adrian regan | Horse Racing Free Tips

Keeneland January Sale Stays Steady on Day Three

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm

LEXINGTON, KY – The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale continued into its second half Wednesday in Lexington with a session which, while significantly smaller, produced results largely in line with its 2023 counterpart.

For the session, 196 horses sold for a gross of $4,352,900. The average of $22,209 was down 2.54% from last year's corresponding session, while the median of $10,000 was up 25%. From 316 catalogued horses, 242 horses were offered and 46 failed to meet their reserves for a buy-back rate of 19.01%.

During the third session of the 2023 auction, 246 horses sold for $5,605,700. The session average was $22,787 and the median was $8,000. The buy-back rate was 17.45%.

Marvelous Time (Distorted Humor), who sold just minutes into Wednesday's session, brought the day's top price when selling for $220,000 to Centofanti Thoroughbreds, as agent for Brittlyn Stables.

The session topper was one of 17 sold for $1,103,000 during what has become an annual offering of mares from Godolphin, making Sheikh Mohammed's operation the day's leading consignor.

A filly from the first crop of Yaupon brought the top price for a short yearling Wednesday when selling for $150,000 to Crestwood Farm.

Through three of four sessions, 626 horses have grossed $35,949,600 and the average of $57,427 is just 0.79% off the 2023 figure. The median of $22,000 is down 18.52%.

“I'm more than happy with the market,” said Hunter Valley's Adrian Regan. “I think there was a bit of doom and gloom from some people coming in that it was going to be tough going, but in fairness, it was pretty good. If you had the right foal and it vetted clean and everything, you got a lot of money for it. They sold very well. Overall, it was better than expected, I would say.”

A horse awaits a turn in the ring | Keeneland

Consignors agreed quality offerings continued to be in demand at Keeneland this week.

“Horses with quality are still fairly easy to sell,” said Brian Graves of Gainesway, which consigned the $1.6-million sale-topping Prank (Into Mischief) during Monday's first session of the auction. “And then anything that even hints at not being every bit of that is correcting. Anything that is not 100% quality or top shelf, it looks like it's correcting.”

Graves said he has also observed less activity than normal in the back ring.

“It seems like there is not a lot of back ring participants, so if you didn't have it done at the barn, you weren't going to get any help,” he said. “There weren't a ton of people standing around here just buying horses out of the back ring for anything significant.”

On the other side of the ledger, Graves has been active as a buyer in the pinhooking sphere where he admitted he was vying for that very quality, while also casting a wary eye on potential market conditions next fall.

“We focus on quality [when we buy],” Graves said. “That's what we focus on. It's a battle to get your hands on that and once you've gotten your hands on that, you have to worry a little bit wondering if these other signs that we are seeing are a hint of what is coming down the road.”

Meg Levy, whose Bluewater Sales sold the $650,000 Kaling (Practical Joke) Monday, said demand for quality lots significantly helped to drive up prices for those offerings.

“I feel like quality will out,” Levy said. “The buyers are willing to pay more for the perceived commercial quality, particularly in the yearlings, I have noticed. We had Kaling sell very well here, which we were pleased about. But it just seems like everybody is willing to pay up to a third more for what they perceive to be the right stuff. And the middle market is still suffering. It's very difficult.”

Levy speculated that some of the weakening in the foal market might be traced back to the vet reports.

“There is kind of a gap selling some of these yearlings where we are using the vet reports as a marketing tool to help the buyers,” she said. “But honestly, so many of them don't understand reports and they don't use a veterinarian, so that ends up hurting things.”

The Keeneland January sale concludes Thursday with a session beginning at 10 a.m.

Sikura, Dorman Team Up for Star Act

The Keeneland January sale got its third seven-figure horse when Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa's John Sikura and Determined Stud's Matt Dorman partnered up to purchase Star Act (Street Cry {Ire}) (hip 144) for $1.2 million. The 13-year-old mare, dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Just F Y I (Justify), was originally led out unsold at $950,000 during the auction's first session Monday.

Star Act | Keeneland

“She is a class mare,” Dorman said Wednesday. “She's a Grade I producer. She has a phenomenal horse who is three-for-three and primed for next year. John Sikura has always been a great business partner. It just worked out as a good opportunity.”

Dorman said the mare, who is in foal to Life Is Good and was consigned by Hill 'n' Dale on behalf of George Krikorian, was on his radar Monday, but after Prank (Into Mischief) sold for $1.6 million earlier in the session, he assumed Star Act would be out of his price range.

“When I saw the horse go for $1.6 million, I thought she would be too much,” Dorman said. “I work with David Ingordo now. So Dave and I had a long conversation about the broodmare band and what we are doing. And after [Star Act] RNA'd, we decided that the horse made sense at this number. So we reached out to John and Donato [Lanni]. And we called back and forth and it evolved into John and I buying the horse. Donato and the owner have a long-standing relationship with John and respect John, so it worked out well.” @JessMartiniTDN

Marvelous Time Makes Trip Worthwhile for Centofanti

Bloodstock agent Raffaele Centofanti made the trip up from Ocala to find a specific mare for Evelyn Benoit's Brittlyn Stable and, mission accomplished, he was heading back south having purchased Marvelous Time (Distorted Humor) (hip 845) for $220,000 early in Wednesday's third session of the Keeneland January sale. Bred and consigned by Godolphin, the 4-year-old is a daughter of Grade I-placed Folk (Quiet American).

“We were looking for that Quiet American line,” Centofanti said of the mare's appeal. “They are hard to find. You can't find them usually that young–she's only four. It's such a great female line. To get her that young and with that broodmare sire, she checked all the boxes basically. She had everything physically, as well. She is 16.2, with a classy look and a great walk. She looks like a Distorted Humor, but she had the size. She had everything I liked physically.”

Marvelous Time | Keeneland

Marvelous Time made just one racetrack appearance, winning her debut at Presque Isle Downs in 2022 for trainer Mike Stidham. The bay mare is a half-sister to graded-placed Captivating Lass (A.P. Indy), who produced Grade I winner Atone (Into Mischief). She sold Wednesday in foal to Mystic Guide.

“I probably appraised her at a little less than that, but when I came and saw her, I thought we needed around $200,000 to buy her,” Centofanti said. “I think she was worth that.”

Marvelous Time will remain in Kentucky to foal and then will head south to Brittlyn Stable's Louisiana base to visit either Star Guitar or Clearly Now.

“We are debating where we will go with her,” Centofanti said. “We are trying to bring some quality back to Star and Clearly Now. We've been doing it the last two years and we've got some nice babies coming up.”

Centofanti said the plan has been to upgrade the Brittlyn broodmare band as mares get older and are rotated out. The results are showing up on the race track and in the sales ring.

“We've been selling the last three years,” he said. “We sold a couple of Star Guitars for six figures at Keeneland that went on to win big races–one won in Dubai a couple of weeks ago out of Charged Cotton (Dehere). And we have a Not This Time we will sell in September and she is beautiful.”

The Brittlyn-bred Manama Gold (Star Guitar), a Louisiana-bred out of Charged Cotton, sold for $100,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September sale and resold for $200,000 at the 2023 OBS April sale. The filly broke her maiden stylishly at Meydan Dec. 22 for Fawzi Abdulla Nass.

“We've been rotating between Kentucky and Louisiana sires,” Centofanti said. “[Benoit] loves racing and she loves Louisiana. And this way we can continue and we've had success doing that. Our horses are running and doing well.”

Marvelous Time was the only horse Centofanti bid on at Keeneland and he was ready to head back south.

“I have to go to Ocala,” he said. “I have a bunch of horses for her that we are breaking. So I've got to get back there.” @JessMartiniTDN

Yaupon Yearling to Crestwood Farm

Not long into the third session of the Keeneland January sale, Crestwood Farm and Robert Keck went to $150,000 for hip 926, a filly from the first crop of Yaupon.

“She had an amazing body, great bones and a standout pedigree for this session,” said Keck. “She'll be resold in September.”

Hip 926 | Keeneland

Spendthrift Farm's Yaupon has seen his yearlings sell well this week, all five sold going for over six figures, led by a $190,000 colt (hip 82) who sold Monday to Clarmont Bloodstock Club.

“Hopefully that sire is as hot as people are predicting,” Keck continued. “I knew that [Yaupons were selling well], but looked at her as an objective buyer. People don't pay enough attention sometimes to where a horse comes from and I liked that she was raised by Clarkland Farm, they raise a great horse.”

Bred and consigned by Clarkland Farm, the filly is a daughter of MSW Tiz Imaginary (Tizway), who was purchased by the farm for $180,000 out of the 2019 Keeneland November sale. This is the family of champion 2-year-old filly Flanders (Seeking the Gold) and her champion daughter Surfside (Seattle Slew). @SGrimmTDN

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Fasig-Tipton Brings the Glitter and the Glitz to Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – A year after a record-smashing 2022 edition, the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale of Selected Yearlings returns to Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs with a two-session auction beginning Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. The sales grounds were a scene of wall-to-wall activity on a cloudless Sunday morning as trainers, agents and principals all vied for prized show spots for the 235 catalogued yearlings.

“The traffic has been outstanding,” consignor Dave Anderson outside his Barn 3. “Coming in with the economy being a little suspect, it was hard to know whether we would attract the usual suspects, but they are all here. Everybody is in good spirits, so I am expecting a good sale.”

Adrian Regan of Hunter Valley echoed Anderson's comments.

“We are delighted with the activity at the barn,” Regan said. “There's been a lot of showing. People look to be working it hard and from what we are hearing so far, people are saying that there are a good group of horses here.”

The boutique Saratoga catalogue attracted its usual array of sire power and glitzy pedigrees. Gun Runner who had two million-dollar yearlings, including the $2.3-million sale topper at last year's auction, has 12 yearlings in the auction this year. Curlin, who had three seven-figure yearlings in 2022, has seven in the catalogue in 2023, including a son of champion Beholder (Henny Hughes). That mare's half-brother, super-sire Into Mischief, who was represented by four million-dollar sales a year ago, has 12 to be offered in this year's catalogue.

The Saratoga sale is held just across the street from the historic racecourse, giving the power-packed catalogue that extra bit of bling.

“I think with the racing, it is as good as it gets,” Anderson said. “It gets people excited. And the wives and the husbands and the families come and they turn it into a mini-vacation. And when the weather cooperates, Fasig-Tipton knows how to put on a great party and a great show. People bring the product and it's really a special place.”

The atmosphere encourages buyers to attend the sale in person, rather than simply having agents acting on their behalf. That, too, adds to the success of the auction, according to Doug Arnold of Buck Pond Farm.

“This is what's great about coming up here,” said Arnold. “When you can put your hands on things, it kind of changes your mind on what you will and won't do.”

Buck Pond's consignment at Saratoga this year includes just one horse, a filly by Not This Time, and Arnold said horses at the boutique auction face plenty of scrutiny in the days leading up to sale time.

“The buyers have a long time to look at these horses, so they can talk themselves out of things,” Arnold said. “If you have something that is sticking out that they don't like, they will find a way not to buy. We would normally bring more than one up here and it was one of those years that we had a lot of May foals and I kept looking at them and thinking maybe this horse will work for Saratoga, but I am really happy I didn't. Everyone seems to love this filly.”

Tim and Nancy Hamlin's Wynnstay Sales is making its first appearance at the Saratoga sale with a four-horse consignment.

“We've sold horses up here, but we've never brought our own consignment,” Tim Hamlin explained. “One of our customers wanted to do it and Fasig wanted us to do it and we decided to do it.”

Hamlin continued, “I am hoping it's going to be a good sale. You have to have one that has the pedigree and by a hot sire and vets, you've got to jump through all of the hoops. But these are some of the best horses in Lexington, so I think the best ones will have a home.”

After a series of out-of-the-park results last year, the yearling sales season got off to a quieter start at last month's Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearlings Sale.

“I am a glass is half-full kind of guy, but I think we've got to realize what is going on with interest rates and the economy in general,” Anderson said of a possible correction in the market. “The yearling market has to soften at some point here and that's a good thing, it probably needs to happen.”

While economic conditions might deter many buyers in the middle market, the top-end of the market targetted by Saratoga sellers seems to remain competitive.

“I don't think [the economy] is going to impact this sale,” Anderson said. “This is a boutique sale and buyers are coming here expecting to see some of the best horses in the United States and Canada. They are prepared to buy them at whatever cost it takes.”

Despite the dips and turns at yearling sales to come this fall, Regan feels confident bidding will be strong Monday and Tuesday in Saratoga.

“To be honest, I was a little bit cautious coming up here,” he said. “But we have seen the top end is where everybody wants to be at the moment. So with the group of horses that Fasig has here, I would be very positive about how the sale is going to go.”

Last year's Saratoga sale set records for gross, average and median as 14 yearlings sold for $1 million or over. A total of 135 head grossed $55,155,000 for an average of $408,556 and a median of $350,000.

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A Mo Reay Gives Hunter Valley First Top-Level Victory

When Hunter Valley Farm's Adrian Regan and Fergus Galvin purchased A Mo Reay (Uncle Mo) for $400,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton November sale, the plan was to add the filly to the farm's broodmare band, but a string of three straight victories in the Hunter Valley colors has postponed that trip to the breeding shed and had the operation celebrating its first Grade I triumph when A Mo Reay scored a dramatic last-gasp victory in the GI Beholder Mile at Santa Anita Saturday.

“Adrian and another partner on the farm, John Wade, they both went out,” Galvin, who enjoyed Saturday's victory from his home in Kentucky, said. “But it was great. It was fantastic. We had a couple of near-misses with Family Way (Uncle Mo), she had a great campaign with Brendan Walsh for two years, showed up in a lot of the Grade I races, but to actually have one get a head in front in our own colors is fantastic. And it was made even better with Adrian and John out there to enjoy it all. Really at the end of the day, that's what it's all about, to be able to enjoy the big days. Everybody works hard in the business and you've got to be able to enjoy the big days.”

A Mo Reay was third in the 2021 GI Frizette S., but had yet to win a stakes race when she went through the ring at Fasig-Tipton last fall. Having spent most of her career on the main track, she came into the sale off a pair of efforts over the turf, finishing third in the Aug. 25 Riskaverse S. and fifth in the Sept. 18 GIII Pebbles S.

“She is a lovely physical,” Galvin said. “Adrian and I were talking and we were saying if she could just win a listed race to go along with her Grade I-placing, it would help her broodmare value down the road.”

A Mo Reay was sent to trainer Brad Cox's Fair Grounds base and duly delivered for the team with a three-length victory in the Dec. 31 Pago Hop S.

“Not long after she went down there, Brad was starting to speak in pretty glowing terms about her,” Galvin said. “So we were getting more and more confident with her as time went on.”

The group's optimism in the filly continued to grow when a trip to Oaklawn Park resulted in a late-closing half-length victory in the Feb. 4 GIII Bayakoa S. Shipped across the country, A Mo Reay was sent off at 7-1 in the Beholder Mile. She rolled up to engage Fun to Dream (Arrogate) at the top of the stretch, only to have the even-money favorite scamper clear. Undeterred, A Mo Reay closed relentlessly to just get her head in front on the line.

Of the dramatic stretch run, Galvin said, “I can't say I was confident, but the way she has finished in her two prior races with Brad, she has done her best work in the last furlong. So I knew she would definitely finish up. It was just a matter of if she could catch Baffert's filly and it was really nail-biting as she just kind of got her at the final jump.”

Hunter Valley came close to Grade I glory a few times last year with Family Way, a filly Galvin purchased on behalf of the farm, Marc Detampel and Debra O'Connor for €150,000 at the 2020 Arqana December sale. The mare was on the board in three Grade I races last term, including a runner-up effort in the GI Rodeo Drive S. in October before selling for $1.45 million at the 2022 Fasig November sale.

Could A Mo Reay's Grade I victory mean a return to the sales ring this coming November?

“It's a bit too early to say,” Galvin said. “She has obviously become a very valuable proposition. We do know that she will definitely race this year and we haven't really discussed anything beyond that. Everything is open at this stage. We just want to enjoy her racing career this year and come up with a plan later on.”

Hunter Valley has been involved in several high-profile purchases of racing age fillies who succeed for their partners both at the track and then again in the sales ring. In addition to Family Way, the operation purchased Caravel (Mizzen Mast), who went on to win last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, for $500,000 at the 2021 Fasig November sale, as well as Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil), who was purchased for $5 million at that same auction before adding another graded victory and a pair of Grade I placings to her resume before reselling for that same figure last year.

“If you do get lucky enough to stumble across the likes of an A Mo Reay or a Family Way, the prize money structure if they are good enough to compete at that level is really fantastic,” Galvin said. “Especially with fillies, you have the residual value. Whether or not she succeeded for us back at the racetrack, we knew A Mo Reay had plenty of broodmare value. It's nice to have a fallback when you buy them with black-type, or Grade I-placing, in her case. She wasn't cheap at $400,000, but at the same time, she had already X amount of broodmare value as it was. There is less risk involved with fillies, and certainly well-bred fillies.”

As for where A Mo Reay may start next, Galvin said, “She came out of [the Beholder] good and she will fly back to her Fair Grounds base the middle of the week. I haven't really had much time to chat with him, but you really don't have to get in Brad's way too much as far as race planning. He is always about two steps ahead of everybody.”

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Godolphin Mares Star as Keeneland January Continues to Produce Strong Results

LEXINGTON, KY – During a session dominated by offerings from the powerful Godolphin operation, the four-day Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale continued to churn out strong results as it entered its second half Wednesday.

Through three sessions, 721 horses have sold for $41,732,600. The average of $57,882 is up 5.31% from a year ago, while the median is up 8.00% to $27,000.

At this same point at the 2022 sale, 770 horses had grossed $42,320,400 for an average of $54,962 and a median of $25,000.

Mares from Godolphin occupied five of the day's six top spots, with Walmac Farm making the day's highest bid when acquiring Carella (Tapit) from Sheikh Mohammed's operation for $260,000. In all, 27 mares from Godolphin sold for $1,798,700 and an average of $66,619.

A colt by Vekoma was the day's highest-priced short yearling, selling to G1 Investments from the supplemental section of the catalogue. The youngster was consigned by Archie St. George's St. George Sales.

“I think the market overall is solid,” St. George said. “It's been a good January sale. Any quality stock sells well. It's the old saying, if you tick all the boxes, you do good.”

Hunter Valley Farm sold two of the session's eight six-figure offerings, with Juddmonte's 4-year-old Gilded Ruler (Into Mischief) selling for $130,000 to Shepherd Equine Advisors and a short yearling filly by Tiz the Law selling for $100,000 to Headley Bell's pinhooking partnership, Sycamore.

“I don't think there is too much wrong with the market today,” said Hunter Valley's Adrian Regan. “For what's on offer, I think they are selling pretty good. Anything with any little bit of upside or a weanling with any bit of scope and quality, they are selling really well.”

The Keeneland January sale concludes with a final session Thursday. Bidding begins at 10 a.m.

Godolphin Mares in Demand

As the Keeneland January sale moved into its second half, it was a group of 27 offerings from Godolphin that took center stage, occupying five of the session's top six five spots and accounting for five of its eight six-figure prices. Leading the way was Carella (Tapit) (hip 1140), who was purchased over the internet by Walmac Farm for $260,000. The 10-year-old mare is a daughter of Cara Rafaela and is a half-sister to Bernardini. She sold in foal to Kantharos. Also selling via an internet bid was Orchestrate (Tiznow) (hip 984), who sold to J.S. Company for $200,000.

“It was a fantastic sale for us,” said Godolphin's Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan. “The response was exceptionally strong down at the barn yesterday. We ended up having as many people looking as we had in two days last year. So we were inundated with lookers. We thought the mares would sell well, but we were probably surprised how well they sold. There was a great appetite for our mares. There were a lot of nice, young mares in there that people want to have with great pedigrees. I understand why people want to get involved in mares that we are culling out of our program. People have done well with them before. They were all sold, they were all over their reserves and I think people will be very pleased with what they've got off us.”

Lynn Hancock acquired two Godolphin mares on behalf of her family's Stone Farm. She signed for the 4-year-old Omkara (Ghostzapper) (hip 980), in foal to Cairo Prince, for $160,000 and came back later to acquire the 4-year-old Brookwood Hills (More Than Ready) (hip 1127) for $52,000.

“Godolphin obviously has some really great families and they can't keep all of the fillies out of them,” Hancock said. “We thought they had some great physicals with some really good female families. It looked like a good opportunity to get in on some active families.”

Omkara is a daughter of stakes-winner Kareena (Medaglia d'Oro) and her half-sister Padma (Tapit) was second in the Cash Run S. at Gulfstream Park on New Year's Day. Her second dam is multiple graded-stakes winner India, a half-sister to the dam of To Honor and Serve and Angela Renee.

“It's a super active female family,” Hancock said of the mare. “There are so many daughters producing in that family. There are some good runners on the page and it's a great family. So we thought we would take a swing.”

Banahan admitted he had fielded some questions about why Godolphin would sell a half-sister to a recent stakes-placed runner.

“We own three more fillies out of the mare,” Banahan said. “You can't keep them all. We want to keep the quality as high as we can. So we are going to have ones that we have to offload.”

Of the popularity of the Godolphin mares at Keeneland Wednesday, Hancock said, “You can't hide a good horse from the market, no matter where they are placed or when they are selling. I think the people are keyed in and looking at those mares and some of them are selling very well.”

Godolphin has now dominated the third session of the Keeneland January sale for two years in a row. Last year, the operation sold three of the day's top four prices, including the $480,000 session topper.

“It's worked very well for us,” Banahan said of the day three placement in the January sale. “We had a group of them in November as well, but we feel we get them in here, everyone is at the sale, it's a four-day sale, everyone is going to be able to see them and we are not going to have to divide them up into two or three different books. We can group them together a lot nicer than we can in November. Maybe we are a bigger fish in a smaller pond in January. Our mares stand out here.”

The January consignment also gives students in Godolphin's Flying Start program the opportunity to participate in the auction.

“The Godolphin Flying Start group comes into town right around New Year's and they've helped us out in the last couple of years,” Banahan said. “They've enjoyed it. It's their only opportunity to work a sale. Not that we did it on purpose, but that was an offshoot of it. And they enjoyed it and we enjoyed having them helping us out as well.”

Vekoma Colt Leads Yearlings Wednesday

A colt by Vekoma was the top-priced short yearling of Wednesday's third session of the Keeneland January sale when selling for $180,000 over the internet to GI Investments. The chestnut colt is out of stakes winner and graded-placed Inconclusive (Include). Archie St. George purchased Inconclusive, with the colt in utero, for $75,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November sale and he co-bred the yearling with Lee Mauberret and Gary Joyner.

“He was a very nice colt, very straightforward,” St. George said. “We had him on the farm and he showed himself very well and he put on a good show in the back ring. We'd like to thank the buyers and everyone who was interested in him.”

The colt was originally slated to sell at the November sale.

“He was in November, but we scratched him just because I wanted to give him more time,” St. George said. “This was just the right spot for him.”

The colt became just the latest supplemented offering to the auction to be in demand this week.

“It's really nice to be able to supplement them,” St. George said. “Keeneland does a great job with promoting it. It's nice to have a horse in here. Any time you have more horses in front of buyers, it's a good opportunity.”

McKinzie Leads First-Crop Sires at Keeneland Book 1

Four-time Grade I winner McKinzie (Street Sense–Runway Model, by Petionville) was represented by four six-figure short yearlings this week in Lexington and was the leading first-crop sire during the two-session Book 1 section of the Keeneland January sale.

McKinzie won the 2018 GI Pennsylvania Derby and GI Malibu S., as well as the 2019 GI Whitney S. and the 2017 GI Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity. He was second in the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

On the board in 14 of 18 starts for owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman and trainer Bob Baffert, McKinzie earned $3,473,360 on the racetrack and retired to Gainesway where he stood his initial season in 2021 for $30,000.

During Book 1 at Keeneland this week, the 8-year-old stallion had seven yearlings sell for $910,000 for an average of $130,000.

Peter O'Callaghan and Brian Graves purchased the sale's top-priced short yearling by McKinzie, going to $250,000 to acquire a colt (hip 835) from the Four Star Sales consignment.

“Obviously, it's redundant to say it was an awfully nice horse, but we thought it would hit the market well,” said Four Star Sales' Kerry Cauthen. “We were thinking in the $150,000 to $175,000 range, but when you bring up the really good ones, and two people obviously thought he was a really good one–you get rewarded.”

Cauthen continued, “I have seen quite a few McKinzies and quite like them as a whole. I think he's been fairly consisistent in producing a good-looking animal.”

Also during the January sale, South Carolina horseman Peter Pugh purchased a filly by the sire (hip 190) for $220,000 from the Hunter Valley Farm consignment.

While Pugh said he hadn't seen many of the McKinzie foals, he was impressed by the filly he plans to pinhook later in the year.

“She was very smooth,” Pugh said. “She was a very pretty filly who looked like she was going to frame out nicely. All the stuff you want.”

Mckinzie bred 214 mares in his first season and 180 in his second.

“I am really excited about what we are seeing in the market with McKinzie,” said Graves, who serves as Gainesway's general manager. “Before the sales started, I thought that McKinzie was really stamping his offspring and now he has left no question on that matter. They are all very leggy with streamlined shape and athleticism, which is my favorite type. They have sold at the highest level, to the best judges, and it's rewarding to see. I think he's going to be a huge presence at the yearling sales later this year.”

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