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ER Nurse Cashes in on Keeneland November Book 3 Topper

Over the past eight months, there have been very few jobs more demanding, more exhausting, more defeating, than that of an ER nurse.

Malia Hopkins can attest to that. She’s the ER nurse manager for not one, but two ERs in Stuttgart, Arkansas.

It’s been an unimaginable year for the well-practiced RN, but she said one event last week made the ongoing battle against the pandemic more than worth it.

In the fourth session of the Keeneland November Sale, her first-ever horse to go through a sales ring hammered down as the top-selling weanling of Book 3.

Selling as Hip 1269 with the Four Star Sales consignment, her Mendelssohn colt out of Abuntia (Olmodavor) sold for $300,000, the highest-priced weanling of the sale for the first-crop Coolmore sire.

The colt was foaled and raised at Woodstock Farm in Lexington, and while Hopkins was not able to visit him as much as she had hoped in his first few months due to the pandemic, she’s been eagerly receiving photos of the youngster since day one.

“Dealing with the pandemic and managing the ERs has made for a very stressful year,” she said. “To have something like this occur 100% made my year worth it. Being with Woodstock Farm, they got that colt in shape and made him look like he was a million-dollar colt. They all went above and beyond to make this an amazing end of the year for me.”

Hopkins shares her love of horses with her mother, who is also a nurse. The mother-daughter duo were involved in the Quarter Horse breeding industry when Hopkins was a child. But at the age of 21, a car crash left her unable to ride and they were forced to dissolve their business.

Just a few years ago, they decided to venture into the Thoroughbred industry. Hopkins said it took some time to find a few broodmares that piqued her interest, but one in particular caught her eye.

Abuntia came from the family of several notable winners. She was a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner St. Joe Bay (Saint Anddan), and her third dam was three-time Eclipse winner and Grade I producer Susan’s Girl (Quadrangle).

The only catch was her spotty produce record.

Her first foal in 2015, a filly by Regal Ransom, sold for $1,000 at the OBS Winter Mixed Sale and never saw the racetrack. Then over the next two years, the mare couldn’t get in foal.

“[The sellers] told us that she was having some difficulties getting in foal, so that’s when we got in touch with Jeff Little,” Hopkins said. “Jeff got her in shape and got her in foal to Not This Time on the first cover.”

The resulting filly, now a two-year-old, was retained for racing. Hopkins said she’s now in training in Kentucky and will race next year at Oaklawn Park.

The mare didn’t carry the same luck the next two breeding season, failing to catch both years. But Hopkins had high hopes for 2019, as there was one potential stallion that she thought would be a perfect match.

“We saw Mendelssohn on the racetrack and started bugging Coolmore in August,” she said with a laugh. “They said they could get us a contract. We went from Arkansas to Kentucky to watch him run in the Breeders’ Cup, and I was praying he didn’t win so I could continue to afford him.”

Abuntia checked in foal, and her Mendelssohn colt was born at the end of February, just before Hopkins stepped onto the Coronavirus front line.

“We were blessed with a beautiful colt that looked phenomenal,” she recalled. “With COVID, I couldn’t come up to see him as much, but from the very first photos they were sending, I could tell it was a nice individual. He was probably about two months old when he started showing he was a real standout and a class act.”

Hopkins was able to make the trip to Lexington to watch her first foal go through the sales ring to the tune of $300,000, selling to Larry Best’s OXO Equine.

“I was so nervous I couldn’t actually videotape it,” she said. “I tried. But thankfully he did amazing and brought what he did. I’m ecstatic that Larry Best has the horse and I’m extremely grateful for Coolmore, Four Star Sales and Tony [Lacy, consignor and advisor] for everything they’ve done for us. It was an amazing first experience.”

Two days later, Hopkins had another weanling go through the sales ring, this one a filly by Not This Time that was born and raised at Hopkins’s farm in Arkansas and brought $37,000.

“With her being an Arkansas-bred, I was tickled to death with that,” she said.

Hopkins puts no stock in beginner’s luck and has even higher aspirations for the future.

Her goal for next year?

“I would love to be able to have a topper in Book 2 next time.”

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Serengeti Empress Retires to Taylor Made

Taylor Made Farm welcomed dual Grade I winner Serengeti Empress (Alternation) home to her birthplace on Monday afternoon. The 2019 Kentucky Oaks victress will be bred to red hot sire Into Mischief.

Shipping in from the Tom Amoss barn at Churchill Downs, Serengeti Empress will become barnmates with several other high-profile maiden mares, including Larry Best’s recent $1.95 million Keeneland November purchase Concrete Rose (Twirling Candy).

“It’s just special,” said Frank Taylor, the Vice President of Boarding Operations for Taylor Made. “When you get these Grade I winners come to the farm, it’s what we thrive on. We’ve had some great ones here, but we’ve now raised close to 110 Grade I winners, and she’s one of them. So whenever they get to come back home, it’s special.”

Serengeti Empress was bred by Tri Eques Bloodstock, a group made up of agent Jacob West, Mike Hardig and Val Henson. Henson, Taylor shared, is the Director of Maintenance and Special Projects at Taylor Made Farm and Serengeti Empress was the first mating he was a part of.

“Unfortunately, I talked him into selling her because I thought the bills she would bring in would be too high to keep her,” Taylor admitted. “But he’s gotten a few checks along the way. That makes it even more special. Our team takes great pride in raising horses like this. And to have another Oaks winner here is special.”

The daughter of Alternation was a $25,000 weanling-turned-$70,000 yearling pinhook.

“She was a very good foal when she was born here, a great individual,” Taylor said. “She was a standout. She sold pretty well for her pedigree, but every time out she just exceeded expectations.”
A 5½-length winner first time out, Serengeti Empress was a dual stakes winner by the end of her juvenile season. At three, she took the GII Rachel Alexandra S. before giving trainer Tom Amoss his first GI Kentucky Oaks victory. Also as a sophomore, she ran second in two Grade I races in the Acorn S. and Test S. and then wrapped up the season with a third-place effort in the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

This year, the fleet-footed bay added wins in the GII Azeri S. and the GI Ballerina S. to her resume before finishing out her racing career with a runner-up effort behind Gamine (Into Mischief) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

The over-$2.1 million dollar earner is the first graded stakes winner for owner Joel Politi, an orthopedic surgeon from Columbus, Ohio. Upon her retirement, Politi opted to retain the mare instead of offering her at this fall’s breeding stock sales.

“She’s become part of his family,” Taylor said of Politi’s relationship with the talented filly. “Joel and his daughter and wife are all very excited to be part of her broodmare career. Joel is a super guy, and it’s going to be exciting to get that Into Mischief baby and see what happens.”

Of the stallion choice, Taylor added, “Basically you’re breeding the best to the best. I guess there’s no better choice to go with. You know, she got beat by Gamine in her last start so that just makes it more important to breed to Into Mischief. He’s a stallion that’s in his own league.”

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Book Three Concludes at Keeneland

LEXINGTON, KY – The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale’s two-session Book 3 section concluded with another day of steady trade Friday in Lexington. Bill Betz made the day’s highest bid, going to $270,000 late in the day to acquire the racing/ broodmare prospect Divine Queen (Divine Park) from the Trackside Farm consignment. The mare was one of four to bring $200,000 or more during the session. While only 292 of the 401 catalogued head went through the ring Friday, 235 sold for a buy-back rate of just 19.52%.

Through the two Book 3 sessions, Keeneland sold 462 head for $26,185,000. The average was $56,677–down just slightly from last year’s figure of $57,032–and the median of $42,000 dipped 6.7% from $45,000 a year ago. Fifteen horses sold for $200,000 or more during Book 3.

During last year’s Book 3 section, 499 head sold for $28,459,200. The book’s top price was $325,000 and there were nine offerings who sold for $200,000 or more.

“It was a lot better than I anticipated,” Summerfield’s Francis Vanlangendonck said of the November market. “For the babies, it’s been really, really good. The weanlings sold much better today than earlier in the week. Yesterday we averaged about 80 showings per weanling for horses we were selling today. The buyers were pretty aggressive. It seems like for these lower-valued weanlings there is a world of people wanting to buy. With people worried about what the markets were going to be like, there were a lot of scratches. Those well-conformed weanlings that vetted good sold really well. Even some that had issues are starting to sell. I looked at the outs, so by the time we got to the sales ring, I knew where we were. I knew there would be a market, but thought it would be a little timid… when the supply started lowering, I felt we might do OK. Even with the mares I thought they did well. We sold every horse we put through the ring. We had gotten beaten up pretty good in September and October and we were having to sell to make sure we had money for stud fees and to keep going.”

Reiley McDonald of Eaton Sales said there was still demand for the right type of mares and weanlings.

“The mares that are legitimate, there are buyers here for them and Book 3 has still been good,” McDonald said. “There are horses that just have holes in them, they are a little old or the foals don’t vet right, there is no market for those. The weanling buyers are not putting up with any veterinary flaws. That always happens in a tight market. If you jump through the hoops–you’re a nice physical and you’re clean–then you will get as much here as you will for a yearling. There is money out there and people get hungry. Everybody gets shuffled back by the earlier higher-priced horses and get hungry in Books 3 and 4 because the pinhookers make their living reselling the foals.”

The Keeneland November sale continues through Wednesday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

Divine Score for Bradley

Bill Betz struck late to secure Divine Queen (Divine Park) (hip 1764) for a session-topping $270,000 Friday at Keeneland, signing for the mare in the name of Avout Bloodstock. Tom Evans’s Trackside Farm consigned the 5-year-old racing or broodmare prospect on behalf of co-owner/breeder and trainer Buff Bradley.

“We bred her, foaled her, raised her and raced her and we just sold her,” said Bradley. “Pretty much like we did [two-time sprint champion] Groupie Doll. We were very excited to race this filly and then sell her as a mare and know she was going to go somewhere good.”

Racing for Bradley and co-breeder Carl Hurst, Divine Queen won the 2019 Open Mind S. and 2018 Dogwood S. She won six of 23 starts for earnings of $339,344.

“She had a lot of class,” Bradley said. “She showed it in the ring, walking up here, she’s just all class. And a very sound race mare. Never once did she have a problem. I think we are very proud of that. We bred a nice, sound racehorse.”

From the same family, Bradley and Hurst bred stakes winner and graded placed Queen’s Award (Medaglia d’Oro), a half-sister to Divine Queen, and also bred and campaigned multiple graded winner The Player (Street Hero), who is out of a half-sister to both mares.

“We have a lot of the family and we have to keep the cash flow going and get ready for the young ones coming along,” Bradley said of the decision to sell the mare.

Of the mare’s session-topping final price, Bradley said, “It was a bit more than what we were thinking, but we’re very happy with it.”

Gottahaveaholiday to Coteau Grove

Bloodstock agent Andrew Cary remained busy buying mares for the account of Keith and Ginger Myers’s Coteau Grove Friday at Keeneland, going to $240,000 to acquire the broodmare prospect Gottahaveaholiday (Harlan’s Holiday). The 6-year-old got a big update when her juvenile half-sister Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief) won the GI Frizette S. and finished second in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last week.

“The update is just huge,” Cary said after signing the ticket on the mare, who was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency. “That filly ran such an amazing race in the Breeders’ Cup and winning the Frizette. It gives us a nice filly to root for next year.”

Gottahaveaholiday was purchased by Samantha Siegel’s Jay Em Ess Stable for $230,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She finished second six times in 10 starts.

“The mare was gorgeous,” Cary continued. “She was an expensive yearling herself. We will breed her to a really nice stallion and have options moving forward.”

As the November sale continued through Book 3, Cary said there was still plenty of competition.

“There are still a lot of top agents and buyers here,” he said. “It’s been that way throughout the sale. You just have to follow them up and some you get and some you don’t. You just hope you land on the right number on some of them. We got outbid on probably 10 horses yesterday. It’s very competitive for these kind of long-term mares. There is a lot of competition for those and it bodes well for the bloodstock industry down the road.”

Cary has signed for 11 mares on behalf of the Lousiana-based Coteau Grove Farms for a total of $3,195,000. His purchases are led by a pair of $500,000 acquisitions: Miss Hot Legs (Verrazano) (hip 66) and Contributing (hip 958).

Nyquist Colt Joins Pinhooking Partnership

Headley Bell purchased a colt by Nyquist for $225,000 and the weanling (hip 1586) is part of a pinhooking partnership he has been busy buying for at the Keeneland November sale.

“I liked that he was an athlete and I liked the family,” Bell said. “And obviously we like Nyquist. It’s hard to ignore the start he has made. We put together a partnership and we are just trying to put some athletes in the bucket and see if we can get lucky.”

The chestnut is out of the unraced Senorita Corredora (El Corredor)–a $150,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase in 2010–and he is a half-brother to multiple stakes-placed Holiday’s Angel (Harlan’s Holiday). Bred by Gary and Anne Smith’s Elm Racing and Mulholland Springs, the weanling was consigned by Mulholland Springs.

“The sire is obviously doing well with the Breeders’ Cup winner [Vequist],” said John Mulholland. “It all fell into place. The colt vetted well and presented himself well, and we had all the right buyers on him. We bred him in partnership with some clients of ours, Gary and Ann Smith of Elm Racing. I actually bought the mare for the Smiths as a yearling and she got a tendon injury and never made it to the races. She was a breeze or two away from running. They have raced all the foals and want to do more racing, perhaps claim some horses or buy some 2-year-olds, and that is why we went ahead and sold the mare and the foal. Happily, I found another client to buy the mare and keep her on the farm, which makes me happy.”

Bell has purchased six weanlings at the Keeneland November sale for the partnership under the name Sycamore. In addition to hip 1586, he purchased a filly by Constitution (hip 1688) for $140,000; a filly by Distorted Humor (hip 1663) for $105,000; a filly by Mendelssohn (hip 1545) for $100,000; a colt by Malibu Moon (hip 408) for $90,000; and a filly by First Samurai (hip 1511) for $70,000.

“We feel like there is potential opportunity,” he said. “We’ll see. Coming into the sale, we thought it might be somewhat depressed, but I don’t feel that it is at all, to be honest with you.”

Weanling-to-yearling pinhookers have come up against plenty of competition from end-users at this week’s Keeneland November sale, particularly from Larry Best’s OXO Equine, which has purchased eight foals.

“For Larry Best to come into the weanling market as strong as he is, he is obviously very competitive and makes it tough,” Bell said. “But listen, we are all trying to do the same thing.”

Practical Joke Weanlings Prove Popular

A pair of weanlings by young Coolmore sire Practical Joke set the pace for foal prices early in Friday’s session of the Keeneland November sale. Brian Graves of Gainesway went to $185,000 to acquire a colt by the Grade I winner (hip 1512) from the Eaton Sales consignment. Bred by Forging Oaks, the pinhooking prospect is a half-brother to multiple graded winner Secret Gypsy (Sea of Secrets).

“I bought Practical Joke as a yearling, so if anybody was going to be inspired to stretch for them a little bit, it’s me,” Graves said. “They’ve all been well-balanced, good movers and athletic. You’ve got to believe in Into Mischief and Practical Joke has a good chance. Hopefully, he will come out with some early runners and we’ll be in good shape.”

Graves purchased Practical Joke for $135,000 at the 2015 Keeneland January sale and resold him for $240,000 at that year’s Keeneland September sale. The stallion, whose first foals are yearlings, won the GI Champagne S., GI H. Allen Jerkens S. and GI Hopeful S.

“I was happy with the price,” Eaton Sales’ Reiley McDonald said of the transaction. “He is a really nice physical horse and those can go for anything above what you’re expecting when they are that good. His sire has been doing well, with one a couple hips before him that also sold well. He was the best horse we had physically.”

Just a few hips before Graves made his purchase, Larry Best’s OXO Equine went to $150,000 to acquire a filly by Practical Joke (hip 1510) from the Brookdale Sales consignment. The chestnut filly is out of the unraced Miss Prytania (Eskendereya), a half-sister to graded winners Medal Count (Dynaformer) and Garden District (Dixie Union). She was bred by J.R. Ward Stables.

Graves agreed the weanling market has been very competitive this week in Lexington.

“I am not shocked,” he said of the strong weanling market. “Everybody saw there were fewer on offer and maybe the nice ones that have come through have been fewer and farther between. The laws of supply and demand take over.”

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Keeneland Marches Into Book 3

LEXINGTON, KY – The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale continued to generate steady trade as its two-session Book 3 opened Thursday in Lexington. A pair of mares from the Bluewater Sales consignment brought the day’s co-highest price of $300,000 and were joined at that price by a weanling colt from the first crop of Mendelssohn who was purchased by Larry Best from the Four Star Sales consignment.

During Thursday’s session, 227 head grossed $13,153,000. The session average of $57,943 ticked up 2.29% from last year’s corresponding session and the median dipped 6.67% to $42,000. The session’s buy-back rate was 24.33%. Eleven horses sold for $200,000 or over during the session, compared to three reaching that threshold in 2019.

“I think it’s been fair,” Four Star’s Tony Lacy said of the market. “When you peel back the layers, I think this has been fair on both sides. Good horses are bringing good money. I think that horses that are perceived to have lesser value are a tougher sell. And I’m not saying that they are not good horses, but it’s just that there is a polarization for some better horses. But we are selling most of them, which is encouraging. I think, all in all, I have to say we are very pleased with how it’s turning out.”

Duncan Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency agreed that, given all the economic and pandemic uncertainties swirling around the auction, the November market was holding up well as it entered its Book 3 section.

“I think it was steady,” Taylor said as Thursday’s session was winding down. “I don’t think you got a lot of extra money at any point, but I think things were bringing about where we had them valued. There were still plenty of people wanting to buy. So I think it’s positive. I think the market is good. I’m not saying it’s great. There are a lot of people who selling horses who aren’t making any money, but things are moving and there is trade going on. We didn’t have many RNA’s today, so that’s always a good sign.”

The Keeneland November sale continues through next Wednesday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

Sex Symbol Sells at Keeneland

Patrick Masson signed the ticket at $300,000 to acquire Sex Symbol (Uncle Mo) (hip 1183) for his family’s Green Lantern Stables. The 3-year-old mare, who sold in foal to City of Light, is a daughter of Grade I winner Icon Project (Empire Maker) and is a half-sister to graded winner Fashion Business (GB) (Frankel {GB}). She was consigned by Meg Levy’s Bluewater Sales.

“Physically, she checked all of the boxes,” Masson said. “I like the cross of Uncle Mo over Empire Maker. The mother has the same breeding as Pioneerof the Nile and the pedigree goes back to the foundation mare La Troienne–and that was all very attractive to us. The mare was a dirt mare, even though she was able to run on turf in England. She has produced a turf horse, but it’s mostly a dirt pedigree and that’s what we are gearing towards now.”

At last year’s November sale, Masson purchased Ultimate Cause (Giant’s Causeway) (hip 1301)–also from the Bluewater Sales consignment and also in foal to City of Light–for $310,000.

“I bought a mare from Meg last year in foal to City of Light and we really like the baby that we got this year,” Masson said. “So that was also a factor.”

Of the mare’s final price, Masson added, “In this book, I didn’t think there would be many horses over $250,000, but I wasn’t surprised by that price for this mare in particular. That was my top price. I thought I would pay $200-250,000, but at $300,000 there were obviously multiple people involved in the bidding. We were happy to get her.”

A few hips earlier, Bluewater Sales sold another filly for $300,000. John Moynihan signed the ticket as Springbord Farm to acquire the racing or broodmare prospect Quality Heat (Quality Road) (hip 1149). Racing for Gary Barber and trainer Mark Casse, the 3-year-old filly was third in last year’s Chelsey Flower S. and Tepin S. at Aqueduct and in the Woodbine Cares S. In her lone start this year, the dark bay was third in an Aqueduct optional claimer in January. She was working regularly through September at Casse’s training center.

Best Strikes for Mendelssohn Colt

Larry Best continued his buying spree at Keeneland November, going to $300,000 to acquire a colt from the first crop of Grade I winner Mendelssohn. The bay weanling (hip 1269) was consigned by Four Star Sales and was bred by Malia Hopkins. He is out of the unraced Abuntia (Olmodavor), a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner St. Joe Bay (Saint Anddan).

“That was incredible,” said Four Stars’ Tony Lacy. “We knew we had a nice colt at the barn. Quality has been selling very well and we were optimistic, but again you never know where that level is as far as what a horse like that can bring. Obviously, he is a great advertisement for the stallion. Mendelssohn has been an exciting stallion. A lot of people have really been trying to find the better specimens by him. And there are a lot to choose from. So that was exciting. I did not see that coming necessarily, but it was a pleasant surprise.”

Best’s OXO Equine has purchased 16 head for $7,815,000. He acquired a pair of seven-figure mares, purchasing Concrete Rose (Twirling Candy) for $1.95 million and Indian Miss (Indian Charlie) for $1.9 million. Best’s weanling purchases were led by a $450,000 son of Mastery (hip 266).

Flatter Colt Destined for Resale

Peter Pugh, as agent for Cherry Knoll Farm, purchased a colt by Flatter for $205,000 to lead early weanling returns Thursday at Keeneland. The bay colt, consigned by Claiborne Farm and bred by Bradley Purcell, is out of Speedy War (War Front) and is a full-brother to stakes winner Stifling.

“Right now he’ll be a resale, he’s a pinhook,” Pugh said. “He is a big scopey, live-family, Flatter. That’s about all you need.”

Asked how he has found the weanling market this week in Lexington, Pugh said, “It’s been extremely difficult.”

Pugh initially said he wasn’t surprised by the competitive marketplace, but qualified his response, “Actually, I’m a little surprised because of everything that’s going on. But once you get to that upper end–you’ve heard it over and over again–it gets hard.”

Of spending over $200,000 for a pinhook prospect, Pugh said, “To get the horses you need, you’re always spending 20% too much. That’s just the way it goes. Hopefully it will follow through for next year.”

Pinchbeck to Join Elm Tree Band

The 6-year-old Pinchbeck (Mineshaft) (hip 1139), in foal to Mastery, will be joining the Elm Tree Farm broodmare band after Jody Huckabay purchased the 6-year-old for $200,000 Thursday at Keeneland. The bay mare was consigned by Everett Dobson’s Candy Meadows, which purchased her for $30,000 as part of the Sarah Leigh dispersal at the 2016 Keeneland January sale. Her dam Seeking Atlantis (Seeking the Gold) sold at that same auction for $300,000.

“We tried to buy her mother several years ago and underbid her,” Huckabay said. “It’s a Ned Evans family–they know what they are doing, it’s just a great family. I’ve been waiting and waiting on her and my daughter Caroline found her. It’s a family operation and when we all agree on one, we try to buy them.”

Pinchbeck, who won twice in 15 starts for Dobson’s Cheyenne Stables, is a half-sister to graded placed Seeking Her Glory (Giant’s Causeway). Her second dam is multiple graded stakes winner Atlantic Ocean (Stormy Atlantic).

The mare is carrying her first foal and Huckabay said her covering sire Mastery was another selling point.

“We own a share in Mastery and we support him and we’re big fans of Claiborne,” Huckabay said. “Obviously they sold very well this week and we had a very nice yearling by him in September. So we think he’s cut out to be a really good stallion and we just think it’s a really good cross.”

Huckabay said he was doing plenty of shopping at the November sale, but had not bid on many mares.

“We’ve done a lot of looking,” he said. “This is the third mare we’ve bid on. It’s tough to find young mares. You just have to siphon through all these mares and figure out what works for you. Everybody has different criteria.”

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