Courtesy of TDN America
At A Glance
>> A son of freshman sire Not This Time (USA) topped the session when sold to bloodstock agent Donato Lanni for US$320,000 (AU$443,336) consigned by Stuart Morris .
>> An Anderson Farms-consigned colt by former Coolmore shuttler Caravaggio (USA) was popular, selling for US$250,000 (AU$346,356) to Ben McElroy on behalf of Wesley Ward.
>> For the session, 255 yearlings sold for US$11,832,500 (AU$16,393,041) for an average of US$46,402 (AU$64,286) and a median of US$25,000 (AU$34,635).
>> For the two-day Book 4 section, 492 yearlings sold for an aggregate of US$23,349,000 (AU$32,348,288). The average was US$47,457 (AU$65,748) and the median was US$32,000 (AU$44,333). The book’s top price, US$320,000 (AU$443,336), was one of 11 to sell for US$200,000 (AU$277,085) or over for the two days .
>> During last year’s two-session Book 4 section, 562 yearlings sold for US$28,329,200 (AU$39,247,981) for an average of US$50,408 (AU$69,836) and a median of US$37,000 (AU$51,260). The top Book 4 price in 2019 was US$310,000 (AU$429,481) and 10 horses sold for US$200,000 (AU$277,188) or over .
Lanni continues spree
The two-session Book 4 portion of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale concluded on Monday in Lexington with spirited action at the top of the market.
Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, the most prolific buyer of the auction, made the day’s highest bid when going to US$320,000 (AU$443,336) to acquire a colt by hot freshman sire Not This Time, Hip 2739, for an undisclosed client.
“The good ones are tough to buy, they are really tough,” Lanni said. “You just have to bid extra and push a little bit more and hopefully you get them.”
Hip 2739 - Not This Time (USA) x Ready At Nine (USA) (colt)
Hip 2739 was one of two yearlings to bring over US$300,000 (AU$415,627) on Monday. The chestnut colt, bred by Stelly Stables and consigned by Stuart Morris, is out of Ready At Nine (USA) (More Than Ready {USA}) and is a half-brother to stakes-placed Drummer Boy (USA) (Parading {USA}).
“He is a neat horse, a cool dude,” Lanni said of the yearling, who will be trained by Bob Baffert. “He was one of the standouts today. Every day there are good horses coming through, you just have to find them.
"Every day there are good horses coming through, you just have to find them." - Donato Lanni
"He was easy to find. He’s a nice horse and the sire helped. The sire has been on a roll and people believe in the sire. They are willing to pay extra for them. Not This Time is a horse that came under the radar. You never know who is going to make it, but it looks like he’s going to do well.”
For the session, 255 yearlings sold for US$11,832,500 (AU$16,393,041) for an average of US$46,402 (AU$64,286) and a median of US$25,000 (AU$34,635). The buy-back rate, which was as high as 40 per cent during sessions last week, was 23.88 per cent on Monday.
Donato Lanni
Nicoma strikes early
A day after earning his second Grade 1 winner from his first crop to race, Nyquist (USA) was responsible for the top-priced filly of Monday’s session when Nicoma Bloodstock’s Ben Gowans made a final bid of US$305,000 (AU$423,283) to secure a daughter of the G1 Kentucky Derby winner (Hip 2419) on behalf of an undisclosed client.
Out of multiple stakes winner and multiple Graded stakes placed Unforgotten (USA) (Northern Afleet {USA}), the bay filly is a half-sister to Grade 1-placed Silverpocketsfull (USA) (Indian Charlie {USA}).
“We thought coming in to today that this filly would be around US$200,000 (AU$276,688) to US$250,000 (AU$345,835) range, but Nyquist had a big weekend,” Gowans said.
Nyquist’s son Gretzky The Great (USA) captured Sunday’s G1 Summer S. at Woodbine, adding to Vequist’s (USA) win in the G1 Spinaway S. earlier this month.
“Seeing what Nyquist has done so far obviously gave us the confidence in the filly, but we loved her physically,” Gowans said. “She is a beautiful filly with good size, plenty of leg, really well balanced, and she moves really well.”
Of his client, Gowans said, “He is in it to race. We’ve really enjoyed working for him and he was delighted even though we went a little over. So that’s always a good thing.”
Hip 2419 - Nyquist (USA) x Unforgotten (USA) (filly)
The yearling was consigned by Candy Meadows Sales and was bred by Matt Lyons’s Three Lyons Racing and Dennis Farkas, who purchased Unforgotten, with this filly in utero, for US$75,000 (US$104,086) at the 2018 Keeneland November Sale.
Of Monday’s results, Farkas said, “Matt was really happy with the way the filly had grown and thought we would do ok with her. He had high expectations, I don’t know if he thought we’d be the sale topper today, but he was very happy and I am, too.”
Unforgotten, who produced a filly by West Coast (USA) this year, is Farkas’s only Kentucky-based mare, but he has a band of some 10 mares in Indiana.
Filly a first for Hernon
Michael Hernon, long-time director of sales at Gainesway, made the first purchase for his new bloodstock agency on Monday, going to US$42,000 (AU$58,288) to acquire a filly by Speightster (USA) (Hip 2541) on behalf of Steve and Cynthia Sansone.
“This filly jumped out at me with her motion and she had a very good stride to her,” said Hernon, who partnered with trainer Mark Casse to purchase unbeaten stakes winner Spanish Loveaffair (USA) (Karakontie {Jpn}) for US$35,000 (AU$48,573) out of last year’s September Sale. “I looked at her three times and she’s a very positive type who moves forward willingly.”
The yearling is out of Diamondsandcaviar (USA) (Street Cry {Ire}), a half-sister to Grade1 winner Haynesfield (USA) (Speightstown {USA}).
Hernon made his first purchase under the Michael Hernon Bloodstock banner on a single bid.
“I could have seen her bringing $50,000 (AU$69,195) and change,” Hernon said. “But we are happy with the price and we’re happy with the horse.”
