A filly by Nyquist, who is half-sister to leading GI Kentucky Oaks contender Affirmative Lady (Arrogate), turned in the fastest quarter-mile work of Friday’s penultimate session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, while a daughter of Speightstown and a colt by Into Mischief shared the fastest furlong time of the week.
The daughter of Nyquist (hip 1024) turned in the day’s fastest quarter-mile breeze–and second fastest of the week–when covering the distance in :20 2/5. The dark bay filly, consigned by Wavertree Stables, is out of Stiffed (Stephen Got Even), whose daughter Affirmative Lady heads into Oaks off a win in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks.
She was purchased by the Red Wings Enterprises pinhooking partnership of Ciaran Dunne and Paul Reddam–who won the GI Kentucky Derby with her sire in 2016, for $170,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale.
“She is just an unassuming, quiet filly to be around,” Dunne said. “She trains every day, easy and quiet, and then when you ask her to go, she just explodes. She has done really well. She was somewhat of a nondescript yearling, but she has matured into a big, powerful filly.”
Of the filly’s Classic-bound half-sister, Dunne quipped, “Typical of me, I was the last to know [about the update].”
He added, “You kind of forget about pedigrees once they are bought and in the barn. Usually it doesn’t come back up until after the breeze show. So, this was kind of a pleasant surprise right at the time that this filly was doing so good to have something like that happen.”
Wavertree Stables was also responsible for a colt by Into Mischief (hip 967) who equaled the fastest furlong time of the week with his :9 3/5 breeze Friday.
“The Into Mischief colt has been a wonderful horse all year,” Dunne said. “He’s the kind that makes you want to get up in the morning and go to the barn. Everything he does is effortless. He just acts like he is very special. And to this point, he hasn’t done anything to prove us wrong.”
Purchased by Red Wing Enterprises for $300,000 at Keeneland last September, the bay colt is out of multiple stakes winner and graded-placed Singing Kitty (Ministers Wild Cat).
The two bullet workers led a big day for the consignment, which was also represented by a Coal Front filly (hip 924, video) and a colt by Omaha Beach (hip 961, video) who worked the week’s second-fastest furlong time of :9 4/5. Wavertree also had a pair of fillies by Omaha Beach work in :9 4/5 earlier in the week.
“We’ve had a great day,” Dunne said. “We are very fortunate to have a tremendous group of clients who support us and give us horses like these. And we have a crew at the farm who work all winter to make days like this happen. Days like this don’t just happen. You work towards them. The horses that worked today, we had high expectations coming into today. It was a little nerve-wracking, but I think for the most they showed up and performed like we expected them to.”
DeBerdt Hopes More Success With Spooky Woods
The Speightstown filly (hip 1012) became the third juvenile of the week to work a furlong in :9 3/5 early in Friday’s first set. She is consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales as agent for Bruno DeBerdt’s Excel Bloodstock.
“I knew she was going to work well,” DeBerdt, who watched the work from his California home, said. “How well, I didn’t know. She’s been training really well for us and if there were any of the horses that were going to have a black-type work, I thought she could do it. But until you lead them up there and they show up, you just don’t really know.”
Of the end result, DeBerdt continued, “Obviously we were very pleased with the way she did it and the fact that she did it well within herself and galloped out very strongly. She showed her true ability. And she’s got a great mind. A good horse requires two things. One, obviously the ability, but equally important they have to have the mind. If they don’t have the mind, it doesn’t matter how much ability they have, it’s not going to work.”
DeBerdt and Scanlon Training purchased the chestnut for $135,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale.
“I like the sire and I liked the filly as an individual,” DeBerdt said of the youngster’s appeal last fall. “She was a little bit rough around the edges, but nothing that I thought would preclude her from developing into a nice horse. So I guess you might say we looked for the diamond in the rough and, with good diet and training, nature took care of the rest.”
DeBerdt also had a positive association with the filly’s dam, Spooky Woods (Ghostzapper), whom he pinhooked for $250,000 at the 2016 Barretts March sale. She finished third for West Point Thoroughbreds in the 2017 GIII Santa Ysabel S. and sold again, with hip 1012 in utero, for $400,000 to Yeguada Centurion at the 2020 Keeneland November sale.
Spooky Woods is a half-sister to multiple graded-placed Kinsley Kisses (Congrats), as well as to the dam of graded-stakes winning sophomore Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo).
The under-tack show concludes with a final session beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday. The Spring sale will be held next Tuesday through Friday and bidding commences each day at 10:30 a.m.
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