Purely Hot, Dam of Eight Rings, Brings $1.2 Million

From a $4,000 claimer to a $1.2 million broodmare purchase, Purely Hot set the ring on fire Nov. 6 at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

The 11-year-old Pure Prize mare was consigned as a supplemental entry (Hip 274G) by Taylor Made Sales Agency for WinStar Farm, and her connections were rewarded when agent Hugo Merry stretched to the winning bid on behalf of an undisclosed partnership.

Purely Hot, who sold in foal to Union Rags , is the dam of Eight Rings, the grade 1-winning Empire Maker  colt who is set to stand at Ashford Stud upon completion of his racing career. He ran sixth last out in the Nov. 1 TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Santa Anita Park.

"She's just a real good-looking mare, and obviously (she's the dam of) the big 2-year-old (Eight Rings) Coolmore's just bought, so it's all good," Merry said. "I thought on the trade she was good value. It probably helped that she was an add-on at the end of the sale."

Purely Hot, a grade 3 winner who concluded her career with a 12-4-5 record from 32 starts and earnings of $426,905, was bred in Maryland by Dr. & Mrs. A. Leonard Pineau out of the Kissin Kris mare Wood Not. Although she dropped through the claiming ranks, once Nick Caruso and Mike Tuozzo secured her, she became competitive in listed and graded stakes company. In 2013, she went through the ring at The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky fall mixed sale, where she was a $225,000 purchase by Volt Resources from Hidden Brook's consignment. She went on to race through seven more starts before she was purchased by WinStar for $250,000 from Paramount Sales' consignment to The November Sale in 2014.

"She's a very nice mare," consignor Mark Taylor said. "She's still young. I thought Eight Rings had a bad run in the Breeders' Cup, but I think his best days are still in front of him. He's obviously a super talent. Anytime a mare shows that she can do that once, and she's still young, and she's well covered, the market wants to get a hold of that and see if they can do it again.

"We've seen quite a few of those mares go through that are young mares with current runners at the grade 1 level. They're just very highly sought after by everybody. When you buy young mares, you hope they can produce a grade 1 winner. But when you can find a mare that's already done it and she's still young, then that's the best of both worlds. You don't have to worry about her proving herself. She can produce commercial yearlings for you for the rest of her life, or she can produce a stallion. I think she represented the best of both worlds."