Breeders' Cup Runners Add Excitement to November Sales

A select group of fillies and mares who ran in the Breeders' Cup made the trip from Santa Anita Park to Lexington Nov. 3 for the upcoming November breeding stock sales, and their consignors were abuzz at Fasig-Tipton's sales grounds as they welcomed the standout broodmare and racing prospects into their barns.

Among those travelers were Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner Blue Prize, Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) heroine Belvoir Bay, and Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) runner-up Vasilika.

"We had some fantastic updates and results from the Breeders' Cup, obviously, with Belvoir Bay and Blue Prize both winning and Vasilika running an absolutely huge race as well," said Boyd Browning Jr., Fasig-Tipton's president and CEO. "There were certainly some highlights and exceptional performances yesterday that have to enhance the value of those horses that are going to be on offer Tuesday night."

The top performances at the World Championships made the competition fiercer for The November Sale after it was announced two days earlier that headliner Midnight Bisou would scratch from the auction and remain in training for a 2020 campaign following the Distaff. 

Midnight Bisou was heavily favored to win, but Blue Prize spoiled her perfect season. 

Consigned by Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services as Hip 98, Blue Prize entered the Distaff off a repeat score in the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland. The 6-year-old Pure Prize mare was a group 1 winner in her native country of Argentina before she was brought to the United States for John Moores and Charles Noell's Merriebelle Stable.

Peter Bance, co-founder of Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services, facilitated the purchase.

"It's not all the time you get to consign one like this," Bance said. "She's done everything you can ask a horse to do in terms of racing. She's won multiple grade 1s. She's won the Spinster twice. But maybe the best of all, she's the physical specimen that is about as good as they get. She's a beautiful horse. You have to go down several dams to find an American pedigree, but it's all good."

After a satisfying weekend at the Breeders' Cup, Bance said they are looking forward to the sale.

"We just hope the right players are there," he said. "And if not, we'll keep her."

Midnight Bisou was set to go through the auction ring with consignor ELiTE until Friday. 

"We had 10. Obviously, we lost Midnight Bisou, which is understandable but slightly disappointing because of how excited we were to sell her, and she's such a rare opportunity" said Brad Weisbord, ELiTE's co-founder. "That being said, we had three mares come off of Breeders' Cup performances. I don't think any of those three got to show their best."

ELiTE will consign grade 1 winners Wow Cat (Hip 197) and Secret Spice (Hip 175)—seventh and ninth, respectively, in the Distaff—as well as Comical (Hip 103), a 2-year-old daughter of Into Mischief . Comical won the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) this summer at Saratoga Race Course and was seventh in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).

"I think that track was difficult on some of these dirt runners. Some loved it and some didn't," Weisbord said. "For those three, they've had really exceptional years, and Comical and Secret Spice can really provide some great racing next year for new connections. They were in dead good form and were hitting the board in every race they ran in until then."

Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) fourth Spiced Perfection will be consigned by ELiTE at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale immediately following the Fasig-Tipton sale. Weisbord was quick to compliment that race's winner, Covfefe, but felt Spiced Perfection could have run third if not for the outside draw and wide trip.

"She's selling at Keeneland because she won the grade 1 (Madison Stakes) at Keeneland earlier in the year and she won the grade 2 (Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes) at Keeneland (in the fall), and the Breeders' Cup is at Keeneland next year," Weisbord said. "She's very much a filly for next year's Breeders' Cup."

Also included in the Fasig-Tipton consignment are grade 1 winners Mia Mischief (Hip 150) and Separationofpowers (Hip 177). The fillies did not run in the Breeders' Cup this year, but Weisbord expects them to top ELiTE's draft after the scratch of Midnight Bisou. 

With trainer Steve Asmussen choosing to stay at Churchill Downs, Mia Mischief wrapped up her season with a five-length score in the Dream Supreme Stakes on Friday. She won the Humana Distaff Stakes (G1) this year on the same track and defeated Covfefe in the Roxelana Overnight Stakes.

Spendthrift Farm stallion Into Mischief received renewed interest ahead of the breeding stock sale with Covfefe's scintillating Breeders' Cup win and Mia Mischief adding to her resumé.

Buyer Mike Ryan said Covfefe's victory was an exceptional performance.

"Into Mischief's like a good wine: Everybody wants it," Ryan said. "He's an extraordinary stallion. They all want to run. They all want to compete. I did see several foals by him. They're obviously going to benefit from her performance. He's the leading sire, No. 1 on the sire list. He keeps pumping out top, top horses that impress every weekend."

"Any time you got a broodmare prospect out there or a broodmare by Into Mischief, you certainly got to take another look at them," Spendthrift stallion sales manager Mark Toothaker said. "He just throws great minds and throws sound horses. You'd always be pleased to add some of that blood back in your broodmare band."

Toothaker said Into Mischief has been sold out for months for the 2020 breeding season, and the sire's success on the racetrack and in the sales ring keeps breeders and buyers in search of his progeny.

"Into Mischief just keeps throwing speed," Toothaker said. "He puts a great hip on them, and they've had two-turn success as well. We feel like he is the best sire in North America. He's on top of the list, and he continues to go out there and get it done."

Ryan also noted More Than Ready 's stellar Breeders' Cup. His daughter Uni won the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) over males, and he was the broodmare sire of Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Presented by Coolmore America (G1T) winner Structor and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T) victor Four Wheel Drive.

American Pharoah , the sire of Four Wheel Drive, was another standout sire in the Breeders' Cup. American Pharoah's son Another Miracle ran third in that race, and his daughter Sweet Melania was third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T). Ryan also noted Curlin  continued to show his sire power, with son Vino Rosso  winning the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).

"If you're a breeder and you happen to have a good one by one of those sires, you feel like you have a little more icing on the cake than you had a few days ago," Ryan said. "I think, as always, people are looking toward the freshman sires to see what young horses are coming along as well."

While the opportunity to sell a Breeders' Cup-winning mare is enough excitement in itself, Meg Levy of Bluewater Sales finds the opportunity to consign Turf Sprint winner Belvoir Bay (Hip 96) extra special. Bluewater first consigned the daughter of Equiano at last year's Fasig-Tipton November sale, where agent Justin Casse purchased her for $625,000. The mare, now 6, is also a survivor of the Lilac Fire in December 2017 that devastated San Luis Rey Downs.

"She was lost for a few days in that fire," Levy said, "and then making it back to the races after all of that. … After watching that race last night, honestly, tears came to my eyes because just knowing her—she's so game, she's so smart, she's so professional and has such a big heart."

Bluewater is also selling high-profile fillies Shamrock Rose (Hip 178), winner of last year's Filly & Mare Sprint, and Canadian Horse of the Year Wonder Gadot (Hip 196).

Taylor Made Sales Agency will consign Vasilika—a former $40,000 claim turned multiple grade 1 winner—as Hip 193. Taylor Made's Mark Taylor said the 5-year-old Skipshot  mare could continue to race for her new buyers or be a sought-after broodmare prospect for a top stallion around the world.

"She's such a legend in California. When you're racing out in California primarily, I think that in America some people aren't as familiar with them," Taylor said. "There's kind of an East Coast bias, I think. For her to go out there and defeat some of the best European invaders, take on all comers, and almost pull off the win just validated what she'd already done on her résumé. Going into that race, she had won 14 of her previous 18 starts (as a 4- and 5-year-old), and that's hard to do when you're running in all those top races."

Taylor said he was rooting hard for Vasilika to get her nose down Saturday, but she was just shy of European invader Iridessa. The consignor wasn't the only one cheering for upcoming sales horses.

"We're fortunate we get to do what we love," Browning said. "I'm sitting there yesterday screaming at the TV thinking (Vasilika) might get there. It's a game of emotion, and you put your heart and soul into it. Connections put their heart and soul into it. Folks that aren't in the business don't understand it. It's not logical to think that just because a horse is a sales graduate or a future graduate that you're going to be all in, but you're all in."