STORM CAT FILLY TOPS OPENING SESSION AT SARATOGA
by Pete Denk and John P. Sparkman
Yearlings by A.P. Indy and Storm Cat, the top two North American commercial stallions of the last decade, each brought seven-figure final bids on opening night of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of selected yearlings on Monday.
Of the 85 horses that went through the ring at the Humphrey S. Finney pavilion in Saratoga Springs, New York, 60 were reported as sold for total receipts of $18,160,000, an 8.6% decline from last year’s first session when 76 horses sold for $19,867,000.
Average price increased 15.8% to $302,667 while median improved 13.3% to $235,000. The buy-back rate increased from 21.6% a year ago to 29.4% in 2008.
Team Valor International bought the session-topping $1.5-million Storm Cat filly, out of Totemic, by Vanlandingham, from the consignment of Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency, agent. Bred in Kentucky by Strategy Bloodstock, the filly is a full sister to Irish Group 3 winner Cherokee and stakes winner Art Museum, and she is a half sister to Grade 2 winner Lil’s Lad.
“I've only ever seen one better filly at public auction, the sister to Roman Ruler and El Corredor that John Sikura sold [at the 2005 Keeneland September yearling sale],” said Team Valor owner Barry Irwin. “She's got the most awesome body, so athletic looking and her front legs are good.
“To be honest, I thought I had no shot to get her. The way I look at it, where are you going to find another one like her? I bought a couple of cheaper ones earlier, but I wish the order had been different. I probably wouldn't have bought them if she'd been first. It is stretching my bankroll a little bit.”
Pete Denk is sales editor for Thoroughbred Times
John P. Sparkman is bloodstock editor for Thoroughbred Times
Behindatthebar surges to clear Lexington Stakes win
by Mike Curry
Behindatthebar unleashed an explosive turn of foot in the stretch to collar pacesetter Samba Rooster and shook clear for a one-length win in the $325,000 Coolmore Lexington Stakes (G2) on Saturday at Keeneland Race Course.
The Lexington Stakes provided Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) hopefuls with a final opportunity to earn a spot in the field for the 1 1/4-mile classic race on May 3, but neither Behindatthebar nor runner-up Samba Rooster is likely to go on to the Derby.
The field for the Derby is capped at 20 horses with preference given to horses with the highest career earnings in graded stakes races.
Entering the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on April 12, trainer Todd Pletcher did not have a single three-year-old with sufficient graded stakes earnings to make the field for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. The three-time Eclipse Award winner as outstanding trainer holds a much stronger hand after Monba and Cowboy Cal finished first and second, respectively, in the Blue Grass Stakes to cement starting spots in the Derby.
The Pletcher-trained Behindatthebar boosted his graded earnings to $204,500 with the Lexington score to secure a position in the field for the Derby if owners Padua Stables, Michael Shustek, and W. Don Stanley decide to enter the Forest Wildcat colt.
“We’ve had a good couple of weeks,” said Pletcher, who added that Behindatthebar is unlikely to contest the first leg of the 2008 Triple Crown.
Behindatthebar relaxed off the pace under jockey David Flores as Samba Rooster sprinted clear through a swift opening quarter in :22.78 and a half-mile in :45.21. Behindatthebar accelerated into contention under Flores on the final turn, collared the pacesetter in the final furlong, and drove clear to earn his first career stakes victory.
Behindatthebar covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.14 on the synthetic Polytrack surface at Keeneland. He entered the Lexington off a four-length win in an allowance race on April 3 at Santa Anita Park.
“We were impressed by this horse obviously, not only today but by the way he ran in California,” Pletcher said of the allowance victory. “Of course we were concerned about coming back in 16 days, but we knew he liked the synthetic surface so we figured we’d give it a shot.”
Samba Rooster held off multiple graded stakes-placed Riley Tucker by a half-length to finish second. Samba Rooster is not nominated to the Triple Crown.
Peruvian dual classic winner Tomcito, who entered off a third-place finish in the Florida Derby (G1), finished a non-threatening sixth as the 3.40-to-1 favorite in the 11-horse field. Tomcito likely will not have enough graded stakes earnings to make the Derby field. Grade 2 winner Salute the Sarge finished seventh and Grade 2-placed stakes winner Atoned was eighth.
Behindatthebar improved to three wins in five career starts and has earned $277,100. He is the first starter out of the Runaway Groom mare Rhiana, who finished third in the 2003 Santa Maria Handicap (G1).
KEENELAND JANUARY NEWS
Keeneland January opens with $2.7-million Irish Cherry on top
photo by Z
by Pete Denk
Mike Moreno’s Southern Equine Stable purchased Irish Cherry for $2.7-milllion to top the opening session of the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale in Lexington.
The 14-year-old Irish Open mare, believed to be carrying a colt by Ghostzapper, has five foals of racing age, including multiple Grade 1 winner Spun Sugar and 2007 Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) winner Daaher.
It was the highest price at the Keeneland January sale since Desert Stormer, winner of the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), sold for $3.6-million in 2002.
Despite selling 7.6% fewer horses then during the opening session last year, total sales increased 12.4% to $21,325,900. Average price jumped 21.6% to $109,364, compared with last year’s corresponding session, while median remained stable at $55,000.
The buy-back rate of 33% increased from 27.5% last year and, despite the other gains, was a troubling sign for many consignors and commercial breeders.
“I think it’s a very discerning market,” said Keeneland’s Director of Sales Geoffrey Russell. “Perceived quality is selling very, very well, but there’s a little bit of polarization there. The top end is strong, and then there’s a weakness throughout the rest.
“It comes back to the comments we’ve made over the past year about overproduction. That was clear again today.”
Bred in Kentucky by the Spears-Olsson Breeding Syndicate, Irish Cherry is out of the winning Ancestral (Ire) mare Eston. On the track, she won six of 14 starts, including two stakes races at Woodbine, and earned $147,280.
Irish Cherry was consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency, agent, on behalf of the partnership of Mike Abraham and Pierre and Leslie Amestoy. The Amestoys own Lobo Farm in Paris, Kentucky.
“These are the kinds of mares Southern Equine has been after the last couple, three years,” said Southern Equine’s trainer Eric Guillot, who signed the ticket. “When you look at what her produce record is, I don’t think many broodmares who have produced multiple Grade 1 winners have been offered at public auction lately.”
The January sale was the first auction conducted under the Kentucky sale industry’s steroid ban, which allows buyers to request a steroid test at the time of purchase. Keeneland reported no requests.
KEENELAND NOVEMBER SALE NEWS
Unprecedented demand at Keeneland's first session
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WORLD-RECORD PRICED
BROODMARE, PLAYFUL ACT (IRE) |
| Photo by Z |
by Jeff Lowe and John P. Sparkman
English champion two-year-old filly Playful Act (Ire) highlighted an elite group of broodmare or broodmare prospects who paced record results in Monday’s first session of the Keeneland November breeding stock sale.
John Ferguson, representing Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, persevered through a long duel with John Magnier to secure Playful Act for $10.5-million, a world record for a broodmare or broodmare prospect sold at public auction.
Playful Act was one of 28 horses who sold for seven-figure prices, a world record for a single session. The previous record was 24 set in the 2000 Keeneland September yearling sale.
Keeneland reported 194 horses as sold from 240 offered for total receipts of $109,064,000, also a world record for a single session. The total was a 30.2% increase compared with last year’s first session, in which 164 horses sold for $83,795,000.
Average price rose 10% from $510,945 last year to $562,186. Median declined 8.4% from $297,500 during the opening session in 2006 to $272,500.
“A wise observer told me today that it’s pure economics, supply and demand,” said Geoffrey Russell, Keeneland’s director of sales. “There’s a strong demand for high-quality mares, and the result is [what happened] today. Quality always sells. This is unprecedented, I would say. We knew going in we had a good catalog and tremendous international appeal. I think the number of million-dollar horses was a pleasant surprise.”
Playful Act, a five-year-old Sadler’s Wells mare, was the gold prize in the Sangster family’s dispersal through consignor Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency, agent. The dispersal also included Grade 1 winner Sand Springs, who sold for $2.3-million.
A full or half sister to four stakes winners, Playful Act had aborted her Kingmambo foal.
“[Playful Act] is an outstanding filly from a European standpoint,” said Ferguson, who bought five horses for a total of $18.5-million. “Sheikh Mohammed was determined to have this mare for Robert Sangster and Swettenham, and everything that Robert achieved. I'd like to take this opportunity on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed to express what a great man Robert Sangster was. He was a great friend.”
Sangster, who died in 2004, and Magnier were longtime partners.
“The mare is a fitting tribute to Robert Sangster and his family for everything they’ve done here at Keeneland, from Seattle Dancer, who is the highest-priced horse we’ve ever sold, and now she’s the highest-priced broodmare we’ve ever sold,” Russell said.
The previous North American record for a broodmare was the $9-million Ferguson spent on dual champion Ashado in the 2005 Keeneland November sale. Playful Act’s price also eclipsed the world record of $9,151,884 that London Thoroughbred Services paid for Magical Romance in the 2006 Tattersalls December sale.
John G. Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency led all consignors with 31 horses sold for a total of $25,210,000. Hill ‘n’ Dale also consigned the session’s highest-priced weanling, a Pulpit filly out of Grade 1 winner Madcap Escapade.
Mike Moreno’s Southern Equine Stable signed the $1.7-million ticket in buying out the filly’s co-breeder, Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings Inc.
“Our game plan was to sell her as a yearling, but [Sikura] said we'd get a yearling price for her as a weanling,” said Eric Guillot, Southern Equine’s trainer and general manager. “But she's so phenomenal looking. She has more leg than most mares in here.”
