Now that all the points have been awarded for this year's Road to the Kentucky Derby series and the Top 20 3-year-olds (and their alternates) have been decided, let's take a look at what those owners paid for their chance at Roses.
(The full points leaderboard is available here: Road to the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard)
The most expensive Kentucky Derby winner to ever be sold at auction was Fusaichi Pegasus, a $4-million purchase who won the 2000 edition. In fact, only four Kentucky Derby winners have sold at auction for $500,000 or more: Fusaichi Pegasus ($4 million), Winning Colors ($575,000), Alysheba ($500,000), and Justify ($500,000).
Looking ahead to the 2022 edition, it was possible for a prospective owner to purchase a Kentucky Derby hopeful for as little as $15,000 at public auction. That price was commanded by WSS Racing's Barber Road (Race Day) as a weanling at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
On the other end of the spectrum, owner Amr Zedan paid a hefty $1.7 million for his shot at the Run for the Roses with Taiba; the Gun Runner colt commanded the seven-figure sum at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Select Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.
In order of Derby points earned, here are the sales prices for this year's Kentucky Derby contenders:
- Epicenter – $260,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale
- Zandon – $170,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale
- White Abarrio – $7,500 as a newly-turned yearling at the OBS Winter Mixed sale, then $40,000 as a 2-year-old at OBS March
- Mo Donegal – $250,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale
- Tiz The Bomb – $330,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select sale
- Cyberknife – $400,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select sale
- Crown Pride – foaled in Japan and not sold at public auction
- Taiba – $140,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall sale, then $1.7 million as a 2-year-old at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Select sale
- Simplification – RNA for $50,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November sale
- Smile Happy – $175,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November sale, then $185,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select sale
- Tawny Port – $430,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale
- Barber Road – $15,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November sale
- Un Ojo – homebred, but sold in utero for $40,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Mixed sale
- Early Voting – $200,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale
- Morello – $140,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November sale, then $200,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select sale, then $250,000 as a 2-year-old at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale
- Messier – $470,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select sale
- Zozos – a homebred, but his dam was purchased as a yearling for $57,000 at Keeneland September, raced to earnings of $233,593, and Munnings' stud fee $25,000 in 2018 when he was conceived
- Summer Is Tomorrow – $25,000 as a weanling at Keeneland November, then RNA for $14,000 as a yearling at Keeneland September, then $169,743 as a 2-year-old at the Arqana Deauville breeze up sale
- Charge It – a homebred, but owner bought dam for $2.2 million as a yearling at Keeneland September, raced her to one win, and his sire Tapit stood for $300,000 in 2018
- Happy Jack – homebred (no bids as a weanling at the 2019 Keeneland November sale); owner purchased dam for $100,000 at 2015 Keeneland November sale, and sire Oxbow stood for $20,000 in 2018
- Pioneer of Medina (hoping for a late defection in order to make the field) – homebred, was an RNA for $485,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale
- In Due Time (hoping for two defections in order to make the field) – $9,500 as a weanling at the Keeneland November sale, then $35,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale, then $95,000 as a 2-year-old at OBS April
- Ethereal Road (hoping for three defections in order to make the field) – $90,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland September sale
- Rich Strike (hoping for four defections in order to make the field) – claimed for $30,000 out of his second career start
The post Kentucky Derby Sale Prices: From $15,000 To $1.7 Million For A Shot At Roses appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
