Zee Drop Goes for $1M on Day 2 of Keeneland Nov. Sale

Late-session fireworks lit up the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale Nov. 4 when Zee Drop entered the ring with only two hips remaining. The mare, who was offered in foal to Flightline, commanded a final bid of $1 million from Bertie Butler, bidding on behalf of Saleh Al Otaibi's Al Ruwais Stables, to secure the top spot in the opening session of Book 2. "I think she's a really, really nice mare. Good quality mare," Butler said. "She had a great cover (Flightline) and I just loved her. The man in Saudi Arabia (Otaibi), I sent him a video and he loved her and he was very happy to have a go. Butler said being in foal to Flightline only added to the mare's appeal. "In foal to Flightline is a bonus," he said. "Flightline was a magical horse and I think he's going to be a very good sire." Zee Drop (Lemon Drop Kid) was bred in Kentucky by R.S. Evans and is out of the graded stakes-placed Exchange Rate mare Ash Zee. Zee Drop is the dam of four horses, two of them being of racing age. Her only starter is graded stakes-placed Kokomotion, a 3-year-old daughter of Quality Road, who was third in the Florida Oaks (G3T) earlier this year after breaking her maiden on debut by 6 1/4 lengths. Zee Drop produced two colts by Up to the Mark in 2025-26. She was consigned as Hip 717, by Lane's End, agent. Butler has been busy during the first two days of the Keeneland November sale. Al Ruwais Stables was the leading buyer of the second session, buying five horses for a total of $2,455,000. "We're trying to get good mares for him. He wants to up his game. We're very happy with the mare," he said. In addition to Zee Drop, Al Ruwais purchased another graded stakes producer during Day 2 of the sale. Butler went to $600,000 to secure Heavenly Scat (Hip 444), a 10-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy. Heavenly Scat has produced two winners, including Hanshin Stakes (G3) winner Nu What's New, who defeated Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) runner-up Owen Almighty in the Hanshin. Heavenly Scat was offered in foal to Munnings, carrying a full sibling to Nu What's New. During Book 1 of the Keeneland November sale, Al Ruwais purchased two mares, led by Eve of War for $2.4 million. Eve of War is the dam of Pennsylvania Stakes (G1) winner and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) runner-up The Puma. Trio of Mares Bring $650k Three mares brought the second-highest price of $650,000 apiece during the Book 2 opener. The first through the ring was Runrate, a 4-year-old daughter of Gun Runner who sold to Green Lantern Stables. Runrate, who was consigned as Hip 583 by Lane's End, agent for Natalma, was offered in foal to Nyquist. "Essentially, we're trying to buy good dirt pedigrees to add to our broodmare band," said Patrick Mason of Green Lantern Stables. Runrate is out of the Tapit mare Time to Tap, who is a full sister to multiple grade 1 winner Untapable. Time to Tap has produced two graded stakes-placed horses in Dimatic and Dreamlike, who are full siblings to Runrate. Dreamlike's best finish came in the 2023 Pennsylvania Derby (G1), where he finished a half-length behind Saudi Crown. Time to Tap is also the dam of stakes-placed Backflash (Medaglia d'Oro) and Zilarro (Silver State). "They're all dirt horses. They're all good dirt horses," Mason said. LISTEN: BH In Session: Keeneland November Rolls Into Book 2 "Second Dam is Fun House, produced Untapable. Being in foal to Nyquist, that obviously helped the price out a bit. But she checked a lot of boxes for us, so we just hope that she's going to be able to produce horses similar to her female family; that was a big sell for us." Mason said Green Lantern races most of its horses, so the plan for the future would be to race the fillies it breeds and sell the colts. "The colts we can't sell, we still race ourselves," he said. "The colt Endrush that RNA'd here, we raced him and were able to get him sold." Shortly after came Shandy, a 7-year-old daughter of Arrogate who sold to Repole Stable. Shandy is out of the Mr. Greeley mare Sangrita, making her a half sister to the multiple graded stakes winner Tequilita (Union Rags). "Shandy is by Arrogate, and Mike's (Repole) a big Arrogate fan," said Danielle Bricker, assistant racing manager of Repole Stable. "We're trying to build our broodmare band and just keep expanding it, and we just think she'll really fit our program. She produced and comes from a really good family. "The Tiz the Law colt (Hip 600, whose dam is Shandy) was really nice (and) just sold prior to her for $250,000. So we think we got her for a very good price." Bricker said the ultimate goal for the stable is to get colts for the Kentucky Derby (G1). Shandy is the dam of three foals, one of racing age. Her 2-year-old colt Tatters (Girvin) is undefeated in two starts, including a win in the Dover Stakes. Shandy comes from a deep female family, which includes Sangrita's dam Alvear (Seattle Slew), who is a half sister to the sire Dynaformer. Shandy was offered in foal to Army Mule by Claiborne Farm, agent. Repole Stable purchased two other mares during the second session, including grade 1 winner and graded stakes producer Crown Queen (Hip 381), who was offered in foal to Fierceness for $95,000 and Crown Queen's daughter Queen Dancing (GB), a 4-year-old daughter of Kingman (GB) for $75,000. Shop Lifting (Hip 611) went to St. Elias Stable for $650,000. The daughter of Into Mischief is out of the grade 1 winner and millionaire Miss Shop, who is the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Tin Type Gal (Tapit). She hails from the immediate family of Trappe Shot, Power Broker, and Seize the Grey. "She's a lovely physical by Into Mischief," said Monique Delk, who was bidding on behalf of St. Elias Stable. "We have a lot of stallions that we're looking for some quality mares to kind of fill all those orders, so she fit the bill. "(The market) has been tough, like any sale. But we're being disciplined, and we're going to stick it out till the end. We've gotten a few so far that we like, so we're excited about them." Shop Lifting produced a filly by Cody's Wish earlier this year and was offered in foal to Yaupon. She was consigned by Taylor Made Sales, agent. Day 2 Stats At the end of the day of trade, 228 horses had changed hands for gross receipts of $42,140,000, including private sales, a 12.7% decrease compared to last year's corresponding session. The average decreased to $184,825, down 5.8% from last year's average of $196,187. The median also saw a slight dip to $147,500 from $150,000. Eighty-five horses failed to meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 27.2%. Nine horses brought $500,000 or more. "It was a little more reserved than yesterday. Yesterday was a fantastic sale. Today was a little more normal in how it measured out," said Tony Lacy, vice president of sales at Keeneland. "The mare market was steady," said Cormac Breathnach, Keeneland's senior director of sales operations. "The pinhookers are here; they're active, and there's a lot to come. They're maybe not pitting themselves against each other so much to this point in the sale. A lot of end users are still buying the weanlings, so there's still a lot of buyers with volume orders that haven't really struck at their regular rate yet. There are good horses tomorrow, and there's a long way to go in the sale." The highest-priced weanling was Hip 477, a filly by first-crop sire Arabian Knight who sold for $485,000 to Frisco Bloodstock. Hip 477 is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Knarsdale, who also produced grade 1 winner Seismic Beauty (Uncle Mo). The mare was consigned by Scott Mallory, agent for Determined Stud. Taylor Made Sales Agency led the consignors for the second day in a row, selling 35 head for a total of $6,035,000. The third session of Keeneland's November sale begins at 10:00 a.m. ET Nov. 5, with hips 720-1140 slated to go through the ring. As of Wednesday evening, Keeneland had reported 83 outs.