Journalists Wandering Eyes Posted 10 hours ago Journalists Share Posted 10 hours ago Dan Preiss had an angle going into the 2022 Keeneland November Sale. The progeny of Arrogate were just heating up, with Secret Oath, Cave Rock and And Tell Me Nolies all having claimed Grade I scores for their late sire already that year, but the market was still hesitant about committing to daughters of Arrogate as producers. Preiss hypothesized that someday soon, that would change. With a limited budget, Preiss landed on Disco Diva, an unraced Juddmonte homebred by Arrogate, and purchased the 2-year-old maiden for KingFisher Farm for just $8,000. This past Saturday, Disco Diva received a flashy pedigree update when her half-brother Disco Time (Not This Time) scored in the GIII Lecomte Stakes. The Brad Cox-trained Juddmonte homebred is now undefeated in three career starts. Meanwhile the promising colt's half-sister is in California at KingFisher Farm carrying a foal by Halladay, a Grade I-winning son of War Front standing in California at Harris Farms with his first crop of juveniles hitting the track this year. The mare also has a newly turned yearling filly by Idol, a young stallion who spent some time at the Santa Ynez Valley farm on layup during his racing career. Preiss said that for now his client Katie Fisher, owner of KingFisher Farm, has no plans of parting with Disco Diva. “After Disco Time broke his maiden she got a few nibblers trying to steal the mare back, so she has gotten some offers but she's shooting them away so far,” explained Preiss. “Hopefully Disco Time goes on to the Derby and then who knows? All bets are off.” Disco Diva marks one of the biggest finds of Preiss's relatively short tenure in racing. It wasn't too long ago that Preiss was busy managing his collection of McDonald's restaurants, but eight years ago, he decided to take the leap and try out his hand as a bloodstock agent. A native of Chicago, Preiss was first introduced to racing as a teenager. “I was a total city boy,” he recalled. “But when I got to high school there was a kid who became one of my best friends and his dad was a harness driver and trainer. My friend and I would get in the carts racing around the track with the horses, and I had no idea what I was doing, but I started to really like the horses. We'd go out to Maywood Park and shovel stalls for a little bit of money on the weekends, get some tips and go make bets. I always said one day I wanted to own a horse.” While he was in college, Preiss got a job working at McDonald's. He worked his way up to management and eventually, bought a couple of his own restaurants. For 20 years, Preiss owned a string of McDonald's restaurants in Nevada. When Preiss decided to re-visit his interest in racing by getting involved in some ownership syndicates, his interest quickly grew into a passion. “I would go to the sales and stay in the background and watch and then I would ask people questions,” Preiss said. “I got to a point where I wanted to do it a little bit more seriously. I would identify people that I know are really good at picking out horses, so I would go up to people like Paul Sharp and say, 'Hey Paul, you mind if I tag along and ask you a bunch of questions?' Everyone I asked was all so gracious and helpful to me.” Disco Time scores in the GIII Lecomte Stakes for Juddmonte | Hodges Photography In 2017, Preiss decided to sell his restaurants and launch a second career in the racing industry. “I decided I wanted to do my own thing,” he explained. “I owned restaurants for over 20 years and got a little burned out on that, but it was great for my family and affords me the luxury of being able to do what I'm doing now. I learned as much as I could about picking out racehorses and now I'm an agent, albeit on the smaller side with less money, but I'm proud of where we've gotten.” Recent successes include Dreamfyre (Flameaway), who earned a pair of Grade III scores in California in 2023, Mugatu (Blofeld) a multiple stakes-placed colt who ran in last year's GI Preakness Stakes and Maximus (Maximus Mischief), a $30,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic purchase who broke his maiden by nearly 10 lengths last October. Most of the time he's working with a small budget, but Preiss said he prides himself on doing the research in order to dig up some value. “That's been my niche all along and I've been introduced by people at sales where they'll say, 'Hey, I want you to meet Dan Preiss, he always comes to a sale and buys a horse for like $10,000 and it goes on to win $100,000.' Afterwards I'll pull them aside and jokingly say, 'Stop introducing me as the guy who buys $10,000 horses. I work on commission!” He continued, “I've kind of developed what I'm looking for based off little pieces from all these people that I would go around and pick their brain. There would be things that they would point out that nobody else pointed out and it would really strike something with me.” It was actually breeder Carrie Brogden's outspoken affinity for Unbridled's Song mares that gave Preiss that idea to hone in on a daughter of Arrogate two years ago. “Arrogate was still a bit chilly and I was thinking about Carrie Brodgen's Unbridled's Song thing where they don't make those anymore, plus with my small budget I can't get an Unbridled's Song, but I know that they're really nice. So I thought, 'Well Arrogate was brilliant on the track and he's from the Unbridled's Song line.'” Disco Diva was one of nine Arrogate mares that sold at the 2022 Keeneland November Sale for a collective average of just under $67,000. At the most recent Keeneland November Sale, 12 Arrogate mares sold to average over $187,000. “It's hard to beat getting something out of a Juddmonte family like that with my budget, so I was super stoked to get her,” Preiss recalled of Disco Diva's purchase. “I've done that same angle buying cheaper mare from these big farms. I'm always looking for those types when shopping with my small budgets. Sometimes you can get a whole lot of pedigree for a little bit of money when something slips through like that.” The post Disco Time’s $8,000 Sister a Well-Bought Purchase for Preiss appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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