Tag: Prank

‘Fair and Stable’ Keeneland January Sale Concludes

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm

LEXINGTON, KY – Driven by strong demand at the top–which saw the auction produce its first seven-figure horses in five years–the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale concluded Thursday in Lexington with a fairly steady average, but a double-digit decline in median.

“I think it's been a very fair and stable market,” said Keeneland Director of Sales Tony Lacy. “We saw a lot of stability and a lot of good trade going on. When you look at the fact that we haven't had a $1-million horse in January since 2019, and we had two through the ring and one sold privately, there was a lot of quality. I think that is what we saw the first day with the increase in gross and average. People are very much focused on the quality and are willing to pay a premium for it. Overall, the numbers were very satisfactory. Speaking to the buyers and speaking to the sellers, everybody found it a fair, competitive market. Nobody had a complaint that there was any sort of perceived weakness or anything that would give us concern for the future.”

Through four sessions, 831 horses grossed $38,330,300. The average of $46,126 dipped 2.28% from a year ago, while the median fell 21.05% to $15,000. The buyback rate remained steady at 22.84%.

“The median is down 21% from last year, but again the average has really held up,” Keeneland Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach said. “It's a sign that the top part of the market is in really good shape. That buoyancy is helping the average. The middle and lower end of the market felt a little spotty in Book 1, but [Wednesday]'s session was better than the corresponding session last year, which I think is a good sign for the market at large.”

During the auction's first session Monday, the broodmare prospect Prank (Into Mischief) became the sale topper when selling for $1.6 million to Tom Wachman of Coolmore from the Gainesway consignment. It was the first time since Coolmore spent $5 million to acquire Abel Tasman (Quality Road) at the 2019 sale that a horse had brought seven figures at a January sale. Later in that same session, Japan's K I Farm purchased Canadian champion Curlin's Voyage (Curlin) for $1 million from the Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa consignment. The 2024 January auction got a third seven-figure mare when Star Act (Street Cry {Ire}) sold post-sale for $1.2 million.

Star Act's private sale marked the second Keeneland sale at which a post-sale transaction provided a seven-figure result. At the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Puca (Big Brown) brought the auction's unofficial top price when selling post-sale for $2.9 million.

“Both of those two high-profile horses brought significantly more post-sale than they RNA'd for, which to me is reflective of an active buyer base,” said Breathnach.

As at the November sale, the January sale featured a vibrant post-sale trade. An additional 27 horses sold after initially being unsold in ring for $2,243,000.

“Our RNA-to-sale activity is up on last year,” Breathnach said. “We saw that in November, too. So sometimes, the RNA rate can look a little spiky and sometimes it is, but it's also kind of bolstered by the fact that people are here to buy. And that's a good sign for the number of people who are here and actually active. When they really think about what these horses are worth, they are willing to reconsider and give market value and at significantly higher numbers. Maybe that is partly coincidental and only happens this year, but I think it reflects an active buyer base that is determined to buy quality and we are grateful for that.”

Lacy added, “When you walk into the ring, in the hope of what something might bring, the market tells you what a horse is worth on the day. And that's a compromise between what someone is willing to spend and what you were hoping to get on the other side. There is a balance. But I think the post-sale trade also shows there is still a market after the hammer falls. And it's one that we encourage pretty strongly. It's not just in the ring. We feel like that is an important part of the process.”

Prank tops this year's Keeneland January Sale | Keeneland

As it was at the Keeneland November sale, the market for quality weanlings–and now short yearlings–remained strong.

“[The short yearling market] was very competitive,” said Breathnach. “The ones that sold well, sold very, very well. I think people were quite surprised by the activity at the top end of the yearling market. There was a lot of money around and for the good horses. That's a great sign for the future.”

In 2024, 382 short yearlings sold for $14,846,700 and an average of $38,866. A pair of yearlings shared top price of $430,000, with Cherry Knoll Farm acquiring a colt by Not This Time and John Stewart's Resolute Bloodstock purchasing a filly by Candy Ride (Arg) for that price. Three yearlings sold for $400,000 or over, six sold for $300,000 or over and 11 sold for $200,000 or over.

In 2023, 407 short yearlings sold through the ring for a gross of $18,055,300 and average of $44,362. A filly by Quality Road was the highest-priced yearling last year, selling for $450,000, and she was one of two to sell for $400,000 or over and five sold for $300,000 or over. Sixteen yearling sold for $200,000 or over.

“I think it's a really good sign for the health of the yearling market for next September that the activity is here in the new tax year with various uncertainties, obviously, around the world and in the economy,” Breathnach said. “The economy is in good shape, interest rates are coming down and inflation levels are drastically lower than they were. Still, people have reason to look to the future and make tough decisions, but they are deciding to buy good horses at a very high level.”

The January catalogue was diminished by a large number of outs. From a catalogue of 1,487, a total of 410 were withdrawn before going through the ring.

“We saw an elevated number of scratches, especially on session two, I think that was a lot of people who weren't really pressured to sell,” said Lacy. “And you saw that in the short yearlings, specifically, where people were happy enough to keep them and point them to September.”

The January sale attracted a diverse, and international buying bench, with the top 15 highest-priced horses bought by 13 different entities.

K I Farm's Tomoyuki Nakamura traveled from Japan to attend the January Sale for the first time. Also active was Japan's Shadai Farm, which acquired broodmare prospect Dolce Zel (Fr) (Zelzal {Fr}), a multiple group winner, for $400,000. In addition to Europe and Japan, buyers also represented Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Australia.

“There was very broad-based, global attention focused on this sale,” Lacy said. “Our sales team has been aggressive in traveling around the world, meeting people in person in their home countries to make sure they understand Keeneland is an international marketplace. We've had correspondence from people around the world during this sale in addition to the great buyer base who were here.”

Taylor Made Sales Agency was the leading consignor by gross at the January sale for the 21st time since 2001. Taylor Made sold 100 head for $5,080,200. Bloodstock agent Steve Young, who purchased four mares on behalf of Ramona Bass to support Bass's recently retired stallion Annapolis, was the auction's leading buyer.

The post ‘Fair and Stable’ Keeneland January Sale Concludes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Million-Dollar Mares Pace Keeneland January Opener

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm

LEXINGTON, KY – The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, which hadn't had a million-dollar mare since 2019, had two reach seven figures during its opening session Monday in Lexington, with 19-year-old Tom Wachman making the day's highest bid of $1.6-million to acquire the broodmare prospect Prank (Into Mischief) on behalf of his grandfather, John Magnier's Coolmore. Late in the session, Tomoyuki Nakamura of K I Farm purchased Curlin's Voyage (Curlin) for $1 million.

“I think we've got to be very happy with the way the session turned out,” Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said Monday evening. “We had two million-dollar plus horses, which is the first time since 2019. The numbers were pretty much on par for much of the day compared to last year and last year was a very strong sale.”

A total of 225 horses sold Monday for $17,547,500 for an average of $77,989 and a median of $32,000. Bolstered by the two million-dollar mares, the session average was up 7.43% from a year ago, while the median declined 20%.

With 97 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 30.12%. It was 31.29% a year ago.

Bloodstock agent Steve Young, accompanied by Ramona Bass, was the session's leading buyer with three mares purchased to support Bass's recently retired Grade I-winning sire Annapolis. The session featured a diverse buying bench with the 16 top-priced horses selling to 14 different buyers.

Cormac Breathnach and Tony Lacy on Monday | Keeneland

“I was really pleased with the depth of the buyer bench here,” said Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach. “There were a lot of people signing tickets in the ring and a lot of important buyers from America and also from around the world.”

Demand for short yearlings, a segment of the market which was competitive at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale two months ago, remained strong Monday in Lexington. Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, the session's leading consignor, sold the day's two top-priced yearlings, with a colt by Curlin selling to Milan Bloodstock for $375,000 and a son of Maclean's Music selling for $300,000 to Muir Hut Stables.

“The demand for yearlings was strong,” Breathnach said. “We sold 22 six-figure yearlings today versus 17 for the same day last year.”

Still there was a familiar polarization in the market.

“The market is very, very selective right now,” said Hill 'n' Dale manager Jared Burdine. “There are no end-users for the weanlings and pinhookers are very professional. They line up on the same horse.”

Lacy acknowledged the selectivity in the market, but also saw some positivity in Monday's results.

“Quality was very much to the fore,” Lacy said. “I think there was a little weakness on the ones of perceived lesser quality. But in saying that, I think the sellers were very pleased the way the market was shaking out and the buyers found it tough to buy what they were looking for. So, all in all, a good day.”

The Keeneland January sale continues through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

$1.6M Prank Kickstarts January Sale

Prank (Into Mischief) (hip 77), never able to follow up on a scintillating debut victory on the racetrack due to injury, had a star turn in the sales ring at Keeneland Monday, selling for $1.6 million to Coolmore. The 4-year-old was consigned by Gainesway, which campaigned her in partnership with LNJ Foxwoods and StarLadies Racing to that 9 3/4-length victory which earned her 'TDN Rising Star' honors at Saratoga in 2022.

“She's a lovely filly and a very good race filly,” said Tom Wachman after signing the ticket on the bay filly on behalf of the Coolmore team. “I'd say she will go to Justify. He's a phenomenal stallion doing it on the grass and the dirt. So I'd say that's where she'd go.”

Wachman, the 19-year-old grandson of Coolmore founder John Magnier, said this was the highest-priced horse he has signed for to date.

“I'm just trying to learn the ropes at the moment,” he said.

Out of Callingmissbrown (Pulpit), Prank is a half-sister to GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo). Bred by Ashview Farm and Colts Neck Stables, she was purchased for $500,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September sale.

“She was a real talent,” Gainesway's Brian Graves said of Prank. “She broke her maiden by 10 at Saratoga when she won by the length of the stretch basically. She got injured and wasn't able to make it back. But she had that brilliance that people want, the type that if you pass that along to your foals, they can be Grade I winners. We certainly thought she had the ability to be a Grade I winner. On the day she broke her maiden, you would have said she was the best 2-year-old in America, colts or fillies. Her figures were among the fastest in six years in Saratoga. And those horses were Grade I winners, so the ability was there.”

Prank's last recorded works came in August and her presence in the January sale was largely an issue of timing, according to Graves.

“We were going on with her and she developed a little issue,” Graves said. “And it was obvious that we weren't going to be able to continue on and it was time for her to be a broodmare and dissolve the partnership. So she landed here.”

Graves admitted the filly's $1.6-million price tag exceeded expectations.

“The young and beautiful have been selling well,” Graves said. “It's been holding up and we thought she would be in the top end, but that was a bit more than we were expecting.”

Prank was the first seven-figure horse sold at Keeneland January since Abel Tasman (Quality Road) sold–also to Coolmore–for $5 million in 2019. @JessMartiniTDN

Curlin's Voyage Brings $1 Million

Canadian champion Curlin's Voyage (Curlin) (hip 413) became the second seven-figure offering of Monday's first session of the Keeneland January sale when bringing a final bid of $1 million from Tomoyuki Nakamura of K I Farm. The 7-year-old mare, who was supplemented to the auction, sold in foal to Flightline from the Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa consignment.

“I liked the pedigree, the physical and who she was in foal to,” Nakamura said through an interpreter. “Everything matched up. I liked everything about her.”

Curlin's Voyage, who produced a filly by Tapit in 2022 and a filly by Uncle Mo in 2023, was bred by John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale.  Racing for the partnership of Sikura and Windsor Boys Racing, the chestnut won the 2019 GIII Mazarine S. and 2020 Woodbine Oaks. She was named Canada's champion 2-year-old filly in 2019 and came back to be named champion 3-year-old filly in 2020.

The mare is out of Atlantic Voyage (Stormy Atlantic), a full-sister to Grade I winner Stormello.

Asked about his plans for the mare, Nakamura said, “I haven't decided yet. Still in the decision-making process.”

Annapolis Date for Bridlewood Cat

Bloodstock agent Steve Young, sitting alongside Ramona Bass, signed the ticket at $750,000 to acquire Bridlewood Cat (Street Sense) (hip 267). The 8-year-old mare, in foal to Tapit, was consigned by Denali Stud, as agent for Bridlewood Farm. She now has an impending date with the Bass family's recently retired Grade I winner Annapolis (War Front).

“She was bought for the Bass family with the intention to give Annapolis the best mare support he could possibly get,” Young said. “She is a terrific, talented horse who won her first two races with mid-90s Beyers. She had Grade I talent and is a very good-looking horse on her own. She is probably one of the fastest Street Sense fillies that there ever was, breaking her maiden going three-quarters in :09 and change and she is the type of mare that the family is going to support this horse with.”

Purchased by Bridlewood Farm for $750,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale, Bridlewood Cat was stakes-placed while winning two of 10 starts for earnings of $115,090.

She is out of Ithinkisawapudycat (Bluegrass Cat) and is a half-sister to GI Spinaway S. winner Sweet Loretta (Tapit). Ithinkisawapudycat is a half-sister to Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Spring in the Air (Spring At Last).

“She is from a highly talented 2-year-old family,” Young said. “Her half-sister is a Grade I winner on the dirt at Saratoga as a 2-year-old. Under the second dam is the 2-year-old champion of Canada. And we are going to breed her to an undefeated 2-year-old stakes winner in Annapolis.”

Steve Young | Keeneland

Bred and campaigned by the Bass family, Annapolis earned his first graded victory as a juvenile, winning the 2021 GII Pilgrim S. In 2022, he added the GI Coolmore Turf Mile and GIII Saranac S. He will begin his stud career next month at Claiborne Farm at a fee of $12,500.

“He is going to throw a lot of quality 2-year-olds,” Young said of the stallion. “He's going to throw dirt. We never got a chance to run him on the dirt, but he always trained tremendous on the dirt. This is the type of mare he deserves.”

Young signed for My Miss Sophia (Unbridled's Song), with Annapolis in utero, on behalf of Bass for $4 million at the 2018 Keeneland November sale.

Bridlewood Cat produced a colt by Authentic in 2022 and a colt by Essential Quality in 2023.

Young and Bass returned later in the session to acquire Kaling (Practical Joke) (hip 387), third in 2022 GI Spinaway S., for $650,000 from the Bluewater Sales consignment and closed out the opening session of the auction with Juniper's Moon (Galileo {Ire}) (hip 419), purchased for $625,000 from Taylor Made Sales Agency. @JessMartiniTDN

Hill 'n' Dale Consigns Pair of Top-Priced Colts

Hip 236, a son of Curlin out of 'TDN Rising Star' A Z Warrior (Bernardini), went to Milan Bloodstock on a final bid via phone of $370,000 during Monday's first session of the Keeneland January sale. The colt was the second of two top-priced short yearlings to sell within a matter of minutes consigned by John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa.

“Curlin sets records year after year,” said Jared Burdine, general manager at Hill 'n' Dale. “This foal fit everyone's criteria. All of them [buyers] want kind of the same thing and the same five or six people were on the horse. So when it lines up, you get paid on those.”

Hip 236 | Keeneland

Hip 236 hails from a family of 'TDN Rising Stars' including not only his dam but also three of his dam's half-siblings in Jojo Warrior (Pioneerof the Nile), herself the dam of another 'Rising Star' in Under Oath (Speightstown), along with E Z Warrior (Exploit) and J Z Warrior (Harlan's Holiday). He is also a half to last year's Runhappy Ellis Park Debutante S. winner Justa Warrior (Justify).

The yearling was bred by Cypress Creek Equine, which purchased A Z Warrior in foal to Uncle Mo for $550,000 at the 2021 Keeneland January sale.

Just a few minutes earlier, Muir Hut Stables went to $300,000 for hip 200, an Ontario-bred short yearling by Maclean's Music. Bred by Josham Farm's Ted Burnett, the colt is out of Wild N Ready (More Than Ready), a mare purchased by Josham Farm for $170,000 out of Keeneland November in 2017.

“We thought he'd in the 100 range,” said Burnett. “He had a few minor vet issues that I thought might hurt him but, if you've got the right horse and the issue is not a big one, I don't think it makes much difference [in the price],” said Burnett. “We have a very strong program in Ontario. So we always find that Ontario-breds have a special market and often we feel that we get a little bit of a premium because of that.”

Burnett sold Wild N Ready two months ago at Keeneland November for $60,000 carrying a full-sibling to this colt. @SGrimmTDN

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Dams of Nest, Mo Donegal Entered In Book 1 at Keeneland November

Marion Ravenwood (A.P. Indy), dam of multiple Grade I-winning sophomore filly Nest (Curlin); and Callingmissbrown (Pulpit), dam of Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo)–who beat his stablemate Nest in this year's GI Belmont S.–have been entered in Keeneland's November Breeding Stock Sale to sell on opening day, Nov. 7, during Book 1. Marion Ravenwood is carrying a full-sibling to Nest, while Callingmissbrown is carrying a full to the Belmont winner, who also took the GII Remsen S. last year and GII Wood Memorial S. in April. Ashview Farm, agent, will consign both mares.

“These two mares represent active families competing at the highest level of racing,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “Nest is responsible for some of the most dominating performances of the season, prevailing in [last] Saturday's GI Alabama at Saratoga by 4 1/4 lengths. The fact that Mo Donegal and Nest ran 1-2 in the Belmont speaks to their quality. We are proud that both Nest and Mo Donegal are graduates of Keeneland's September Yearling Sale and excited to offer their dams, who are carrying full siblings to these Grade I winners, at the November Sale.”

Marion Ravenwood also is the dam of 2021 GI Santa Anita H. winner Idol (Curlin), who set Churchill Downs' 1 3/16-mile track record in 2020; and Lost Ark (Violence), a 5 1/2-length maiden winner in his career debut in July at Belmont. Lost Ark is entered in Saturday's Sapling S. at Monmouth Park.

Callingmissbrown also is the dam of the impressive 2-year-old 'TDN Rising Star' filly Prank (Into Mischief), who earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure in her career debut at Saratoga last month.

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Justique Is Lead In Last Sunday’s Triplet of Rising Star Fillies

In the same way which astronomical stars largely form in groups, so too did the 'TDN Rising Stars' this past Sunday. Not one, not two, but three leading ladies emerged from the nebulae of Del Mar and Saratoga, each with her own brand of brilliance. Chief among the splendor, and the last to show her shine, was Justique (Justify), whose brilliant turn of foot and effortless dismissal of rivals summoned forth comparisons to another glorious 'Rising Star' in her hayday–a John Shirreffs masterpiece, Hall of Famer Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}). Since then, she's come out “bright and hungry” and the focus shifts to what her enormous potential signals for the future.

 

Justique marks her conditioner's first debut winner in three years. John Shirreffs is a man famous for his patience, and keen intuition toward what his horses need on a personal level. Much like the breed he loves, his training style has shifted and changed through the years. The focus on his firster record might be a bit too much research on some of our parts.

“Personally, I don't want to win first-time out,” said Shirreffs in a text. “You never much learn about a horse's style when it is chased. When I trained for [Marshall Naify's] 505 [Farms], we won first-out quite often. I try not to make speed the priority [anymore].”

With his newest budding star, the focus was confidence building and not so much where she'd be early on. They had to give her someone to follow in the mornings, Shirreffs reported, and he was careful not to upset her by asking for something she didn't understand. And to address the big mare in the room, he maintains an accurate comparison is impossible off a single maiden win.

“Justique has the ability to make running appear effortless with her huge stride. Zenyatta had the ability to lengthen as she ran, getting longer and lower.”

Part and parcel with that huge stride, there was a lot to like about her long before her eye-catching first start. Her intelligent eye and quiet, steady demeanor made quite the impression at the September sale, especially so on Shirreffs's wife, Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs. Justique was her favorite horse.

“It is interesting how much sale yearlings change from September to July. At the sale, she had the classic Thoroughbred appearance; long, great underline, clean legs, sharp intelligent eyes…I can still see her standing quietly, waiting as we inspected her. 'One more walk, please.' I bet she knows those words!”

Beyond her impressive physical, Justique gains the benefit of potential versatility hinted by her 'Rising Star' half-brother Mo Town (Uncle Mo), who successfully reinvented himself as a turf horse later in his career. In his sole start at the same venue as his half-sister's coming-out party, Mo Town ran down and out-kicked Channel Maker (English Channel) at the head of a salty GI Hollywood Derby field. To complete the circle, her connections won the 2021 edition of the race with Beyond Brilliant (Twirling Candy). Justique already shouldered the weight of expectation with her royalty-befitting price tag, but unlike many who share auction amounts in the high six-figure range, she's shown that there just might be something there.

Shifting focus to the East Coast, and from the faithful, fruitful grounds of Champions past, present, and future–known as Saratoga–emerged Prank (Into Mischief) for the partnership of StarLadies Racing, LNJ Foxwoods, and Gainesway Stable. The half-sister to GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) gave her sire another monumental mark to his already legendary career by becoming his 33rd 'Rising Star', and the second on the weekend behind Newgate at Del Mar July 30. The 9 3/4-length gap on rivals, after burning through :21.91 and :45.11 fractions, further emphasized the ability running in the family, and she'll be the flag bearer for the moment with Mo Donegal on the sidelines to recover from bone bruising.

Earlier, on the same card, and more than able to hold her own on raw ability, came the aptly-named Be Your Best (Ire) (Muharaar {GB}). Sent away in a competitive field, and never in any hurry early, she certainly caught the eye as she cruised passed rivals into a six-furlong 1:14.29 split. Try as they might, the field could not catch her as Be Your Best bounded home as easily as she pleased for owner Mike Ryan and conditioner Horacio De Paz. The filly hails from an incredibly deep female family with no less than 10 graded stakes winners in it, including five filly Grade I winners and Canadian Champion 3-year-old filly Munnyfor Ro (Munnings). The latter recently placed in the GII Dance Smartly S. at Woodbine.

Saratoga and Del Mar in the summer are famous for attracting deep, talented fields of young horses. Be their beginnings humble or worthy of a throne, there is no greater thrill than seeing a runner justify the faith they've been entrusted with; solidified by recognition from peers and industry experts. It's not every day the TDN gives out three 'Rising Star' nods, but when there's talent, one cannot ignore the siren song.

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