War Front colt ranks as priciest West Virginia-bred
yearling
When West Virginia breeder Buck Woodson entered a War Front weanling that he
bred in Keeneland’s 2011 November breeding stock sale, he knew he had an
attractive horse that would be appealing to prospective buyers. It would be an
understatement to say what followed outpaced any expectations by a wide margin.
At Keeneland, the colt out of the Old Trieste mare Dancing Trieste
established a new record for West Virginia-bred weanlings when he fetched
$190,000. On Tuesday night — the second session of the Fasig Tipton Saratoga
Selected Yearlings auction — the colt Woodson bred once again went through the
sales ring. This time, when the gavel fell at $675,000, it established a new
record auction price for a West Virginia-bred yearling.
“It’s such a thrill for me to see him up there, going for that kind of money
at the sale,” Woodson said. “It just helps us all around.”
Of the 168 yearlings to go through the auction ring at the prestigious
two-day sale, only six horses brought more than the one Woodson knew had a great
disposition and head on his shoulders from day one. The list of the six horses
— a Medaglia d’Oro filly out of champion Wait a While, a Street Cry colt whose
dam is Canadian champion Serenading, a full brother to Grade 1 winner Mushka, a
Dynaformer filly out of a Grade 3-winning Smart Strike mare, another Medaglia
d’Oro filly out of a Grade 2-placed mare and a colt by top sire Bernardini —
reads like an all-star roster for the breeding industry.
Despite the horse joining this lofty company and bringing nearly $500,000
more than he did as a weanling, Woodson has no regrets about selling the colt
when he did.
“When I sell them, I sell them to get my money and don’t think about it
afterwards. Something could just as easily go wrong with the horse as this.”
Woodson can still reap some of the rewards from the colt as he still owns
Dancing Trieste, currently in foal to Colonel John.
“It would obviously boost the value of the mare if he were to go on and do
something like win a graded stakes. I’ll be rooting for that for sure.”
Where the record-setting colt plies his trade in an effort to help Woodson’s
cause of owning a graded stakes producer remains to be seen, as the buyer on
Tuesday night was Demi O’Byrne, who represents the powerful Coolmore Stud
operation. O’Byrne, who has been responsible for the purchases of such
noteworthy racing stars such as Thunder Gulch, Montjeu and High Chaparral, on
behalf of Coolmore, has a laundry list of accomplishments as a bloodstock agent.
However, with his client’s primary base being in Ireland, the odds appear decent
that the West Virginia-bred jets his way east over the pond in the near future.
“I’ve heard that’s a possibility, but it doesn’t make a lot of difference. I
want to see them do well with the horse and when they spend that much, you know
they’ll be trained by one of the best.”
Whether it’s in Europe or North America, having a West Virginia-bred
associated with a six-figure sale price at a prestigious auction or with an
operation such as Coolmore translates outside of West Virginia’s borders.
“It’s another positive step in helping assimilate West Virginia racing into
the national landscape,” Charles Town’s Vice President of Racing Operations
Erich Zimny said.
“Whether it’s our state hosting 10 graded winners in each of the last two
Charles Town Classics or Coolmore buying a West Virginia-bred for almost
$700,000, these are occurrences that emphasize quality and help raise our
profile.”