By Sarah Mace
The two sessions comprising Book 2 of the 5-book, 13-session 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale produced a fresh New York-bred top-seller and an additional standout.
Hip 940 by Uncle Mo, leading second crop sire by a mile, and currently second in the general sire rankings behind Tapit, was purchased by Al and Sandee Kirkwood in session four of the sale from the consignment of Peter O’Callaghan’s Woods Edge Farm, Agent, for $325,000.
A February 2 foal bred by Michael J. and Patricia Palenscar, the dark bay/brown colt is out of stakes-placed My Dear Annie, a New York-bred mare by Smart Strike also bred by the Palenscars. The couple also bred the yearling’s second dam, the unraced Fancy Landing (Formal Gold). My Dear Annie has had only one starter to date, who is a placed runner. Currently she has a weanling filly by Orb and was bred to Bodemeister this spring. This third generation Palenscar-bred colt was foaled and raised at Tom and Mia Gallo’s Blue Stone Farm in Cambridge where the Palenscars have been clients for over 25 years.
The other New York-bred standout of Keeneland Book 2, and new top-selling New York-bred filly of the sale, was Hip 949, a daughter of Tale of the Cat bred by James Lamonica, Lee Sacks and Soave Stables who brought $230,000 also in session four. Also consigned by Woods Edge Farm, Agent, the filly was hammered down to Tom Haughey for PTK, LLC. She commanded $175,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November sale last year.
The sale filly’s dam Nick’s Honor by Jump Start is a Kentucky-bred multiple stakes producer. Her second foal, Kelli Got Frosty (Frost Giant) won the East View Stakes as a juvenile, and her third foal, The Lewis Dinner won the Key Cents Stakes and Fifth Avenue Division of the New York Stallion Stakes series also at two. Nick’s Honor has a weanling colt by City Zip on the ground this year and was bred back to the same stallion in the spring.
Through the first two books seven of 13 New York-breds offered changed hands, all for six figures. The New York-bred average to date is $177,143, while the median has come in at $150,000.
The key indicators for the Keeneland yearling sale so far are bullish. Through the first two books the cumulative average was $233,382, up 10.25% from the average of $211,692 in 2015. The median of $170,000 was up 13.33% from last year’s $150,000.
The September Sale continues through Sunday, September 25, with all sessions beginning at 10 a.m.
