Unstoppable Mick splashes to sales tips' 100th win

A 3-year-old gelding that I tabbed as a "steal" of last year's Keeneland April sale, where he was bought for $10,000, sloshed his way to a second career victory Friday night in allowance company at Mountaineer Park.

In the process, Unstoppable Mick scored the 100th victory by my 187-member sales-tip Class of 2010.

Unstoppable Mick broke his maiden for KEEAPR buyer Connie Apostelos by a wide margin of 10 1/4 lengths at Turfway Park on March 18, for a $15,000 tag. The gelding had hit the board in four of five starts to that point, but earned only $9,429 in the process due to Turfway's second-rate purse structure.

He was claimed from that easy, all-weather-track win by trainer Rodney C. Faulkner for new owner Frank Irvin, who wheeled him back 20 days later in allowance company at the West Virginia track not too far away, and for a bigger total purse of $20,200. Twelve days short of his actual third birthday (he was foaled April 20 in Kentucky) and in a nine-horse field that included seven 4-year-olds, Unstoppable Mick was sent off as the roughly 3/2 favorite at Mountaineer Friday. He proved worthy of the bettors' confidence, circling the field five-wide on the turn and slogging home 7 1/2 lengths the best under urging by Ernesto Oro. The win was worth $11,918, bumping Unstoppable Mick's career earnings to $21,347.

The gelding covered six furlongs over a sloppy, sealed track in 1:12.21.

I considered the son of Silver Deputy-Flower Canyon, by Gulch the first of 11 "steals" of Keeneland's April sale a year ago when he sold for $10,000 as Hip 17 on the day. I liked that while the then-colt's page wasn't blotted with black type, his dam was a winner at 2 who had borne five winners from seven prior foals, three of them full siblings to this one who had already won 10 times between them.

Unstoppable Mick nearly lost out on the honors of posting the sales class' 100th win. A couple of hours earlier at Penn National, Bibblesman, who broke his maiden on March 16 at Penn two days before Unstoppable Mick's maiden win, was the beaten favorite at 6/5 odds in an allowance race. Bibblesman was caught at the wire by 4-year-old second-favorite Rascal Flatter, and lost by a neck. I selected the colt by Sharp Humor-Sparkling Forest, by Forest Wildcat as a potential bargain for a client at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale in May. He sold for $22,000 at Timonium, and now has a win and two seconds from four starts, for $46,660.

Follow all 187 sales picks, and a handful of pans, throughout their careers, at this link.

On seventh try, Reprized Halo gets his wings

He might not be a stakes horse, now or perhaps ever, but he isn't a run-of-the-mill claimer, either. At least, not today.

Reprized Halo ran like he could walk on water and skipped home a 12 1/4-length winner over the slop Friday in maiden special weight company at Miami's Calder Race Course.

The colt, the 29th of my 187 juvenile sales tips of 2010 to break maiden, was already making his seventh start at age 2. After showing a modicum of promise among maidens but still without a win, he was twice raced against stakes horses, to poor results. Returned to the maiden ranks and risked for a $25,000 tag, he was second beaten only a length, also on a sloppy track. On Friday, he broke sharply from the inside post, raced comfortably along the rail even when headed by competitors on the back stretch, battled through the turn, then simply left the field in his muddy wake in the stretch. (Results and video at Bloodhorse.com.)

Reprized Halo was ridden confidently to the win by apprentice Jose Alvarez, for trainer Manuel Azpurua and owner Roger Urbina. He covered the sloppy mile in 1:42.83.

Urbina purchased Reprized Halo (Halo's Image-Reprized Angel, by Reprized) for just $23,000 from the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. April auction of 2-year-olds in training, where the colt was catalogued as Hip 331.

I recommended the horse despite his status as the first foal out of an obviously unproven broodmare. His dam, however, won five times from ages 2 to 5, earned nearly $85,000, and was non-blacktype stakes-placed in the Kansas Oaks and Miss Kansas City stakes at the now-defunct Woodlands Racetrack in Kansas City.

More important, she is a full sister to Tropical Park Derby-G3 winner VALID REPRIZED, who also won the Hialeah Juvenile Stakes. Their half-brother, CONVEYOR'S ANGEL, won the Buena Vista H.-G2. Reprized Halo's second, third and fourth dams all were unraced -- as was his dam-sire, Reprized, though a sibling of numerous stakes horses including G1-winning brother, PRIZED -- and usually I'd avoid that kind of mare. But in this colt's case, mama ran, and her unraced dam managed to produce eight winners from nine foals, including the two "big" horses.

Whatever made this family relevant again, I like it. And Reprized Halo helped his case with a 21.2 breeze at the sale, though still sold for less than OBSAPR's modest sale average of $27,918. Reprized Halo earned $24,820 for Friday's win -- more than he cost in April, though obviously other costs have mounted since -- and looks capable of moving forward off that victory.

Especially, it appears, if the connections go storm-chasing.

It was a winless week leading up to Friday for the sales-tips, though What's The Rumpus collected second in a maiden-claimer at Fairplex, winner Bestcasescenario missed getting his second lifetime victory by a neck in a claimer at Laurel, and debuting Unstoppable Mick -- bought for just $10,000 -- finished third (despite 15/1 morning line odds) for a $30,000 tag at Turfway Park.

With 29 maidens broken, that means 15.5 percent of my sales-tips are now winners, before the month of September is out in their juvenile season. They have won 36 of 211 starts (17.1 percent strike rate) and have finished second 39 times and third another 20 for an in-the-money rate of 45 percent.

Their earnings have reached $1,230,136. That equals $5,830 per start.

Follow the class in its entirety here.