AS the Keeneland Sale draws to a close this weekend, trade continued to be bullish and all levels of the market were strong.

The second day of Book 2 last Friday recorded double-digit increases in gross, average and median prices, and a buy-back rate of less than 19%. Breeze Easy purchased both the session’s $725,000 top-priced broodmare, the Grade 3-producing Unbridled’s Song mare J. Quirk, in foal to Game Winner, and the $375,000 top-priced foal, J. Quirk’s filly by Gun Runner, who was next in the sale ring. Both horses were consigned by Denali Stud, agent.

“Today was pretty spectacular from start to finish,” Keeneland director of sales operations, Cormac Breathnach, said. “The median, which is more representative of the bulk of the market, was $140,000. That’s about $40,000 more than last year and $30,000 more than 2019.”

J. Quirk, a 10-year-old mare from the family of Horse of the Year Tiznow, produced Lady Mystify who scored an 18-length maiden victory at Santa Anita and in September captured the Grade 3 Remington Park Oaks. “We are going to race the filly,” Breeze Easy managing director Mike Hall said. “The mare has produced a lot of good physical horses that have also done well. We came for the mare and at the last minute decided to get the weanling.”

Gary Broad and Walmac Farm paid $550,000 for the three-year-old Street Sense mare Belle Street, a half-sister to Grade 2 winner and Grade 1 Kentucky Derby runner-up Eight Belles, carrying her first foal by Bernardini, to post the highest price of Saturday’s session.

Godolphin consigned Belle Street, who is out of stakes winner Away, by Dixieland Band, and from the family of Grade 3 winners Sky Captain and Belong to Me.

The buoyant pace continued at Keeneland on Sunday when gross sales of $166,206,000 through five sessions, the halfway stage, surpassed total sales of $151,017,300 recorded during last year’s entire 10-day auction.