VALIDATING: Vekoma – Druidess Colt
Gallery
OVERVIEW & VISION
To listen to an in-depth, comprehensive analysis from Aron & Sean on Hip 1373, now named VALIDATING, click on this link:
CONFORMATION
Vekoma is a stallion who has rocketed through the sire ranks. His runners come in all shapes and sizes and they are tremendously versatile, acting at the upper echelon of the sport sprinting, routing and on any surface. When Validating was led out for our team to inspect, he truly filled our collective eyes with his presence and his massive step while in action.
Validating’s overreach took our breath away and his attitude was willing, positive and confident every time we went back to inspect him. He is correct, sizable and a bona-fide athlete in all respects. There was an X-Factor type air to Validating, which made him a must-have prospect for the team. Having already campaigned a Vekoma runner with trainer Mark Casse, Vixen, who was a multiple Graded Stakes-heroine and Breeders’ Cup competitor, it made all the sense in the world to turn the conditioning duties over to the dual Hall of Famer.
The cherry on top of the cake is the fact that Validating is an Ontario-Bred, a status which we envision allowing him to be a man among boys in restricted company while having real-world attributes. He has star quality written all over him!
WALKING VIDEO
If you want to see a poster child for a free-moving thoroughbred racehorse, look no further than this video of Validating on the walk. He is poetry in motion and a rare blend of a colt with bundles of power and grace. It just comes easy to him, which is hard to find.
To see Validating in motion:
SEAN TUGEL’S EXPERT PEDIGREE ANALYSIS
Vekoma is making a good impression with his 3 crops of racing age as he begins his stallion career. His offspring are competing and winning at the graded events all while being bred on moderate stud fees. This gives us confidence that the best is yet to come for the young stallion, who already has a dozen graded stakes winners on his resume.
Validating’s dam, Druidess didn’t achieve much on the track but it doesn’t take much investigating to find quality throughout the extended family; his 2nd and 3rd dams were both Grade 2 winners. His 1st dam made up for her underachieving on the track by overachieving with her produce record of 9 winners. Amongst them is the stakes winner and multiple graded placed Hemp Hemp Hurray. Not only do they win but they win often with 5 of these winners earning over six figures during their careers.
Vekoma has shown good success from a limited sample size of offspring produced from A.P. Indy line mares which Malibu Moon brings. His graded stakes winning son Bracket Buster as well as his brilliant stakes winning colt Colloquial are runners who own this pattern.
To see Validating’s pedigree page, click on the link below:
TRAINER & THE PLAN
Canada’s standout trainer is an American born in Indianapolis into a racing family. In 2011, Casse won his fifth straight and sixth overall training title at Woodbine in suburban Toronto with a record 119 victories, which was nearly double the number compiled by the runner-up. Among them were 13 stakes victories, including the Grey Stakes, in which Casse saddled the top three finishers. Casse’s father, Norman Sr., retired as the chairman of the board of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales in 2006 and is a 40-year-plus veteran of Thoroughbred owning, breeding and training.
Casse is the former private trainer and operations director for the massive Mockingbird Farm, which owner Harry Mangurian dispersed in 1999. Since moving to Canada, Casse has won seven Sovereign Awards as Canada’s top trainer, inclduing the last four years. Casse’s son, Norman, previously his top assistant, is now training on his own and has a Kentucky Oaks contender.
In 2015, Casse won his first Breeders’ Cup race when Catch a Glimpse won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. The next day he won the Breeders’ Cup Mile with filly Tepin.
He returned in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup to pick up a win in the Sentient Jet Juvenile with the promising Classic Empire, making the colt the winter future-book favorite for the Kentucky Derby. Casse’s filly Valadorna also ran second in the 14 Hands Winery Juvenile Fillies, and his superstar racemare Tepin just failed in her attempt to score back-to-back Mile wins when finishing second to Tourist.
After encountering some difficulties in early 2017, Classic Empire rebounded to win the Arkansas Derby and solidify his status as the leading Kentucky Derby contender for Casse and his team.
Casse earned his fourth victory at the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 4, 2017, when World Approval surged to a dominant victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. He added a fifth in 2018 when Shamrock Rose closed boldly to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.
In 2019, War of Will emerged as a Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve contender with wins in two prep races at Fair Grounds, the Lecomte Stakes and the Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford.
In the 145th Derby, the colt was at the center of controversy, as he was interfered with by first-place finisher Maximum Security through the far turn at Churchill Downs, resulting in that horse’s disqualification.
War of Will earned redemption by winning the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, giving Casse his first American classic win. Then, three weeks later, Casse tallied another classic win when his longshot starter Sir Winston took the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets.
Casse has been superb for Eclipse since the stable’s inception 10 years ago, including major winners Patrioticandproud, Gretzky the Great, God of Love (both Gretzky the Great and God of Love were voted Champion 2 Year-Olds in Canada), Spanish Loveaffair and the high quality performers Diamond Sparkles, Baksheesh, Dirty Dangle, Fulminate, Classic Q and Corruption.
Just this season, Casse has campaigned Classic Q to a Grade 1 and Grade 2 success and Measure is now thrice Grade 1-placed and surging to the top of the 3 year-old filly division.
Casse’s versatility as a trainer is only matched by his versatility in the geographical reach his barn is willing to venture to win big races.
VALUATION
The total 100% valuation for Validating is $450,000 and we will continue to honor pandemic increments starting at 3%. You can see the chart below for pricing details.
IMPORTANT BONUS DEPRECIATION TAX INFORMATION
After completing our due diligence, we have elected to claim 100% bonus depreciation on all qualifying yearling purchases made at the Keeneland September Sale. We have traditionally not elected bonus depreciation for several reasons, but due to recent changes in other areas of the tax code, I now believe this is the most beneficial depreciation method for each yearling partnership. This treatment allows the partnerships to deduct the full eligible cost of these horses immediately, rather than spreading the deduction over several years, thereby maximizing current-year tax deductions and allowing our partners to take advantage of this tax benefit for their investment in the horse. Each partner will receive their proportionate share of the resulting tax activity; however, the ability to use any deduction may depend on the partner’s individual basis, at-risk, passive-activity, and other tax circumstances, so as always, I encourage each partner to consult their tax professional about their individual tax situation. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to me directly.
Please contact Andrew Aquino with any questions:
706-910-8719
QUESTIONS & COMMITMENT CONTACTS
To ask questions or to make a commitment, please feel free to reach out to any of the following Eclipse team members:
Aron Wellman at Aron@eclipseTBpartners.com or at (310) 968-9559
Jack Sadler at Jack@eclipseTBpartners.com or at (803) 920-9005
Sean Tugel at Sean@eclipseTBpartners.com or at (859) 940-0456
Valuation and Costs
| Ownership % | Total Value | Q1 Estimated Expenses | Total Payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3% | $13,500 | $600 | $14,100 |
| 6% | $27,000 | $1,200 | $28,200 |
| 9% | $40,500 | $1,800 | $42,300 |
| 12% | $54,000 | $2,400 | $56,400 |
| 15% | $67,500 | $3,000 | $70,500 |
| 18% | $81,000 | $3,600 | $84,600 |
| 21% | $94,500 | $4,200 | $98,700 |
| 24% | $108,000 | $4,800 | $112,800 |