Midnight Bisou Withdrawn from Sale, Will Race in 2020

Midnight Bisou, a leading contender for Horse of the Year and the morning-line favorite for the Nov. 2 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita Park, will not go through the ring at The November Sale, her connections announced Saturday.

Taking to Twitter early on the morning of the 4-year-old Midnight Lute  filly's appearance on the world stage, co-owner Jeff Bloom  announced the decision to remove Midnight Bisou from Fasig-Tipton's marquee breeding stock sale Nov. 5 in Lexington.

"Bloom Racing Stable has decided to withdraw Midnight Bisou from the (Fasig-Tipton) November Sale and will continue to race our incredible filly next year," Bloom wrote. "We appreciate the professionalism and hard work of Fasig-Tipton and (consignor) ELiTE. Now on to today's Breeders' Cup!"

Undefeated in 2019, Midnight Bisou has won seven straight races, three of them grade 1 events. She is in pursuit of the sixth grade 1 win of her career in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Distaff. Midnight Bisou was third in last year's edition, which was held at Churchill Downs. She runs for Bloom Racing Stable, Allen Racing, and Madaket Stables.

"It's been a ongoing conversation for quite some time and I felt the right thing to do was make the announcement prior to actually running in the Breeders' Cup regardless of the outcome," Bloom said. "That didn't matter to us. The partnership stays exactly the same. Nothing changes. We're excited about the prospect of campaigning our filly in 2020. She's only 4 years old and she'll have plenty of time to be a broodmare following another year of racing.

"She's obviously done so many wonderful things for us. But in terms of what she does for the fans and for racing, it was one of those things where it wasn't a decision that was made lightly. She's an incredible filly, an incredible athlete, she loves her job, and as long as she keeps doing what she's doing we're going to keep allowing her to do that and be thankful that she provides us with such an amazing experience." 

ELiTE's Bradley Weisbord said he was informed of the decision early Saturday, adding that the consignor has an abundance of other quality individuals on offer at Fasig-Tipton and next week's Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

"Jeff Bloom informed me at 5:30 a.m. that they decided to campaign her next season," Weisbord said. "We totally understand their decision. As rare as she was to bring to public auction on Tuesday, it's the same rarity Jeff and Chuck get to campaign a champion turning 5 years old in her prime. They are horsemen and sportsmen. She's special and we can wait to root for her today and for the next 12 months. 

"There is no question she was our headliner but we have 51 left to sell—five grade 1 winners and over 25 stakes fillies. We have a job to do and can't wait to hit the ground showing tomorrow (Sunday, Nov. 3)."

Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said the sale company hopes for continued success for Bisou.

"We wish them much luck today and continued success in 2020 and look forward to seeing her next November," the executive said.

Ron Mitchell contributed to this report