Breeder Dede McGehee of Heaven Trees Farm was overwhelmed with delight when her Bolt d'Oro colt that is a half brother Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Horse of the Year who was born at Heaven Trees Farm, made the bid board climb to $1.4 million during the Aug. 10 second session of The Saratoga Sale.
The colt (Hip 132), purchased by Larry Best of OXO Equine from the Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency consignment to Fasig-Tipton's selected yearlings sale in New York, was bred in Kentucky out of the stakes-winning Roar mare Lotta Kim. McGehee received Lotta Kim after the mare's breeder and owner Dolphus Morrison dispersed his breeding stock in 2012.
"No, I was not expecting it," McGehee said of the seven-figure price. "You always hope for great things. He looked good. (Hill 'n' Dale) prepped him, they did a great job. He's probably the best thing that I've owned that I've ever raised, and here we are.
"He's been treated like all of our horses. He's been treated like a horse. We take care of them—we don't have a lot of them—they get individual attention."
The colt is from the first crop of Spendthrift Farm stallion Bolt d'Oro, who, like Rachel Alexandra, is sired by Medaglia d'Oro .
"He's a special horse, special opportunity. Obviously no guarantees," said Best, who stretched beyond his expectation of paying between $1 million and $1.2 million. "The horse is just beautiful. Look at the page with Rachel Alexandra on it. Frankly, it's 90% physical. However, I love Medaglia d'Oro, and Bolt d'Oro is close. The page looked good, and it's clearly the standout in the sale. Somebody may pay more for a horse, and they already have, but this horse will need a little time."
Hip 132 is the sixth Heaven Trees-bred foal out of Lotta Kim, and the mare's ninth overall. Lotta Kim's first foal was Rachel Alexandra, who in 2009 bested males to win the BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (G1), Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1), and Woodward Stakes (G1) en route to Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly honors. The star race mare won 13 of 19 starts and more than $3.5 million in earnings. Lotta Kim's first foal for McGehee was the grade 3-placed Dolphus, named for Morrison, and she also produced stakes-placed Wooderson.
Rachel Alexandra also proved to be a stakes producer with her daughter Rachel's Valentina, winner of the Spinaway Stakes (G1) and second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
As for Lotta Kim, "She's great. You'd never know she was 20 years old," McGehee said.
Hill 'n' Dale's John Sikura said Hip 132 was the first horse his operation has sold for McGehee.
"This horse is a beautiful, classy, long, smooth, gorgeous animal," Sikura said.
"This colt was high-class, very popular; we had high expectations," he added. "To a degree, you would say he exceeded them, but I'm not surprised that he's a million-dollar horse. If it wasn't a freshman sire, I think he might have kept going."
Best's purchase of the Bolt d'Oro colt, his first of the two-day sale, came shortly after a Quality Road colt that he bred was purchased for $800,000 by Maverick Racing, the racing arm of WinStar Farm. The OXO Equine-bred was consigned as Hip 114 by Taylor Made Sales Agency. Out of the stakes-winning Malibu Moon mare Hung the Moon, he is a half brother to Best's grade 1-placed stakes winner Brill.
"I sold one out of a mare I paid a lot less for. I'm ahead of the game a little bit, but not this much," Best said after going to seven figures for Hip 132. "I need a lot of luck on this one."
Best waited until the second-to-last horse of the sale, Hip 209, to make another purchase. He paid $725,000 for the City of Light colt out of the stakes-winning Victory Gallop mare Swingit, making the colt a half brother to multiple grade 2 winner Travel Column and multiple grade 1-placed Neolithic . The colt was consigned by Denali Stud, agent for Bayne and Christina Welker.
