The November Horses of Racing Age Sale, held Nov. 12 at Keeneland in Central Kentucky, had a strong Middle Eastern influence to it.
Representatives for Middle Eastern buyers purchased many of the highest-priced horses in the sale, topped by KAS Stable's acquisition of Bishops Bay (Hip 4014) for $1.3 million and RRR Racing's purchase of World Record (Hip 4184) for $900,000.
ELiTE sold both horses as racing and/or stallion prospects. They were the most expensive horses sold during the single-session sale Wednesday.
Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz's KAS Stable plans to race Bishops Bay this winter in Saudi Arabia. RRR Racing is the Dubai-centered racing operation of Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi.
Ed Prosser, Keeneland's European representative, signed for the purchase of World Record, a 4-year-old bay son of Gun Runner , on behalf of RRR Racing after speaking with one of RRR Racing's trainers, the Dubai-based Bhupat Seemar.
"He rang me earlier. He had seen the catalog and was interested in a few and this was one of them," Prosser said. "He is always on the lookout for horses in America. There are some people from Saudi Arabia and the (Persian) Gulf region who are interested in this horse and this sale. They did their homework, and they liked him. He looks like he will be a good horse for the races in Dubai."
Seemar and RRR Racing have been successful in taking American sprinters to the United Arab Emirates, with Switzerland being a notable example. A dual grade 3 winner in the United States in 2018, he added more graded stakes victories in Dubai, highlighted by a triumph in the 2022 Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1).
Like Bishop's Bay, World Record is a graded stakes winner. As a 3-year-old, the sprinter won the 2024 Amsterdam Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course. He also showed last year in the 2024 Maxfield Overnight Stakes.
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He is 1-1-1 in four starts this year at age 4. He began 2025 with an allowance optional claiming triumph at Churchill Downs before placing in the Aristides Stakes (G3) there. Following that race, he traveled to Del Mar and showed in the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) before returning to Kentucky and finishing fifth in the Oct. 3 Phoenix Stakes (G2) at Keeneland in his most recent start.
The Rudy Brisset trainee went 4-1-4 over an 11-race domestic campaign, earning $504,540 for WinStar Farm and BBN Racing. Runnymede Farm, which bred him with Falguieres Bloodstock, Gestut Zur Kuste AG, and others, sold him for $410,000 as a weanling at the 2021 November Breeding Stock Sale.
He is one of three winners and the lone stakes winner produced from the Exceed And Excel mare Marwa. She has five starters from as many of racing age.
David Hanley, senior vice president of bloodstock services for WinStar Farm, said they were pleased with World Record's sale at $900,000.
"He's of the age where we're ready to move him along," he said. "He's a nice horse."
