Colorado-bred colt withdrawn from OBS March

A Colorado-bred colt by first-crop sire Tacitus was withdrawn the morning he was set to sell at OBS March 2-year-olds in Training Sale on March 13 after working in 10 3/5.

The colt is 1 of 32 foals in Colorado’s 2023 crop, which has sharply declined in recent years.

While it is common for Colorado breeders to send their mares out of state, the last time a Colorado-bred was offered at public auction as a 2-year-old was 2020 when a single horse was sold for $3,622.

The grey colt was consigned as hip 723 by Navas Equine, after being purchased for $50,000 as a weanling at the 2023 Keeneland November Horses of All Ages Sale by A B C Thoroughbreds. Hip 723’s reserve was not met after bidding reached $65,000 when he was offered by Taylor Made Sales at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale.

Hip 723. Photo courtesy of OBS Sales.

Hip 723 is out of the Front Range Racing LLC mare Alliya’s Story (Super Saver). Front Range Racing has had operations in Kentucky for a few years. They offered Colorado-bred Melodity, a Tonalist half-sister to Columbine Stakes winner Blue Mountain Bell, at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Melodity’s reserve was not met and she is now campaigned by Front Range Racing at Turfway Park.

Front Range Racing entered Hip 723’s half sister Alliya’s Creation (Creative Cause) in the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale but she was withdrawn. She is winless in 5 starts for co-owner Wendy Hickey and co-owner/trainer O.A. Martinez Jr. in Colorado and Wyoming.

Alliya’s Story foaled a full sister to hip 723 in 2024. She is a registered Kentucky-bred.

Photos: 1) Tacitus goes back to his barn during a January 2025 open house. 2) Alliya’s Creation (Creative Cause) at Arapahoe Park in 2024.