A filly by Vinery shuttler Congrats starred at the Ocala 2YO Sale in Florida this week.
The Congrats filly from Christie Village (Deputy Minister) sold to Charles Fipke for $725,000 – one of the highest prices for a filly of the catalogued 610 lots.
Consigned by leading vendor Eddie Woods, as agent for Three Chimneys Farm, she is from a three-quarter sister to Take Charge Lady (Dehere) who was a Group 1 winner of the Ashland Stakes and Spinster Stakes at Keeneland.
Fipke’s agent J B McKathan fended off Bridlewood Farm’s George Isaacs to secure the filly who had breezed 400 metres in 21.30s. She was purchased in utero by Three Chimneys Farm for $460,000 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton February Sale. “She’s a beautiful filly and she’s got an extremely hard to get into family,” McKathan said. “The pedigree’s really, really exciting. Mr Fipke is really about broodmares, so long-term she will be retired to his broodmare band.
“She had a really nice workout. For a big filly like that, she moved really nicely and showed speed despite being a two-turn horse.”
The filly hails from one of North America’s most illustrious families. Take Charge Lady is the dam of Group 1 winners Will Take Charge (Travers Stakes), Take Charge Indy (Florida Derby) and the dam of Take Charge Brandi (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies).
Take Charge Brandi resumed to win the LR Martha Washington Stakes in January but subsequently required minor knee surgery and will not continue towards the Kentucky Oaks.
Congrats has a live chance in the Kentucky Oaks with his classy filly Pangburn. She beat home Take Charge Brandi when runner-up in the G2 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs in September and continued her classic campaign when placed in the G3 Honeybee Stakes last week.
Vinery has catalogued a Congrats filly from Dubleanny for the Inglis Easter yearling sale on April 9. Her dam won two stakes races at Flemington and her first foal is an unraced Testa Rossa filly named Miss Allspice with Matthew Smith at Warwick Farm.
