Month: November 2023

Three Witches, who six days ago finished third in the $1 million PNC Bank Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita, sold today for $1.7 million to Rifa Mustang Europe to lead the third session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

The purchase of the 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief, who was consigned by Indian Creek, agent, increased the number of seven-figure purchases at the auction to 12.

On Friday, Keeneland sold 231 horses for $35,092,000, a 13.89 percent decline from the third session of the 2022 sale when 214 horses grossed $40,754,000. The average of $151,913 was 20.23 percent lower than last year's $190,439. The median decreased 31.25 percent from $160,000 to $110,000.

Through three sessions, 564 horses have sold for $123,860,000, which was 13.27 percent lower than the corresponding period of 2022 when the gross was $142,807,000 for 547 horses. The average of $219,610 was 15.88 percent below $261,073 from 2022, and the median of $150,000 was 14.29 percent lower than $175,000. The first three sessions of last year's auction produced 12 seven-figure horses in addition to the $4.6 million sale of a fractional interest in eventual Horse of the Year Flightline.

“Today was a solid day of trade,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “From start to finish, the market felt a little more consistent and healthy today, and the clearance rate was better. Everybody felt very pragmatic about it, and people were not disappointed. A lot of people had a very good day.

“When we saw Three Witches go through the ring for $1.7 million, going to a client that is pretty established internationally, that's really encouraging,” Lacy added. “We're seeing that international investment is still here. The money is still here for the right horses. That's the consistent theme that we've seen so far. Justify had a huge day and some of the pinhookers are getting very active. Overall, we're very pleased.”

Rifa Mustang Europe purchased Three Witches, who won the Oct. 7 Grade 3 Princess Rooney Invitational at Gulfstream Park., via internet bidding. Out of the Tale of the Cat mare Layreebelle, she is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Spellbound and Grade 3 winner Kid Cruz and from the family of Grade 2 winner Soothsay and 2023 G2 Woodward runner-up Film Star.

“She was bought on behalf of a significant investment based in Australia and Europe,” said Barry Bowditch, Managing Director of Australia's Magic Millions and Keeneland's Australasian representative, who spoke on behalf of the buyer. “She'll stay here in America, and we'll try again on the race track, which is exciting. For a mare that raced (six) days ago in one of the strongest Breeders' Cup races of the weekend, she looked so well and handled (the trip from California to Kentucky) so well. You just feel that the best of her racing is yet to come. It will be great to have a new investor racing horses here in America. We're discussing who (will) train her at the moment.”

“I thought (the sale of Three Witches) was pretty fantastic,” said Sarah Sutherland of consignor Indian Creek. “Obviously, the filly was well received, and we knew she was a standout both physically and with her race record and pedigree. Any time you get over a million dollars, it's pretty special. It exceeded our expectations, and we're just thrilled.”

With the purchase of two horses for $1.9 million, Rifa Mustang Europe was the session's leading buyer.

CSWV acquired the day's top-selling weanling when it paid $525,000 for a daughter of Justify out of the winning Algorithms mare Ada Lovelace. Ada Lovelace is out of 2021 Broodmare of the Year Indian Miss and a half-sister to champion Mitole and Grade 1 winner Hot Rod Charlie. The filly was consigned by ELiTE, agent.

“We've been trying to buy really nice horses like that from the beginning of the sale,” buyer Paul Sharp said. “That was a legit family, and (she is a) very athletic, really nice filly from one of the best sires in the world at this time. We're very happy to have her.”

Wish It, a 3-year-old winning daughter of Tapit in foal to Street Sense, sold to Barry and Judith Becker and Jeffrey Mischka for $500,000. Gainesway, agent, consigned the mare, who is out of Grade 3 winner Graeme Six, by Graeme Hall. Wish It is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Cali Star and a full sister to Grade 3 winner Delightful Joy, dam of Grade 2 winner Window Shopping.

The next three most expensive horses were consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, the session's leading consignor with sales of $5.88 million for 33 horses.

Siena Farm paid $440,000 for Medaglia Mo, a 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro in foal to Not This Time. She is out of Grade 2 winner Mokat, by Uncle Mo, and from the family of Grade 2 winners Smok'n Frolic and Frolic's Dream.

Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds/David Wade, agent, spent $435,000 for Belle of Paree, a 3-year-old daughter of City of Light in foal to Early Voting with a member of the first crop of foals by the Preakness Stakes winner. Out of the stakes-winning Graeme Hall mare Belle of the Hall, she is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Share the Ride and from the family of Grade 1 winner Blushing K. D. and Canadian champion Ambitious Cat.

CHC Inc. spent $430,000 for Rose All Day, a 4-year-old daughter of More Than Ready carrying a member of the first crop of Grade 1 winner Life Is Good. Out of multiple Grade 1 winner Ask the Moon, by Malibu Moon, she is a half-sister to stakes winner Belgrano and from the family of First World War, who captured his career debut at Kentucky Downs in September and was second yesterday in a Churchill Downs allowance race.

A weanling colt by Justify sold to Randy Hartley and Dean De Renzo's AAA Thoroughbreds for $425,000. Consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, agent, he is the first foal out of the Curlin mare Saralin and from the family of Grade 1 winner Salutos Amigos.

“He's just a beautiful horse; we're just such big fans of Justify,” Hartley said. “When Scat Daddy (sire of Justify) passed away, we never dreamed that we would have another stallion that would replace him – let alone a Triple Crown-winning son of his. So we came here in September and tried to buy every (yearling by Justify) that we could get our hands on. We bought (four). I came here with the same goal in mind. And the Breeders' Cup weekend (when Justify sired two winners of World Championships races) just did it for us. He's like a stallion that we haven't seen in a long time.”

The November Sale continues Saturday and runs through Thursday, Nov. 16, with all sessions beginning at 10 a.m. ET.

On Friday, Nov. 17, Keeneland will present the November Horses of Racing Age Sale. The auction starts at noon.

Click here for the November Horses of Racing Age Sale online catalog.

The post Breeders’ Cup Participant Three Witches Commands $1.7 Million Friday At Keeneland November Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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If the casual observer wasn't familiar with John Stewart in the Thoroughbred sphere, they've gotten a big introduction during the first week of the November mixed sales, with major purchases including two-time Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Goodnight Olive for $6 million.

Goodnight Olive was the highlight of a two-day run of spending at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale and Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale that also included Queen Caroline, the dam of champion Forte, for $3 million; Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Pizza Bianca for another $3 million; and Puca, the dam of Kentucky Derby winner Mage, for $2.9 million, among others.

Between the single-session Fasig-Tipton sale and the first two days of the Keeneland sale, Stewart had purchased 11 mares and weanlings for a total of $17.35 million. This comes after Stewart spent $8,425,000 on 13 horses at this year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

“We're just getting started,” Stewart said Tuesday after signing the ticket on Goodnight Olive. “We had plans to spend $15 million more by the end of this year. We didn't realize we were going to do it all today, but that's okay. It's all measured on everything that we're doing.”

So, who is this newcomer signing some of the biggest tickets of this year's mixed sale season?

Based in Lexington, Ky., Stewart is the founder and managing partner of MiddleGround Capital, a private equity firm that invests in business-to-business companies in the U.S. and Europe. While he has dealt with Fortune 500 companies, MiddleGround specializes in lower-middle market industrial and specialty distribution operations.

Though he is trading at the highest levels of the Thoroughbred marketplace today, Stewart's roots are distinctly blue-collar. He started as an hourly line worker at Toyota Motor Company, dropping out of college at 19 to take the job. By the time he left Toyota 18 years later, Stewart had climbed into the ranks of management, with over 7,000 employees answering to to him.  He transitioned to the private equity sector in 2007 when he joined Monomoy Capital Partners, then founded MiddleGround in 2018.

MiddleGround currently has over $3.3 billion of assets under management, including Xtrac, a supplier of automotive transmission systems; Attala Steel Industries, which manufactures and distributes steel foundation components for ground-mounted utility-scale solar photovoltaics installations; and HLC, which manufactures and distributes bicycle parts.

Stewart's name began showing up on sale tickets at this year's Keeneland September sale, working with bloodstock agent Gavin O'Connor, but what's happening in the ring is only part of a greater rollout for Stewart's Thoroughbred game plan to create a breed-to-race operation.

He is under contract to buy Shadayid Stud, an 839-acre satellite property of Shadwell Farm located in Midway, Ky., which was listed for $16.75 million. He said he expected to close on the property in about a month.

Acquired by Shadwell in the early 1990s, the land is split into two sectors, divided by Leestown Road. The 587-acre northern portion has been developed into a yearling division, with large fields, six concrete barns, and three employee houses. The south side housed Shadwell's horse and cattle division, with several office buildings, rehabilitation and show barns, over 40 paddocks, and several storage barns.

“As we look at this next year, we just really want to get the farm active, and get horses on the property and get things started,” Stewart said. “It's going to take us a long time. We have 142 stalls on the farm, so we'll be taking some boarders as well. We're breeding for ourselves. We're breeding for racing. Everything we buy is going into our racing stock, and we're intending to keep those horses. Resale is not at the top of our agenda. It's going to take some time for us to build it up, but I think we've made some good progress.”

Stewart outlined his plan to include both short-term and long-term action and returns after purchasing Goodnight Olive, which he said would fill an immediate gap on the racetrack while his yearling and weanling purchases mature to racing age.

He said he targeted Goodnight Olive as soon as he saw her name in the catalog, which went live in October. The daughter of Ghostzapper will remain in training with Chad Brown.

“She's definitely the best horse that's being sold at any of the auctions right now, kind of the crown jewel of the auction,” Stewart said. “We are after quality at the end of the day. What we're really looking for is quality, and she has everything that we're looking for. She has good pedigree, good quality, but she's also proven on the track, which is the most important when you're building a racing program.”

While Goodnight Olive holds down the racing operation in the immediate future, Stewart's yearling purchases will back her up in the years to come.

Two of his Keeneland September purchases topped seven figures, led by a $2.5-million Uncle Mo filly out of the winning Congrats mare Starship Warpspeed, making her a half-sister to champion Shedaresthedevil. He also spent $1 million on a full-brother to Grade 1 winner and fast-rising sire Practical Joke, by Into Mischief, out of the stakes-placed Distorted Humor mare Halo Humor.

The post ‘We’re Breeding For Racing’: Stewart Making A Big First Impression With Mare Purchases appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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