On Tuesday, Pennsylvania-based owner/breeder Glenn Bennett's L C Racing extended to $460,000 for Hip 27, Cha Cha Baby (Highly Motivated). Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, the filly is a member of the first crop of the Into Mischief stallion Highly Motivated, who stands at Airdrie Stud.Handling the bidding duties for Bennett was advisor Mark Reid.In her most recent start, the juvenile filly ran off to an impressive 9-length victory going 5 1/2 panels at Delaware Park on July 21. In her career debut, she was second at that venue going five furlongs on June 24. Trained by Gary Capuano, the Kentucky-bred was campaigned by Denise Hazard.“He was really happy with the way she looked and with the way she ran and her sheets, numbers and everything,” said Bennett. “And it was also easy for [Reid] to go down [to Wilmington, Delaware] and check her out.”He added, “He thought she was going in the right direction and, hopefully, we'll continue to improve and [possibly] get up to Saratoga and do something.”“I'm not saying that's definitely what we'll do. I don't want to put too many races on her as a 2-year-old already, so we'll have to think about that.”No stranger to the sales ring, Cha Cha Baby was a $7,500 Keeneland November weanling purchase and subsequently realized $35,000 at Keeneland the following September.Bred in Kentucky by Rusty Roberts, the dark bay filly is out of Rose Larue (Cairo Prince), a half-sister to graded stakes placed Mama Rina (Gormley) and Spirituality (Gemologist). This is the extended family of champion Sacahuista.And what did the team think the filly might bring?“Anywhere from [$400,000 to $700,000],” he said. “Obviously that's a big range. But you know how it is, if you get two people that both want something, and there are a lot of people that have more money than me in this sport, so we don't always get the ones we want.”He continued, “But Mark really liked her and he said, “Yeah, you got to have this one in the barn.”'Bennett, who resides near Parx, often partners with Cash Is King's Chuck Zacney and Reid, who retired from training in 2022.According to Bennett, he also has 14 broodmares, boarded at Reid's Pennsylvania farm, Walnut Green. Additionally, Bennett has approximately 50 head on the racetrack, with the majority entrusted to Robert 'Butch' Reid. Bennett indicated he has an additional '30-40 horses' in training who are spread out over various partnerships.“I breed to race–I never sell them,” said Bennett. “I always think the next one's 'the one.' And if I sell it, then somebody else gets the Kentucky Derby winner. So that's probably not a fiscally responsible way to do things, but that's where I'm at the moment.”Slightly more focused on the racing end of things previously, Bennett explained that he has seen a gradual shift in the direction of his program.“I was definitely more to the racing side until recently,” he said. “Now, I'm trying the breeding side, going to better stallions and getting better broodmares and trying to do it that way. [I'm trying] not to buy as many at auctions as I have in the past.”He continued, “My goal is to improve the quality and then reduce the quantity. I'm going to try to tighten it up to the better quality, let's put it that way. And obviously you can always get lucky, but try to breed to the top stallions and try to buy some of the better ones at auction.”With Reid leading the way with the majority of the sales and breeding decisions made by the operation, Bennett indicated that the team has been equally at ease buying from Fasig-Tipton's bricks-and-mortar sales as well as its digital platforms.“Mark looks at various digital sales and tries to buy some horses there, which we've done with the broodmares in particular,” he said. “We would also go to Fasig-Tipton's [Midlantic] 2-year-old in training sale and the [Eastern Fall Yearlings] sale in [Timonium] Maryland. We go wherever we see a horse we like.”The post ‘Highly Motivated’ Bennett Lands Fasig-Tipton July Digital Topper Cha Cha Baby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.