DENALI SELLS THE SECOND HIGHEST WEANLING ON DAY 4 AT KEENELAND

Excerpts from TDN

Consigned by Denali Stud, agent for Berkshire Stud, THE Rock Hard Ten Colt fetches $300, 000 from Westrock Stables LLC.

November’s fourth session was off to a quick start yesterday when hip 890, a weanling colt by Rock Hard Ten–Regard (Fusaichi Pegasus), elicited a bid of $300,000 from Westrock Stables LLC. It was the second-highest price paid for a weanling yesterday.
Craig and Holly Bandoroff’s Denali Stud consigned the New York-bred colt on behalf of his breeder, Doug Koch’s Berkshire Stud.

“He was just a big, pretty, classy horse,” said Craig Bandoroff “Doug said he was a nice horse, and the minute he came in, we said, ‘Yeah, these are the kind you need.” He was
vetted, 10, 12, 15 times. They all lined up. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s nice. We had a reserve that was immaterial.”

The colt was produced by the unraced seven-year-old mare Regard, a daughter of SW Notice Me (Distinctive), and a half to three stakes horses. This is Regard=s third foal. Her
first, the two-year-old colt Highest Regards (Anabaa), looked good on debut, airing by 3 1/4 lengths in a five-furlong maiden special for Empire-breds in June. He hasn’t raced since.

Todd Pletcher trains Highest Regards for Donna McLaughlin. Regard’s second foal is a yearling colt by Tale of the Cat. Offered by Denali at this summer’s Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Preferred Sale, the colt topped the event on Repole Stable’s $140,000 offer.

“Doug’s a very good breeder–he breeds a lot of good horses,” Bandoroff said of Koch. “He has a beautiful farm in New York. It’s as nice as any place in Kentucky. He was a prominent racetrack veterinarian at Belmont, and now probably has 10 or 15 mares. He raises a good horse.”

Westrock Stables, the nom de course of former Alltel CEO Scott Ford, campaigns GI Kentucky Oaks third Tidal Pool (Yankee Gentleman), and co-owns Hamazing Destiny (Salt Lake), runner-up in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint Saturday at 23-1 odds. -LM