Bullish Market Continues Wednesday at Keeneland January Sale

By Amy Owens —-

LEXINGTON, KY (Jan. 9, 2019) – Competition for quality broodmares and yearlings remained spirited during Wednesday’s penultimate session of the four-day Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale.

Keeneland sold 238 horses for $4,074,300, for an average of $17,119 and a median of $8,000. During the third session of the 2018 auction, 236 horses grossed $3,442,700, for an average of $14,588 and a median of $7,750.

Cumulative sales are $42,931,600 for 703 horses, for an average of $61,069 and a median of $23,000. Through the same period in 2018, 651 horses brought $31,744,700, for an average of $48,763 and a median of $17,000.

Two horses sold for $125,000 each to lead the Wednesday session.

C F Farms paid the amount for Oh Mrs. G, an 8-year-old daughter of Offlee Wild in foal to Practical Joke. Consigned by ELiTE, the mare is out of Mrs. Marcos, by Private Account. Oh Mrs. G is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Zoftig, dam of Grade 1 winners Zo Impressive and Zaftig, and Manerbe, dam of Grade 3 winner Marbre Rose (IRE).

“Being in foal to Practical Joke helped, and she has a huge (catalog) page,” ELiTE Partner Liz Crow said. “People are looking for quality today, and she stuck out in the catalog. People have a lot of respect for Offlee Wild as a broodmare sire and that helped. She is a nice physical, a very pretty mare.”

Stallion Heiress, a 5-year-old stakes-winning daughter of Exchange Rate, sold for $125,000 to SF Bloodstock and Newgate Farm. Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, as a racing or broodmare prospect, she is out of the graded stakes-placed Smart Strike mare Mendocino Beano and from the family of Grade 2 winner Mr Havercamp.

“She has a lovely physical and she was obviously a fast filly on the track,” Caroline Wilson of SF Bloodstock said. “I think she will be a great (broodmare) for our program. We will get together as a team and discuss (who to send her to in) the breeding shed this year. I think (her price) was in the range of where she was supposed to be; she was a ‘TDN Rising Star’ as a 2-year-old. She’ll be great for our breeding program.”

Yearlings brought the next three highest prices.

A colt by Midnight Lute from the family of Grade 1 winner and sire Cross Traffic sold to Fish Bloodstock for $120,000. The colt, out of the Storm Cat mare Stop the Lights, is a half-brother to graded stakes-placed Lightscameraaction. He was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent.

“He is a leggy colt with a long neck and a really good mover,” said Brian Graves, Gainesway’s Director of Public Sales, who signed the ticket. “When you lead a quality horse up by a stallion that is proven to get good racehorses, people will believe. We’ll probably bring him back here in (the Keeneland) September (Yearling Sale) and see how we did. The (yearling market) has been extremely tough.”

With two purchases for a total of $210,000, Fish Bloodstock was the session’s leading buyer. Fish also paid $90,000 for the Midnight Lute filly out of the Tale of the Cat mare Perdy consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency, agent.

The Legend Stables went to $100,000 for a yearling colt from the first crop of Mshawish out of the stakes-placed Lemon Drop Kid mare Lemon Hero. Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, he is from the family of Grade 3 winner Count His Fleet and stakes winners Bright Gold, Satin Gold and Early Entry.

“(We bought him) for Bloodstock Investments,” Taylor Made Farm Vice President of Boarding Operations Frank Taylor said, referring to Taylor Made’s pinhooking operation. “We really liked that colt; he vetted good and has a great walk to him. He is a later foal; we thought he would develop into a really nice horse. (He will) probably be back for (Keeneland’s) September (Yearling Sale). I love Mshawish, so we have high hopes (for the yearling). There was a lot of traffic at the barn for him. He is really a nice colt.”

Taylor Made was represented by three of the day’s highest-priced horses to be the session’s leading consignor, selling 66 horses for $1,399,400.

Caroline and Greg Bentley paid $100,000 for the session’s top-priced yearling filly, a daughter of Fast Anna who is a half-sister to Alwaysmining, winner of the Maryland Juvenile Futurity and Heft Stakes at Laurel in December. Consigned by Hunter Valley Farm, the filly is out of the winning Anees mare What Will Be and from the family of champion Benny the Bull and Grade 1 winner Shotgun Gulch.

“She had a nice update (in stakes-winning half-brother Alwaysmining), and I bought her for the owners of Alwaysmining, Caroline and Greg Bentley (of Runnymede Racing),” Gabriel Duignan, who signed the ticket, said. “She will probably go on and race for the owners. I thought she might come a little cheaper, but (her price) doesn’t totally surprise me. I knew she was popular. The market is very competitive for the nice ones.”

“The market is very selective,” Hunter Valley Manager Adrian Regan said. “This filly is now a half- sister to a very good horse (Alwaysmining). I am just delighted for the breeder, Avla Pitts, a longtime client of ours.”

The final session of the January Sale begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET. The auction is streamed live on Keeneland.com.

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For more than 80 years, the Keeneland Association has devoted itself to the health and vibrancy of the Thoroughbred industry. The world’s largest Thoroughbred auction house, Keeneland conducts four sales a year, in January, April, September and November, and its sales graduates dominate racing globally at every level. In April and October, Keeneland offers some of the highest caliber and richest Thoroughbred racing in the world. Keeneland hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in 2015 and will hold the event again in 2020. Uniquely structured, Keeneland is a private, for-profit corporation that returns its earnings to the industry and the community in the form of higher purses and millions of dollars donated in support of horse industry initiatives and charitable contributions for education, research and health and human services throughout Central Kentucky. To learn more, visit Keeneland.com.

For more information contact Amy Gregory at 859 361-3490 or Amy Owens at 859 421-2566