Mare In Foal To Gun Runner Tops Mixed Sale Session

De la Soul, a 3-year-old daughter of More Than Ready carrying her first foal by leading first-crop sire Gun Runner, sold to Jon Marshall for $205,000 to top Tuesday's seventh session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale in Lexington, Ky.

Consigned by Indian Creek, agent, De la Soul is from the family of Grade 1 winner Harmony Lodge and Grade 2 winners Diligence and Sparky Ville.

On Tuesday, Keeneland sold 299 horses for $9,455,500, marking an 80.61 percent increase from the corresponding session last year when 265 horses sold for $5,235,300. The average of $31,623 rose 60.07 percent from $19,756 in 2020, and the median of $23,000 was 91.67 percent higher than $12,000.

Through seven sessions of the 10-day November Sale, cumulative sales for 1,690 horses are $186,168,500, which is 32.77 percent higher than the same period last year when 1,512 horses grossed $140,214,700. The average of $110,159 is 18.79 percent above last year's $92,735, while the median of $60,000 is 42.86 percent above the $42,000 recorded in 2020.

Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, was the leading consignor Tuesday, selling 25 horses for $1,257,000.

Two horses consigned by Taylor Made brought $150,000 each.

Stony Pointe Farm paid the amount for the session's top-priced weanling, a colt by Not This Time who is a half-brother to stakes winner Wildcat Kate. Out of the winning Wildcat Heir mare Kombat Kitty, he also is from the family of Grade 3 winner Lance and stakes winners Katy Kat, Katy Now, Yaddo Cat and Dingdingdingding.

La Luna Latte, a 3-year-old daughter of Candy Ride (ARG) from the family of Grade 1 winner and sire Colonel John, sold to Jody Huckabay, agent, for $150,000. In foal to Dialed In, she is out of the Tiznow mare Kayce Ace and is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Comical.

Taylor Made also consigned Motown Girl, a 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo in foal to Practical Joke who sold to Spring Ridge for $145,000. From the family of classic winner and sire Afleet Alex, Motown Girl is a full sister to Grade 3 winner Name Changer. She is out of the stakes-winning Northern Afleet mare Cash's Girl.

Leading buyer Wark Bloodstock spent $215,000 on two horses.

The November Sale resumes Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET with the eighth session, the first day of Book 5.

Friday's final session will conclude with a single dedicated portion of horses of racing age following the conclusion of breeding stock. A total of 290 horses of racing age have been cataloged to the closing day and will follow the total of 148 head of breeding stock in the catalog.

Click here for the online catalog for the horses of racing age in Session 10 of the November Sale.

The entire auction is streamed live on Keeneland.com.

The post Mare In Foal To Gun Runner Tops Mixed Sale Session appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Stellar Book 2 Concludes at Keeneland

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis

LEXINGTON, KY – The two-session Book 2 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale concluded with another day of competitive bidding and two additional seven-figure yearlings Thursday in Lexington, bringing the total number of lots to surpass the million-dollar mark to 15.

“Excellent,” Keeneland's vice president of sales Tony Lacy said when asked to gauge the day's activity. “The median was up 48% and the average was up 37% [for the session] and we've just passed the $200,000,000 mark for gross sales for the first four sessions. We cannot complain about anything that's gone on this week. I think it's been extremely strong and very, very deep. It's been a powerhouse week one.”

During the two Book 2 sessions this year, 426 yearlings grossed $111,772,000 for an average of $262,376 and a median of $207,500.

The Book 2 section of the 2020 auction, held amidst the pre-vaccination pandemic, saw 380 horses sold through the ring for a total of $75,368,000. The book average was $190,988 and the median was $150,000. With the inclusion of post-sale transactions, 415 yearlings grossed $79,260,000 for an average of $190,988 and a median of $150,000.

While Book 2 produced the auction's highest-priced offering so far when a colt by City of Light sold for $1.7 million Wednesday, Thursday's session produced co-topping $1 million colts when Mike Ryan secured a son of Into Mischief (hip 874) from the Mt. Brilliant Farm consignment and BSW/Crow Colts Group took home a son of Street Sense (hip 1022) from the Farfellow Farms consignment.

After four days of selling, the Keeneland September sale has a dark day Friday, but the strength of the market during the week provides validation for the company's format which is designed to put as many horses in front of people as possible in a short amount of time, according to Keeneland's director of sales operations Cormac Breathnach.

“I think a lot of people loved the format,” Breathnach said. “It's speaking for itself in terms of the results we are looking at. The median is really important–that middle ground, what the horses are really bringing and not so influenced by the very high numbers. The RNA rate is very much in control. This is a sale that is keeping pace with a banner year, which was 2019, and it's really just blowing last year out of the water. The format has been a part of that and it's kept the buyers in town and kept them engaged.”

With 88 horses reported not sold during Thursday's session, the buy-back rate was 30.45%. Through four sessions, the buy-back rate stands at 30.18%. It was 39.59% at this point a year ago.

Bidding resumes at Keeneland Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and the sale continues through next Friday.

 

Ryan Strikes for Into Mischief Colt
The Book 2 section of the Keeneland September sale had its third seven-figure yearling when bloodstock agent Mike Ryan outlasted an internet bidder to secure a colt by Into Mischief (hip 874) for $1 million Thursday. Bred and consigned by Greg Goodman's Mt. Brilliant Farm, the bay yearling is out of stakes winner and graded placed Secret Someone (A.P. Indy). His second dam, Private Gift (Unbridled), produced the dam of Grade I winner Dunbar Road (Quality Road).

“I am very familiar with the family because a good friend of mine bred Dunbar Road,” Ryan said after signing the ticket on the yearling. “I bought the dam of Dunbar Road and it's a family I am familiar with and I own some mares from the family. [The yearling] reminded me a lot of Practical Joke. If he runs to his pedigree, top and bottom, he has terrific stallion potential.”

Private Gift is also the dam of Private Mission (Into Mischief), who sold for $750,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. The 3-year-old filly romped home by 6 1/2 lengths in the Aug. 21 GIII Torrey Pines S.

“We bid a long ways on Private Mission, a 3/4 sister to this colt,” Ryan said. “She is three for four and won the Torrey Pines. She could be anything. So we know the pedigree works.”

Ryan said he was bidding on behalf of an undisclosed group of buyers and the yearling would be trained by Chad Brown.

“He looks like a horse who will hopefully run at Saratoga next summer, but stretch out from there,” Ryan said. “The dam is by A.P. Indy and the second dam is by Unbridled. Unbridled and Empire Maker under Into Mischief has been very successful. Mandaloun comes to mind. I thought he was a special colt. He has a lot of upside and hopefully we will turn out lucky. If he's half as good as Practical Joke, we'll be very happy.”

Mt. Brilliant Farm purchased Private Gift for $2.3 million at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton November sale. The operation campaigned Secret Someone, who won the 2016 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf S. and was third in that year's GIII Modesty H.

“We loved the horse. We put a low reserve just to get him started because we knew he could do the work himself,” Goodman said. “We love his family. Private Gift is the first really expensive horse I ever bought. I have sold a lot of the family and kept a lot of the daughters. He could not be in better hands and I am so happy about it.”

With the strength of Book 2 bolstered by four seven-figure yearlings, including the likely $1.7-million sale topper, Goodman agreed there could be a disparity with breeders looking to shift their horses into Book 2 over Book 1.

“I had a great Book 1,” Goodman said. “I had five horses sell for $2.7 million. So I had a great first book. But I do think that there is disparity. I think some people hold their horses back and put them in Book 2 and they do great. And I think there are horses who don't belong in Book 1 that should have been in Book 2 that bring a lot of money. It's a difficult situation. I think the new [Keeneland] guys are doing a great job so far. I think this always been a problem. It's been a problem since they quit the July sale.”

Breeders also need to space out their yearlings in separate books. Ryan pointed out that Mt. Brilliant had sold another son of Into Mischief for $1.35 million during the first session of the sale.

“Sometimes you have to spread them out to give yourself the best shot,” Ryan said. @JessMartiniTDN

 

Street Sense Colt Puts Farfellow Farms Back in the Spotlight
The Knelman family's Farfellow Farms returned to consigning its own horses just last year with a two-horse consignment during Book 3 of Keeneland September. This year they brought seven horses and were immediately rewarded when their first horse through the ring, a Street Sense colt (Hip 1022), brought $1 million from BSW/Crow Colts Group.

“We actually brought [second dam] Critikola (Arg) (Tough Critic) up from Argentina, so this family has a lot of sentimental value for us,” Jak Knelman said. “It makes it all the more rewarding. We expected it to break out, but we tried to keep our expectations low. It's hard in the horse industry, but sometimes it lines up.”

A MGSW in her native Argentina, Critikola was imported by the Knelmans and placed in a pair of Grade I events for them in California. She produced GI Kentucky Oaks upsetter Lemons Forever (Lemon Drop Kid) for the Knelmans, who is the dam of champion Forever Unbridled (Unbridled's Song) and GISW Unbridled Forever (Unbridled's Song).

Hip 1022 is out of her SP daughter Critikal Reason (Aptitude), who is already the dam of MSW & GISP Bajan (Speightstown) and GSP Virtual Machine (Drosselmeyer).

“We started selling in the recent years,” Knelman said. “We have a small broodmare band of about 12 mares. This is the best colt we've brought to the sales in a long time and it really was a team effort. Our farm manager Josh [Hennessy] and Emmanuel, who works the farm. They put so much effort into it. It's really a family thing with my parents and myself.” @CDeBernardisTDN

 

BSW/Crow Colts Group Makes First Seven Figure Purchase
Stallion-making partnerships have been all the rage in the past few years and Brad Cox and his team are joining the fray. Cox has gathered about 10 of his owners and teamed up with bloodstock agents Liz Crow and Brad Weisbord to gather a group of colts that fit the two-turn Classic build. Cox's team has been quite active at Keeneland this week and made their biggest purchase to date Thursday when going to $1 million for a son of Street Sense (Hip 1022).

“Brad Cox put it together. Obviously him and Liz Crow have a great relationship,” Weisbord said. “We got started with Brad in 2015. Liz actually told me Brad Cox was going to be a champion trainer one day. I think my first question at the time was who is Brad Cox. But, look Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), British Idiom (Flashback), Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). Brad doesn't need any introduction.”

Weisbord and Crow did their bidding seated alongside Spendthrift's Ned Toffey. The late B. Wayne Hughes' operation is one of the partners in the new venture, which also includes Steve Landers Racing, Marty Schwartz, Michael Dubb, Jim Bakke, Marshall Gramm & Clay Sanders's Ten Strike Racing, Paul Farr, Rick Kueber's Kueber Racing, Chris Jean's Big Easy Racing and Rick Kanter's Winners Win.

“Spendthrift Farm is our seed partner,” Weisbord said. “Unfortunately, we lost a pioneer in the sport in B. Wayne Hughes. Eric Gustavson and his wife Tammy have taken over ownership of the farm and obviously they are going to be major players for the next 50 years. We have gotten to know Eric and they have a great leader in Ned Toffey.”

The Elite Sales managing partner continued, “This all kind of started when they bought Monomoy Girl and sent her back to Brad. When Brad started this venture, he thought they could be a good seed player in this group. He put a few more partners in the group. There will be nine or 10 names on the ownership line. Hopefully the Jockey Club will allow it. It's good for the sport. Terry Finley mentioned the power of the partnership and they are carrying these sales.”

The BSW/Crow Colts Group has purchased a total of 17 colts in the first two books for a gross of $5.98 million and average of $351,765.

“We will start shopping Book 3,” Weisbord said. “We have plenty of capital left so we will keep going. I think we have 20+ horses so far and the goal was to get 20 so we are there. Hopefully we get one or two stallions. It's a stallion-making group and we want to have fun along the way.” @CDeBernardisTDN

 

Violence Colt Proves Popular
Bloodstock agent Jacob West, bidding out back alongside trainer Todd Pletcher and just a few feet from Bob LaPenta's manager John Panagot, saw off that determined foe to acquire a colt by Violence (hip 1057) for $950,000 Thursday at Keeneland. The yearling was bred and consigned by Larry Doyle's KatieRich Farms.

“Todd obviously trained Violence and the first thing he said was that the colt reminded him of Violence when we saw the horse the other day,” West said after signing the ticket on the yearling on behalf of Repole Stable and St. Elias. “He's out of an A.P. Indy mare. What's selling well right now is that two-turn dirt horse and that's kind of what we felt that he was. He's got family behind him and an incredible physical and now we just hope he runs as good as he looks.”

The colt is out of False Impression (A.P. Indy) and is a half-brother to multiple Grade I winner Standard Deviation (Curlin).

Momentum on the yearling continued to build at the sales grounds over the last several days, according to Doyle.

“We thought it started off slow,” Doyle said. “And Monday and Tuesday his shows were sharing with our other horses, but just in the last couple of days they just started showing up for him. He vetted perfectly and let's hope he is the next Violence. I love False Impression. She produced Standard Deviation and she's been great for us all along.”

The sale of the Violence colt capped a perfect five-for-five day for the KatieRich consignment, which also sold a Quality Road filly (hip 1050) for $500,000 to Peter Brant's White Birch Farm, and a filly by Tapit (hip 943) and a colt by Uncle Mo (hip 970) for $300,000 each to Mike Ryan.

“It has been very strong,” Doyle said of the market. “I have had more looks at this sale–165 on this horse. Typically a year or two ago, we'd have 125. The Japanese aren't here, but there are a lot people here looking.”

Panagot was quick to get back into the bidding fray, but he agreed he was finding a competitive market.

“The good horses are competitive,” he said. “There have been a few horses we thought would be a little more busy, but I think at the very top, it's super tough. Mr. LaPenta loved [the Violence colt]. He's been buying horses in a partnership at this sale and that was a horse for himself and he was pretty gung-ho. He went past where he wanted to go probably by 25% or so.”

LaPenta's Whitehorse Stable, in partnership with Madaket and e Five Racing, has purchased seven colts so far at the Keeneland sale. On Thursday, the group went to $235,000 to acquire a yearling by Mendelssohn (hip 900), a colt by Twirling Candy (hip 953) for $170,000 and a colt by Candy Ride (Arg) (hip 1045) for $125,000 and a son of Nyquist (hip 1073) for $200,000. Earlier in the sale, the partnership went to $350,000 for a colt by Tapit (hip 662), a Collected (hip 317) for $200,000 and an Empire Maker (hip 528).

With the SF/Starlight/Madaket partnership and BSW/Crow Colts Group both looking to purchase potential future stallions, Panagot said he had plenty of company when bidding on quality colts.

“You have to pay for the good horses, especially the colts,” he said. “We are focusing on colts and I don't think we are that innovative with that because a lot of people are. And that's going to really bulk it up. But we are just trying to buy a handful with the right pedigrees and the right bodies and athletic horses and we feel like we have. We've bought five or six of them, but you have to fight for them.” @JessMartiniTDN

 

Indian Creek Gets Off to a Fast Start
Shack Parrish's Indian Creek consignment broke from the gate running Thursday when the first offering of the sale, an Into Mischief colt (Hip 755), brought $850,000 from Courtlandt Farm.

“He is a really nice horse,” Parrish said. “This was our first horse of the sale. I think Tuesday and Wednesday were extraordinary and Monday was kind of bouncy. Yesterday, especially was extremely strong, and today has already opened that way. It looks pretty good so far.”

Bred by Bob Edwards' Fifth Avenue Bloodstock and Centerline Breeding, Hip 755 is out of SP Inspired Grace (Curlin), a half-sister to GISW Off the Tracks (Curlin) and MGSW Concord Point (Tapit).

“He did everything right at the farm,” Parrish said. “He is very mild-mannered. He just keeps developing. He's beautiful now, but he will be even more beautiful this time next year.”

Courtlandt Farm has been extremely active through the first two books and have been quite keen on Into Mischief. Hip 755 was their third purchase by the red-hot Spendthrift stallion.

“We loved the colt, felt like he had a lot of stretch to him and looks like a colt that will fit our program,” said Courtlandt Farm manager Ernie Retamoza. “We are excited to have him and to get him at that number honestly, not to belittle what he brought.” @CDeBernardisTDN

 

Practical Joke Filly a Sentimental Score for St. George
When Archie St. George sold a Practical Joke colt (Hip 1079) he purchased for $105,000 at KEEJAN to Talla Racing for $750,000 during Thursday's session, it was not his first pinhooking score. However, it was certainly one of his most meaningful as St. George bought the colt from his good friend Mike Recio of South Point Sales Agency, who passed Thursday morning.

“We bought him as a weanling in January off South Point Sales, so I guess someone is looking down on us and helping us through it all.,” St. George said, the emotion clear on his face. “It's a sentimental sale. It was great. He was a very nice horse.”

He continued, “I'd like to thank the buyer Mike Talla and the underbidders, David Ingordo and his team and the Coolmore team. Practical Joke has been a very good stallion and he is a very nice horse. Fingers crossed we will hopefully see him down the road.”

Practical Joke is second to Gun Runner of the leading freshman sire list this term with 12 winners, two of which are also black-type winners. His graded stakes-winning son Wit was second in last weekend's GI Hopeful S. at Saratoga.

“Roger O'Callaghan rang me before the January sale and we had a Practical Joke filly back with him at Tally Ho,” St. George said. “He said whatever happens we are buying a Practical Joke. We did and the rest is history.”

Bred in Ontario by South Point, Hip 1079 is the first foal out of Gal Factor (The Factor), who is a half-sister to this year's GI Arkansas Derby winner Super Stock (Dialed In) and GISP Boujie Girl (Flashback).

“He has done very well,” St. George said. “He is a big, tall horse. As the spring and summer went on, he filled out. He has just been a simple straightforward horse. He got a little update in the second dam this year and everything fell into place. The stars aligned.”  @CDeBernardisTDN

 

A Profitable Duo for Duignan
Gabriel Duignan and a pair of Irish partners doubled up on a pair of pinhooking scores Thursday at Keeneland, selling a son of Speightstown (hip 944) for $425,000 to Starlight and Harrell Ventures and returning a few hips later to sell a daughter of Munnings (hip 961) for $280,000 to bloodstock agent Clay Scherer. The colt had been purchased by the partners for $180,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale and the filly had been acquired for $105,000 at that same auction.

The Speightstown colt is out of Wild Ridge (Tapit), a daughter of multiple graded stakes winner Wild Gams (Forest Wildcat).

“He was a very nice foal, a very typical Speightstown,” Duignan said of the colt “And I like the Tapit mares–he is a hell of a broodmare sire. He grew up and he was well-received on the grounds.”

The Munnings filly, a Canadian-bred, is out of Artillia (Artie Schiller), a half-sister to graded placed Solitaire (Victory Gallop).

“I think the Ontario-bred helped the Munnings filly,” Duignan said. “And Munnings, of course, has improved in the meantime. He's in another league. She's a big, strong filly who looks like she'll get a route of ground and with clean X-rays. She did everything the right way.”

Of buying weanlings last fall, Duignan said, “We had to work hard on it and we got outbid on a lot. I wouldn't have called it soft buying them last year.”

But the Irishman agreed the September market has been very competitive.

“This might be a bit more robust,” he said when asked to compare the two markets. “Our racing is so healthy right now. It probably makes more sense than it ever did to race a horse. There is a wide array of buyers. Our market here in America is very good here at the moment. We don't have a lot of foreign participation, but the domestic market is very good.”

Looking ahead to the remaining week of the September sale, Duignan said, “I am hoping it will be good. The crowds are still on the grounds and there a lot of people who haven't gotten to buy yet. I am hoping it will kick on.” @JessMartiniTDN

 

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The Sizzle Is Back at Saratoga

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Following a bidless 2020, the sizzle was back at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion with a vibrant concluding session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale Tuesday in upstate New York. The session was punctuated by three seven-figure transactions, led by a colt by Into Mischief who sold for $2.6 million to Coolmore's M.V. Magnier.

“Whatever adjectives you want to use to describe it: fantastic, vibrant, energetic, dramatic,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said Tuesday night. “You've heard me say it before and I will say it again. It begins with the quality of horses that were on the sales grounds. We were lucky to have an exceptional group of horses on the grounds this week. You could feel the buzz on the sale grounds. We had a few more breakout horses today just purely by the alphabet. All in all, it was a near-record sale. To accomplish that coming off a disruption in 2020 was remarkable.”

Through two sessions, Fasig-Tipton sold 135 horses for a total of $55,155,000. The average was $408,556 and the median was $350,000. Records of $411,459 (average) and $350,000 (median), respectively, were set in 2019. With 45 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 25%.

“We were fortunate to have a very, very strong catalogue,” Browning said. “I could hardly be happier right now. It wasn't the sale of the century, but it was awfully close to the sale of century. It lays the foundation for us to begin to work for the next century of great horse sales in Saratoga. I promise you we will do our part to make sure that happens.”

The $2.6-million sale topper–super sire Into Mischief's highest-priced yearling ever–was consigned by Gainesway on behalf of his breeder Don Alberto Corporation. He was one of four lots to reach seven figures. That matches the number of million-dollar yearlings sold at the 2019 sale.

A colt from the first crop of Bolt d'Oro sold to Larry Best's OXO Equine for $1.4 million early in Tuesday's session and was followed some thirty hips later by a $1-million son of Quality Road purchased by Kindred Stables. Lane's End's Quality Road had five of the top 16 offerings Tuesday, while his first-crop stallion son City of Light occupied another two spots at that level.

The domestic buying bench continued to be deep at the boutique auction, with the top 15 lots purchased by 12 individual buyers.

While top lots were in high demand, consignors did see some weakening at the lower levels of the market.

“The right horse brings triple and the others are tough,” Hill 'n' Dale Sale Agency's John Sikura said. “I assume everyone is having the same experience. You have to have enough good individuals to make up for the others.”

Gainesway consigned two of Tuesday's top four yearlings and the operation's Brian Graves said he saw a noticeable uptick in activity during the auction's second session.

“It was a little spotty in here on the first night and you do get to wondering as a consignor sometimes if things are going to be fair or if you're just going to be in a buyer's market,” Graves said. “I was wondering that the first night, but when the quality came here tonight, they seemed to open up. I think there were better horses today and I think the market really opened up this evening.”

Bloodstock agent David Ingordo was busy buying at the auction and said he found plenty of activity throughout the market.

“It can be spotty if you don't have the right horse,” Ingordo said. “But if you do, you better get tied on. The middle market is still good. There are people buying horses, a buddy of mine, Tom McCrocklin, is buying horses in that middle-price range. I see him buying them in the $100,000 to $250,000 range and we bought a few, what I call value for here, and you just have to get lucky. But if the horse is nice, forget about it, they are throwing the reins at it.”

The 100th Saratoga sale also made history when the first-ever cryptocurrency purchase of a Thoroughbred at public auction. After Spendthrift Farm's Eric Gustavson made the historic purchase, he told Fasig-Tipton's Acacia Courtney, “It was really exciting. Hopefully, this will continue to happen. It will be like a snowball effect and other sales companies may be open to it.”

Another Sale Topper for Coolmore

The Coolmore team was relatively quiet during Monday's first session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, but the Irish operation jumped in with both feet Tuesday, securing a colt by Into Mischief (hip 168) for a sale-topping $2.6 million. The yearling was consigned by Antony Beck's Gainesway on behalf of his breeder, Don Alberto Corporation.

“He was a very nice horse. He is one that we've been talking about for the last couple of days,” Coolmore's M.V. Magnier said. “He was a very nice horse and he's by a very good sire out of a very good race mare. The way Practical Joke is going at the moment, it looks like Into Mischief is a sire of sires. He's a very nice horse and let's hope he's as good as Practical Joke.”

Magnier, flanked by members of the Coolmore team, did his bidding while standing at the back row of seats in the pavilion. The group stopped several times to discuss the progression of the bidding while battling with a determined bidder out back.

Asked what the conversation in the scrum sounded like, Magnier said with a laugh, “We just wanted to know what was going on.”

Magnier signed the ticket on four yearlings during the two-day Saratoga sale. He purchased a colt by Curlin (hip 166) for $500,000; a Practical Joke colt (hip 152) for $425,000; and an American Pharoah colt (hip 47) for $300,000.

Tuesday's sale-topping purchase was the second time this year Coolmore had purchased a $2.6-million colt from a Fasig-Tipton auction. The operation made that top bid at the Gulfstream sale in March to acquire a 2-year-old colt by Nyquist.

Hip 168 is out of 2016 GI Test S. winner Paola Queen (Flatter).  The Heller-Solari family's Don Alberto purchased the mare for $1.7 million at the 2017 Keeneland November sale.

“It is a tremendous opportunity for the mare and a tremendous success for Don Alberto,” the operation's executive director Chance Timm said of Tuesday's result. “Carlos Heller and the whole family have been so dedicated to this. It is very exciting. The commitment this family has made to the industry, with the investment in land and investment in mares, this is what we hope to achieve.”

Of the yearling's final price, Timm said, “It is hard to expect anything in that kind of range, but with the kind of interest we had, we knew he would sell well. He is a very rare type of horse. With that sire and that mare, those kind are very rare.”

Paola Queen produced a filly by Into Mischief this year and she was bred back to Tapit. Buyers can expect to see more of the 8-year-old mare's in the sales ring in the coming years.

“For the most part, everything goes to the market,” Timm said. “Mr. Heller is interested in partnerships every once in a while.”

Gainesway's Brian Graves said he was always high on the sale-topping yearling.

“We are just grateful for Don Alberto to send us such a nice horse,” Graves said. “He was a physical standout when we saw him on the farm. He was a horse that you got down on your hands and knees and said please let it be me and we were just lucky that they let us lead him around here.”

Graves continued, “He has a beautiful neck and shoulder, it ties in just beautifully, and a big square ass and just a walk that you see 2% of the horses you sell in a year walk that way and that will continue to walk like that. They walk that way on the last walk, the same as they did on the first walk. He was cool and calm the whole sale. And when horses do that and you are out of a Grade I winner and you're by the world's best stallion, you're supposed to have a chance to top the sale.”

Of the underbidder out back, Graves said, “I believe Fabricio Buffolo was the underbidder.” Buffolo, Don Alberto's former executive director, was reportedly bidding on behalf of Ben Leon's Besilu Stable. —@JessMartiniTDN

Half to Rachel Alexandra 'Bolts' Clear Early

A half-brother to Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) gave his first-crop sire Bolt d'Oro a major boost Tuesday when becoming the first yearling to reach the seven-figure mark during an electric second session. After a fast and furious round of bidding, hip 132 hammered for $1.4 million to Larry Best, who did his bidding quietly near the main entrance to the pavilion. John Sikura, whose Hill 'n' Dale Sales consigned the colt on behalf of breeder Dr. Dede McGehee's Heaven Trees Farm, was first on hand to congratulate the Oxo Equine principal.

“This is a special horse and a special opportunity,” said Best, who sold hip 114, a Quality Road colt, for $800,000 earlier in the evening and struck late for a $725,000 City of Light half-brother to his MGSW 'TDN Rising Star' Travel Column (Frosted) (hip 209). “Obviously there are no guarantees. The horse is just beautiful. Then you look at the page and it has Rachel Alexandra on it, which helps. It is 90% physical. However, I love Medaglia d'Oros and Bolt d'Oro is close. He is clearly the standout of the sale. Some people may pay more for a horse and they already have. He didn't vet totally clean, so I can't send him to Eddie Woods tomorrow. It will take three or four months, but he is worth the bet.”

Hip 132's dam Lotta Kim (Roar) was a stakes winner and GSP for owner/breeder Dolphus Morrison and was retired to McGehee's Heaven Trees Farm for her broodmare career. She sustained a life-threatening injury in a racetrack accident which made the foaling process and the recovery difficult, but was carefully managed by McGehee, who is a veterinarian and longtime friend to the late Morrison. Her first foal was two-time Eclipse winner Rachel Alexandra, who romped in the GI Kentucky Oaks for Morrison before being sold privately to Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick. She of course went on to win four more Grade Is, including the GI Preakness S., and produced a Grade I winner of her own in Rachel's Valentina (Bernardini). Rachel Alexandra's first foal was 'TDN Rising Star' and young sire Jess's Dream and she has since been retired from the breeding shed due to a post-foaling medical scare in 2013.

Morrison dispersed his breeding stock in 2012, except for Lotta Kim, who was transferred to McGehee's ownership. Stonestreet purchased Lotta Kim's daughter Samantha Nicole (Medaglia d'Oro) for $700,000 at that dispersal.

Lotta Kim's first foal for McGehee was the sentimentally named Dolphus (Lookin at Lucky), who was Grade III-placed. Her next foal Fayeq (Malibu Moon) summoned $800,000 from Shadwell Stable at Keeneland September and he was followed by SP Wooderson (Awesome Again), who was a $400,000 KEESEP buy for Let's Go Stable. Her 2017 colt Airstream (Tapit) RNA'd for $375,000 at that auction and McGehee retained her 3-year-old filly Gladys (Medaglia d'Oro), who has won one of four starts for trainer Kelsey Danner. Lotta Kim did not have a foal in 2019, making hip 132 her first foal to be offered at auction in three years and first to sell at Saratoga, where Rachel Alexandra famously beat older males as a sophomore filly in the 2009 GI Woodward S.. The 20-year-old Lotta Kim had a Bernardini filly this spring named Brilliance.

“I was not expecting it,” said an emotional overwhelmed McGehee after thanking Best. “You always hope for great things. He looked good and they did a great job prepping him. He is probably the best thing that I have ever owned. Thank you to Dolphus Morrison.”

This was the first time Hill 'n' Dale prepped and sold a horse for McGehee's operation.

“This is a beautiful classy, long, smooth gorgeous animal,” said SIkura. “This colt was high class and very popular. We had high expectations and you can say he exceeded them, but I thought he would hit $1 million. Anything after that you can't expect. Larry Best puts a lot of money in the game and I hope he bought a champion. Dede is a lovely lady and this is the first horse we sold for her. He presented like a champion and never turned a hair all week.”

Hip 132 is the first seven-figure offspring for first-crop sire Bolt d'Oro, who brought $630,000 at the 2016 renewal of this auction and went on to win a pair of Grade I events as a juvenile. His introductory fee was $25,000 and he was one of many stallions to have his fee reduced due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, going to $15,000. Bolt d'Oro's offspring proved quite popular at Saratoga with 10 yearlings selling for $4.07 million at an average of $267,500. @CDeBernardisTDN

Quality Filly Marks Sentimental Sale for Ryan

It's always a wonderful moment for a breeder when one of their homebreds reaches the $1-million mark, but it was extra special and a bit bittersweet for Mike Ryan Tuesday as his longtime partner and friend, the late Gerry Dilger, was not there to share in their success. Bred under Dilger and Ryan's Santa Rosa Partners banner, hip 160, a daughter of the operation's blue hen Above Perfection (In Excess {Ire}), summoned a cool million from Jeff Drown's Kindred Stables. Drown did his bidding over the phone with Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning and after the sale Ryan announced he would stay in for 50% of the filly.

“I stayed in for my half and Jeff bought out the other half. He is a great friend of mine,” Ryan said. “This is a family I'd find it very hard to replace. These kind are collector's items. You don't find them very often. This was a great price for the Dilger family. Gerry's widow, Erin, is very happy. I had great confidence in the filly and I told Jeff I'd stay in if he wanted to partner.”

The bloodstock agent added, “There is very little downside to this filly. The page speaks for itself. She will always have residual value and if she happens to win a stake her value multiplies.”

Ryan and Dilger acquired GSW Above Perfection for $450,000 in foal to Dixie Union at the 2006 FTKNOV sale. She had already produced three foals, none of which had any black-type. The foal she was carrying at the time of her purchase turned out to be Grade I winner Hot Dixie Chick, herself a $340,000 graduate of this sale. Her 2009 foal Abhaath (Hard Spun) was a $400,000 KEESEP yearling and her 2012 Tapit colt Chubasco brought $725,000 at that auction.

In 2014, Above Perfection produced a colt from the first crop of Bodemeister, who sold to Steve Young for $350,000 at Keeneland September. That colt was Always Dreaming who captured the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Florida Derby under the care of Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.

He was followed by $485,000 KEESEP buy Safwah (Medaglia d'Oro) in 2015 and Above Perfection's 2016 foal was a filly named Positive Spirit (Pioneerof the Nile), who won a Grade II for Dilger and Ryan before selling to Spendthrift for $1.5 million at FTKNOV.

“This is a mare that did so much for the Dilger family and the Ryan family,” Ryan said. “She hadn't produced any stakes winners when we bought her, but she just threw one after another for us. It is a very bittersweet moment because he is not here to celebrate it, enjoy it and see the fruits of his labor. He was the one hands on and I was on the road, so to speak. He did it all. He was a great friend and a terrific guy and partner.”

Above Perfection's recent produce includes an unraced juvenile filly named Beyond Perfection (Curlin) and a 2021 colt by Justify. Sadly, she had to be euthanized shortly after producing that foal.

“We lost the mare this year,” Ryan said. “She had her last foal by Justify and she foundered a few weeks after foaling. She had never been sick a day in her life. She was a 23-year-old mare and she looked like she was 17. But, she foundered after foaling very quickly and we ended up putting her to sleep. We were going to pension her and let her live out her days, but we didn't get to do that.”

Ryan said of all the foals he and Dilger have bred out of Above Perfection, hip 160 reminds him of Hot Dixie Chick the most. Purchased by Barbara Banke's Grace Stables for $435,000 at the FTKFEB juvenile sale, she captured the GI Spinaway S. and GIII Schuylerville S. at the Spa and has produced GSW Pauline's Pearl (Tapit) and MSW Union Jackson (Curlin).

“She actually reminds me of Hot Dixie Chick, a medium-sized, strong, quality filly,” Ryan said. “She has a great mind and Hot Dixie Chick was the same way. When Hot Dixie Chick was training, you'd think she had a temperature, but that was just her demeanor, a very low-tempered filly. This filly is the same way. She takes everything in stride. She reminds me of Hot Dixie Chick and the mare more than Quality Road.”

Hip 160 was consigned by Shack Parrish's Indian Creek. @CDeBernardisTDN

Best Sells, Too

Larry Best, who has frequently made headlines as a buyer over the last several years, is now two-for-two as a seller after a colt by Quality Road (hip 114) bred by Best's OXO Equine went for $800,000 to the online bid of WinStar Farm's Maverick Racing Tuesday evening in Saratoga. The bay colt is out of stakes winner Hung the Moon (Malibu Moon) and is a half-brother to Grade I-placed Brill (Medaglia d'Oro), who was purchased by Best for $1 million at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton July sale and is another mare in his broodmare band.

“It's my second in my homebred I've sold and to be honest with you, I didn't want to sell him,” Best said. “But when you are breeding and you're racing and you have the broodmare population, you have to support it. You can't just keep every horse. This was a beautiful colt. At $750,000, I was taking him home. But when it got to $800,000, I thought whoever owns him, I hope, will have Grade I wins and it will help my mare and Brill, who is also a mare of mine. And it will help fund the whole breeding operation.”

Best's first homebred to go through the sales ring, a colt by Candy Ride (Arg) out of Beyond Grace (Uncle Mo) (hip 111), sold for $350,000 to James Bernhard at last month's Fasig-Tipton July sale.

“I am two-for-two now,” Best said. “This is the only one I am selling today, but I have three or four at Keeneland and two with Fasig. But whoever bought this horse bought an outstanding specimen.”

It didn't take Best long to reinvest his profits, purchasing a colt by Bolt d'Oro half-brother to champion Rachel Alexandra for $1.4 million. —@JessMartiniTDN

Tapit Filly Heads West

A filly by Tapit (hip 139) will head out west to join the California-based stable of trainer John Shirreffs after selling for $800,000 to the bid of bloodstock agent David Ingordo Tuesday in Saratoga. The gray yearling was bred and consigned by Antony Beck's Gainesway, which campaigned her dam Madame Stripes (Arg) (Equal Stripes) to win the 2018 GIII Megahertz S. and a third-place effort in the GI Gamely S. Group 1 placed in her native Argentina, the 9-year-old mare hit the board in six additional graded stakes in California in 2017 and 2018.

“She is a good Tapit and we have been really lucky buying homebreds from Gainesway,” Ingordo said. “She came up here and looked awesome and she had the pedigree. She's going to end up in California and John Shirreffs will train her. The mother ran out there and I liked that. And I noticed Tapit has done well with South American mares. I think [GI Belmont S. winner] Creator was out of a similar pedigree.”

Madame Stripes has a weanling filly by Tapit and was bred back to that Gainesway stalwart.

“She was bred and raised at Gainesway out of a mare that Antony raced in partnership,” Gainesway's Brian Graves said. “We were thrilled with the result. I hear David Ingordo got her and is taking her out to California which is fitting because that was where her mother was successful. We wish them a lot of luck.” —@JessMartiniTDN

Quality Road Colt Gets Session Off to a Fast Start

The first hip through the ring during Tuesday's second session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale was a good indicator of what was to come. Hip 111, a Quality Road colt out of GISW Harmonize (Scat Daddy), got things off and running in a big way, selling for $700,000 to West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing. He was consigned by Brookdale Sales.

“You are always a little nervous bidding on the first horse in the ring,” said West Point racing manager Erin Birkenhauer. “It is kind of a bad post position for the consignor, but you'd think it was a good post position for the buyer. When they have that much quality, it doesn't matter. People noticed he was super athletic. He was pretty much a carbon copy of Quality Road and we loved the Scat Daddy mare. She was a very good racehorse. This colt was a handy-looking horse. You wouldn't be surprised if he was a precocious 2-year-old.”

“We knew he was a top-end colt,” said Birkenhauer. “This was a one-horse consignment, so they aren't going to bring a horse up here that isn't going to create some fireworks. We expected we would have to be pretty strong, which is why we banded together with Bill Farish and his group [Woodford Racing] to get it done.”

Larkin Armstrong purchased Harmonize for $80,000 as a KEESEP yearling and she captured the GI Del Mar Oaks, as well as a pair of Grade IIIs, including Saratoga's Glens Falls S. Armostrong retained her first foal, the now 2-year-old Vocalize (More Than Ready), who is in training with J.J. Pletcher in Ocala.

“I thought this colt would be a good prospect for the sales, so I was very excited,” said Armstrong. “A lot of good agents and trainers were on him, so that was really cool.” @CDeBernardisTDN

Rajput Makes Most of Spa Trip

Indian businessman Kuldeep Singh Rajput made the most of his first trip to Saratoga, with his fledgling Gandharvi Racing operation teaming up with China Horse Club to acquire three yearlings during the two-day boutique auction. The two operations partnered to purchase a filly by Practical Joke (hip 67) for $420,000, a colt by Street Sense (hip 206) for $350,000 and a colt by Good Magic (hip 18) for $325,000.

“While I was growing up back in India, I was really fascinated by horses, their elegance, speed and power,” Rajput said of his early interest in racing. “My great, great grandparents used to breed in India, but after that nobody took it forward. I always had a dream and a goal that one day I would own racehorses and get into the racing and the breeding scene.”

His dreams of a racing stable were put on hold as Rajput built up his digital health company Biofourmis which is focused on developing software-based therapeutics to provide better outcomes for patients, smarter engagement and tracking tools for clinicians, and cost-effective solutions for payers.

“The timing wasn't right, I was building my company, but at some point last year, I had an opportunity to buy a horse in Singapore,” Rajput said. “I bought it and since then I have built relationships and kept expanding, in Australia, in the U.K. and here in the U.S.”

“I have 24 horses, most of them are in pre-training and most of them are yearlings. In the U.S., we have a couple with Todd Pletcher. And in the U.K. we bought one 2-year-old, a Kingman (GB) colt, with China Horse Club. He is going to hopefully race this week.”

That Kingman colt, the €580,000 Arqana May Breeze-Up purchase Kingdom Come (Ire), is expected to be Rajput's first-ever starter when he goes to the post Friday at Newbury.

Rajput's partnership with China Horse Club came about after he purchased a yearling by the group's Group 1 winner Russian Revolution (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}).

“I ended up buying a yearling in Australia by Russian Revolution and I bought the yearling for Singapore,” Rajput said. “That was the first Russian Revolution in Singapore and Teo [Ah Khing] reached out and congratulated me and he was excited. We started talking and we have built a good relationship and I think we have the same goals.”

Rajput expects his racing empire to eventually encompass breeding.

“We will probably start with the racing and hopefully get some fillies,” he said. “And hopefully have broodmares and breed our own. As you know, it all takes time, but I think we have the right partners.”

The 29-year-old Rajput, based in Boston and Singapore, was making not only his first trip to Saratoga, but also his first foray at an in-person auction.

“It's been fun. It's my first sale in person,” he said. “Most of the sales earlier this year were online. So far, in Australia and other places, I primarily deal with trainers. And trainers, of course, work with some agents. But I try to build good relationship with the trainers. We have Ciaron Maher and Chris Waller in Australia, Todd [Pletcher] here. So far we have done it that way.” —@JessMartiniTDN

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MGISW Rushing Fall Fasig-Tipton Bound

Six-time Grade I winner Rushing Fall (More Than Ready)–winner of all three of her starts in 2020, including Saratoga’s GI Diana S. and Keeneland’s GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S.–will be offered at Fasig-Tipton’s November sale, scheduled for Nov. 8 in Kentucky. She will be consigned on behalf of the Edward family’s e Five Racing Thoroughbreds by Indian Creek, agent.

“Rushing Fall is one of the more brilliant turf females we have seen in some time, compiling a near perfect record in capturing her division’s most prestigious and competitive races,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “She is a true collector’s item, and we are honored that the Edwards Family has entrusted her sale to Fasig-Tipton.”

Winner of 11 of her 14 career starts, including the 2017 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and $2,553,000 while under the tutelage of Chad Brown, Rushing Fall has a fall target of a return to the Breeders’ Cup before the Fasig-Tipton sale.

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