Galloping Success for Kirkwood

Kip Elser’s Kirkwood Stables bucked the trend for speed at the under-tack preview Monday and instead offered five juveniles specifically purchased as yearlings with the intention of only galloping prior to the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale.

Three of the five sold Wednesday, with a colt by Noble Mission (GB) (hip 2) starting off the afternoon selling for $120,000 to Caves Farm. Bloodstock agent Dennis O’Neill purchased the final offering from Gulfstream Gallop LLC when he bid $100,000 to take home a filly by Blame (hip 137).

In between, a filly by Data Link (hip 26) brought $65,000 from Martin Racing Stable. Colts by Exchange Rate and Liaison were bought back.

Elser purchased all five as yearlings last year on behalf of an undisclosed client. “I think we had a good solid day,” Elser said after congratulating O’Neill on his purchase.

“It was an experiment. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for a very brave man who wanted to try something, I won’t say completely new, but certainly something that hadn’t been tried recently. He’ brave. He doesn’t cry when he loses, he doesn’t crow when he wins. He just loves the game. I think it was a very worthwhile experiment and I think we can build on in it from here. I think we’ll do it again next year.

O’Neill has had plenty of success buying at 2-year-olds sales. He purchased subsequent GI Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist (Uncle Mo) for $400,000 at the Fasig-Tipton sale in 2015 and paid $35,000 for 2012 Derby winner I’ll Have Another (Flower Alley) at the OBS April Sale.

After signing the ticket on the galloping Blame filly, who was a $30,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Turf Showcase, O’Neill said, “It goes back to how they move. She moved really good down the lane and I really liked the way she galloped, as strange as that might sound. We probably stretched a little bit. We were thinking $70,000 or $80,000. But she’s a really pretty filly and we’ve had luck with Blame fillies. So we thought we’d give it a shot.” O’Neill continued, “Kip let them roll a little bit- it wasn’t like it was a nice easy gallop. They were going pretty good. So you got to see how they were going to go. Which is the big thing for me, just to see their action. She was rolling pretty good down the lane.”

Of the concept of skipping furlong breezes in favor of gallops, O’Neill added, “I have mixed feelings on that. I tend to feel like an eighth of a mile at this point, is not going to hurt them. We bought two Derby horses that worked a decent eighth and they never took a bad step in their whole career. We=ve had a lot of success buying at the 2-year-old sales and had very few problems out of it. I don=t think an eighth of a mile is that much to ask.”

Elser said he has received plenty of positive feedback on the idea. “There have been a tremendous number of people who have wished us luck and said, I hope it works for you because it might help us broaden our market down the road.”

Kirkwood Stables to gallop offerings at F-T Gulfstream breeze show

Courtesy of the DRF

The five horses consigned under the Kirkwood banner at the elite sale will be shown under an untimed gallop during the breeze show, forgoing the blazing times strived for by horses going an eighth or a quarter of a mile.

Elser, who is based in Camden, S.C., said the notion was first brought to him last summer by a longtime friend and client he would describe only as “somewhat of a contrarian,” who tasked him to buy a handful of yearlings and take them to the Gulfstream sale with the built-in notion of going there to gallop. The horses would not be drilled to breeze leading up to the sale, and Elser signed the tickets on the yearlings as agent for “Gulfstream Gallop LLC,” stating their purpose from the moment they took ownership.

“There’s quite a few people that’ll always tell you, ‘I wish they didn’t have to go so fast. I can see all I want to see just to see them move,’” Elser said. “We need some people with confidence in their judgement to look at these open galloping through the lane, and see what they think.

“I hope we can dial it back a bit for the horses, the buyers, all of us getting horses ready to sell. I hope we can maybe broaden the market a little bit. There’s a lot of nice horses out there that get lost in the shuffle when the primary criteria is just how fast they go.”

:: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales

Restricting sale-bound juveniles to galloping contradicts the commercial market tide. Just one horse was on the record as having galloped during last year’s under-tack shows at the seven combined juvenile auctions hosted by Fasig-Tipton, Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co., and Barretts. He was eventually scratched.

Adena Springs galloped each of the 50 horses it offered during the 2015 and 2016 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sales, the first two hosted at the venue. The average hammer price (both horses sold and buybacks) on those juveniles was $63,390, less than a third of the overall average hammer price for the 2015 sale, which had the lowest average of the two sales.

It is important to note, though, that a variety of factors outside of the gallops likely influenced those returns. Adena Springs was by far the largest consignor at the 2015 sale, looking to support the first auction at the Stronach Group-owned track. As such, many of the offerings had pedigrees that would not typically be seen in the boutique Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream catalog, and the prices reflected that.

One of the purchases, an $85,000 Einstein gelding named Scholar Athlete, was sent from the sale to Kirkwood Stables to finish his training, and became a Grade 3-placed runner for West Point Thoroughbreds.

This is not the first time Elser has made headlines for galloping his juveniles. In the early 2000s, he consigned a handful of breeze-only horses at several sales for Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm, who strongly opposes the rigors of the modern breeze show process. Included in that group was the $750,000 Pulpit filly Pray for Aces and stakes winner Nakayama Kun.

Though he intended all along to just gallop the horses he has consigned to the Gulfstream sale, Elser said that did not change his criteria for buying yearlings. As such, he said his expectations for what will constitute a successful sale for the Gulfstream horses is also unchanged.

“Getting all the horses sold, that’s a successful sale,” he said. “Beyond that, going on and proving that the buyers are right when they buy these and going on to win races for them.

“There’s plenty of good judges out there who could pick a horse if A) they have good confidence in their judgement; and B) if their clients let them get away from the formula they’ve been having to use recently.”

Kirkwood Takes Alternative Approach to Sale Workouts

Courtesy of the BloodHorse Kip Elser of Kirkwood Stables
Kip Elser of Kirkwood StablesCathy Clark

Kirkwood Takes Alternative Approach to Sale Workouts

Five horses from Kip Elser’s consignment will gallop up to the sale.

When the under tack workouts take place March 26 for horses entered in the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream selected sale of 2-year-olds in training, don’t look for any of the entries from Kirkwood Stables to be doing a quick eighth-mile or quarter-mile down the lane.

At the behest of a client, the Kirkwood horses will gallop during workouts for the March 28 auction that will be held in the walking ring at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla. Monday’s under tack show begins at 9 a.m., and Wednesday’s sale starts at 3 p.m. (all times Eastern).

Spring Sale

Kip Elser, who operates South Carolina-based Kirkwood, said the idea for the unique approach to showcasing his young horses’ abilities came during a conversation at Saratoga in August.

“I ran into an old friend and former client at Saratoga, and he said, ‘I think this pendulum (of fast workouts during breeze shows) has swung too far.’ He said, ‘Go to the fall sales and buy me a small group of nice horses and take them to the Gulfstream sale and just gallop them, don’t breeze them.'”

Elser said “Gulfstream Gallop,” the name under which the Fasig-Tipton sale juveniles were purchased, is designed to offer an alternative to the traditional methods of evaluating racing prospects.

“Without trying to disparage anybody else’s way of doing business, we’re going to try a way to give buyers just as good a way to evaluate these horses,” said Elser, adding that buyers are astute and professional enough to look beyond workout times that do little to sort out the better offerings. “There are plenty of good horsemen out there who can judge a horse without having it go in some blazing time. Buyers need to have confidence in themselves. I think there are enough good judges out there who will trust their own judgment and just go out there and pick out some nice horses.”

As 2-year-olds in training sales have soared in popularity—and sellers have become adept at getting their horses to go fast during the under tack shows—juvenile sales have, in some cases, become the end-all rather than a means to the end.

“We have created this situation ourselves. Consignors have gotten better and better at getting horses to go faster, but what has happened is that the preparation for a 2-year-old sale is no longer a part of the process of getting them ready to run. It is a very different process,” the horseman said. “Theoretically, a 2-year-old sale should be a stop on the way to their first start. For some, it is the end of the process rather than a step along the way.

OBS Sales

“When that train leaves South Carolina, there are how many steps on the way to the racetrack, whether it is Kentucky or New York or wherever? There are steps in the process. You go from middle school to high school and on to college. It is a steep pyramid, but it is a clearly defined path to get to the races.”

Elser said buyers can have confidence the Gulfstream horses are galloping as part of a long-range plan, not because they have shown an inability to go fast.

“The first hurdle you have to get is the question of whether these horses were tired and found wanting,” he explained. “They were never intended to do anything else. In my mind, I think this makes it a believable project. They were bought in the name of Gulfstream Gallop, and right from the day we signed the ticket and sent them home, that was the plan.”

This is not the first time Elser has brought outside-the-box thinking to his sales approach. Kirkwood had horses gallop at juvenile sales when Elser was representing Seth Hancock and Claiborne Farm. Also, Kirkwood was one of the first North American operations to sell 2-year-olds in England, and it established a foothold in the South African 2-year-old sales sector.

“That is part of where this game will take you, if you let it,” Elser said.

Other consignors, most notably Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs operation, have showcased 2-year-olds in training by only galloping them in advance of an auction.

Elser said the horses in his pinhooking group “are not extremely expensive horses, but they are good value.”

The Kirkwood consignment at Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream:

  • Hip 2, a Noble Mission  colt from the female family of multiple grade 2 winner Lewis Bay. The colt’s half brother, Yulong Warrior, recently won a stakes race in the United Arab Emirates.
  • Hip 26, a Data Link  filly whose extended female family includes prominent broodmare Toll Fee.
  • Hip 88, an Exchange Rate colt from an active female family that includes multiple grade 3 winner Sailors Sunset.
  • Hip 136, a Liaison  colt out of a stakes-placed Pine Bluff mare who is from the family of multiple grade 1 winner Both Ends Burning.
  • Hip 137, a Blame  filly from the female family of 2001 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Tempera.

‘Trying To Change Market Thinking’: Kirkwood Offers ‘No-Breeze Show’ At Florida Sale

Courtesy of the Paulick Report

by  | 03.22.2018 | 11:13am

Kirkwood horses galloping at Springdale Training Center

 
Plenty of casual race fans and bloodstock professionals alike have expressed concern about the rule of the stopwatch at 2-year-old sales. In a feature by the Thoroughbred Daily News earlier this month, veteran consignor Niall Brennan said he’s seen a change in breeze-up sales over the past few years. Speed has always been important, but the market has become obsessed with the bullet and employed “Quarter Horse training methods” in which horses have to go flat-out to meet expectations that have little to do with the racetrack.

One unnamed investor is hoping to push back against the tidal wave of speed obsession.

Last year, Kirkwood Stables’ Kip Elser was approached by a longtime friend and former client at Saratoga who was frustrated by the problem of intense speed at juvenile sales.

“He said, ‘Let’s give this a try. Go buy me some horses and let’s take them to Gulfstream and not breeze them.’ It was really no more complicated than that,” said Elser. “He said, ‘I think maybe the pendulum has swung too far.’ We’re hearing rumblings about ‘How fast can you get them to go? We’re down to :9 4/5 (for a furlong) and what’s next.’ We said, ‘Let’s just take a step back and see if the market will accept it.’ This is very much a roll of the dice, and we’re aware of that.”

The result is a five-horse consignment offered by Kirkwood that will be shown to clients at a gallop, not breezing at the upcoming Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale. Elser emphasizes the horses have not been breezed at any point in their sale preparation, and the choice to show them at a gallop is not based on the horses’ abilities, but on a plan.

“They were bought in the name of Gulfstream Gallop specifically for this project,” he said. “I bought the same horses I would have bought any other year, whether they were going to the 2-year-old sales or the races, and I bought horses I like.
Elser says the group is coming along on equal footing, but if he had to pick favorites, he’d highlight Hip 137, a Blame filly from the family of multiple French group stakes winner Colour Chart and Hip 2, a Noble Mission (GB) colt whose half-brother Yulong Warrior won the Al Bastakiya Stakes at Meydan recently.Elser is not the first to try galloping horses at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale; Adena Springs did the same in 2015 and 2016 with mixed results under the hammer. But Elser said based on racetrack results, those groups of juveniles have done quite well – multiple graded winner Shakhimat and multiple stakes winner Winter came from those consignments, as did graded stakes-placed Scholar Athlete, Jamyson ‘n Ginger and Born To Be a Winner. Some of those horses are still running.

Elser agrees with his client that the 2-year-old auction system has created a bit of a monster – but it’s not easy to change market currents single-handedly.

“It remains to be seen if we can stay away somewhat from the clock,” he said. “I think my outlook is the same as everybody else that’s getting horses ready for the 2-year-old sales: it is very definitely market-driven. It’s what buyers want. This is a conscious effort to change the way buyers look at horses. If I didn’t have this friend and client that wants to do this, I don’t think I’d be taking this risk on my own of trying to change market thinking.”

He also says that to really make a difference, he may have to try this approach for several years. As long as his client is on board, Elser is fine with that.

“I would hope so. That’s the intention right now,” he said. “We’re certainly getting a response. I hope it translates into people watching them and looking at them on a shank and buying them, but it’s too early to tell that yet. We’ve certainly stirred the pot and I’m getting a very positive response from a lot of people saying they like the idea.”

MSW HIT IT ONCE MORE adds black-type in the Stymie S

Newly turned 5-year-old Hard Spun colt MSW HIT IT ONCE MORE  started his 2018 campaigned with a strong allowance win at PARX, followed by a win in the Haynesfield Stakes at Aqueduct. Back again in stakes company in the Stymie also at Aqueduct, he added to his resume with a third.  HIT IT ONCE MORE was purchased from Kirkwood Stables for $90,000 as a two year old by his trainer Gary Sciacca acting as agent for August Dawn Farm. He was bred by  JMJ Racing Stables, LLC. His bankroll stands over $509,000.

KIRKWOOD SELLING 1/2 BROTHER TO HUGE MEYDAN STAKES WINNER

Kirkwood has the half brother to YULONG WARRIOR by NOBLE MISSION (GB) selling this month at the Fasig Tipton Gulfstream Sale.  YULONG WARRIOR (Street Cry (IRE) – Mahkama (USA) (Bernardini (USA)) demolished the field by over 10 lengths  in the Al Bastakia S at Meydan on Super Saturday as part of the build up to the Dubai World Cup.

WATCH THE RACE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vvyhGX3Y6U

BELLERIN graduates in a MSW at Santa Anita in wire to wire fashion

Kirkwood has many happy associations with the family of BELLERIN (Malibu Moon – Seek to Soar, by Seeking the Gold) through his grand dam Soaring Softly.
Yesterday going a mile on the dirt, BELLERIN showed early speed and went right to the lead and stayed there to score a win and break his maiden. The gelding was sold by  Kirkwood to trainer Carla Gaines for her client, owner Keith Brackpool.