Pocket Aces Racing LLC is very excited to have picked up Hip 2362 from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale earlier this week. The filly is by The Factor out of Just a Little Hope, by Flatter. She was a $20,000 purchase and we are happy to pass along that value to our partners.
“In the days leading up to the sale I spent a lot of time studying the yearling photo we have of Temple City Terror from the KEESEP17 sale,” said Marc Wampler, racing and bloodstock manager for Pocket Aces Racing LLC. “I can still picture her in the back ring from that sale and I tried to focus on that while looking this year, especially with the fillies. Hip 2362 was the first filly I came across, that I liked, and reminded me of the type of physical attributes I was trying to keep in mind from TCT. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that they both cost roughly the same – $20,000 for hip 2362 and $22,000 for TCT as neither one had the type of physical attributes most buyers are looking for.”
Most buyers are looking for horses with a great deal of muscle mass. Horses that will be best suited to go 10.1 for an eighth at one of the 2-year-old in-training sales next spring and run in the 5 to 5.5-furlong races next summer. They want horses that are extremely fast over very short distances the pinhookdes can sell for a lot of money or very precocious horses for end users to realize a faster return. Neither TCT nor hip 2362 are those types of physical horses so we were able to purchase them at great value.
Hip 2362 is the type of filly with just enough strength in her limbs, shoulder and hip but not so much that she will be weighed down by it and tire late in races or have significant soundness issues over time. She also covers a lot of ground standing and that should translate into a long stride that will gobble up the ground on the racetrack. We were also impressed with fluid and athletic way she walked in the back ring. She reaches out a long way with her hind limbs, while planting and driving strongly through her hocks. Another thing that struck us while watching her, and this is as equally important as the physical inspection, was her mind. Nothing bothered her. The back ring can be a very intimidating place for young horses. They’re hemmed in on all sides by people, walls and other horses and at any given time there will always be a few on their hind legs, squealing and raising a ruckus. The entire time she was up there her head was always forward, no lather between her legs and she was calmly going about her business. The mental aspect of being a successful racehorse is just as important as the physical, and while behavior in the back ring isn’t a 100% accurate indicator of how horses will behave in training, it is an excellent early indication that she has a strong mind.
The Factor was a five-time graded stakes winning son of the great War Front. He won races at two, three and four and earned $922,100 while posting a record of 6-2-0 from thirteen starts. He has proven to be a reliable sire with just six crops of racing age. He has 74% runners from foals and 70% winners from runners worldwide. His numbers are even stronger when looking at just his northern hemisphere foals. He was a top-10 sire in 2020 and sits just outside the top-25 in 2021.
Just a Little Hope is a daughter of Flatter. She earned $123,640 while posting a record of 2-3-1 from tens starts. She ran in multiple graded stakes races and posted triple digit EQB speed figures in five starts and ran in the 90s on four other occasions.
A full share in the filly represents 10% ownership and costs $4,200. Expenses are $1,500 per quarter per FULL share beginning January 1, 2022, if necessary. Partial shares are available. She is already more than halfway sold out. Please contact Jared (606-922-9325) or Marc (859-312-6272) or email [email protected] to reserve your spot today.
