Nicoma Bloodstock Scores Munnings Mare for $335,000

Nicoma Bloodstock struck during the early afternoon of the Jan. 12 opening session of the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale for Zia, a $335,000 Munnings  mare offered in foal to Into Mischief . 

Consigned as Hip 117 by Ballysax Bloodstock, agent, the 8-year-old bay was bred in Ontario by William D. Graham and William Werner and produced from an active, young female family. Out of the Sadler's Wells mare Faux Pas, a half sister to English champion filly Negligent, Zia is a half sister to Canadian stakes winner Sans Souci Island, dam of Grey Stakes (G3) winner River Seven, and to Uniformly Yours, the dam of grade 2 winner Selflessly and multiple stakes winner Enchanted Ghost.

"She's a nice mare, a young mare, and there are seven fillies in production underneath her," said Nicoma's Price Bell Jr. "Into Mischief is tough to find so we're very excited to give it a shot."

Zia's 2018 filly by Into Mischief was sold at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $285,000. The mare was purchased by Geoff Nixon for $100,000 from Denali Stud at the 2016 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Bell said he bought the mare on behalf of a new client he declined to name, noting that the price was in line with what he thought it would be.

"It felt like a fair market for January," he said. "There is quite a bit more depth to come so we tried to strike early."

"I think it was a fair price for the mare and we were happy with that," said Carl McEntee of Ballysax Bloodstock. "We bought a bunch of mares in November and sold one for $1.6 million, so it looked like the right time to put her into the marketplace."