Buzz Continues at Keeneland as Book 2 Concludes

by Brian DiDonato, Christie DeBernardis & Jessica Martini

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale's three-session Book 2 concluded Thursday with a pair of million-dollar fillies, bringing the total number of seven-figure transactions through four days of selling to 13. There were nine million-dollar yearlings in 2016. Through this period a year ago, 96 horses sold for $500,000 or more. This year, 116 have reached that mark.

“I think the goals we set out before the sale have been accomplished,” Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations Geoffrey Russell said at the close of business Thursday. “We wanted to engage buyers early and I think we showed that Monday. We wanted the momentum of Monday to carry through this week and I think I would say mission accomplished.”

For the third straight day, a yearling by Scat Daddy attracted the highest price of the session. Bloodstock agent Kerri Radcliffe bid $1 million to secure a filly by the late Coolmore stallion (hip 1041) from the Gainesway consignment. Just moments earlier, the Don Alberto Corporation paid that same amount for a daughter of Tapit out of GI Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can (Proud Citizen) (hip 1038) from the Airdrie Stud consignment.

“We have had million-dollar horses throughout, which I think shows the strength of the market at the moment,” Russell said. “There is some hunger for these top-end horses, so it was nice to have two million-dollar horses today.”

During the one-session Book 1 and three-session Book 2, Keeneland sold 681 yearlings for $196,645,000 for an average of $288,759 and a median of $200,000. The September sale was reconfigured in 2017, so year-to-year comparisons are inexact, but during last year's three-session Book 1 and two-session Book 2, 812 horses sold for $189,506,000. The average was $233,382 and the median was $170,000.

Russell chose the word selective to describe the September market.

“These are very highly sophisticated, professional buyers,” he said. “They do their homework very well. We give them good choices to look at all these horses and they make their decision, so there is selectivity in the market.”

Starlight Racing purchased four yearlings Thursday, including a $700,000 daughter of Pioneerof the Nile (hip 951) and the operation's bloodstock advisor Frank Brothers agreed competition was fierce for the right individual.

“It's tough for what's perceived to be good,” Brothers said. “We've had a tough time and I think a lot of other people have. What's perceived to be good is bringing top dollar. It's pretty hard, but you have to keep going.”

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Aron Wellman thinks the new September format has created plenty of buzz.

“The market has been electric,” Wellman said. “For the horses that, as they say, tick all the boxes, it is incredible the premium they are bringing. From a buyer's perspective, I think the management of Books 1 and 2 together was challenging, but I think the proof shows in the results and the results are really strong. Keeneland put out a great product and the money is showing up. That's for sure. You just have to put your work in and hope that it pays off in the long run.”

With no selling on Friday, the Keeneland September Yearling Sale resumes Saturday with the first of two Book 3 sessions beginning at 10 a.m.

DON ALBERTO 'BELIEVES' IN TAPIT FILLY

Tapit was responsible for three horses that brought over $2 million during Book 1 Monday and he sired the first yearling to fetch $1 million during a lively session Thursday in hip 1038, a daughter of GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Believe You Can (Proud Citizen). The Heller-Solari family's Don Alberto Corp. won out after a furious round of bidding with John Oxley and Three Chimneys Farm's Doug Cauthen.

“First of all, she is a Tapit,” Liliani Solari said. “We had Proud Citizen at our farm in Chile. He is a wonderful horse and he has very good fillies. She had very nice size, not too big, not too small. We want to have good horses.”

She added, “We had to start changing to what the Americans like. We have many good Irish and English mares, but they don't like that, so we are changing what we are doing now.”

Believe You Can won the 2012 GII Fair Grounds Oaks and Kentucky Oaks for owner/breeder Brereton C. Jones and trainer Larry Jones. Hip 1038 is her second foal.

“She's not a great, big, robust filly, but she is a beautiful filly, who gives you the feeling she is going to give you everything she has on the racetrack,” the younger Bret Jones said.

When asked if he thought the fact she was in Book 2 affected her price, Jones said, “I think she would have sold extremely well no matter where she was. We decided not to have a Book 1 consignment and just have Book 2. We knew the market would be there for her in Book 2 just as it was in Book 1.”

Believe You Can RNA'd for $4.9 million at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November sale carrying her first foal by Tapit, a colt now named Believe in Royalty. The colt summoned $900,000 from William Mack and Robert Baker at last term's September sale and the Jones' joined them as partners.

“They are both beautiful horses,” Jones said. “It is hard to separate top-quality horses like that. The colt we have in training with Larry Jones and our partners Bill Mack and Bob Baker. We expect big things from him. He ran a very good third in his debut. Larry said he learned a lot. He was hung really wide.”

Don Alberto advisor Fernando Diaz-Valdes said the filly would go back to their farm and eventually head to Stonestreet's training center in Ocala. A trainer has not yet been determined, but Carlos Heller indicated that the gray will likely head to California.

“She will most likely go to California like [MGSW] Unique Bella (Tapit),” Carlos Heller said. “She worked perfect this morning.”

“TDN Rising Star” Unique Bella has been sidelined since winning the Mar. 4 GIII Santa Ysabel S. Diaz stated that she would run in the GIII L.A. Woman S. Oct. 8. and hopefully go on to the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint in November. —@CDeBernardisTDN

ANOTHER SCAT DADDY FOR RADCLIFFE

Kerri Radcliffe signed for the second seven-figure yearling of Thursday's fourth session of the Keeneland sale when going to $1 million to secure a filly by Scat Daddy from the Gainesway consignment. The bay filly is out of graded stakes placed Beloveda (Ghostzapper), a half-sister to graded stakes winner Golden Mystery (Awesome Again).

“She was my favorite horse in the sale,” Radcliffe said. “I saw her on Sunday and I wasn't going home without her. This is the best horse in the sale in my eyes. She was a queen and hopefully she'll be in the [G1] Queen Mary [at Royal Ascot] next year.”

Alone or in partnership, hip 1041 was Radcliffe's third million-dollar purchase of the sale and her second yearling by Scat Daddy.

“This is one I'm probably quite emotional about,” Radcliffe said. “I get quite attached to my fillies, like Nemoralia (More Than Ready) and Take Me With You (Scat Daddy)–so I hope that she is another one of those.”

The yearling was co-bred by Antony Beck's Gainesway, along with Gainesway mainstays Michael Hernon and Brian Graves.

“We knew she was really popular,” Hernon said as he and Graves accepted congratulations in the hallway of the sales pavilion. “We thought all the way along that she was a really good filly. She rose to the occasion here. She was shown over 220 times and she was just as strong at the end. She came along really well, I'd say in the last six weeks. She vetted clean and she attracted all the top buyers, as she deserved to do. We think she is a Royal Ascot filly.”

Beck, Hernon and Graves purchased Beloveda, second in the 2012 GIII Rampart S., for $205,000 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February sale.

“She could run, she was sound and we liked her physically,” Hernon said of Beloveda's appeal. “She has given us very good foals. She's got a particularly good Tapit colt this year at Gainesway. She is back in foal to Quality Road. She is a young mare with a great chance and we're thrilled with the result obviously.”

It was the second seven-figure sale of the last two months as a breeder for Graves, who was also co-breeder of a colt by Orb who sold for $1 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.

“It's like the luck of the Irish, only I'm not Irish,” Graves laughed while standing next to the Irish Hernon. “I've had a great year in that regard. We just bred to the right horses and went to work everyday and the rest took care of itself.” @JessMartiniTDN

BRENNAN BUYS A FAMILIAR FOAL FOR FEIN

As trainer at the Stonestreet Training Center in Ocala, horseman Ian Brennan has the benefit of added exposure to the many well-pedigreed youngsters bred by Barbara Banke's powerful operation. Representing Eric Fein Thursday, he leveraged that insight to secure hip 1125 for $900,000.

Craig and Holly Bandoroff's Denali Stud consigned the Tapit colt on behalf of Stonestreet, which acquired him in utero for $1.5 million at KEENOV '15.

“I've seen him for a long time on the farm. We bred the horse, and every time I've seen him he keeps going forward and forward,” said the Irishman. “I've loved the horse the whole time. For a Tapit, his mind is super–very professional. This is the horse I really wanted to have. We love the horse.”

Hip 1125 is a half-sister to Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Taris (Flatter), as well as SW & MGSP Theatre Star (War Front) and SW Stoweshoe (Flatter).

“That was right where we were at,” Brennan said when asked about the price paid. “We priced him anywhere from $900,000 to $1 million. Good Tapit colts are bringing that type of money, and like I said, I've seen him for the last six or seven months and I've loved him. He's done everything right.”

Eric Fein made his first splash at this year's sale when he partnered with bloodstock agent Kerri Radcliffe to take home a $1-million Orb colt on Wednesday (see A Fein Partnership). He also took home a $500,000 Curlin colt (hip 1010) during Thursday's session from the family of Take Charge Lady, Take Charge Indy and Will Take Charge.

When asked if Fein's shopping spree was over, Brennan said plainly, “No.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

ALBAUGH FAMILY EVENTUALLY GETS CURLIN COLT

When a colt by Curlin (hip 887) first exited the Keeneland sales ring Thursday, he was hammered down to a $900,000 bid out back. When that turned out to be a misidentified bid from Stonestreet's John Moynihan, the yearling was returned to the sales ring about a half-hour later and sold for $800,000 to Albaugh Family Stable.

“I'm not really sure what happened the first time,” said bloodstock agent Steve Castagnola, who signed the ticket on behalf of the Albaugh family. “We had a limit on where we were going to be and the first time around, there was actually a live bid in the pavilion which was not us and I believe that was $850,000 and there was apparently a bid for $900,000 out back. When we came around to congratulate Brian [Graves] and Ms. [Helen] Groves, the breeder, he said, 'Don't go anywhere there is some confusion over who is signing the ticket. So we waited and stayed in communication with Gainesway and essentially we bought him for the same bid that we made the first time he was offered. We bid $800,000 the first time and we bid $800,000 the second time. We were absolutely thrilled to get the colt and he was one we really wanted.”

The Albaugh family already has the yearling's 2-year-old half brother, having purchased a Union Rags colt out of Trensa (Giant's Causeway) for $200,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. Now named Free Drop Billy, the colt was recently second in the GI Hopeful S.

“Obviously, having Free Drop Billy was appealing to us from a pedigree perspective,” Castagnola said. “[The yearling] just had beautiful balance and he had very clean angles. He was an athletic horse. And you just love it when they drop their heads and just float up and back. He has so much class and presence. I think he was a better individual than Free Drop Billy was at this time last year when we bought him. And you can't say enough about Curlin. The mare is a fantastic. Sometimes they hit you between the eyes, and he was one of them.”

In addition to Free Drop Billy, the chestnut yearling, who was consigned by Gainesway, is a half-brother to Group 1 winner Hawkbill (Kitten's Joy), who goes postward in Saturday's GI Northern Dancer Turf S. at Woodbine.

Castagnola said there was a possibility the colt could be campaigned in partnership with breeder Helen Groves.

“At this point it is Albaugh Family Stables only. Ms. Groves–who is just a phenomenal breeder–indicated that if we were able to purchase the colt, she would possibly have an interest in staying in for a small piece, which would be absolutely fantastic,” he said. “That is kind of to be determined, but she did express an interest. She absolutely loved him, as did everybody at the farm and everybody at Gainesway. And us.”

CURLIN COLT BRINGS THINGS FULL 'CIRCLE' FOR MCPEEK

Trainer Ken McPeek signed the $57,000 ticket on Hall of Famer Curlin at the 2005 Keeneland September sale, but he was stretched quite a bit beyond that to take home a colt by the Hill 'n' Dale sire (hip 987) for $850,000 Thursday. The conditioner signed the ticket on behalf of Paul Fireman's Fern Circle Stables, which campaigns GSW Senior Investment (Discreetly Mine).

“I know the guy who bought Curlin as a yearling. I know him pretty well,” McPeek joked. “He was as much that type of horse as I've ever seen from the stallion. He really stamped this horse. Curlin had a little vet issue as a yearling, but this colt vetted perfect. He was a man among boys today. I feel really lucky to have a horse in the barn like this.”

Senior Investment is from the first crop of horses bought by McPeek for Fireman's operation. Fireman purchased the distribution rights to Reebok in 1979, built up the company and sold it to Adidas in 2005 for $3.8 billion. The Massachusetts resident now operates Fireman Capital Partners.

“We are stepping up trying to find stock who can compete at the highest level,” McPeek said.

Out of MSP Allude (Orientate), hip 987 is a half-brother to MSW Imply (E Dubai) and SW and GSP Dancinginthecircle (Divine Park). He also traces his lineage back to the late Holy Bull.

Fred Mitchell's Clarkland Farm bought Allude carrying a foal by Shackleford for $100,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November sale. The resulting produce, the still unraced Friend Zone, sold to bloodstock agent Chad Summers for $47,000 last year. Allude produced an Into Mischief filly in 2017.

“I was very pleased,” Mitchell said. “He was a special individual and had a beautiful profile you could dream about.”

Clarkland Farm is best known as the breeder of four-time Eclipse winner Beholder (Henny Hughes). The Kentucky-based operation also bred and consigned the future Hall of Famer's Scat Daddy half-brother, now named Mendelssohn, who topped last year's renewal of this sale when selling to Coolmore's M. V. Magnier for $3 million (Click here for sale story). —@CDeBernardisTDN

A NEW PIONEER FOR OXLEY

John Oxley, who campaigns last year's champion juvenile Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile), secured another youngster by the sire of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah when going to $800,000 to bring home hip 986 Thursday at Keeneland. The yearling is out of All Mettle (Touch Gold), a half-sister to multiple Grade I winners Paulassilverlining (Ghostzapper) and Dads Caps (Discreet Cat).

“I thought [the price] might be a little less, frankly, but she was such a nice filly,” Oxley, sitting next to trainer Mark Casse, said after signing the ticket. “She was gorgeous. She's by Pioneerof the Nile, who I love. She has the same look as American Pharoah. She was just too attractive to pass up, so I had to stay in there and win.”

The sale was a high-water mark for consignor Padraig Campion's Blandford Stud.

“After a certain point, it's really hard to tell,” Campion said of projecting the yearling's final price. “We were hoping for around $500,000. So this was super. She is a beautiful filly. She is one of the best ones I've had–I've never sold one for $800,000 before. So, that's what one looks like. That's what it takes.”

Campion was selling the yearling on behalf of her breeders, who purchased All Mettle, with this foal in utero, for $220,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November sale.

“It was a team,” Campion said of the sellers. “It was Michael Banahan and his wife Kathryn, Ralph Gray and Dickson Varner and his wife.”

All Mettle produced a filly by Honor Code in 2017 and was bred back to Frosted. @JessMartiniTDN

NO JOKE FOR LOWS

Jacob West, bidding on behalf of Robert and Lawana Low, went to $750,000 to secure a filly by Distorted Humor (hip 900) early during Thursday's fourth session of the September sale. The yearling, named No Joke, was consigned by Lane's End on behalf of breeder Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine, and received a timely update when her half-sister Moonshine Memories (Malibu Moon) won the GI Del Mar Debutante S.

“She's a beautiful Distorted Humor filly with a massive update in the pedigree,” West said. “It was just the perfect combination. I told Mr. Low going in, 'It's a perfect recipe for success for a filly to bring a lot of money.' She's an outstanding physical with an incredible pedigree behind her and updates in the pedigree. It was a recipe for success. She'll go to Todd Pletcher.”

Of the market, West said, “It's strong. It's incredibly strong. The old saying is all the good horses are bringing all the real money, but that's basically what it is. You have a number in your head and you better be prepared to buy for sometimes 50% more. It's good for the breeders–I know from first hand experience, it's hard to get them here. When you do that, you need to be rewarded, so I am happy these breeders are getting rewarded.”

Summer Wind also bred the yearling's dam Unenchantedevening (Unbridled's Song), making the result more gratifying for Lyon.

“It is a great sale,” Lyon said. “She was a lovely filly and I am so proud of the mare for having produced Moonshine Memories. The mother is a homebred, so it made me very, very happy. I am kind of sad in a way because I wouldn't have minded keeping her. I am a filly girl. The mare is carrying a full-sister to Moonshine Memories, so if that filly is born healthy, I'm not sure I will be able to sell that one.”

The star of Summer Wind's impressive broodmare band is arguably Littleprincessemma (Yankee Gentleman), dam of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Lyon purchased Littleprincessemma for $2.1 million at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November sale.

“She is in foal to Tapit and I am keeping her yearling, who is a Tapit filly,” Lyon said of the mare. “I named her for my husband, Chasing Yesterday.”

LAPENTA AND ECLIPSE TEAM UP FOR WELL-RELATED CURLIN

Robert LaPenta and Aron Wellman's Eclipse Thoroughbreds teamed up to take home a $725,000 Curlin colt (hip 1149), who is a half-brother to Grade I winner Weep No More (Mineshaft), during Thursday's final session of Book 2. The two owners are partners with Bridlewood Farm on this year's GI Belmont S. winner Tapwrit (Tapit).

“It was extremely prophetic,” said Wellman, standing alongside bloodstock advisor Jacob West and LaPenta's racing manage John Panagot, who signed the ticket on the colt. “Mr. LaPenta thought it would take $725,000 and it landed right on that number.”

He continued, “He is a beautiful horse, incredibly athletic, very agile. He has a very good attitude. He has been here a long time. It's been a long week. It's been an exhausting week. He marched up and down that shedrow for five days. He marched into the back ring here like a champ. He stood up there with a lot of class and presence about him, so hopefully that translates onto the racetrack.”

As for future plans for their new purchase, Panagot said, “He will go to Bridlewood and then we will see, but we worked with Todd [Pletcher] with Tapwrit.”

Breeder and consignor Hinkle Farms purchased hip 1149's dam Crosswinds (Storm Cat) for $140,000 from the 2009 Keeneland November sale and her second foal Weep No More captured last year's GI Central Bank Ashland S. at boxcar odds. The uniquely blazed chestnut's second dam is Juddmonte's MGISW millionaire Flute (Seattle Slew), who produced GSW and MGISP Filimbi (Mizzen Mast).

“The dam has already thrown a Grade I winner at Keeneland,” Wellman said. “The second dam Flute was an incredible race mare in her own right and comes from an incredible Juddmonte family. Hopefully it all comes together.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

PIONEEROF THE NILE CONTINUES TO SHINE

Thanks to the exploits of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and champion juvenile Classic Empire, Pioneerof the Nile has become increasingly popular at auctions across the country. A daughter of the WinStar stallion (hip 951) summoned $700,000 from bloodstock agent Frank Brothers Thursday.

“It will be between Starlight Racing and StarLadies,” Brothers said when asked who he signed the ticket for. “At the end of the sale we will see how it shakes out. She will go to Todd Pletcher.”

Pioneerof the Nile was also represented by an $800,000 filly (hip 986) and a $775,000 colt (hip 965) during Thursdays's session. Overall through Books 1 and 2, the son of Empire Maker had 33 yearlings sell for $12.31 million, topped by a pair of $825,000 purchases (hip 166 and 672).

As for her sire, Brothers said, “He is one of the better sires in America. He is doing very well. He gets grass horses and main-track horses and they all have a lot of stamina to keep running. This filly is probably a grass horse and that's fine.”

Out of MGSP Woodford Belle (Arch), hip 951 hails from the family G1 Dubai World Cup winner Well Armed. Consigned by Brutus Clay's Runnymede Farm, the filly was bred by Catesby W. Clay Investment and Johnson and James Clay.

“I liked her pedigree,” Brothers said. “She had excellent conformation. She walked like a cat and she had a presence to her. Time will tell.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

VERRAZANO MAKES HIS MARK AT KEESEP

Yearlings from the fist crop of MGISW and “TDN Rising Star” Verrazano garnered plenty of attention at Keeneland Thursday led by a $650,000 colt. Hip 884 was purchased by bloodstock agent Kerri Radcliffe and will go to Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.

“I think he was a very big, imposing, fast-looking horse,” said Radcliffe after conferring with Baffert about their new purchase. “He is by a first-season sire, obviously. I am a big fan of [Verrazano's sire] More Than Ready, but this is definitely more of an American horse, so he is going to stay here and go to Bob Baffert.”

The $650,000 price tag was the highest yet for an offspring of the Coolmore sire.

“It is a little more than I expected to pay, but he was such a good-looking individual and obviously everybody else saw that too,” Radcliffe said. “The good horses are standing out and they are making plenty of money. Everybody is here to buy and has orders to fill.”

Hip 884 is the first foal out of Transplendid (Elusive Quality), who breeder Geoffrey Nixon bought with this colt in utero for $50,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November. Consignor Paramount Sales' Gabriel Duignan bought the bay colt for $185,000 as a weanling at last term's November sale.

“He is a beautiful colt,” Duignan said. “Everybody on the grounds was on him. He is a good physical and just looked like a racehorse. He was a lovely foal and everyday has been a good day for him since I bought him. He did as good as I could have hoped for.”

As for his thoughts on the colt's young sire, Duignan said, “I love Verrazano. He has beautiful stock. He was a great racehorse himself and his offspring seem to be showing a lot of him. They look very athletic, great walkers.”

Verrazano made his debut on New Year's Day during his 3-year-old season and followed that “TDN Rising Star”-worthy performance with impressive victories in the GII Tampa Bay Derby and GI Wood Memorial S. A dominant winner of the both the GIII Pegasus S. and GI Haskell Invitational S., he was transferred from Todd Pletcher to Aidan O'Brien to try his hand at grass, finishing second in Royal Ascot's G1 Queen Anne S., and was retired to Coolmore's Ashford Stud at the end of 2014.

“He was an extremely good racehorse,” said Coolmore's M.V. Magnier, who signed the ticket on an $575,000 Verrazano filly early in Thursday's session (hip 873). “He is unlucky that he didn't run at two. From what Todd [Pletcher] says, he was a very good 2-year-old, he just couldn't get him there. As a 3-year-old, he was a good racehorse and Aidan [O'Brien] always talked very highly of him as well. He could go on the dirt, he could go on the grass, so he has a lot of pluses to him.”

A total of 14 Verrazano yearlings sold during Books 1 and 2 of the Keeneland September sale for a gross of $2.957 million.

“A horse (hip 716) made $425,000 [Wednesday],” Magnier said. “They are selling very well. He is really stamping his stock. He is going the right way.” —@CDeBernardisTDN

SHEIKH HAMDAN BACK HOME, BUT SHADWELL STILL A FORCE

Shadwell principal Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum had already left town, but his team continued its shopping spree at Keeneland Thursday and currently leads all buyers through Book 2 with 17 horses picked up for $12,475,000.

Thursday's priciest purchase by the blue and white was hip 1023, a Union Rags colt out of speedy GSW Baby J (J Be K). Mill Ridge Sales consigned the Mar. 7 foal on behalf of Lynn Schiff, who picked up Baby J under her Clover Hill Farm banner for $280,000 in foal to Graydar at the 2014 Keeneland November Sale. Mill Ridge also sold a $650,000 Bernardini half-brother to MGISW Ria Antonia (Rockport Harbor) (hip 1037) to Spendthrift Farm on behalf of Schiff.

Shadwell's most expensive purchase was a $2.5-million Tapit–Tiz Miz Sue colt (hip 105) on Monday.

“They've been really expensive–we got beat out a few times,” said Shadwell Farm general manager Rick Nichols while sporting a Mohaymen hat. “It's a very strong market for the right horse. If you've got a good horse, it's going to be strong.”

Shadwell was last year's leading buyer as well with $10.75 million in purchases for 15 head.

“When the boss likes one, it's hard for him to be denied,” Nichols quipped.

“We just come, we look, what we like we try to buy,” he said when asked what Shadwell's game plan is coming into a major sale like September. “If they're there, we buy them, if they're not, we don't. We never set any goals or anything like that… The boss really enjoyed himself, and enjoyed seeing a lot of nice horses.”

By Nichols's account, it was a productive trip all around for the Deputy Ruler of Dubai: “He saw everything on the farm–all his babies, all the yearlings, the stallions. Shot some doves; had a good time.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

WINSTAR/CHC ACTIVE DURING BOOK 2 FINALE

The powerful WinStar Farm/China Horse Club axis was active during the final session of Book 2 at Keeneland September Thursday, with WinStar President and CEO Elliott Walden signing for three colts on behalf of the group for $1.65 million.

The dearest of those buys was hip 997, a Ghostzapper colt out of MGISP And Why Not (Street Cry {Ire}) who cost $725,000. Consigned by Gainesway, Agent XXVII on behalf of his breeder Helen Groves.

“He's just a nice horse,” Walden said. “He's a beautiful horse, well raised by Helen Groves, and we'll see what happens… It's strong in there today.”

Any Why Not is a half-sister to Grade III winner Far From Over (Blame) and hails from the highly coveted family that traces back to blue hen Courtly Dee.

“It's a great stallion-type family, so we'll see what happens,” Walden said.

Walden also fended off stiff competition for hip 892, a strapping son of Uncle Mo who went for $700,000. He was offered by Padraig Campion's Blandford Stud and was bred in Kentucky by Hubert Vester, Jr. The bay's dam is a half to SW/GISP Nakano (First Samurai).

“He's an athletic horse; we really liked him,” Walden said. “He reminded us a lot Uncle Mo.” —@BDiDonatoTDN

MORE SCAT DADDY FOR GODOLPHIN

It was a noteworthy development on Monday when the Godolphin buying team showed interest in yearlings by Coolmore stallions, in particular Scat Daddy (see Godolphin Goes for Scat Daddy), and Sheikh Mohammed's representatives grabbed another youngster by the late sire Thursday. They paid $650,000 early in the final Book 2 session for hip 869, a colt consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, Agent CXVI.

Mary Leigh Patrick's Ramspring Farm paid $80,000 at KEENOV '14 for the unplaced Thmoruplathlesupay (Unbridled's Song), a daughter of GSW Miss Fortunate (Deputy Minister) in foal to Oxbow. The resulting filly cost $80,000 here last year but her Feb. 13 '16 foal lit up the board Thursday. Thmoruplathlesupay produced a Constitution colt Mar. 15 before being bred back to California Chrome.

“He was a very nice horse, very athletic–a very good goer,” said Godolphin representative Anthony Stroud of hip 869. “[The Scat Daddys] have all been very nice, and that's why we've had a go on them.”

As for whether the Scat Daddys acquired this week would be sent to Europe or remain in the States, Stroud said, “He's proven in Europe. He's an outstanding stallion–he's done incredibly in Europe, and in North America… Once we get home it'll be sorted out and our boss will decide where they go. Right now we're just trying to buy nice horses, and he's a quality horse who we feel has potential for the future.”

Through Book 2, Godolphin sits second among all buyers by gross receipts behind only Sheikh Hamdan's Shadwell, and has purchased 17 yearlings for $8,065,000. —@BDiDonatoTDN

HINKLES SELL TWO TO MARCHMONT

Tom, Henry and Anne Archer Hinkle's Hinkle Farm sold a pair of pricey colts to a new Claiborne Farm-managed partnership Thursday.

First through the ring was hip 894, a $500,000 son of Uncle Mo and grandson of GSW Golden Temper (Forty Niner). The Hinkles purchased the colt in utero for $115,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November Sale.

Then came hip 965, a Pioneerof the Nile grandson of MG1SP Crystal Downs (Alleged), who produced graded stakes-winning juvenile turfer Prussian (Danzig). He cost $775,000. Hinkle Farm acquired winning dam Accessorize (Fusaichi Pegasus) for $230,000 in foal to Giant's Causeway at KEENOV '13. They sold the resulting filly for $70,000.

“They bought two horses from us today,” noted Tom Hinkle, referring to the Claiborne partnership named Marchmont Stable. “We're quite thrilled–they've got a great home… They're two nice horses. I had a great team on the farm–my daughter [Anne Archer Hinkle], my farm manager Justin Harper, they did a really good job with them and all our foals. My horses have gotten a nice home and will have a chance. And Keeneland's done a really good job with this sale.”

Hinkle said he expected hip 965 to sell well, but not that well.

“I knew he was popular, and I knew there was a chance he might break out a little bit, but we had a very reasonable, small reserve,” he said. “He was well-received, and some very fine racing stables were interested in him. We're delighted where he's going, and wish them nothing but the best.”

Marchmont has purchased four yearlings so far for a combined $1.8 million. Claiborne's Walker Hancock said they new acquisitions will be sent to trainers Bill Mott and Christophe Clement when it's time to race.

“It's [comprised] of clients of ours,” he said of Marchmont. “It's a partnership we put together. They want to have some more action, and they've asked us to buy them some colts, so that's what we're doing.”

Of hip 965, he said, “He's by a great sire, and he's the kind of horse we're looking for. It was probably a little more than we wanted to spend, but he's a nice colt. We love the Hinkles–they're like family–so we like buying off of them, and that's two today… They're good to us–they breed a lot of their mares at our farm. They're good people.”—@BDiDonatoTDN