THE SARATOGA SPECIAL (Saturday, August 9, 2025 REPRINT)
- Tom Law
- Aug 14
- 3 min read
Bases Covered
Brennans excited for new opportunity with Highlander
By TOM LAW, The Saratoga Special
FASIG-TIPTON NY-BRED SALES
With brothers and sisters separated by just three years, the occasional dust-up, disagreements, arguments, and maybe even the full-out throw-down are sure to arise.
Not so with Colin and Kristin Brennan.
“They didn’t even bicker,” proud mother Jolane Weeks said Thursday morning on the Fasig-Tipton sales grounds.
The two put their strong relationship to use professionally in 2023, when brother and sister teamed up with each other and other partners on sales consignments. They’re still together and back in Saratoga this week for the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred sale, under a different banner from another state, with the first Colin Brennan Bloodstock at Highlander Training Center consignment.
“I can’t imagine doing this with anybody else,” said the 36-year-old Colin Brennan, who joined Larry Hirsch’s Highlander as trainer and director of sales in June. “We come to each other for everything. She never forgets a medicine or a bandage or anything going on in the barn, keeps things organized, and gets it all done. If a client mentions something like, ‘Oh, hey, my horse is a cribber, we like to keep this supplement,’ she’ll remember it all."
“I love it because I think we complement each other,” said Kristin, 33. “I’m more of an introvert, and I like being in the barn. He’s such a great people person, so smart, and puts himself out there. He’s the go-getter. We complement each other because we balance each other out. We rarely disagree about stuff. We’re never battling for, not in a weird way, the spotlight. He’s great up front with the clients, and I love being in the barn. But don’t take that the wrong way, he’s out there cleaning stalls, doing horses up, walking horses, too, if we need it.”
The team approach goes on display Sunday and Monday with the nine-horse Highlander consignment. The Saratoga New York-bred sale marks the first foray with Colin Brennan at the helm of the sales division. The son of respected Ocala horseman Niall Brennan, Colin Brennan relocated from Florida to Sulphur Springs, Texas, after Al Pike retired following the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale of 2-year-olds in training.
Jeff Hooper, Highlander’s chairman and chief executive officer, said Highlander identified Colin Brennan as a potential candidate well before Pike announced his retirement. Pike was slated to stay on as a consultant to Highlander but passed away after a battle with cancer at the age of 70 in late July.
“We were old friends and we were able to get him back to Texas and launch our 2-year-old consignment business in a very positive way,” Hooper said of Pike. “Then, with Al’s retirement and passing, we wanted to continue our consignment efforts and continue to grow those, too.
“Colin is somebody that we’ve had our eye on for a while. I think the world of him and his family, his horsemanship and his integrity, and his relationships in the industry. We’ve been able to form a relationship with Colin to bring him on board as a full-time team member at Highland. ... We’re pleased to have nine really nice yearlings here.”
The yearlings in the consignment were prepped in Ocala by Kristin Brennan and her team. They’re being sold by Highlander for clients of both the Texas operation and Colin Brennan.
“We didn’t see a lot of sense in taking those yearlings from Florida to Texas to New York,” Hooper said. “It just made sense to do all that. Everything else going forward we do will be prepped at Highlander Training Center in Texas.”
Highlander will also feature a large consignment of more than 60 yearlings at the Texas Thoroughbred Association sale on August 25 at Lone Star Park, along with yearling consignments at the Keeneland September sale from September 8-20, OBS October yearling sale on October 7-8, and Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale on October 20-23.
The goal for the Highlander con-signments doesn’t differ all that much from what the approach the Brennans took with their previous operation.
“We’re looking nationally; they want to do Saratoga and Lexington as the main focus,” Colin Brennan said. “Even with our pinhooking business, we’re going to be at every major sale, like we have in the past few years. The good thing is we have the same philosophy, not trying to be a huge consignment, just keep to medium numbers and good quality.”
