Only one yearling by leading sire Gun Runner brought seven figures during the Sept. 10 third session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale—after a remarkable 10 reached the $1 million mark during the sale's first two days—but the colt sold as Hip 731 attracted the day's highest price of $1.9 million from buyer Spendthrift Farm.
"We had a number of people approach us wanting to partner on it (Hip 731)," Spendthrift Farm general manager Ned Toffey said. "What's not to like, right?
"Really, really happy to get him, because it's been a really tough market."
Toffey said the colt will head to Raul Reyes' King's Equine near Ocala, Fla., for his early training. "Generally, we let them get to where they are breezing in the spring before we make a decision (for a trainer) on where it makes sense for each horse. We've got some good options, and we'll keep all of those open."
Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa as agent consigned the colt that was co-bred by GRS and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert out of the stakes-placed Quality Road winner Ginja. Baffert trained the mare owned by his wife Jill.
"I do it for Jill, my wife," Baffert said. "I asked Goncalo (Borges Torrealba, of Three Chimneys Farm) to do a foal share, because I really liked the mare. So, I've got to thank Goncalo for doing the foal share and Hill 'n' Dale for raising him."
Ginja is a half sister to grade 1-placed Top Decile, who ran second in both the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and Alcibiades Stakes (G1). Top Decile went on to produce Japanese 3-year-old champion colt Danon Decile (Epiphaneia).
"Thanks to Spendthrift and everybody that bid on him," Baffert added. "I'm very humbled by this moment, really, I just thank everybody involved. I'm at a loss for words, really."
The highest-priced filly of the third session was Hip 762, who sold for $1,175,000 to Hugo Merry Bloodstock for Blue Diamond Stud. The Ghostzapper filly was bred in Kentucky by Nursery Place and Wilhite, and consigned by Nursery Place, agent.
She is out of the graded stakes-placed mare Inchargeofme, and is a half sister to Godolphin's Two Thousand Guineas (G1) winner Ruling Court (Justify ).
"Just a very sweet filly, and obviously she's a half to a classic winner, who was a beautiful horse, and Ghostzapper gets some turf horses," Hugo Merry said of Hip 762. "We just thought she was a very nice, lovely, balanced filly who would work in America and Europe.
The filly was purchased for Imad Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud, which has locations in Newmarket, England, and in recent years acquired the old Stonereath Farm near Paris, Ky.
READ: Blue Diamond Stud Buys Stonereath Farm
Blue Diamond Stud bred and campaigned multiple group 1 winner Nashwa, a daughter of Frankel . The entity uses trainers John and Thady Gosden and Andre Fabre, and Merry said the filly would go to one of the champion trainers.
"The plan is to probably go to Europe and maybe come back over to America to race later on," he said.
Record Number of Seven-Figure Yearlings
Thirteen horses brought $1 million or more during the third session of the sale, up from last year's three, and replacing 2019's record of eight. A total of 48 seven-figure horses have been sold through the first three days of the sale—an all-time record over the 40 seven-figure yearlings sold in the 2005 sale.
Gross sales totaled $88,127,000, including post-ring sales, from 237 horses to change hands. The average was $371,844, with a median of $300,000. The RNA rate was 26%, representing the 84 horses who failed to meet their reserve.
"The day was incredible," Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. "We knew it was a really, really good group of horses. A lot of these horses that were bringing big money were ones we were lobbying to get into the earlier sessions. We knew that the firepower was still here, and the money was obviously well represented. It was a pleasant surprise to have 13 horses bring seven figures or more. I'm a little bit speechless. We joked in the back ring that the market was so hot it set the fire alarms off. It was amazing.
"I have to thank the consignors and the breeders for bringing that quality here and allowing us to try and craft a sale that is representative of the breed here in Kentucky and around the country that the buyers are excited about."
Keeneland's senior director of sales operations Cormac Breathnach echoed Lacy's enthusiasm.
"The 13 seven-figure horses were bought by 11 different buyers, and they're by 10 different stallions," he said. "There's still a great variety of activity here, great variety in the catalog, and pretty much everybody that was here over the weekend is still here and still hunting with money to spend to find fast horses. That's really rewarding to all of us and to the whole team at Keeneland."
Gainesway led the consignors with selling 31 from their draft for $17,265,000. SF Racing/Starlight Racing/Madaket Stable, with Donato Lanni as agent, was the leading buyer with seven purchases totaling $4.6 million.
"I thought we had some good horses, as it turned out, it looked like we had a group that was even more competitive than I thought," said Gainesway's general manager Brian Graves. "So, it's probably a new record for us in Book 2."
The fourth session of the sale begins Sept. 11 at 11:00 a.m. ET, with hips 773-1154 slated to go through the ring. As of Wednesday evening, Keeneland had reported 37 outs.
