A DAUGHTER of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, whose half-sister Echo Zulu remained unbeaten when she captured the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes eight days earlier, sold for $1.4 million to Northshore Bloodstock to head Monday’s opening session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She was one of three seven-figure lots on the day.

Six of the 95 yearlings sold online for $2.6 million, while the day’s total reached $38,172,000. Keeneland president and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “It is exciting that we are here, that we are all back together and that we have these phenomenal horses on offer. Book 1 at the September Sale is special, and it deserves to feel that way.”

“Trade was really strong today,” Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. “There was confidence, and the money was spread out over more horses. The energy on the grounds was very strong. I have not seen the sales pavilion this full in a long time.”

Betz Thoroughbreds consigned the top-priced yearling, who also is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Echo Town and Grade 3 winner J Boys Echo. They are out of the Grade 2 winning Menifee mare Letgomyecho. Alan Quartucci of Northshore purchased the filly for owner Joe Allen and said she most likely will go to trainer Shug McGaughey.

Islington

Consigned by Mt. Brilliant Farm, a colt by Into Mischief from the family of champion Islington sold to Winchell Thoroughbreds for $1.35 million. He will be trained by Steve Asmussen. “He has always been outstanding,” said Mt. Brilliant owner Greg Goodman. “He’s always done everything right. A calm horse, smart; we’re really happy with him and we’re really happy Mr. Winchell got him and that he’s going to a good home.”

A filly by Uncle Mo out of the winning Forestry mare Nikki’s Choice sold for $1.1 million to Don Adam’s Courtlandt Farm. Pat Costello’s Paramount Sales consigned the filly, who is from the family of Canadian champion Charlie Barley, Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Success Express and Grade 1 winner Greenwood Lake.

“She was a beauty,” Costello said. “She didn’t put a foot wrong from the day she was here, and we could see with the way the vetting was going, everybody was on her. She deserved to bring the kind of money she brought because she’s just stunning. She came from a client of ours and she was always nice, very much so. We were delighted with the price. It was a little bit more than we thought she would bring.”

M.V. Magnier

Three yearlings on Monday sold for $950,000 apiece. M.V. Magnier paid that amount for a son of Quality Road whose dam is a half-sister to champion Rushing Fall. The colt is out of stakes winner Milam, by Street Sense. “He is a lovely colt and he has done well his whole life,” WinStar’s Elliott Walden said. “We are very proud of him and that Coolmore got him and wish him nothing but the best.”

Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni spent $950,000 for a Medaglia D’Oro filly, the first foal of a full-sister to stakes winner Banker’s Buy, and from the family of champion Mitole and 2021 Grade 2 winner and Grade 1 runner-up Hot Rod Charlie. Lanni bought the filly for Michael Lund Petersen and Willow Grace Farm, owners of recent Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante winner Grace Adler. Lanni said the market has “really been strong all year. There’s a big appetite for really good horses out there and it’s nice to see us get back to some kind of normalcy.”

A colt from the first crop of Triple Crown winner Justify, a half-brother to Grade 2 winner Pretty N Cool, sold for $950,000 to Japan’s Hideyuki Mori. He is from the family of Grade 1 winner Sean Avery.

Eight millionaires conclude a robust Book 1 catalogue

KEENELAND concluded the premier Book 1 portion of its September Yearling Sale on Tuesday with vibrant trade, producing strong results and the sale of eight millionaire yearlings. The day was led by the $1.6 million paid by Woodford Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds for a Quality Road colt who is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Girvin and 2021 Grade 1 Preakness Stakes and Travers Stakes runner-up Midnight Bourbon.

At the end of the first two days 208 horses sold through the ring for more than $90 million, for an average of $435,683 and a median of $350,000. “It was a great couple of days. We’re really excited about the results, about the feeling and the excitement on the grounds,” Shannon Arvin said. “It was a very diverse buying bench. Out of the 10 highest prices today, there were nine distinct buyers.”

“The session was electric, full of optimism,” Tony Lacy said. “The median was $350,000 over the last couple of days, $400,000 for the session alone. I don’t think we’ve ever hit $400,000. Cumulatively it’s just short of 2019, which was a record year. As we go forward, I think it’s really encouraging.”

The session topper is a half-brother to Grade 3 winners Cocked And Loaded and Pirate’s Punch, while another half-brother Midnight Bourbon won a Grade 3 race earlier this year. “The plan is to gather a partnership together with Woodford Racing, West Point and a few others, and Barbara Banke,” Woodford’s Bill Farish said. “He will go to Shug McGaughey.”

Two colts consigned by Gainesway sold for $1.3 million each. Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm paid the amount for a son of Tapit from the family of champion Jaywalk and Grade 2 winner Mission Impazible. He is out of stakes winner Danzatrice, by Dunkirk. “I love Tapit, as everyone knows – we’ve been buying a bunch of them,” Pope said.

Two lots later, Gainesway consigned a son of Curlin out of Dashing Debby who sold to M.V. Magnier for $1.3 million. The colt is a half-brother to Grade 1-placed stakes winner Dawn The Destroyer and stakes winner Bronze Star. “Brian Graves, when we went down to see him first, really, really liked the horse,” Magnier said. “All our guys liked him as well.” The colt will stay in the US.

All class

Gainesway also sold a $1.2 million War Front filly to Seahorse Stables. She is a half-sister to Canadian champion Lukes Alley. “All class, everything she is supposed to be and maybe a little better,” said Eddie Woods, who signed the ticket. “She vetted perfectly; she may go to Ireland. The client couldn’t travel. I’m just doing a job that normally they would do on their own.”

Out of the stakes-winning A.P. Indy mare Vaulcluse, the filly also is a half-sister to Grade 3-placed stakes winner Arrifana. “She’s just an absolutely lovely filly – best filly we had on the farm,” Gainesway’s Brian Graves said. “We wish them a lot of luck.”

Spendthrift Farm went to $1.25 million to acquire a filly by Into Mischief out of Grade 1 winner Embellish the Lace, by Super Saver. She was consigned by Bluewater Sales and from the family of Grade 1 winners Afleet Express and Materiality. Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said: “She sort of ticked all the boxes, as classy a filly as we thought there was in the sale. We’re really excited to have her. Sometimes you see that pedigree and you’re disappointed in the physical, but there’s nothing disappointing in any way about this filly. You just hope that you’ll be able to afford her.”

Very happy

Mayberry Farm spent $1.15 million for a colt by Quality Road who is from the family of Grade 1 winner Charlatan. Dixiana Farms sold the colt who is out of the English Channel mare Brielle’s Appeal, a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Authenticity who is the dam of Charlatan. Dixiana owner Bill Shively commented: “I like him a lot and the mare is named after my daughter Brielle. I’ve been doing this for 20 years and this is the first time we’ve broke a million, so we’re very happy with that. I expected him to be the best we had, but I didn’t expect him to get to a million.”

David Ingordo, who signed the ticket for the colt, said the colt would go to trainer John Shirreffs in California.

West Bloodstock, acting for Repole Stable and St. Elias, purchased a colt from the first crop of Grade 1 winner City Of Light for $1.05 million. Consigned by Peter O’Callaghan’s Woods Edge Farm, he is a half-brother to Grade 3 winner Biddy Duke and from the family of champion Essential Quality.

A colt by War Front, a full-brother to European champion Air Force Blue, sold for $1 million to Lynnhaven Racing from the consignment of Stone Farm.

City Of Light colt tops the sale

ENTHUSIASTIC bidding continued Wednesday during the third day of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Yearlings by young sires lit up the bid board, with colts from the first crops of multiple Grade 1 winner City Of Light and Triple Crown winner Justify fetching $1.7 million and $1.55 million respectively. Young sires were represented by eight of the 10 highest prices of the session.

Woodford Racing, Talla Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds bought the City Of Light colt who is the highest-priced yearling in the sale. Talla Racing and West Point combined to purchase the Justify colt. The strong demand fuelled healthy results on Wednesday, the first day of the Book 2 catalogue, and turnover for the session was $4,000 short of $61 million.

“That was amazing – one of the best sale days we have seen in a while,” Tony Lacy said. “Every time you picked your head up, it was another $500,000, $600,000 yearling. There was a lot of optimism and a diverse group of buyers. We had a lot of end users and new money. A lot of people have not been able to buy a horse yet. There is a pent-up demand. They are not going to go home until they fill their orders.”

“The highlight today was the depth of the market,” Keeneland director of sales operations Cormac Breathnach said. “Apart from the two million-dollar-plus horses, we had 26 others that brought over half a million and they went to a broad base of buyers, particularly domestic demand in today’s case.”

Rosilyn Polan’s Sunday Morning Farm in Woodford County, Kentucky, consigned the $1.7 million colt, who is out of the Tapit mare Anchorage. “I have always loved this colt,” said Polan, who bred this year’s Grade 3 Sanford Stakes winner and Grade 1 runner-up Wit and sold him for $575,000 at last year’s September Sale. “I have always known he was special, and I knew that people would like him, but usually people like a horse for a certain price. Nobody can ever dream of a million dollars.”

The colt is the first acquisition for the Woodford, Talla, and West Point partnership.

Wait A While

Talla Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds acquired the $1.55 million Justify colt who is from the family of champion Wait A While. A half-brother to stakes winner Feeling Mischief, he is out of the stakes-winning Latent Heat mare True Feelings. “We have a team together: (trainer) John Sadler, David Ingordo and West Point Thoroughbreds,” Mike Talla said. “We really liked this one, so we went in for him. We’ll know next year if we made a mistake or not. Let’s talk next summer.”

Stonehaven Steadings consigned the $1.55 million Justify colt and shortly afterwards sold a $750,000 filly from the first crop of Grade 1 winner Mendelssohn out of Grade 2 winner Wasted Tears. B.B.E. purchased filly, whose two-year-old half-brother, Corniche, won on his at Del Mar by 4¼ lengths a week before the sale. 25.

“Probably the most exciting thing I have experienced in the business,” Stonehaven’s director of bloodstock Aidan O’Meara said about the sales. “We were high on them all along. There was a huge update for the filly. The (Justify) colt has been one of our top two colts all along, but he really blossomed in the last two months.

“I am flabbergasted and shocked and overwhelmed about the whole thing. We certainly weren’t expecting those kinds of results. We had aggressive reserves but they blew past them by 200%. You dream of a day like this with two quality horses back to back.”

Gun Runner

A colt by Gun Runner from the family of champion Untapable sold for $975,000 to West Bloodstock, agent for Repole Stable and St. Elias. The colt is out of Untapable’s full sister Time To Tap. The family also includes Grade 1 winner and sire Paddy O’Prado. “He’s by Gun Runner – probably can’t name a hotter stallion or a stallion that’s gotten off to a hotter start than him,” Jacob West said. The colt will go to Todd Pletcher.

Gainesway sold three of the day’s 10 highest-priced yearlings. They included a $900,000 filly from the first crop of Mendelssohn, whose dam is a half-sister to champion Covfefe. She sold to Solis/Litt. Another notable sale for Gainesway occurred when Maverick Racing paid $800,000 for a colt by Quality Road who is the first foal of Grade 1-placed stakes winner Cherry Lodge, by Bernardini.

Courtlandt Farm purchased a colt by Gun Runner out of Grade 2 winner Broadway’s Alibi, by Vindication for $875,000. Donato Lanni signed the tickets for two high-priced horses offered consecutively. For SF Bloodstock/Starlight/Madaket, he paid $850,000 for a colt by Curlin out of Grade 2 winner My Wandy’s Girl.

For Charles and Susan Chu’s Baoma Corp., Lanni paid $825,000 for the yearling that preceded the Curlin colt, a filly by Quality Road who is the first foal of stakes winner My Miss Chiff, by Into Mischief. Lanni, agent for SF Bloodstock/Starlight/Madaket also paid $775,000 for a colt from the first crop of champion Good Magic, and $675,000 for a son of Uncle Mo.

Week ends on a high

TWO million-dollar colts, a son of Into Mischief from the family of Grade 1 winner Dunbar Road and a son of Street Sense from the family of champion Forever Unbridled, led Thursday’s fourth day of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The session marked the final day of a buoyant first week of the sale, which generated sales exceeding $200 million and had 15 lots sell for $1 million or more.

“Excellent,” was Keeneland’s Tony Lacy’s summation of the outcome. “The session started strong and finished strong. There were flat spots in the middle when it got a little quiet, but that might be because people were at the barns looking at Book 3 horses, but the median and average are up.

“Going forward, I am optimistic,” Lacy added. “There are a lot of people, especially pinhookers, who have not had their hands up yet. When you have buyers getting pushed into the second week that says a lot about the strength of the market. We are encouraged.” The sale had a ‘dark day’ on Friday before recommencing and selling though until September 24th.

“I think a lot of people love the format,” Cormac Breathnach said. “It’s speaking for itself in terms of the results. It has kept the buyers in town and kept them engaged. People are really aggressive about trying to fill orders. And there’s a wave of buyers that are yet to come in or that are just getting started, so we feel really good about the seven sessions to come.”

Mike Ryan purchased Thursday’s seven-figure Into Mischief colt, who was consigned by Mt. Brilliant Farm. Out of Grade 3-placed stakes winner Secret Someone, by A.P. Indy, he was bought for a partnership. Ryan is familiar with the yearling’s family, having purchased the Bernardini mare Gift List at Keeneland’s 2016 January Horses of All Ages Sale when she was carrying Dunbar Road.

“He reminded me an awful lot of Practical Joke,” Ryan said about the purchase, comparing the colt to the Grade 1-winning son of Into Mischief, “If he runs to his pedigree, top and bottom, sire and female line, he’s got terrific stallion potential. He looks like a horse that hopefully would run at Saratoga next summer and strike out from there. I thought he was a special colt. He’s got a lot of upside, and hopefully, he’ll turn out lucky.”

The $1 million Street Sense colt sold to BSW/Crow Colts Group, a new partnership for colts to be trained by Brad Cox. Out of the winning Critikal Reason, he is a half-brother to stakes winner Bajan, and from the family of Forever Unbridled as well as Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks winner Lemons Forever and Grade 1 winner Unbridled Forever. During the first four says the BSW/Crow Colts Group bought 17 colts for $5.98 million.

Stallion-making

“It’s a stallion-making group,” Brad Weisbord, speaking for the partnership, said. “We want to have fun along the way, but Brad Cox’s goal is to make a stallion to make this whole thing make sense. We want to return some capital to the partners.” Farfellow Farms consigned the Street Sense colt.

West Bloodstock, agent for Repole Stable and St. Elias, paid $950,000 for a colt by Violence who is a half-brother to Grade 1-placed stakes winner Standard Deviation. He is out of the A.P. Indy mare False Impression and from the family of Grade 1 winner Believe You Can. West said trainer Todd Pletcher told him the colt reminded him of Violence, whom he trained.

Into Mischief also sired a colt sold to Courtlandt Farm for $850,000, and he is from the family of Grade 1 winner Off the Tracks. Mayberry Farm paid $775,000 for a filly by Quality Road and from the family of champion Abel Tasma, while Talla Racing went to $750,000 for a colt by Practical Joke whose dam, Gal Factor, is a half-sister to this year’s Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner Super Stock.