 he got 2nd in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, a length behind Tonalist. A stamina sire too be sure.

Hip #359 was one my top 12 coming into the sale. The Wicked Strong colt is by a Meadaglia de Oro mare named Riviera Chic who ran solid 96 in a small stake at Kentucky Downs. The second dams sire is stamina source Thunder Gulch. He was consigned by a small pinhooker, Coastal Equine, that also consigned my favorite colt #762.

No one expected this colt to work fast, and he did not at 10.2. That was disappointing, but not below expectations. It met expectations. I thought 2x the stud fee was a fair value. But when his # was called, the bidding stopped at $6,000. I was sure he would be RNAed, but I got him for 1x the stud fee. It was not the sale “bottomer”, but it was close (a few horses sold for $4,000).

In the real world this horse was bought by Mark Schwartz. Mr. Schwartz’s horses have yet to win a race in 24 tries mainly at Penn National. I wish him luck with this one.

Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus. You could come to this sale, sit next to Bob Baffert and the Prince of Wherever, watch guys bid over $1,000,000 for a horse, but then walk away with a decent horse for $6,000. This is what make horse racing great, it requires the big shots, but it always requires thousands of Marl Schwartz’s to make the sport function.

When this horse walks to the gate for his first race, Mark will have all the excitement of any Triple Crown race.

I will call this horse

Quixote’s Bargain

until he gets a real name.