Two prominent dispersals – 20 broodmares, yearlings and horses of racing age sold by Lane's End, agent for the Complete Dispersal of the Estate of Paul P. Pompa Jr., and 21 in-foal broodmares owned by Sam-Son Farm, the acclaimed breed-to-race operation in Ontario – fueled brisk commerce on Tuesday's second day of the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale.
A horse from each dispersal sold for $925,000 apiece to lead the session. Via phone bidding with a Keeneland representative, Peter Brant's White Birch Farm paid the amount for the third horse in the ring, Regal Glory, a multiple graded stakes winner for Pompa. Later in the day, Gainesway Farm purchased Danceforthecause, in foal to Twirling Candy, from Sam-Son to equal the price.
On Tuesday, Keeneland sold 247 horses for $23,319,400, for an average of $94,411 and a median of $40,000.
A total of 453 horses grossed $35,414,800 through two sessions of the four-day sale, for an average of $78,178 and a median of $37,000.
“The power of the dispersal was very obvious today with nine of the top 10 prices paid for horses from the dispersals,” Keeneland director of sales operations Geoffrey Russell said. “These dispersals are bittersweet, but we appreciate the trust they put in Keeneland to put the show on today.
“The opportunity, especially with the Sam-Son Dispersal, to get into these mares has been limited over the years,” he added. “People are hungry to get into these strong female families. The same is true for the mares owned by Mr. Pompa. Breeders are looking for blue skies ahead and they have to have the product to produce yearlings to sell.”
The Pompa Dispersal generated sales of $4,037,000 and included four horses sold for $400,000 or more. Co-highest priced Regal Glory, a 5-year-old daughter of Animal Kingdom out of graded stakes winner Mary's Follies, by More Than Ready, won the 2019 Grade 2 Lake Placid and G3 Lake George and captured the 2020 G3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf in her most recent start. She was cataloged as a racing or broodmare prospect.
White Birch acquired another Pompa horse when it paid $260,000 for Proper Mad, whose 3-year-old Union Rags colt, Carillo, won his career debut on Jan. 8 at Aqueduct. From the family of Grade 1 winner Dunbar Road, Proper Mad is an 8-year-old daughter of Bernardini and the Unbridled mare Private Gift who is in foal to Connect. Carillo is scheduled to sell here Thursday when the Pompa Dispersal continues with 19 horses.
Pompa, a widely respected horseman and businessman who died in October 2020, had a successful association with Keeneland. In 2007, he paid $190,000 for future Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner and champion Big Brown at Keeneland's April 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. He also campaigned Night Prowler to win the 2015 G3 Transylvania at Keeneland and raced Fanny Freud in partnership with Stephen Yarbrough and Anthony Grey to win Keeneland's 2010 G2 Beaumont.
The Sam-Son Dispersal was the session's leading consignor with sales of $6,733,000 that featured six horses bringing $400,000 and more. The dispersal represented a closing chapter in the story of the multiple Eclipse Award- and Sovereign Award-winning operation founded in 1972 by the late Ernie Samuel and still run by his family. Sam-Son bred and raced horses that earned four Eclipse Awards and 84 Sovereign Awards along with 44 graded stakes winners.
Over the years, a number of Sam-Son horses raced at Keeneland, and the farm received the distinguished Keeneland Tray during the 2005 Spring Meet to recognize its graded stakes success – a milestone that only 20 owners have reached in track history.
The dispersal was especially emotional for the Sam-Son team at Keeneland.
“With the business of the game and trying to get everything ready – we have worked so hard to do this – we haven't really given ourselves time to absorb it all,” Sam-Son manager Dave Whitford said. “I think after the sale is when it is really going to sink in.
“There is pressure to do things right for the (Samuel) family,” he continued. “They have been doing this for 50 years, and we don't want to mess that up. There is a great legacy, and we have felt that pressure. It is (all) bittersweet, for sure.”
Danceforthecause, who sold to Gainesway Farm for $925,000, is a 10-year-old daughter of Giant's Causeway who has produced Grade 1 winner Say the Word and Grade 2 winner Rideforthecause. She is out of the Thunder Gulch mare Dancethruthestorm, a daughter of Sam-Son's Racing Hall of Famer Dance Smartly.
“She is a really beautiful mare and has been such a good producer already,” said Gainesway director of bloodstock and racing Alex Solis II, who signed the ticket. “I feel this is the best Sam-Son family there is with Dance Smartly as the second dam and Smart Strike right there on the page.”
Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa paid $900,000 for another Sam-Son mare, Deceptive Vision, and went to $530,000 to acquire her half-sister Fun in the Desert. Both are out of Canadian champion Eye of the Sphynx, by Smart Strike.
Deceptive Vision is an 11-year-old daughter of A.P. Indy in foal to War Front. She is a full sister to Canadian champion Eye of the Leopard and stakes winners Hotep and Desert Isle.
Fun in the Desert, a 10-year-old mare by Distorted Humor, is the dam of Canadian champion Desert Ride. In foal to Candy Ride (ARG), she is carrying a full sibling to Desert Ride.
The session's leading buyer was Phil Schoenthal, agent for Determined Stud of Maryland, who purchased five horses for a total of $2.12 million. Topping the acquisitions at $875,000 was the Sam-Son mare Southern Ring, a Grade 3-winning daughter of Speightstown in foal to Into Mischief. She is out of stakes winner Seeking the Ring, by Seeking the Gold, and from the family of Canadian champion Catch the Ring.
For Determined, Schoenthal purchased two horses from the Pompa Dispersal. They went to $570,000 for Off Topic, a 5-year-old Grade 1-placed daughter of Street Sense consigned as a racing or broodmare prospect. Out of Off Limits, by Include, she is from the family of Grade 1 winners Miner's Mark, Traditionally and My Flag.
They paid $320,000 for Sustained, an 11-year-old, graded stakes-placed daughter of War Front in foal to Connect. Out of Sweetstorm Amy, by Lemon Drop Kid, Sustained is the dam of Grade 3 winner Turned Aside, who won the Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship in November and is scheduled to sell here Thursday.
Another top-priced horse from the Pompa Dispersal on Tuesday was stakes winner Beautiful Lover, a 5-year-old daughter of Arch sold to Moyglare Stud Farm for $650,000. Consigned as a racing or broodmare prospect, she is out of American Skipper, by Quiet American, and a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Zivo.
Moyglare's Fiona Craig said Beautiful Lover would resume her racing career with trainer Christophe Clement.
“Hopefully the pandemic will cease so (Moyglare owner) Eva (Maria Bucher-Haefner) will be able to come over and see her race,” Craig said. “Long term we'll add (Beautiful Lover) to the broodmare band.”
At $400,000, the session's highest-priced yearling was a filly from the first crop of City of Light sold to Larry Best's OXO Equine. Lane's End, agent, consigned the daughter of the Bernardini mare I'll Show Me, a half-sister to champion Proud Spell and from the family of stakes winners Indian Spell and Dak Attack.
The January Sale continues Wednesday and runs through Thursday. All sessions begin at 10 a.m. ET.
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