Al Pike is retiring to Lexington, Ky., Colin Brennan is moving to Texas, and both men, it would seem, are getting a reward they deserve.
Brennan will assume the position of director of sales as well as trainer of horses intended for the 2-year-old in-training sales for Highlander Training Center in Sulphur Springs, Texas, essentially sliding into the position Pike leaves when he retires following the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in May.
Jeff Hooper, Highlander’s chairman and CEO, made the announcement following the recent Texas sale of 2-year-olds, where Highlander was the leading consignor.
“I can’t thank Al enough for all he has done for us,” Hooper said. “He not only has a rare expertise in preparing a horse for the 2-year-old sales, he also has an impeccable reputation for honor and integrity that resonates with people throughout the industry. He’s a great horseman and a great friend.”
Pike will continue to work with Highlander, Hooper said, in a consulting and advisory role.
A native of Palestine, Texas, which rests inconspicuously about 110 miles southeast of Dallas, Pike began training horses in 1978 and enjoyed moderate initial success, developing a small but loyal group of clients.
In 1994, one of those clients asked him to go up to Keeneland for the September sale and pick out a horse. Pike hesitated, as he recalled, pointing out that most of his experience focused on Quarter Horses, but the client insisted. And so Pike packed a bag and pointed his pickup in the general direction of Lexington, Ky. He paid $8,000 for a filly by Sewickley, and with Pike training her, the filly subsequently named Show And Tell won six stakes and earned more than $252,000. The young man from Palestine not only could train a racehorse but also had an eye for potential.
“A fine horseman and a true friend. We cannot thank Al enough for what he has done for all of us. We are excited to welcome Colin, another fine horseman, to the Highlander team,” said Larry Hirsch, owner of Highlander Training Center.
Before long, he became a regular at sales, buying young horses and selling them as 2-year-olds, or pinhooking them, as it’s known. Some of the ones that didn’t sell to expectations he took to the races himself as a trainer.
Whenever he’s asked why he transitioned from training to pinhooking, Pike will say, with typical deadpan modesty, that he became a pinhooker because he wasn’t the best trainer. The truth, however, is that he wanted to stay home with his family, at their farm in Weatherford, Texas — Salley, his wife, and their son, Colt, and daughter, Chelsey. Pike wanted to see his son play football on Saturdays.
For many years, Pike “short-listed” horses for Becky Thomas, whom he credits with teaching him much about the pinhooking business. And so over the last two decades, he has been a fixture at major sales throughout the country, quietly evaluating and calculating and ever watchful.
In 2016, he sold Modest Maven, whom he had purchased for $80,000, for a million dollars. That, he said, was probably the biggest thrill of his career. She’s the dam of major stakes winners Overstep and Arctic Arrogance. In 2020, Pike sold another baby for a million bucks, $1.1 million to be exact; he had purchased the son of Uncle Mo, later named Shaaz, for $185,000.
Three horses that Pike sold as 2-year-olds raced in the Kentucky Derby — Vyjack, a stakes winner of $1.4 million; Vicar’s in Trouble, a stakes winner of $1.23 million; and Frammento, a winner of $420,000. Pike also sold Mimi Kakushi, the winner of the 2023 UAE Oaks, and Chancheng Glory, who has earned about $2.5 million racing in Hong Kong. And Touchuponastar, a winner of 12 stakes, including the recent New Orleans Classic, and $1.4 million, got his start with Pike Racing.
“The people here at Highlander have been amazing to work with,” said Pike, who came to Highlander in 2023 to focus on developing the 2-year-olds in-training program. “I can’t thank them enough. And I can’t think of better person than Colin Brennan to come in and continue what we’ve started.”
Brennan was the first person Hooper thought of for the position when Pike expressed his intention to retire. Last summer Colin was: just coincidentally, in Texas for a friend’s wedding, and he decided to visit Highlander.
“I had heard a lot about Highlander, and so I wanted to check it out,” Brennan said. “It’s an outstanding, state-of-the-art facility, and the fitness and therapy center is second-to-none.”
Jon Newbold, Highlander’s general manager and head trainer, will continue to focus on the “break-to-race” horses, and Brennan on the sale horses, which is just how he prefers it.
The Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearling Sale, Aug. 10-11 in Saratoga, will be the first where there will be a Colin Brennan Bloodstock at Highlander Training Center consignment. That will be followed by the Texas Yearling Sale on Aug. 26 and the Keeneland September Sale, where Highlander will be represented by a consignment under its own banner for the first time.
As youngster growing up in Florida horse country, Brennan was active in rodeo. His father, Niall, one of the most respected horsemen in the business, explained to the teenager that to support his rodeo interests, i.e. his horses, he would have to work in the family business. In other words, Brennan grew up working sales. When he was 13 working the Calder Sale, he had an epiphany: This was what he wanted to do; this would be his career. And he has pursued that career with intelligent and diligent dedication — all-in, each and every day, surrounded by world-class horses, working with horses, taking classes on horsemanship, going to races and to sales. For Brennan, this hasn’t been just a career, but has been a lifestyle.
With degrees in Equine Business Management and Equine Anatomy and Exercise Physiology, Brennan was accepted in 2012 into the prestigious Darley Flying Start Program (known now as the Godolphin Flying Start Program). Only a dozen or so applicants are accepted worldwide, only two or three from America. With Flying Start, over the next two years, Brennan took college-level classes and, even more, traveled to farms and racetracks in France, Ireland, Dubai, England, New Zealand, Australia and, of course, the United States.
In addition to working for years with Niall Breannan Stables, the younger Brennan has worked with such elite horsemen as Bill Mott and Mike Ryan, and such horses as Essential Quality, Mystic Guide and Nyquist.
“This is a huge opportunity,” Brennan said of assuming a leadership position at HTC, “the sort of opportunity a young horseman dreams about. …. Highlander is a first-class facility, and this is a program that I’ll be proud to represent.”
Brennan will be surrounded by an exceptional support team when he assumes his leadership role in preparing horses for both the yearling and 2-year-old sales. Colin’s sister Kristin (while initially being based in Ocala), will serve as Colin Brennan Bloodstock at Highlander’s sales coordinator, handling sales entries, client communications and sales logistics, as well as playing a key role at the sales. A lifelong horsewoman with extensive experience in sales prep and working at major sales, Kristin’s background includes a stint at historic Calumet Farm, where she was instrumental in leading the farm’s sales prep activities and reinvigorating their presence at major yearling sales.
“I feel blessed to continue to have Kristin involved as I move to Highlander, “Colin Brennan said. “And Highlander also has a great team of horsemen in place, such as yearling foreman Irving Gomez, who have proven their ability in preparing both yearling and two-year-olds for major sales.”
Gary West Paulick Report