$1.7-Million Three Witches Tops Keeneland Friday

Three Witches (Into Mischief) (hip 936), just a week removed from a third-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint, became the 12th seven-figure filly of the Keeneland November sale when selling for $1.7 million to the internet bid of Rifa Mustang Europe, Ltd. The 4-year-old filly is expected to stay in training in the U.S. next year.

“She'll stay here in America and we'll try again on the racetrack,” said Keeneland Australian representative Barry Bowditch. “For a mare that raced five days ago, in one of the strongest Breeders' Cup races of the week, she looked so well and handled the trip back 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.”

Bowditch said a trainer is still being discussed for the filly's 2024 campaign.

Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan purchased Three Witches on behalf of Bob Edwards's e Five Racing for $350,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September sale. Trained by Saffie Joseph, the dark bay earned a trip to the Breeders' Cup in Santa Anita with a win in the GIII Princess Rooney S. in October.

“It's always a hard decision [to sell] when you have something special that's won a Grade III and you drop her in the Breeders' Cup and at 30-1 she hits the board,” Edwards said. “We believed in her and Saffie did a phenomenal job suiting her up and getting that Princess Rooney win for us and going to the Breeders' Cup. That was all Saffie.”

Of the decision to send the graded stakes winner through the ring at Keeneland, Edwards said, “I have a fair number of mares now. I have graded-stakes winning mares on the roster and I figured I would move some inventory and see what happens next. We need to make room for up-and-coming stars.”

Of Three Witches' $1.7-million price tag Friday, Edwards said, “I was super excited with that result. We knew there would be interest, we knew she would be the big horse for today. Keeneland did a phenomenal job. Chip McGaughey and his crew did a great job recruiting her and obviously bringing in the buyers. We were super happy with the job they did and the outcome was phenomenal. I wasn't expecting $1.7 million, but I was very happy to get it.”

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New York-Breds Take Center Stage at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – After an electrifying renewal of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearling Sale just five days ago, the action returns to the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Sunday evening for the company's New York-Bred Yearlings Sale. Bidding begins at 7 p.m. with a session of 100 catalogued yearlings and is followed Monday by a session of a further 264 yearlings which begins at 12 p.m.

“People seem very eager to buy horses,” Don Robinson said between all-shows at his Winter Quarter Farm consignment Saturday morning. “Hopefully it carries over from the main sale–sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.”

Winter Quarter will offer 10 yearlings at the two-day auction, including fillies by Bernardini and Not This Time and colts by More Than Ready and Malibu Moon, as well as one from the first crop of GI Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, who has gotten off to a fast start in the sales ring.

“We have always done very well bringing Kentucky-raised New York-breds to the sale,” Robinson said. “People like them and we've sold pretty well here.”

The New York-Bred Yearling catalogue includes half-siblings to a pair of 2-year-olds who won on debut at the racetrack just across the street from the sales pavilion. Four Star Sales offers a half-brother by Vino Rosso to Miss d'Or Cherie (Bolt d'Oro), who was a three-length winner Thursday, and Straight Line Equine Sales offers a half-sister by Vekoma to Trust Fund (Practical Joke), who graduated at the Spa Friday. Both were running in special weight races worth $88,000, while New York-breds competing in open company are eligible for bonus purses during the Saratoga meet.

The purses available to New York-breds provides a major draw for buyers, Pat Costello of Paramount Sales confirmed.

“The New York program is very good right now,” Costello said.

“I think the maidens over there run for big purses and with the new program, if they run in open company and win they get an extra 30%. That helps as well. So, to have a New York-bred across the road here is huge.”

Paramount will offer 17 yearlings at the upcoming auction and Costello expects strong demand for the right horses.

“I think it's going to go down to the good horses,” he said. “If you pass the muster, I think you'll be in great shape and if you don't, it won't be pretty.”

Indian Creek, which sold a $3.2-million son of Into Mischief during last week's select sale, returns with 10 New York-bred yearlings.

Asked if she expected to see the electricity from the select sale carry into the New York-bred auction, Indian Creek's Sarah Sutherland said, “I hope so. I think if it does, that will be fantastic. It was just an absolutely electric environment at the first sale. I would not expect it to be exactly the same, but I hope we see the same support with the vetting and the process the whole way through here.”

With 364 yearlings, this year's New York-bred catalogue is the largest it has been in recent years. Sutherland is taking a wait-and-see approach as to how the added numbers will affect the end results.

“I think we will have to wait to see what the sale tells us,” Sutherland said. “Our numbers, personally, are about the same as they always are up here. [The larger catalogue] probably does make me a little bit apprehensive. But I'd love to see everybody do well and maybe the additional horses will work for everybody that way. It's been a few years since they've done that, bumped the numbers. I'm curious to see what happens. But there are a lot of people here, so there may be plenty of people for all the horses.”

The New York-bred sale has shown dramatic growth over the last decade and its 2022 renewal produced its highest-ever gross when 188 yearlings sold for $20,175,000, and its second-highest average and median.

“The New York program just seems to get better and better,” said Sutherland. “The quality of horses up here improves every year. And it's great racing. You're seeing nice New York-breds running in open company as well. I think that's a testament to the strength of the program. We sell a lot of horses for breeders and it's great to bring them here and to have them stay in New York. This is a perfect venue for us.”

While end-users tend to dominate both Saratoga sales, last year's New York-bred sale was topped by a son of Arrogate who brought a sale-record $700,000 final bid from Tom McCrocklin, as agent for Champion Equine, just days after his full-brother Cave Rock impressed on debut at Del Mar. The colt returned to sell for $1.05 million at this year's OBS March sale. Eaton Sales will offer a half-sister by Improbable to last year's sale topper late in Monday's session of the auction.

 

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Hall of Fame Stakes Part of Big Weekend at the Spa for Bob Edwards

For a man who has been in the racing business for just eight years, Bob Edwards has already enjoyed all the highs one could imagine in the sport; he has won Breeders' Cup races, campaigned champions, and–turning his attention to breeding–he has sold a million-dollar yearling at the boutique Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale. All of those successes will coalesce in the next five days in upstate New York.

At the racetrack Friday, three graduates of Edwards's Fifth Avenue Bloodstock breeding operation will be go postward in the GII National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame S. Across the street five days later, he will send three yearlings through the ring at the Saratoga sale.

In the Hall of Fame, Bat Flip, a son of Edwards's champion Good Magic, looks for his third straight win in his first start since last November. The colt was sold for $350,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.

General Jim (Into Mischief), an $850,000 Keeneland September yearling and already winner of the GII Pat Day Mile, returns to the turf following a well-beaten effort in the GI Woody Stephens S.

Of the trio, homebred Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) is the only one of the group who will be carrying the colors of Edwards's e Five Racing Thoroughbreds.

“It's pretty impressive, isn't it,” Edwards said of the trio. “It's one thing when you are first starting out and people want to know why somebody who races is selling horses. Obviously, we are selling good horses because we have three in a stakes race. But the breeding pays bills.”

The three graded starters reflect the solid foundation Edwards created along with bloodstock advisor Mike Ryan when he first started buying horses in 2015.

“Mike Ryan picked me out really nice pedigrees,” Edwards said. “So if they didn't run, the idea was always to breed them. That was always Plan B. If they weren't fast horses, they would be great moms. As I had fillies come off the track and turn into mares and then broodmares, we want to keep those bloodlines.”

Edwards points to Krazy Kathy (Harlan's Holiday), the dam of Bat Flip, as a perfect example. The mare, who RNA'd for $345,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September sale, raced 10 times in the e Five colors and earned just over $40,000.

“Krazy Kathy is a horse that I ran up here in Saratoga,” Edwards said. “She didn't do well. She was a serviceable horse, but she's turned out to be a great mare. She has unbelievable babies on the ground. I think I am going to keep one this year out of her and then the one we just had, we will figure out what we will do with that one when it comes around the corner.”

Carl Spackler, a dominant maiden winner at Gulfstream in February, will be looking to rebound from a tough-luck trip as the favorite in the May 6 GII American Turf S. last time out. The chestnut is out of Zindaya (More Than Ready), a mare who holds a special spot in Edwards's heart.

“Zindaya was my first winner, my first win was the Intercontinental at Belmont,” Edwards said. “I sold the first two babies out of her and Sheikh Mohammed bought them both. I switched back between Frankel (GB) and Lopa de Vega. I brought her home this year and sent her to Uncle Mo to change things up.”

Asked how he would like to see the one-mile race develop, Edwards said, “I hope it stays dry. And I hope Tyler Gaffalione comes out of the gate and controls the pace and gets us home with a win with Bat Flip and General Jim right behind him.”

Win, lose or draw, Edwards will move on to the sales arena next week when he offers three horses through the Indian Creek consignment at the Saratoga sale.

“I went at looked at them yesterday and I think these are the three nicest horses I've ever bred,” Edwards said.

Leading off the trio is hip 128, a filly by Good Magic out of Pinch of Grace (GB) (Pivotal).

“She is by Good Magic out of a Pivotal mare, which is kind of an odd cross,” Edwards said of the yearling. “But the Pivotal mare had a lot of leg and it added a lot of leg to this Good Magic and it's one of the nicest Good Magics I've bred.”

Hip 154 is a colt by Into Mischief out of graded stakes winner Seek and Destroy (Verrazano), a half-sister to multiple graded winner Tammy the Torpedo (More Than Ready).

“Seek and Destroy was probably the best Verrazano and she's out of that same family of Search and Seizure (War Chant), which was Tammy Torpedo,” Edwards said. “It's a really strong family. I had a War Front out of her [at the Saratoga sale] last year. I own half of him with Sheikh Fahad with Joseph O'Brien. He's another gorgeous horse.”

Rounding out the group is hip 230, a daughter of Speightstown out of the unraced Antilla (Bernardini). The yearling is from the family of Grade I winner Wickedly Perfect.

“Hip 230 may be my favorite,” Edwards admitted. “I know the Good Magic is everybody's favorite so far, but she's a Speightstown filly out of a Bernardini mare and she's an absolutely stunning horse. She checks all of the boxes for me as a buyer. She wasn't a great race mare, but with the Bernardini bloodlines–they make good moms that was part of the whole package.”

The decision on what to potentially keep and what to sell starts early on with mating discussions, according to Edwards.

“We sit down around the table and talk and figure out how we want to breed the horse,” Edwards said. “What's sexy for us. What is commercial. And we kind of go from there. I will breed to race, knowing I am going to keep the horse. And then I will breed commercial, hoping I sell the horses. Sometimes, it doesn't work out either way. The commercial horse is too nice to sell or something is up on the radiograph and I keep it. Sometimes the breed-to-race is the same way. It's really nice, it's a perfect horse, it might be an opportunity to take some money off the table.”

The Fifth Avenue Bloodstock broodmare band currently has about 25 members, including multiple Grade I winner New Money Honey (Medaglia d'Oro), who has an Into Mischief yearling colt and a weanling colt by War Front.

“I have kept five yearlings that I bred for myself, one of them is an Into Mischief out of New Money Honey,” Edwards said. “It's a really nice horse, a really nice cross and that horse checks all of the boxes, with an A+ airway, super correct body, really nice-looking conformation. He could have brought a lot of money here, but that's what I am keeping. You kind of pick and choose. I am not a big colt purchaser. We buy a lot more fillies than we do colts. We partner up on colts, so to have a homebred colt is something special for us.”

Fifth Avenue Bloodstock had its first seven-figure sale when a daughter of Veracity sold for $1 million at the 2018 Saratoga sale. The operation sold another daughter out of the mare for $900,000 at Saratoga the following year.

Despite the sales success, it's obvious that Edwards's true passion is in racing.

“The money is awesome and it's a lot of fun to sell a horse like that,” he said. “But then I've got to wait a year or a year and a half win for somebody else to win with him–which is equally exciting. But this weekend, my wife's family is all in town. We have two runners this weekend. We are doing a memorial race for my wife's aunt on Saturday, which is really special for us as a family. So, it's a big weekend for us. I would love to see Carl Spackler take it home.”

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Demand and Competition Remain Strong as Book 2 Concludes

By Christie DeBernardis & Jessica Martini

LEXINGTON, KY–Demand remained high as did the competition for quality individuals, both mares and weanlings, as Book 2 of the Keeneland November Sale concluded with its second of two sessions Wednesday.

The third day of selling at Keeneland was highlighted by the million-dollar sale of GSW Proud Emma (Include). In foal to Charlatan, the chestnut was purchased by Jane Lyon of Summer Wind Farm, who also purchased Tuesday's $1.45-million session topper Park Avenue (Quality Road). Proud Emma will visit Lyon's homebred superstar Flightline (Tapit), whose fee was announced at $200,000 partway through Wednesday's action. Proud Emma marks the third seven-figure transaction of Book 2, which previously had not seen a million-dollar horse since 2017.

“Some of the owners of Flightline, and Life Is Good, are investing in young fillies and broodmares to send to their stallions,” said Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. “We are coming off an exciting Breeders' Cup. It is a deep bench that is retiring this year. A lot of breeders are looking to improve their broodmare band and freshen up their portfolio, both on a domestic and international stage. It has been very, very healthy.”

During the two Book 2 sessions, 424 horses sold for $77,092,000. The average of $181,821 increased 13.5% from a year ago and the median of $150,000 was up 15.4%. Three horses sold for seven figures and there were 16 who sold for $500,000 or more. In 2021, six horses hit that mark and the section's top price was $725,000.

The 2021 Book 2 section of the November sale saw 489 horses gross $78,321,000 for an average of $160,166 and a median of $130,000.

“I think people are willing to keep going on horses that they feel have the quality they are looking for,” Lacy said. “When they find the mares and weanlings that fit the profile that they want, they keep going. Jane Lyon was pretty bullish today on that one. That was great.”

Proud Emma's covering sire Charlatan has made a name for himself in the sales ring this week. He was the session's leading covering sire with 11 mares carrying his first foals grossing $4.005 million and averaging $364,091.

Charlatan is a very exciting horse,” said Cormac Breathnach, Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations. “He showed a ton of speed on the track and speed that could carry. With the sire line and his pedigree and the mares he has been bred to, he is showing the signs of being a successful commercial horse and that is what a lot of people are looking for at this sale. We expected them to be well received.”

Weanlings were also in high demand Wednesday, topped by a $500,000 Gun Runner colt (Hip 976), who is destined for resale next year after being purchased by Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo's AAA Thoroughbreds.

Fifteen weanlings sold for $300,000 or over during the 2022 Book 2 section of the November sale, led by a $550,000 son of Gun Runner who sold Wednesday. During the two sessions, 165 weanlings sold for $23,056,000, for an average of $139,733–up 7.3% from a year ago–and a median of $120,000, which was up 20% from 2021.

In 2021, 12 Book 2 weanlings sold for $300,000 or over. A total of 183 foals sold during the section for a gross of $23,838,000. The average was $130,262 and the median was $100,000.

“There was a huge appetite for the quality weanlings overall,” said Lacy. “A lot of pinhookers made good money in September and were reinvesting. That sector of the market really increased today, which was great to see. There was a lot of enthusiasm and competitive bidding on those better individuals. I think you will hopefully find that trend continue through the rest of the sale.”

The Keeneland November Sale continues through Wednesday, Nov. 16, with sessions beginning at 10 a.m. It is followed by Keeneland's November Horses of Racing Age Sale Nov . 17.

 

 Another Emma for Summer Wind

Summer Wind Farm, already the home of Littleprincessemma (Yankee Gentleman), dam of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, added another Emma to its broodmare band when Jane Lyon bid an even million dollars to acquire graded stakes-winner Proud Emma (Include) (hip 876) from the Bedouin Bloodstock consignment Wednesday at Keeneland.

“We saw an awfully pretty mare that we think Flightline will like,” Lyon said of the mare's appeal. “We were trying to find mares that we thought, both physically and pedigree-wise, would fit him.”

The 6-year-old Proud Emma is out of the unraced Debutante Dreamer (Proud Citizen), a full-sister to graded-placed Cousin Stephen. She won the 2020 GIII Bayakoa S. and was second in the 2021 GIII Rancho Bernardo H.

SF Bloodstock purchased Proud Emma for $275,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton November and put her in foal to first-season sire Charlatan.

“She was a very striking mare,” SF Bloodstock's Tom Ryan said. “She is a beautiful physical and she obviously had tons of ability. We felt that she was a durable, sound mare.”

Ryan continued, “The plan at the time was to bring her back to the marketplace. We had options [for the covering sire], but when we got home and sat down to work through it, we felt Charlatan was a perfect physical for the mare.”

Of Proud Emma's seven-figure price tag, Ryan said, “Summer Wind is a very calculating outfit and they can see the same thing that we see. This is the kind of mare that could produce a commercial animal that we could see in Saratoga in a couple of years. And then she may not look that expensive.”

Mares in foal to Charlatan were in demand in the Keeneland sales ring, with Proud Emma leading the way.

Charlatan, who was a $700,000 Keeneland September Yearling purchase in 2018, raced for the stallion-making partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Fred Hertrich, John Fielding and Golconda Stables. He won the 2020 GI Arkansas Derby and GI Malibu S. before concluding his career with his lone loss when second in the 2021 Saudi Cup. He stands at Hill 'n' Dale for a fee of $50,000.

Charlatan is one of the most brilliant horses we've ever had anything to do with,” Ryan said. “He's a beautiful physical animal, but his athletic ability was extraordinary. With his ability to quicken, he was electric. We really felt that he was a horse that would be in high demand with his first pregnancies and I think today was a representation of that.”

Through three sessions of the November sale, 22 mares have sold in foal to Charlatan for an average of $338,636.

“He is a son of Speightstown and he was a brilliant horse,” Ryan said of Charlatan's appeal. “I think his race record and his physical make-up is exactly what people are looking for in the commercial market that we live in today.” @JessMartiniTDN

 

Whimsical Dance a Sentimental Purchase for Anderson

As the third session of the Keeneland November sale neared its conclusion Wednesday, Canadian breeder Dave Anderson struck to add a filly from the country's historic Sam-Son Farms to his broodmare band, going to $725,000 to acquire the 3-year-old Whimsical Dance (Distorted Humor) (hip 989).

“I've admired the Sam-Son operation my entire life growing up in Canada,” Anderson said. “I've just strived to be even remotely close to being as good a breeder as they've been. And this is a filly from their absolute best family. I took one look at her and it's just Distorted Humor over Giant's Causeway and it's all broodmare sires down to Dance Smartly. It's all something I really wanted to have in my program and this was the last stop for the Sam-Son train. I'm really thrilled to have her.”

A daughter of the unraced Danceforthecause (Giant's Causeway), Whimsical Dance is a half-sister to multiple graded winner Say the Word (More Than Ready) and graded winner Rideforthecause (Candy Ride {Arg}). Her third dam is the great Canadian champion Dance Smartly, who produced champion Dancethruthedawn.

Whimsical Dance has now won two of three starts at Woodbine. Anderson said the filly may continue her racing career.

“I am going to take a look at that,” he said. “I would obviously love to get some black-type on her somewhere. But at the end of the day, I bought her for her ovaries and she'll be a long-term mare in our program.”

Founded by the late Ernie Samuel some 50 years ago, Sam-Son Farm has dispersed nearly all of its stock in the last two years. The operation sold five mares Wednesday. In addition to Whimsical Dance, the Sam-Son bred Ladywearsthering (Uncle Mo) (hip 810) sold for $450,000 to Thomas Bachman's Fairview.

Anderson admitted Wednesday's purchase of one of the final mare's from the Sam-Son operation was a special one.

“My father died 12 years ago yesterday and he and Mr. Samuel were great friends and did a lot of business together over the years. It really is an emotional purchase for me for sure.”  @JessMartiniTDN

 

Strong Showing For Indian Creek

Shack Parrish's Indian Creek consignment had a great day at Keeneland Wednesday, starting with the $700,000 sale of Zoikes (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) (Hip 618), who is set to return to Europe after being purchased by Jim Ryan. She is carrying a foal by Medaglia d'Oro.

“She was very well-received,” said Indian Creek's Sarah Sutherland. “It's a great cover for her, the Medaglia cross with Dubawi. She was sold for Bob Edwards or E Five Racing. They bought her as a yearling at Newmarket and campaigned her here. We're in the process of selling a few, buying a few and keeping our numbers in check. We were happy to bring her here and think she realized a good price.”

Edwards purchased Zoikes at TATOCT for 450,000gns and she won one of three starts on American soil. Out of SW & G1SP Glorious Sight (Singspiel), she is a half to MGSW GISP Glycon (Le Havre). This is also the family of MGSW Beauty Is Truth (Pivotal).

As Sutherland predicted after that sale, Indian Creek sparked fireworks again late in the session, selling a $500,000 Gun Runner colt (Hip 976) to Dean DeRenzo. DeRenzo and his partner Randy Hartley, who sign as AAA Thoroughbreds, also purchased an Authentic filly (Hip 885) from the Indian Creek consignment for $260,000.

Hartley and DeRenzo have been busy snapping up as many nice weanlings as they can get their hands on this week with plans to resell them as yearlings. They have been particularly keen on Gun Runners, snapping up a $675,000 filly and $550,000 colt by the red-hot sire at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale Sunday.

“I thought he was the best horse in the sale,” DeRenzo said. “I just love him. We bought our first Gun Runner, which was Taiba. He's done fantastic and he's not finished. Gun Runner's a horse I have never seen in my career and I think we've seen only the beginning of him. He's going to be bred to some amazing mares, and this was a really great mare. We're really excited. We'll send him home and let him grow up and see how things go and we'll go from there.”

Bred by Chisago Farm, the weanling colt is out of Twiga, a half-sister to MGSW Takeover Target (Harlan's Holiday) and SW Ladies' Privilege (Harlan's Holiday). This is also the family of MGISW Critical Eye.

“The colt has been well received the whole time,” Parrish said. “We only had three foals and they all did great. We can't complain. The guys at home did a great job. They all came from Indian Creek, so we know them like our own kids.”

Indian Creek sold 10 horses Wednesday for a total of $2.76 million and average of $276,000.

For us, it's been good, but I've seen spots. Of course, there were spots across town too. I think you really need to have nice foals here. They aren't playing in the mid-range yet. The right sire power is a big help.

@CDeBernardisTDN

 

Collins Breaks Through for Message

Lincoln Collins admitted he had been shut out on several mares before finally breaking through to purchase Message (Warrior's Reward) (hip 839) for $675,000 on behalf of John Sykes's Woodford Thoroughbreds Wednesday at Keeneland.

“We finally got one,” Collins said with a laugh after signing the ticket on the 6-year-old mare who sold in foal to Charlatan.

Consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, Message was second in the 2020 GIII Bayakoa S. for Susan and Charlie's Baoma Corp.

“We are looking to upgrade all the time,” Collins said. “It was a lot of money, but she is an absolutely beautiful mare. I am sure the [covering] sire will be popular. And pedigree-wise, we can do pretty much anything we like.”

Collins pointed out that this year's GI Champagne S. winner Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) is, like Message, out of a Warrior's Reward mare.

“He is the sort of horse who is beginning to show life as a broodmare sire, so all of those things together made us push it absolutely to the limit.”

The popularity of mares in foal to Charlatan at Keeneland has been no surprise to Collins.

“He was a very, very good racehorse,” Collins said of the GI Malibu S. winner. “I think he will probably be one of the most popular first-season sires next year. And you know how the market is. It values youth over experience. Since we sell almost everything, it makes sense for us [to buy a mare in foal to a first-year stallion].”

Message was the first mare purchased by Woodford Thoroughbreds at Keeneland, but that wasn't for lack of trying.

“It's been very, very tough,” Collins said. “I've bid a lot of money on a lot of horses and not gotten anything until today. We went well past our limit on a number of them and still didn't get anything.” @JessMartiniTDN

 

Lake Garda Set For a Date With Flightline

Shortly after superstar Flightline's fee was announced at $200,000, Hunter Rankin purchased Lake Garda (American Pharoah) (Hip 812) for $600,000 on behalf of an undisclosed client with the GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero in mind. Consigned by Elite, the unraced4-year-old is in foal to Uncle Mo.

“She is a beautiful mare, obviously regally bred,” Rankin said. “I'm really excited for the owner. She is going to go to Flightline. He is really excited about her.”

He continued, “I thought it was a fair price. We thought she would do well in the market. It looked like she had a lot of action out there. She had all the pieces and parts and she is in foal to a great stallion and from a great family. We are really excited.”

Purchased by Cromwell Bloodstock for $550,000 as a weanling at the 2018 renewal of this auction, Lake Garda is a daughter of GSP blue hen Refugee (Unaccounted For). She is a half-sister to hard-knocking MGISW and young sire Hoppertunity (Any Given Saturday), MGISW Exectiveprivlege (First Samurai) and stakes winners Leader of Men (War Front) and Cowboy's Hero (Cowboy Cal).

“Lake Garda was just a beautiful mare,” said Elite's Liz Crow. “She came in prepped perfectly. She has a nice pedigree and a nice update, and she's in foal to Uncle Mo on a good cover. She was one of our most popular mares over the last three days. We feel like we had some nice physicals with nice pedigree pages here today. It all starts with the people who send us these horses. We have a great group of clients who entrust us to sell their horses. We always aim to put a nice Book 2 together. We bringing stakes-winning and stakes-placed, and graded stakes-winning and stakes-placed mares here. Our team works together months in advance and without their hard work we wouldn't have such a good day.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

 

Finding Fame to Gage Hill/Determined Stud Partnership

Terry Finley continued shopping for mares for recently retired Flightline (Tapit) Wednesday at Keeneland, going to $575,000 for the 5-year-old mare Finding Fame (Empire Maker) (hip 749). In foal to Constitution, the bay is a full-sister to stakes winner and multiple graded-placed Mei Ling.

“Shug McGaughey trained the mare and she had a lot of talent,” Finley said after signing the ticket in the name of Gage Hill and Matt Dorman's Determined Stud. “She's a lovely, big mare.”

Finding Fame, a $425,000 KEESEP yearling purchase in 2018, won twice in 10 starts for Gainesway Stable and Andrew Rosen. She was consigned Wednesday by Gainesway.

Of the mare's final price, Finley added, “We are obviously getting to the end of the ones that we are thinking about buying to send to Flightline. I think we knew that there were several significant players that were interested in her.”

Gage Hill, alone in or in partnership with Determined Stud, has purchased six mares at the November sale for $4.5 million. The partners went to $2 million to acquire Salty As Can Be (Into Mischief) (hip 154) during Monday's first session of the auction. @JessMartiniTDN

 

Stonehaven Reinvests at Keeneland

The Reddoch family's Stonehaven Steadings, run by the Reddoch's daughter Leah O'Meara and her husband Aidan, had a stellar September Sale and their hot streak continued here Tuesday when they sold a $1 million mare. They began to reinvest that money during Wednesday's session, topped by a $425,000 Gun Runner filly (Hip 844).

“She will be back here hopefully in September,” Aidan O'Meara said. “That's the plan at least, so we will see how it goes. She is a beautiful filly, a great representation of the sire with her scope and frame. She is a nice, classy type.”

The weanling filly was consigned by Paramount Sales on behalf of breeders Drumkenny Farm and American Equistock Inc. Out of Mighty Moon (Malibu Moon), the chestnut hails from the family of SW & GSP Green Lyons (Ire).

Hip 844's sire Gun Runner could not be hotter with four Grade I winners this year to add to the two he had last year in his first crop of 2-year-olds, one of which was champion Echo Zulu. Progeny of the Horse of the Year have been in high demand in the sales ring this year and his current weanlings were no exception. Six have sold through the first three days of KEENOV for $2.425 million with an average of $404,167.

“It is arguable, but it is probably the best start any stallion has had in the history of the breed,” said O'Meara. “It's been incredible. Some of the best opportunities in this business are the riding the wave of the success of these stallions. It is a lot of money for that filly, but she is as nice as any of those higher-priced ones that have come up here in the last few days.”

Stonehaven Steadings stellar season started at the September sale, where they sold a total of 18 yearlings for $8.188 million, including the sale-topping $2.5-million Quality Road colt now named Metro. During the Book 2 opener Tuesday, the operation sold Sweet Sami D (First Samurai), a mare they claimed for $65,000 and bred to Gun Runner, for $1 million.

“We have had a very fortunate year,” O'Meara said. “We are putting some of it back in the industry. The sale did encourage us, but you always have to be in control of what you're doing. We will try to build on the year we've had and try to keep it rolling. We've bought some nice mares here today as well and we have a very nice bunch of foals back at the farm. When we buy pinhooks, we aren't buying fixer uppers. We buy nice, high-quality types. Hopefully we come out here with a pretty nice draft.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

 

Brookdale Active On Both Sides of the Ledger For Not This Time

Early in Wednesday's session, Brookdale's Freddy Seitz went to $350,000 on behalf of a friend to acquire a filly by Not This Time (Hip 631). Then 118 hips later, the Seitz family's sale operation, led by Freddy's brother Joe Seitz, sold a colt by the Taylor Made stallion for $375,000 (Hip 749). Bred by Audley Farm, Hip 749 was purchased by Dudley Racing.

The chestnut filly was consigned by Gainesway on behalf of Alexander, Grove and Matz. Hip 631 is out of SW Analyze (Candy Ride {Arg}), a half-sister to GSW Far From Over (Blame) and GISP And Why Not (Street Cry {Ire}), who is the dam of MGSW Fearless (Ghostzapper). Carrying a foal by Hard Spun, Analyze followed her daughter into the ring, bringing $475,000 from Summer Wind Farm's Jane Lyon, which means she is likely headed to unbeaten sensation Flightline (Tapit) this spring.

“I was asked to sign the ticket on behalf of a friend,” Freddy Seitz said. “She's a beautiful filly. I liked the way she moved. Of course, with a Not This Time filly out of that family you can't ask for much more. She's by a hot sire and out of one of the best families in the U.S.”

Later in the day, Hip 749 stirred things up in the pavilion, summoning $375,000. The Virginia-bred is out of a half-sister to MGSW & MG1SP So Perfect (Scat Daddy).

“He's a big, scopey, huge walking horse with a beautiful appearance,” Joe Seitz said. “He came alive here. He has some interesting markings on him. There is a lot of uniqueness about him. He came from Audley Farm, a wonderful in Virginia and the same people who bred Bodemeister. His half-sister by Justify broke her maiden in her first start, so there is a lot of quality in a nice young family.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

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