Douglas Scharbauer, whose father, Clarence, raced 1987 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Alysheba, went to $1.5 million for a Gun Runner filly, the first horse to break the seven-figure barrier Sept. 9 at the opening session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
The chestnut filly consigned as Hip 24 is the fourth foal out of 2017 Del Mar Oaks (G1) winner Dream Dancing, by Tapit . Gainesway consigned Hip 24 on behalf of breeder John C. Oxley, who also bred and raced the mare.
"I'm very impressed with her. I didn't know what she'd bring. I'm really a little surprised I could get her for a million-and-a-half. She's nice," Scharbauer said. "The way she's bred out of that Tapit mare, I'm excited.
"We won't bring her to Texas, that's for sure. We'll keep her in Kentucky. I think there's a lot of promise there. I'm excited about that one, probably as much as anything we looked at today."
Scharbauer said Steve Asmussen would train the Gun Runner filly. Scharbauer lives in Midland, Texas, and operates Valor Farm in Pilot Point, Texas, which he purchased from his father's estate in 2016.
Scharbauer said he has about two dozen mares at Valor Farm. He also boards a smaller, high-end broodmare band and foals at Hidden Brook Farm near Paris, Ky.
The Oxleys have a full sister to Hip 24, Beautiful Dancer, who broke her maiden at Ellis Park last year as a juvenile, and Dreamaway, a 2-year-old Flameaway filly who is undefeated in two starts, including a last-out win in the Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Gainesway's Brian Graves said he was pleasantly surprised by the price.
"We thought she was always that caliber, but it's nice when a few people hook up and it goes a little higher," Graves said. "She's out of a young grade 1 winner with a huge family, and she looked the part.
"The Oxleys have done it again. Their horses are infamous for showing up on the track, like Sierra Leone and all the other good horses they've bred."
Gainesway consigned Sierra Leone, who was bred by Debbie Oxley, when the Gun Runner colt sold for $2.3 million at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of selected yearlings. Sierra Leone won this year's Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and has been perhaps the most consistent 3-year-old male of 2024, finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Belmont (G1) and Travers (G1) stakes.
