Parlaying success from the sales ring to the dirt oval comes as no small feat. Each year, bloodstock agents look at thousands of horses all over the world in hopes of finding an athlete worthy of the spotlight. This year at the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland Nov. 4-5 we will see 10 individuals who initially walked across the sales stage before making their way to the elite level.
The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) will have eight starters, six of whom sold at public auction at various ages. The most expensive of those, Taiba , was purchased for $1.7 million in 2021 during The Gulfstream Sale, Fasig-Tipton's Select 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale by longtime bloodstock agent Gary Young for Zedan Racing Stables.
The Gun Runner colt was a home run pinhook for Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds, who purchased him initially during the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearling Sale for $140,000 from Buckland Sales.
The most profitable purchase, Hot Rod Charlie, with earnings over $5.5M, will be making his third Breeders' Cup appearance for trainer Doug O'Neill, whose brother Dennis found the colt by Oxbow at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale. The half brother to Mitole was initially sold during the 2019 Fasig-Tipton February Sale for $17,000 to Erickson Equine from the James M. Herbener Jr. consignment. Eight months later, Small Batch Sales sent the colt through the ring seeing him bring $110,000.
"Sean and Bob Feld put me on the horse, sent me pictures, and a walking video," Dennis O'Neill recalled. "The colt caught my eye, obviously the bottom side was Mitole and he hadn't won the Breeders' Cup at that point, and he was getting ready to and I thought, 'You know, there's really a nice upside to this horse if Mitole keeps running good.'"
The colt out of Indian Miss was bred in Kentucky by Edward A. Cox Jr.
"I thought he'd be $100,000 to $150,000, right in that price range. I figured you couldn't get hurt too bad and I remember that Doug wasn't really excited about him because of the sire," O'Neill said. "His sire had kind of been a flop, and there weren't a lot of really good Oxbows, but, we've been pretty damn successful with horses by sires that weren't really popular. I told Doug to just give this horse a chance; he's a good-looking horse, very correct, and has good size… let's give him a chance. When he started working, Doug said, 'Yeah, he's going to be alright, I don't know how good he will be, but he's going to be alright.' He has kept getting better and better and better."
China Horse Club and Maverick Racing's Life Is Good was purchased for $525,000 during the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from Paramount Sales. The son of Into Mischief was bred by Gary and Mary West in Kentucky and will be looking to add another Breeders' Cup win to his resume after winning the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) last year. The 4-year-old colt has recorded earnings of over $4.3 million to make his sales price look like a bargain. A four-time grade 1 winner, he will begin stud duty next year at WinStar Farm for an advertised fee of $100,000 (subject to change pending Breeders' Cup results).
The highly regarded Flightline also made his first foray in the sales ring in 2019 at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where L.E.B. signed the sales ticket for West Point Thoroughbreds to acquire the son of Tapit for $1M. The three-time grade 1 winner was bred in Kentucky by Summer Wind Equine, who has remained in for a portion of the exciting colt, who is raced in partnership with Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Racing.
At the conclusion of his racing career, Flightline will stand at Lane's End Farm.
Olympiad , a son of Speightstown, was plucked by Solis/Litt from the 2019 Keeneland September Sale for $700,000 from the Gainesway banner. An eight-time winner in 12 career starts, he was bred in Kentucky by Emory Hamilton; the 4-year-old has earned over $2M for his connections, running through his purchase price. The colt runs in partnership with Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable, and LNJ Foxwoods. Gainesway announced Oct. 24 Olympiad will take up stud at the Lexington farm upon his retirement.
Ron Winchell's Epicenter ran well past his $260,000 price tag, accumulating earnings of over $2.9 million. The son of Not This Time was sourced from his breeder, Bettersworth Westwind Farms, during the 2020 Keeneland September Sale. The Steve Asmussen trainee has four wins this year in graded races, topped by the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1), and was second in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).
Distaff Bargains
The Nyquist filly Awake At Midnyte is no stranger to the sales pavilion, having made three trips through—and after her spin in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) Nov. 5, she will be headed to The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's marquee breeding stock sale, to be consigned by Kingswood Farm as Hip 260 Nov. 6 at the Newtown Paddocks.
Initially an RNA during the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale at $85,000, she returned in the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale with Mulholland Springs and sold for $190,000 to Michael Neatherlin. The following year she went through The Gulfstream Sale, initially failing to sell but later selling privately to agent Dennis O'Neill for $320,000.
"She was in the sale, but RNA'd," O'Neill recalled. "I got a call from Michelle Hemingway; I think she knew the owners. She said, 'There's a really, really nice Nyquist here that did not sell. And you need to take a look at this horse.' I remember I went over and looked at her and thought, 'There's got to be something up here, because she's gorgeous.' She's beautiful, good size, and really correct. She had very minor vet issues, I had Dr. Hore vet her, and he thought we would be OK to race. He saw why some of the people would pass on her because she had a little of this and a little of that, but he didn't think it would bug her. We thought it was definitely worth taking a shot at. I loved her physically and her brain.
"We made an offer, and they (Clary Bloodstock) took it, so we bought her," O'Neill added. "After the sale, we got her home and from day one, she has trained like a really, really good horse. It was just a matter of soundness and hoping nothing popped up, but she's been very, very sound. She sells Sunday, the day after the Breeders' Cup. She hasn't taken a bad step since we've had her. We've slowed down on her a couple of times just because she got a little bit sour on us. She's another one doing really, really well, and I wouldn't put it past her to try and win a big race over the weekend."
The 3-year-old filly was bred in Kentucky by Forty Oaks and is campaigned by Doug O'Neill for Reddam Racing.
The multiple graded stakes-winning filly Search Results, by Flatter, sold to bloodstock agent Mike Ryan during the 2019 Keeneland September Sale from breeder Machmer Hall for $310,000, and she has spun gold for her owner Klaravich Stables, bankrolling $1.4 million in earnings over the past two years.
Three-time grade 1 winner Nest made an appearance in the Keeneland Sales pavilion during the 2020 September Sale, where Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Repole Stable signed the ticket at $350,000. The Curlin filly has surpassed her price tag with earnings over $1.8 million. She runs in partnership with her initial purchasers and Michael House for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Fellow Keeneland September graduate Malathaat sold for $1,050,000 in 2019 to be the most expensive Distaff runner. Shadwell Estate purchased the filly bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings from the consignment of Denali Stud. The multiple grade 1-winning daughter of Curlin is out of the grade 1 winner Dreaming of Julia and will be looking to improve on her 2021 performance in the Distaff, where she finished third to Marche Lorraine and Dunbar Road by less than a length. Her career earnings top $2.7 million.
