Since we started considering our plans for this year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale we have concentrated our efforts on purchasing the best quality horses in our stable’s history. To do this we intend to follow a dual approach A.) More money-raise enough funds to purchase horses we have been out bid on in the past; and B.) More coverage-a challenge we run into every year at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale is seeing all of the horses we need to see. We have covered the need for more money fairly well at this point, which is why we’d like to address the need for additional coverage in more detail.
In recent years the sale has averaged nearly 4,200 head of horses, and, of course, it’s impossible for Marc to get around and see every one of them. Certainly there are horses selling in the first few days and last few days of the sale that we aren’t targeting and therefore don’t need to see, but the fact remains that Marc will be lucky to see half of the horses in our price range at any given Keeneland September Yearling Sale if he is working alone. To this end we have spent several months now working to establishing a team that can help Marc with the sale. We have put a great deal of effort into forming this team as its members will play a key role in Pocket Aces Racing’s efforts at the sale. We have been looking for people the entire Partnership can trust that have a proven track record of selecting top class race horses as young racing prospects.
With those criteria in mind we are pleased to announce that Ted Campion and Marguax Farm trainer Dermot Littlefield will be assisting Pocket Aces Racing’s efforts at this year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Ted hails from Ireland and is a life-long horseman. In 2010 he established Dundrum Farm in Versailles, KY as a full-service thoroughbred care facility. Along with his farm duties, Ted is responsible for selecting young horses as pin-hooking opportunities for himself and two other partners as well as “scouting” racing prospects at major yearling sales for several high-profile buyers. In recent years Ted has either purchased or selected for others – Yellow Agate-winner of the 2016 Frizette S.-G 1 and Bern Identity-winner of the Sanford S.-G 2 at Saratoga and $800,000+ earner. However, his greatest accomplishment came in 2013 when he purchased an Uncle Mo foal for $180,000 at the Keeneland November Sale for his pin-hooking partnership. The colt turned a nice profit for Ted and his partners, selling for $230,000, at the 2014 Keenealnd September Sale-but bigger and better things were in this horse’s future. In 2015, the Uncle Mo colt, now named Nyquist, won the Eclipse Award as 2-year-old champion and the following year he won the 142nd Kentucky Derby-G1.
Our Partners should be very familiar with Dermot Littlefield has he has been responsible for getting many of our young horses, and a few of the older ones that needed a rest or to rehab from an injury, to the track for several years now.
Dermot has been instrumental in developing the likes of Nineteenth Street and Conjuring while making sure older horses like Copperplate and Aces High got back to the track, after their breaks, in as good or better shape than when they left. In addition to our horses, Dermot has been responsible for the training of such high-class runners as G1 winner Grand Arch and G2 winner Go Blue or Go Home for Marguax Farm owners Jim and Susan Hill. Ideally Marc and Ted will focus on finding the best athletic specimens at the sale while Dermot will focus on inspecting the best horses that Marc and Ted find with a trainer’s eye. This should ensure that we are not only purchasing the best athletes available but the soundest ones as well.
We are still taking reservations for shares in the 2017 yearling partnerships. If you would like to lock in your share(s) at a discounted rate, please contact us soon.
