Vestrey Lady topped the Tuesday session at Keeneland's January Sale with a $300,000 price tag in foal to Broken Vow. She rose from humble beginnings to win some $490,000.
Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye bought her as a yearling for a mere $6,000 on behalf of voluble Canadian horseman Dick Bonnycastle. Dick made his fortune publishing romance novels. Vestrey Lady starred in a real-life tale that only seemed like fiction.
You see, Dick decided to listen to his Alberta ranch manager who advised him to break and train a dozen yearlings tethered to the back of a pick-up truck. His English-bred advisor Tony Goswell went into conniptions when he saw the goings on. Anyhow, Dick planned to sell this crop as two-year-olds at an inpromptu auction and barbecue at his ranch near Calgary. I was conscripted to serve as auctioneer after the youngsters had breezed a furlong or so for the crowd.
Vestrey Lady was the only one with a reserve price. It would take $25,000 to buy the daughter of Vicar from the immediate family of Street Sense, Mr. Greeley and others. There were no takers among the mainly moochers and sightseers that made up the audience Dick took the filly to join his Toronto string of runners and the rest is history.
Nobody would part with 25 grand when E. P. Taylor was trying to sell Northern Dancer four decades ago. Canadians have a reputation for thrift. A British Columbia horseman once overheard someone say at Keeneland that Canucks were a little tight with a buck and took great umbrage at the thought. Later that day he sprung for lunch, perhaps to demonstrate his lack of frugality. Our waiter returned with change from a $20 bill, some 18 cents as I recall, and told the waiter he could keep the change.
"All of it, sir?," deadpanned the waiter while the rest of us howled with laughter.
Written by Dan Kenny on the Thoroughbred Times web site -January 14, 2009. To read Dan's blog, go to http://blog-nhb.thoroughbredtimes.com
Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye bought her as a yearling for a mere $6,000 on behalf of voluble Canadian horseman Dick Bonnycastle. Dick made his fortune publishing romance novels. Vestrey Lady starred in a real-life tale that only seemed like fiction.
You see, Dick decided to listen to his Alberta ranch manager who advised him to break and train a dozen yearlings tethered to the back of a pick-up truck. His English-bred advisor Tony Goswell went into conniptions when he saw the goings on. Anyhow, Dick planned to sell this crop as two-year-olds at an inpromptu auction and barbecue at his ranch near Calgary. I was conscripted to serve as auctioneer after the youngsters had breezed a furlong or so for the crowd.
Vestrey Lady was the only one with a reserve price. It would take $25,000 to buy the daughter of Vicar from the immediate family of Street Sense, Mr. Greeley and others. There were no takers among the mainly moochers and sightseers that made up the audience Dick took the filly to join his Toronto string of runners and the rest is history.
Nobody would part with 25 grand when E. P. Taylor was trying to sell Northern Dancer four decades ago. Canadians have a reputation for thrift. A British Columbia horseman once overheard someone say at Keeneland that Canucks were a little tight with a buck and took great umbrage at the thought. Later that day he sprung for lunch, perhaps to demonstrate his lack of frugality. Our waiter returned with change from a $20 bill, some 18 cents as I recall, and told the waiter he could keep the change.
"All of it, sir?," deadpanned the waiter while the rest of us howled with laughter.
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Bear's Prospector Second in Florida Allowance |
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Danny Dion's Bear's Prospector ran a rock-solid second in a $40,000 allowance race at Gulfstream Park in Florida. The three-year-old held the lead to the half-mile mark before being fourth at the top of the lane. Showing plenty of determination, he gained ground in the dash to the wire after being blocked. Trained by Reade Baker, Bear's Prospector finished one and a half lengths behind the winner in the one-mile and one-eighths tilt in an official clocking of 1:52.86. This first week of the Gulfstream Park meet gives trainers and owners a chance to get an early read on where their three-year-olds rank in the ultimate quest to move into stakes company. Dany Dion and Bear Stables Win Four Sovereign Awards -Dany Dion and Bear Stables took home four awards from the 34th Annual Sovereign Awards hosted by the Jockey Club of Canada. Fatal Bullet was Champion Sprinter and Horse of the Year -he won six of his eight starts and $719,130 in earnings; Bear Now was winner of the Sovereign Award for Champion Older Female and Dion also won Outstanding Owner. Bear Stables' horses accounted for 39 winners from 189 starts in Canada. At Woodbine, Bear Stables finished third in wins with 25 and also recorded $1,434,772 in purse earnings. Janine Stinson, a native of Lethbridge, Alberta, was named the Outstanding Apprentice for 2008 at the Annual Sovereign Awards. She finished with 152 top three finishes at Assiniboia and $486,021 in purse earnings. (Posted January 19) |
Gold Legend to Esquirol Farms in Canada
Gold Legend, an 18-year-old son of Seattle Slew and a half-brother to champion Dayjur, will stand the 2009 breeding season at Pierre Esquirol's Esquirol Farms in Alberta, Canada. Gold Legend previously stood at Valor Farm in Texas.
Gold Legend, out of champion sprinter Gold Beauty, is also a half-brother to multiple grade I-winner Maplejinsky, the dam of champion Sky Beauty and granddam of Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) winner Pleasant Home and Hill ‘n' Dale Cigar Mile (gr. I) winner Tale of Ekati.
Dayjur, European Horse of the Year in 1990, ran second in a memorable finish in that year's Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) at Belmont Park. Battling with Safely Kept, Dayjur jumped shadows on the track twice then fought back to just miss by a neck. A prominent stallion, Dayjur, a son of Danzig who stands at Shadwell Farm near Lexington, is the sire of 27 stakes winners.
Gold Legend will stand for $2,500 (Canadian funds) due when the foal stands and nurses.
Gold Legend did not race and began his stud career in 1994 at Jonabell Farm near Lexington, where he stood until the 2002 season when he went to Valor Farm. He is the sire of 18 stakes winners, including grade I winner Heritage of Gold and Puerto Rican 3-year-old filly champion Leyenda Dorada. (Posted January 27, 2009 - As reported in the BloodHorse)
