Written by Paul Vettise
Photo credits: Keeneland
The best was saved until late on the 4th day of the Keeneland September Sale when a colt by Union Rags (USA) reached the seven figure mark, while the widespread popularity of the Coolmore shuttle stallion American Pharoah (USA) continued.
Offered by Lane’s End as Hip 920, the son of the G1 Belmont S. winner Union Rags was knocked down to SF/Starlight/Madaket for US$1 million (AU$1.45 million), who spent freely during the session.
The youngster is out of Miss Squeal (USA) (Smart Strike {USA}), who was successful three times, and she is from the family of Grade 1 winners Dream Deal (USA) (Sharpen Up {GB}), Crème Fraiche (USA) (Rich Cream {USA}), Clear Mandate (USA) (Deputy Minister (Can}) and Strong Mandate (USA) (Tiznow {USA}).
“It’s been a tough week to buy,” SF’s Tom Ryan said. “We bought no horses the first day, three the 2nd day, none the 3rd day and now here we are in the 1st day of the second book. There’s a great selection of horses to work with.
“He’s a big obvious horse and competition was strong from all over the ring as I could see,” Ryan said. “We found ourselves in the position where that’s what we had to give if we wanted to buy him.”
“We found ourselves in the position where that’s what we had to give if we wanted to buy him.” – Tom Ryan
The progeny of Coolmore’s multiple Grade 1 winner American Pharoah (USA) have been in massive demand and the thirst for his yearlings continued during Book 2.
Courtlandt Farm went to US$975,000 (AU$1.41 million) for his daughter, Hip 923, offered by Lane’s End on behalf of Dixiana Farms.
The filly is out of Momentary Magic (USA) (Indian Charlie {USA}) and she is from the family of Coolmore’s other Triple Crown winner Justify (USA).
Hip 923, daughter of American Pharoah
“She was actually our top horse out of Book 2; we thought she was Book 1 quality,” Courtlandt Manager Ernie Retamoza said. “We were saving a little for this book and particularly this filly, so I think we pulled it off.”
Retamoza said the filly would enter training at Courtlandt in Ocala, Florida, then be trained by Mark Hennig.
Multiple purchases
The SF/Starlight/Madaket partnership had a busy day and also secured a colt, Hip 851, by Quality Road (USA) for US$900,000 (AU$1.3 million) during Friday’s opening session.
Nursery Place presented the colt, who is a half-brother to the black type winner Saratoga Heater (USA) (Temple City {USA}), and their dam is the stakes-placed Hot Spell (USA) (Salt Lake {USA}).
Hip 851, a colt by Quality Road, sold for AU$1.3 million
“I liked everything. He looked like a very precocious Quality Road. Great balance and an incredible athlete, he really moved effortlessly,” Ryan said.
Another of their purchases was a son of Curlin (USA), Hip 900, bought for US$800,000 (AU$1.16 million) and offered by Lane’s End. He is the first foal of the winning Unbridled’s Song (USA) mare Lyrical Moment (USA).
Texan Tom Durant paid US$950,000 (AU$1.38 million) for a son of Quality Road (USA) from the family of the influential stallions A.P. Indy (USA) and Summer Squall (USA).
Hip 900, a colt by Curlin, sold for AU$1.16 million
Consigned by Lane’s End, Hip 646 is out of the winning Storm Cat (USA) mare Storm Shower (USA), also the dam of City Storm (City Zip {USA}), who has been successful four times.
“We are looking for Derby prospects like everybody else out here,” bloodstock agent Josh Stevens, who signed the ticket, said. “We tried to buy some earlier and realised how strong the bidding was going to get after a couple of days of watching the prices. We decided to find a couple that we really loved and go after them.
“We are looking for Derby prospects like everybody else out here.” – Josh Stevens
“The horse is an elite physical. He has a great walk and everything you want to see. He is well put together and just has that look to him that he could run early and stretch out and get you into those major races.”
Keeneland Director of Sales Geoffrey Russell was pleased with the opening days trade for book 2.
“We made a concerted effort to trim the numbers a little bit for Book 2 this year. Our goal was to continue the quality from Book 1 to Book 2. The numbers are reflective of what’s going on. Sixteen horses brought US$500,000 (AU$727,000), more this year compared to 13 last year.”
Lane’s End was the session’s leading consignor, selling 29 horses for US$9,450,000 (AU$13.7 million), including the session-topping Union Rags colt.
Lane's End's Bill Farish
“It is a great day,” Bill Farish of Lane’s End said. “We had some really good horses." “It was great to see our stallions Union Rags and Quality Road have a great day, not just for us, but for others.
“Quality Road’s mare book has gotten better and better and these yearlings are still from a US$35,000 (AU$50,880) stud fee.”
Conversion rate (as at 14th September 2019): US$1 equal to AU$1.45