Last fall, Bradley Thoroughbreds’ Pete Bradley signed for a son of Hard Spun–Lucky Lavender Gal for $200,000 at Fasig’s Eastern Fall Yearling in Maryland. Five months later, he resold the colt to Darley’s John Ferguson for $870,000 at the sale company’s Florida Sale. It was a dynamite pinhook, and Bradley sees similar potential in Hip 299, a Gainesway-consigned colt by Tapit whom he landed yesterday for $280,000. “Once in a while you see a horse in a sale that hits you dead square, and this was the one,” Bradley said after signing the ticket for the auction’s third- highest-priced horse. “I think he’s an exceptional individual from one of the hottest sires around. He’s got presence, he’s got a great walk, he’s got good common sense. We’re going to try him at one of the 2-year-old sales, and see if other people agree with us then.”
Bradley, buying on behalf of a yearling-to-juvenile pinhooking venture he’s been running for some 22 years, did his bidding while sitting behind 2-year-old consignor Eddie Woods, who will break and train the Tapit colt. “We had an exceptional year this spring, including the Hard Spun, who we paid a bunch of money for, and we’re just holding our breath we found another one,” said Bradley.
The Tapit colt is the first foal from the 6-year-old Muir Station (Street Cry {Ire}), a 3/4-sister to MGSW & MGISP Shakis (Ire) (Machiavellian) and MSP Sahaat (Machiavellian). He was bred by the Beck family’s Gainesway, who acquired Muir Station in utero when they purchased her dam Tawaaded (Ire) (Nashwan) for $180,000 at the 2006 Keeneland January Sale. Muir Station was unplaced in her lone start, but looked like she might have had some ability. As a 2-year-old in 2008, she ran a closing sixth at 9-2 odds in a grassy two-turn maiden at Aqueduct for Gainesway and trainer Shug McGaughey. -TDN
