Ladwig proud of the variety found in Winbak’s Lexington consignment
by Dave Briggs
Yearling manager Jimmy Ladwig said Winbak Farm prides itself on variety. Perennially the sport’s second leading breeder by earnings, Winbak, owned by Hall of Famer Joe Thomson, has long proven to be a producer of quality racehorses.
Ladwig said Winbak’s consignment of some 80 Lexington yearlings is, “another nice group as a whole. We’ve got a couple standouts, but that’s always in the eye of the beholder as to who the standouts are.
“We’ve got some nice first-nighters.”
Winbak is selling three yearlings during Monday’s (Sept. 29) opening session: Hip #9 Southern Fun (Chapter Seven filly out of Southern Autumn), Hip #37 Sweet Lynnly (Sweet Lou filly out of Arielle Lynn) and Hip #75 Turn The Chapter (Chapter Seven filly out of Girl From Queens).
“They are all nice,” Ladwig said. “They are good-looking individuals, bred well, look the part.”
Ladwig highlighted Hip #294 Whiskey Stinger, a son of Perfect Sting out of Dreamlands Latte, selling on Tuesday afternoon.
“He’s a really nice colt and I think he should do well,” Ladwig said. “He paces free-legged on his video. I don’t know if that means anything or not, but he does, and he’s just been a nice colt growing up. He’s a half-brother to Desperate Man and Smooth Dream, so that’s all good.”
Asked if he picked Whiskey Stinger’s name, Ladwig laughed.
“Unfortunately, I did not pick the name, but it is a good one,” he said.
Ladwig said Winbak is selling some nice fillies by leading Ontario sire Cattlewash.
“I like the one out of Maid West a lot [Hip #307 Pistolpackingpatty],” Ladwig said. “We’ve also got some nice Courtly Choice colts. There’s a nice one out of Peak Of Chic [Hip #786 Global Choice]. He’s sort of my personal favorite.
“The Huntsville filly out of Bay Girl [Hip #440 San Francisco Bay] is another personal favorite. She’s grown up to be a nice-looking filly.
“There’s a story behind her. She ran me over this winter and sent me rolling through the shed. I landed on my feet like a cat, in front of everybody, and everybody was like, ‘Holy s – – -, look at you.’ Just like a ninja.
“We’d been trying to get her. She wasn’t being mean, but she was going to get by me and I wasn’t going to let her. I didn’t zig fast enough and she clipped me with her shoulder and I just kind of rolled with it and landed on my feet.”
Ladwig also highlighted:
• Hip #175 Businmotion, a Cattewash colt out of Under The Bus.
• Hip #318 Yankee JT, a Greenshoe colt out of Met Gala.
• Hip #435 Stamp Of Approval, a Huntsville colt out of Authorize.
Lexington is just the beginning of Winbak’s sale season. The farm is selling some 45 at the London Classic Yearling Sale (Oct. 14-15) in Ontario (where Winbak is a leading breeder) and nearly 90 at the Standardbred Horse Sales Company auction in Harrisburg, PA (Nov. 3-7).
But, for now, his focus is on Lexington.
“We’re optimistic and looking forward to it,” Ladwig said. “We’ve got a nice string of horses and the weather looks like it’s going to clear up just in time for sale day. What could be better?”
