Tom Law

Shug McGaughey does all he can to put Tricky Hat in the type of environment where he can show his true abilities.

Two words were on the mouths of just about everyone on the Fasig-Tipton sales grounds Tuesday night. Everywhere you turned, everyone was saying the words.

Start slow, finish strong. That was certainly the theme of the night Monday as the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of selected yearlings finished on a feverish pitch with a pair of seven-figure fillies by North America’s current leading sire Tapit selling in the last half hour.

Willcox Inn, weighted among the best of his generation on the Experimental Free Handicap as a 2-year-old and a multiple graded stakes winner through his 5-year-old campaign, is headed to his next challenge as he retires to stand the 2015 season in New York.

Scour the piece of land at the corner of East and Madison Avenues and find someone who isn’t in a positive and almost carefree frame of mind when they show up for the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of selected yearlings.

The story about Cot Campbell’s big bet is fairly well known by now, not surprising considering how difficult it can be to keep a good story quiet for long around the racetrack. The fact that the tale’s been told doesn’t decrease the significance of such a move.

Edward Shapoff has downsized his breeding program over the years with a goal of keeping more racehorses and the chance for a faster return on the track and not being forced to wait on pregnant mares and growing foals.