Keeneland Photo
By Sarah Mace
As it happened, no New York-breds changed hands during the two sessions that made up Book 1 of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale, but they made up for lost time by shooting off fireworks during the third and fourth sessions that comprised Book 2 of the marathon auction.
Thursday and Friday each saw a New York-bred weanling and broodmare among the top five sellers of the session and, by the conclusion of Book 2, New York-breds were outperforming the cumulative sale buyback percentage and cumulative sale median.
Thirty of the 39 New York-breds offered in Keeneland’s Book 2 found new homes for a 23.1% buyback percentage, which outperformed the sale’s RNA rate of 26.3%. Of the 30 New York-breds sold in the second book, 23 brought six figures, 12 sold for $200,000 and up and four went for $300,000 and up.
The New York-bred average at the conclusion of Book 2 came in at $168,333, while the sale average was $218,329. The New York-bred median of $145,000 did better than the sale median of $130,000.
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The top New York-bred weanling of Thursday’s session 3 was Hip 454, a bay weanling colt from the first crop of Carpe Diem. Bred by SF Bloodstock, foaled on February 28 at Sugar Maple Farm in Poughquag and consigned by Bedouin Bloodstock, agent, the colt brought a winning bid of $320,000 from Jacob West’s West Bloodstock to become the third top-selling weanling of the session.
Out of Courtly Choice, a winning Kentucky-bred mare by Doneraile Court, the sale colt is a half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winner and millionaire Wild Dude (Wildcat Heir). His second dam is also a stakes winner. SF Bloodstock purchased Courtly Choice, in foal to Tiznow, for $500,000 at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton November sale. The mare was bred this year to Exaggerator.
Jacob West told the TDN, “I bought him for a racing partnership, but the guys I bought him for might pinhook. We gave a lot of money for him, being from Carpe Diem’s first crop, but he was a standout. Obviously, when you walk in there and give you that much money for a first-year sire, they have to have the physical and he has the pedigree to back it up.”
Added West, “We loved him. We wanted him. We had to get him. It was a high price, but the market is dictating that and that is what we had to pay. We hope he grows up and develops into a nice horse.”
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On Friday the star New York-bred weanling was a colt from the first crop of Liam’s Map. The second foal out of graded stakes performer Aqua Regia (Pollard’s Vision), Hip 810 became the fourth top-selling weanling of his session when purchased by Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stables / Dennis O’Neill, Agent for $310,000.
The bay youngster, who was foaled on February 27 at Edition Farm in Hyde Park, was bred by St. Elias Stable LLC and Peta Ryan, and consigned by Trackside Farm (Tom Evans), Agent VII. The Liam’s Map colt has abundant black type under the third and fourth dam. His dam Aqua Regia, who was bred this year to Dialed In, was purchased as a juvenile by St. Elias and West Point Thoroughbreds for $80,000 at the 2013 OBS June sale of horses of racing age.
“It was for Vinnie Viola, who is obviously in on Liam’s Map, O’Neill told the TDN. “He really wanted to buy a really nice one and he did. He called this morning and I told him this was the best one I’d seen all week.” Viola’s wife Teresa owned Breeders’ Cup Dirt mile winner Liam’s Map in partnership with West Point Thoroughbreds.
Added O’Neill, “It’s a great purchase. He’s a beautiful, beautiful colt, very well put together. And he had a great mind. He was really good in the back, which is a big thing for me.”
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Hip 445, Clipthecouponannie
While New York-bred weanlings were busy attracting all this positive attention, a pair of New York-bred mares brought $375,000, each, one on Thursday and one on Friday.
Thursday was Clipthecouponannie’s day (Hip 445). Offered as a racing or broodmare prospect, the 4-year-old multiple stakes winner and graded stakes performer by Uncle Mo was purchased by Kempton Bloodstock, Agent for Albaugh Family Stable. Her $375,000 price tag came in as the third highest price of the day for a filly or mare.
Foaled at Vinery Sugar Maple in Poughquag and consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, Agent CLIV, Clipthecouponannie is the first foal out of Mike Repole’s multiple stakes-winning New York-bred mare Lights Off Annie, who was bred by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Powers and earned over $200,000. Lights Off Annie is also a full sister to New York-bred stakes winner Pretty Boy Freud. She was bred back to Uncle Mo this spring.
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Friday’s top-selling New York-bred mare and the fourth top-selling mare in the session, was Hip 943, Full Tap, who was purchased in foal to Empire Maker on a February 16 cover by Anderson Farms from the consignment of Gainesway, Agent VII.
As a yearling Full Tap set a new sale record when she sold for $430,000 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale to Steven W. Young on behalf of Cobra Farm, while also attracting bids from Mandy Pope and Wesley Ward. Racing for a partnership of Gainesway and Cobra Farm, the bay mare won three times in 12 starts for earnings of $149,305.
Bred by Marbat, LLC and foaled at Stone Bridge Farm in Gansevoort, Full Tap is the second foal out of Miss Challenge, a Kentucky-bred daughter of More than Ready owned by R. A. Hill Stable who was a stakes winner on turf. Miss Challenge is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Ventana (Toccet) and issues from the family of champion juvenile Lord Avie.
When he signed the ticket, Canadian horseman David Anderson told the TDN, “It was more than I wanted to spend, but I was shut out in the first few days–I typically don’t buy in Book 1 anyway–but I thought she was one of the premium mares in this book.”
Gainesway’s Michael Hernon said, “It was a partnership dissolution, there was no reserve in the stands and every bid was a good one. She’s been bought by a good horseman and I look forward to seeing her foals at Saratoga with him in the next few years.”
Hernon added, “She is a beautiful mare, a daughter of Tapit, pregnant to Empire Maker on one cover. She could really run, she didn’t have black-type of her own, but she’ll throw black-type runners. They could very well get the purchase price back with the first foal.”
Anderson, for his part, quipped “Michael Hernon just told me he is going to buy the filly at Saratoga from me next year, so I’m all set.”
The November Sale continues through Saturday, November 18, with all sessions beginning at 10 a.m. ET.
