Hip #17

#17 at Red River Farms as a weanling.

Notice on catalog page(left click and adjust to readable size) a "6" at upper left..  On a scale of 10 this Colt rated a 6. Lots of 8s and 9s in this Catalog, and 6 is below average. By my pre-sale strategy this Colt should, if he was to be bought, go cheap, which he did.

Catalog page analysis.  Why rate this Colt down?  Obviously the unknown sire Eugene's Third Son is the reason even with the Indian Charlie/Afleet pedigree. Yet, Eugene was other than a backyard race horse.  Take a look--the horse finished second in the Arkansas Derby. He also won $300 grand before they injured him.  I am other than one to shy away from sires such as this if everything fits.  Further analysis, it does..

Strength here is in the dam.  Despite that it's Uruguay, this is a Champ filly.  +, looking down at second dam Salt Marsh, take a look under POTRI FLASH and see the Champ Older Horse in Uruguay, twice.  Two Champs, same pedigree. How often do we see that?

Yet, this was a good sale. Lots of good horses to come through, and that was even obvious watching the first 16 come through.  Eugene as a totally unknown sire.  Had to rate that down compared to what else was in the catalog.

Shortly after arriving I also formed a favorable impression of the Red River Farms bunch all in their red hats and red tea shirts.  I saw a couple of their well cared for horses.

Then came #17, and he was both flashy and a total handful for his 6'2" big boy handler. I later asked the fellow--that #17 was tough?  Response:  "Ya, first horse I took over there had to be the toughest one".  Keep in mind heat and humidity. It was 101 degrees, 101% humid, and the Cajuns were all sweating like pigs, and this big horse was leaning and jumping on this young fellow for about 25 minutes during the walking.

#17s photos show he's got legs--reminded me of Rodney, stout--and he was a bit flashy, intelligent big eyes, and I like his high energy level. He was best looker through the ring to that point by far, and indeed all the "likes"--catalog page, horse appearance, energy level, tracks absolutely straight with a look of power--came together.

Decision to buy:  My method at the sale was going to be to watch 30 or 40 horses come through to get my bearings.  Then, #17 and immediately -- an exception to the rule.  What about all those 10 win mares, etc.?  I've been around long enough to trust my instincts.  Nothing to dislike and the horse looks like a racehorse.  I decided to bid up to $4000.00.  Higher than $4000?  Well, there were plenty of good horses to come.

It was a lot more hectic and frantic than that especially with their 200 decibel loudspeaker, the weather, the early sale buzz, etc. U were unable to hear urself think.  I was fairly calm though, my only qualm -- bidding this early in the sale.  I figured I'd get the horse due to the Eugene factor.    Somebody bid $1000 after a delay.  Probably Red River trying to start the bids. I paused as long as I could--nobody else was bidding, and I was thinking--lol--horse I like and the idiots are sitting on their hands.  I bid $2000 because I would be embarrassed to take that horse for any less, and figured upping a thousand might shut out any of the $200 bidders.  Did indeed, and the hammer fell.  Was I the idiot, or they? Next post