BY BROCK SHERIDAN

Heart of a Champ, a Florida-bred colt by Horse of the Year and Triple Crown-winner Justify, dropped the gavel at $625,000 on a final bid by Gary Lamb and Michael Talla’s Talla Racing on Thursday during Session 4 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Consigned by Warrendale Sales as an agent for FTBOA Hall of Famer Charlotte Weber in the name of her Live Oak Stud located in Ocala, Florida, the chestnut colt was cataloged as Hip 821.

Bred by Live Oak Stud, the colt is out of the winning Tapit mare and Live Oak Florida homebred Tappitty Tappitty, who set a new course record for a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the turf at Woodbine in 1:41.17 in 2020. Tappitty Tappitty is a half-sister to Live Oak Florida homebred Tsunami of Love, dam of Live Oak’s graded stakes-placed, stakes-winning Florida homebred Ultimate Love.

Live Oak Stud purchased second dam My Typhoon (Ire), by Giant’s Causeway as a weanling for 1.8 million guineas (US$2,942,730) at the 2002 Tattersalls December Sale and she went on to earn $1.3 million as a multiple graded stakes winner.

My Typhoon is a half-sister to 2009 European Horse of the Year Sea the Stars (Ire); Group 1-winners Galileo (Ire) and Black Sam Bellamy (Ire); and Group 3-winners Urban Ocean (Fr), All Too Beautiful (Ire) plus listed stakes-winners Born to Sea and Melikah (Ire).

Also selling Thursday was Hip 998, Dorth Star, a full sister to Grade 1-winning millionaire Florida-bred Dorth Vader, that sold to Mountmellick Farm for $550,000.

Consigned by Vinery Sales as agent, Dorth Star is by Girvin out of stakes-placed Hardcore Candy, by Yonaguska and like Dorth Vader, was bred in Florida by John Ropes of Ft. Lauderdale. Ropes raises his Florida-breds at his Rosegrove Farm in Ocala.

Hardcore Candy is a half-sister to stakes-winner Chestnut Lady and has produced five winners from nine starters and 12 foals including stakes-placed Florida-bred Revenge of the Sis, by Girvin; and a Florida-bred weanling colt by Ocala Stud’s Roadster. Revenge of the Sis sold for $500,000 at last year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Later results from Thursday’s session at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale will be published in Friday’s issue of Wire to Wire.

See the chart below detailing Florida-breds cataloged in Book 2 of the 2026 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Click the chart to enlarge it or click here to download a PDF.