By Barbara Newtown.
On Point, Hip #411, a sorrel yearling by Five Bar Cartel, sold for $182,000 on the last day of the Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association sale in Kinder, Louisiana. The colt was prepped and consigned by Robicheaux Ranch and bought by T M Ranch.
On Point’s sire is Five Bar Cartel, Grade 1 winner of $1,068,825 and Champion 2-Year-Old Colt in 2013. His first crop are yearlings in 2017.
Five Bar Cartel:
On Point’s dam line is strong: his dam sire is Streakin La Jolla, sire of Mr Jess Perry.
Streakin La Jolla:
Second dam sire is First Down Dash, AQHA All-Time Leading Sire of Money Earners.
First Down Dash:
T M Ranch is ranked 16th in 2017 earnings out of 6,001 racing Quarter Horse owners. Owned by Steve Holland of Orlando, Florida, T M Ranch is a force in Louisiana racing. T M Ranch’s two most successful performers to date have been the graded stakes winners Ol Time Preacher Man and Heza Louisiana Dash. Both horses were trained by Kenneth Roberts, Sr.
Roberts will train On Point, too. Now the colt is staying at Delta Equine Center in Vinton, Louisiana, where he will follow a fitness regimen until he’s ready for race training. Any illness or injuries will be immediately handled by the track-savvy Delta veterinarians in the state-of-the-art Delta facility.
Roberts spoke about On Point’s new owner Steve Holland. “Steve lives in Florida. He loves racing and he loves his horses. He’s good for the industry, especially in the state of Louisiana. We really appreciate him, that he can bring that kind of money. He loves running here. He’s not a breeder. He just buys horses; each year he buys nice horses.”
Holland and Roberts thought On Point looked like something they could use in their business. The high auction price was a surprise. Roberts says, “The only thing we can do now is hope for the best and hope we can get our money out of him! This is the sire’s first crop. It was hard for us to decide, because we don’t know if he is going to produce.”
Roberts bid on the horse while Holland sat in the grandstand. They don’t know who they were bidding against. Roberts looked for Holland, but couldn’t spot him. Nevertheless, Roberts felt confident as he bid higher and higher. “We’d talked about the horse, and Mr. Steve said if I like him I should buy him. It’s an honor for Mr. Steve to trust me the way he does. I’ve just been training for him for the last three or four years. That’s a lot of trust.”
With a January 7th birthday, On Point will have the advantage of being a full two-year-old by futurity time. Roberts says, “We don’t know which futurity we’ll run him in… we haven’t talked about it. The Mardi Gras futurity isn’t even in the picture yet.” Being ready to race is more involved that just having a mature physique. On Point will let his trainer and owner know when he is ready.
On Point’s combination of black-type breeding, quality prepping by Robicheaux Ranch, and great QH conformation is enhanced by Steve Holland’s choice of a trainer. Kenneth Roberts, Sr., is also a force to reckon with in Louisiana: he was honored on the last day of the LQHBA sale for his eighth leading trainer award.
The rest is up to On Point:
[photos: Amanda Glidden, Plugged-In Equine Marketing; stallionesearch; AQHA; stallionesearch]
