Noted: March 1
– Coolmore’s purchase of an unraced two-year-old colt for $16 million at the Calder juvenile auction on Tuesday is “a calculated risk,” one that left agent Demi O’Byrne with a “shaky hand” when it came time to sign the ticket. “He was special … He must have been!,” O’Byrne said after, trying to explain the the world-record price.
– Via The Pedigree Guru, via TBA member Athlone, comes this fascinating article published in the Lexington Herald-Leader a couple of weeks ago about intensive breeding and ballooning book sizes for stallions: “It’s one of those things that get a lot more talk than action … I’d say on a theoretical level the industry is concerned, but I haven’t heard anyone come up with any rational alternative to trump capitalism. As long as owners are willing to have their mare be the 200th mare in a stallion’s book, it’s going to continue.” This is really why Coolmore’s willing to pay $16 million for an unraced colt.
– In his first start since finishing 19th in last year’s Kentucky Derby, Bandini set a track record for a mile at Gulfstream this afternoon, winning an allowance race by 3 3/4 lengths in 1:34.19.
