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$330,000 Unbridled's Song colt leads F-T Midlantic opener Joseph H. Moss purchased a colt by Unbridled's Song for the top price of $330,000 at Monday's opening session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Timonium, Maryland. Cataloged as Hip No. 128, the Kentucky-bred was offered by De Meric Sales, agent. Nick De Meric had bought the April 17 foal for $250,000 last August at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga. The bay juvenile worked one furlong in :10 3/5 at Wednesday's under tack show. The session topper is the second registered foal from the unraced Dixie Union mare Winning Bet, a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Finder's Fee (Mr. Prospector); Tax Ruling (Dynaformer), two-time winner of the Iroquois Hurdle (NSA-G1); multiple Grade 2-placed Treasure Island (Danzig); and the stakes-placed New Way (Danzig). Winning Bet is also a half-sister to the dams of Grade 2 scorer T.D. Vance (Rahy) and current multiple Grade 3 hero Optimizer (English Channel), who recently placed in the May 4 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1) and in Saturday's Dixie S. (G2). The colt's second dam is Grade 1 heroine Fantastic Find (Mr. Prospector), the product of a blueblood Phipps family. Her immediate relatives include champion and noted broodmare Heavenly Prize (Seeking the Gold); multiple Grade 1 star Dancing Spree (Nijinsky II), winner of the 1989 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1); and Grade 1 winners Furlough (Easy Goer), Oh What a Windfall (Seeking the Gold) and Dancing Forever (Rahy). Shortly afterward, TAHRIR SQUARE (Offlee Wild) nearly equaled that price when commanding $320,000 from Ed Savant. The May 3 foal, who drilled a quarter-mile in :21 3/5 for Eddie Woods, agent, at the under tack show, sported Hip 145. The Kentucky-bred dark bay was produced by the unraced Alittlebitearly (Thunder Gulch), a half-sister to such notables as Group 3 winning-sire Bertolini (Danzig) and stakes heroine Amelia (Dixieland Band), the dam of Grade 3 scorer Kindergarden Kid (Dynaformer) and 2012 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) runner-up He's Had Enough (Tapit). Alittlebitearly is out of Grade 2 queen Aquilegia (Alydar), who is herself a full sister to champion Althea and to Grade 2 victress Aishah, both top producers. The juvenile's third dam is Broodmare of the Year Courtly Dee (Never Bend). Among her reams of descendants is Group 1 star and influential sire Green Desert (Danzig). Woods also offered a Distorted Humor colt, Hip 137, who went for $240,000 to trainer Gary Contessa on behalf of Wounded Warrior. Originally sold for $180,000 as a yearling at Saratoga, the Kentucky-bred sped his furlong in :10 2/5 last Wednesday. The January 26 foal is the first from Group 3 heroine African Skies (GB) (Johannesburg), a half-sister to stakes winner Nakheel (Sadler's Wells). African Skies scored her signature win in the 2008 Princess Margaret (Eng-G3) as a juvenile. The juvenile's second dam, Matiya (Ire) (Alzao), captured the 1996 Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) and placed in two other classics, the One Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) and Prix de Diane (Fr-G1). Matiya is a daughter of Group 1-placed stakes victress Purchasepaperchase (Young Generation), who is also responsible for Group 3-placed stakes winner Carambola (Ire) (Danehill) and multiple South African Group 1-placed Toreador (Danehill). A Pure Prize filly likewise brought $240,000 to tie for third on the leaderboard. Oaklawn Park President Charles J. Cella snapped up Hip 167 from the consignment of Niall Brennan Stables, agent. The Maryland-bred, who clocked :10 3/5 for one furlong, is a full sister to 2011 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship winner Plum. They are out of the multiple stakes-placed Bamba (Not for Love). The May 5 chestnut counts as her second dam the multiple stakes winner Munchkin Michele (Naked Sky), fourth in the 1987 Little Silver H. (G3) when that result counted as black-type. At the conclusion of Monday's trade, Fasig-Tipton reported double-digit gains in both average and median. The $59,793 average represented a 27 percent spike from last year's $47,067, while the median rose 18.5 percent, from $27,000 to $32,000. The opening-day gross of $7,235,000 was off less than 1.5 percent from the $7,342,500 raked in a year ago, despite a much slimmer catalog. In 2012, 270 horses were cataloged for day one, and 156 were sold. On Monday, only 215 were cataloged, and 121 changed hands. The two-day sale concludes Tuesday, beginning at 10 a.m. (EDT). For the catalog, complete results and live video of the auction, log onto fasigtipton.com.
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