Donato Lanni

I called the elite bloodstock agent Donato Lanni last Wednesday only to tell him I'd call him again Sunday and to expect my call. I was fortunate he picked up, because he was on a golf course enjoying a rare day off following a busy Keeneland September sale where he'd purchased a number of million-dollar yearlings among many others. When we made plans to speak again, neither of us mentioned why I'd be calling. I didn't want to jinx him, with Cave Rock (Arrogate), War Like Goddess (English Channel), and...

"I told them," he says. "You can't make a hardboot out of a Virginia redneck. And that's all I've ever been. Never pretended to be anything else. Just a Virginia redneck that loves horses." When you have spent as much time as Beau Lane among these unerring vehicles of humility--from the Appaloosas of his youth, to two Kentucky Derby starters in the last seven years--you tend to develop total immunity to self-importance. Even at 80, you never know what's coming next; nor, when something does happen, whether it will turn...

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale continued to churn out strong results straight through to the conclusion of its Book 2 section Thursday night in Lexington with an additional two yearlings selling for seven figures, led by a $1.7-million son of Quality Road, bringing the four-day total for the auction to 30 seven-figure yearlings. Fifteen reached that mark last year. "It was an incredible week," said Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. Over the two Book 2 sessions, Keeneland sold 449...

The Keeneland September sale continued to churn out million-dollar results into its fourth session Thursday when bloodstock agent Donato Lanni signed the ticket at $1.7 million to acquire a colt by Quality Road from the Nardelli Sales consignment on behalf of an undisclosed client. Mike Repole, sitting alongside bloodstock agent Jacob West and trainer Todd Pletcher, was underbidder on the yearling. Repole made a final bid of $1.65 million, but dramatically drew his hand across his neck after Lanni's $1.7-million bid, prompting Keeneland announcer Ryan Mahan to say, 'I think...

By Christie DeBernardis and Jessica Martini A $1.4-million son of super sire Into Mischief (Hip 604) led a sextet of seven-figure sellers during the opening session of Book 2 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Wednesday. Consigned by Summerfield on behalf of Stonestreet Stables, the colt was purchased by Larry Best of OXO Equine. With six horses eclipsing the million-dollar mark Wednesday, the sale total now comes to 28. During the equivalent session last year, just two yearlings brought seven figures, including the $1.7-million sale topper. "It was a great...

A filly by Into Mischief became the second seven-figure yearling of the Keeneland September sale when selling for $1.25 million Monday in Lexington. Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, standing alongside trainer Bob Baffert, made the winning bid on behalf of Frank Fletcher. The filly, who sold as hip 52, was consigned by Paramount Sales. She was bred by Stoneway Farm. She is the first foal out of graded winner Song of Spring (Spring at Last) and from the family of multiple Grade I winner Dream Rush. Jim Stone's Stoneway Farm purchased...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--With a sterling race record that befits her very distinctive name all wrapped in an engaging story, War Like Goddess (English Channel) is an impossible-to-ignore race mare bidding for a championship. Though her late sire was a champion on the track and a top turf stallion for many years, the first foal out of Misty North (North Light {Ire}) brought a mere $1,200 at auction as a weanling and did not draw a single bid at the 2018 Keeneland September yearling sale. At the June 2019 OBS sale,...

ETOBICOKE, ON--Heading into the 163rd Queen's Plate, most of the pre-race talk swirled around X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables and SF Racing's Moira (Ghostzapper), and her pre-Woodbine Oaks antics that led to her ultimately running, and romping, without hind shoes. Keeping her shoes--if not entirely her composure--firmly intact prior to Sunday's Classic fixture at Woodbine, the filly appeared to sprout wings in the stretch, cruising to an eye-catching seven-length victory over the Mark Casse-trained pair of Hall of Dreams (Lemon Drop Kid) and Sir For Sure (Sligo Bay {Ire}). "There are...

Moira looped the field impressively en route to a dominant score in Sunday's Woodbine Oaks, providing trainer Kevin Attard with a second-straight win in this event and adding to a long list of accomplishments for her ownership group. And she did it all without her hind shoes, having acted up in the paddock and been unable to be adequately re-shod in time. An impressive debut graduate from out of the clouds in the C$250,000 Princess Elizabeth S. here last October, the bay settled for second as the favorite in the...

By Christie DeBernardis & Jessica Martini    LEXINGTON, KY--Yearling sale season started with a bang Tuesday at Fasig-Tipton's July Selected Yearling Sale. The auction house saved the best for last with the final horse through the ring, a son of Curlin (Hip 302), topping the day on a $600,000 bid from the Green family's DJ Stable. Last year's leading freshman sire Gun Runner accounted for the day's second-highest seller, a $430,000 colt (Hip 153) sold to de Meric Sales. Both colts came from the Gainesway consignment, which was responsible for...

OCALA, FL - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds opened with a workmanlike session Tuesday as four horses sold for over $200,000, led by a filly by Bolt d'Oro who attracted a final bid of $290,000 from bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, acting on behalf of Greg and Caroline Bentley. In all, 184 sold Tuesday for a gross of $7,107,500. The average of $38,628 slipped 2.4% from last year's opening session, but the median of $25,500 was up 27.5% from the 2021 sales record-tying figure of $20,000. With...

TIMONIUM, MD - The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale got off to a strong start Monday in Timonium as it looks to follow up on a record-setting 2021 renewal. "It was a very solid opening session to the sale," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "There was diverse bidding activity literally from buyers all around the world participating today. This has become a really solid marketplace where you can sell a quality horse, you can sell a state-bred horse. There was lots of activity at really all price ranges." A...