Breeding stock added to sale

There will be a bit of something for everyone at the FasigTipton Kentucky July sales after the company announced the addition of a broodmare dispersal and that additional breeding stock entries for the summer auction will be reviewed.

Fasig-Tipton is set to host its July horses of racing age sale on Monday, July 12, at its Newtown Paddocks headquarters in Lexington, Ky., with its July yearling sale, which begins the yearling sale calendar in North America, the following day. The company will now host a breeding stock session on July 12, prior to the horses of racing age session.

This session was conceived after a partnership supporting young California stallion Far From Over opted to swiftly disperse its holdings, rather than waiting for the traditional November breeding stock sales. Fasig-Tipton will facilitate that dispersal, cataloged as the Far From Over/Fountain of Youth Dispersal, with consignor Stuart Morris acting as agent.

The dispersal consists of 18 mares, all of whom were intended to be bred to Far From

Over this year. But the stallion suffered a pelvis injury early in this year’s breeding season that took him out of service for the remainder of the year. The mares who were not yet in foal to Far From Over were shipped to Kentucky and were bred to either Connect or Violence. The mares will all be sold with their 2021 foals at their sides. The mares are by Catalina Cruiser, Enticed, Good Magic, Honor Code, Laoban, Oscar Performance, Violence, or Yoshida.

With the addition of this dispersal, Fasig-Tipton will now accept additional approved broodmares and broodmare prospects for the July catalog.

“This dispersal offers buyers a quality group of mares, with well-bred foals at foot,” FasigTipton president Boyd Browning said in a release. “It also allows us to open up broodmare and broodmare prospect entries to other prospective sellers that may prefer to sell now, instead of waiting for the fall breeding stock sales. It creates a unique mid-summer buying opportunity for breeders. We have considered adding a breeding stock element to July for many years, and this year’s session will be a good barometer to see if there is viable market for broodmares in July going forward.”

Denise Martin dies at 61

Denise Martin, who with husband Perry Martin co-bred and co-campaigned two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome, died June 14 at age 61.

Denise Martin, a trained chemist, worked for the United States Air Force as a civilian employee at McClellan Air Force Base, and later was CEO of Martin Testing Labs in Sacramento, Calif., from its creation in 2000 to its sale in June 2020.

The Martins co-founded Martin Racing, a Thoroughbred and Standardbred breeding and racing operation based in Alpine, Wyo. Denise Martin managed the communications and the business aspects of the operation, while Perry Martin was the public voice and operations manager for the stable.

“Denise greatly enjoyed interacting with racing fans, whether she communicated with them in person or through California Chrome’s official social media channels,” Perry Martin said in a statement. “She also was solely responsible for all of Martin Racing’s charitable giving endeavors.”

California Chrome was bred by the Martins and the Coburn family, with the families initially campaigning the colt together as DAP Racing. California Chrome earned his first Horse of the Year title under that banner, with victories in the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

California Chrome later raced for the California Chrome LLC partnership, which included the Martins and Taylor Made Stallions. He was a multiple Grade 1/Group 1 winner in 2016, highlighted by the Dubai World Cup, to earn a second Horse of the Year title. The Martins participated in his stallion syndicate after his retirement, originally at Taylor Made in Kentucky and now in Japan.

The Martins have continued to expand their operations, buying mares to support California Chrome, racing some of his progeny as homebreds, and standing Thoroughbred stallions in California, Louisiana, and Wyoming, as well as the Hambletonian-winning Standardbred Trixton in Canada. The Martins’ homebred colt Mo Mosa has won two stakes this season, most recently the Grade 3 Steve Sexton Mile on May 31 at Lone Star Park