Agents John Kimmel and Nick Sallusto, have extended up to $725,000 to secure bids for a bay colt from their first crop McKinzie early in the fourth and final session of the Ocala Breeders Spring Training 2-Year-Old Sale on April 19.
The colt, consigned as Hip 995, was purchased on behalf of Sean Flanagan. Offered by dealer Caliente Thoroughbreds, the Kentucky-bred colt was no longer a winner Bernardini mare Bernadreamy and comes from a family of level 1 bet winners Dream Queen . The Hip 995 passed a quarter in :21 in the unfinished preview.
“We have been following McKinzie since the market was young,” Kimmel said. “They did quite well. We’re quite impressed with a herd of ponies flying around here, but this one really did something you don’t see very often. A horse with a flexible action, let it Charging out he did; he went :21, but he also came away at :44 4/5 and finished another eighth at under :59 (for five points).
“And the problem was the way he did it. He looked like a horse with such fluid movements that we were surprised he actually did it. He didn’t look like he was walking so fast.
“Then you go back and look at the physical, and you check all the boxes there,” Kimmel added. “And the horse really passed all the technicals. Those are the types of horses we try to buy. I think the price was very high but I think Mr. Flanagan got a legitimate horse.”
Bred by Rigney Racing, the colt was a $260,000 acquisition from the Denali Stud consignment at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton July Sale by GS Inversiones Hipicas, a partnership founded founded by Saul Marquez of Caliente Thoroughbreds.
“I’m lucky to be with good people who trust me,” Marquez said. “I can’t express how happy I am.
“(Hip 995) is an impressive colt. He does everything very well. He’s obviously a two-round horse, (he’s) got a good head on his shoulders. He’s been busy all week. He He galloped wonderfully and I think the sky is the limit for this colt.”
When selecting the colt as a sire, Marquez recalled, “He was impressive. I took a little risk. I was coming off a good year and I said, ‘I have to throw him in again.’ That’s the only way I think I can continue.”
When asked about his plans for the upcoming extended off-season, Marquez replied: “Let’s go again.”
