Keeneland September Brings Back Special Memories

The Keeneland auction ring has seen future champions sell at every price range and influential bloodlines pass through it. The 78th annual Keeneland September Yearling Sale will begin Sept. 13 and continue through Sept. 24, with buyers and consignors coming back to the world's largest yearling market in hopes of repeating past success.

"We're perpetual dreamers," said bloodstock agent Mike Ryan. "We're eternal optimists. You've got to be."

The Keeneland September sale had its first million-dollar yearling in 1987 when Darley Stud Management bought Brush Aside for $1.1 million from Lane's End. It produced its next seven-figure yearling in 1995 and has sold them each year since. 

Spending that kind of cash is a high-dollar gamble often offset by sought-after bloodlines. In one particular case for Ryan, the risk proved worth the reward.

Magic at Every Stage

Ryan described Good Magic   as a horse who always did what he was supposed to do.

At the 2016 Keeneland September sale, Ryan went to $1 million to secure the Curlin   colt for e 5 Racing. Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Good Magic was produced from the stakes-winning Hard Spun   mare Glinda the Good . He was consigned to the sale by Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency, agent for Stonestreet Bred & Raised.

"When you pay that kind of money you feel the pressure and heat," Ryan said.

The bloodstock agent had pinhooked 2013 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Palace Malice  , from Curlin's first crop, and liked Good Magic's female family.

"When I saw Good Magic he was a beautifully made horse. Good proportioned, not overly big, but beautifully made, beautiful profile, great limbs on him," Ryan said. "It was his demeanor and his movement besides his physical.

"It wasn't one of these horses that you're standing there looking at him for two or three minutes. It was an immediate positive vibe from him. Very clean-limbed horse and hard to fault him. Some people might have said I wish he was a touch bigger but everything fit very well. He was a bigger horse in motion than he was standing on the shank."

Trained by Chad Brown, Good Magic was campaigned in partnership by e 5 Racing Thoroughbreds and Stonestreet. He was second in his first two starts at 2, including in the 2017 Champagne Stakes (G1), before breaking his maiden with a 4 1/4-length score in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). The performance earned him champion 2-year-old male honors. 

At 3, Good Magic added victories in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) and betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1), while also finishing second in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) behind Triple Crown winner Justify  . 

Good Magic entered stud at Hill 'n' Dale in 2019 after earning $2,945,000. He now has first-crop yearlings, of which 74 are scheduled to sell at Keeneland September as of three days before the sale.

"I have to say I was impressed by his yearlings. He's getting his own type, meaning that they have a lot of quality, they're agile horses, they're good movers. They've got a lot of his traits," Ryan said. "Many of them are medium sized like himself, though I have seen some big ones as well. But they look like horses that will perform at 2 and hopefully be quality older horses, 3-year-olds as well, like he was. He was a very good 3-year-old. I think he would have won the Derby maybe seven out of 10 years; he just ran into a monster in Justify."

Real Big Heart

It doesn't always take seven figures to buy a champion. Sometimes not even six figures.

Real Quiet , the champion 3-year-old male of 1998, has helped back Denali Stud's record of selling "Saturday afternoon horses." The colt, bred in Kentucky by Little Hill Farm out of the Believe It mare Really Blue, outperformed the expectations of him. After selling to Mike Pegram for $17,000 at the 1996 Keeneland September sale, the colt went on to win grade 1 races at ages 2, 3, and 4, while nearly completing a Triple Crown.

"If anybody told you they thought he was that kind of horse, they're lying," said Denali's Craig Bandoroff.

Bandoroff recalled when trainer Bob Baffert and owner Pegram caught sight of Real Quiet at the 1996 sale.

"I remember Bob and Mike Pegram were sitting on the wall and (Bob) jumps off the wall and looks at him," Bandoroff said. "He was a good legged but kind of a long, slab-sided horse, and he toed out significantly. I was a little surprised when Bob was looking at him but lo and behold he buys him for the huge price of $17,000."

Nicknamed "The Fish" by Baffert for his build, Real Quiet got a good start at 2, winning the Hollywood Futurity (G1), but excelled at 3 when taking the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes (G1).

"The other thing I vividly remember is he was running in the Kentucky Derby and I didn't bother to go to Churchill. I was with friends and good clients of ours and we were watching the races from Keeneland in the clubhouse," Bandoroff said. "I remember watching the race and Real Quiet started to make his move on the turn and I said to myself, 'Oh my god, I'm gonna sell the Derby winner and I'm not gonna be there.'"

Real Quiet missed out on capturing the Triple Crown when Victory Gallop  caught him by a nose.

"I was there for the Belmont," Bandoroff said. "I'm sitting in a box with a very good view and I'm thinking, 'Oh my god, we're going to have sold a Triple Crown winner.' Victory Gallop just got his nose down at the very, very last second. It was really close. Of course, the Triple Crown hadn't been won in a long time and I thought we had it."

Real Quiet also proved good at 4, taking the Pimlico Special Handicap (G1) and Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) before retiring with earnings of $3,271,802. At stud, he produced 2007 champion sprinter Midnight Lute   and was twice the leading sire in Pennsylvania. He died at age 15 in 2010 from a paddock accident.

"They come in all shapes and sizes and you can't measure their heart," Bandoroff said.

Denali opened for business in 1990, and Real Quiet delivered the operation its first classic winner.

"Many years later we picked up the tagline, 'We sell Saturday afternoon horses' and I've always believed and (son) Conrad feels the same way, that when people walk up to our barn they know we're going to shoot straight with them, and they're going to see nice horses," Bandoroff said. "But just as importantly, they're buying from people that have a history of selling the best. (Real Quiet) being one of the first high profile ones, that's what I think is very important."

All in the Family

At the 2004 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Eaton Sales, on behalf of a partnership, purchased the multiple grade 1 winner Take Charge Lady  in foal to Seeking the Gold for $4.2 million from Three Chimneys Sales, agent.

"The one thing I remember about Take Charge Lady was her beauty," said Eaton Sales' Reiley McDonald. "She was the most stunning looking mare and she passed that on to all of her foals. I don't think she had a bad one."

In January of 2005, Take Charge Lady produced her first foal, Charming . That filly lit up the auction ring at the 2006 Keeneland September sale, and the Take Charge Lady family has continued to produce since.

"The first foal she had was Charming, who was sold to Todd Pletcher for $3.2 million and who was just a phenomenal looking filly," McDonald said.

Charming won one of three starts on the track, but has shined as a broodmare. She produced the 2014 champion 2-year-old filly Take Charge Brandi  (Giant's Causeway), 2016 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes (G1) runner-up Courage Under Fire  (War Front  ), and in 2016 dropped another War Front colt bred by the Charming Syndicate and offered at the 2017 Keeneland September sale as part of the Eaton consignment.

Later named Omaha Beach  , that colt was a $625,000 RNA, but privately sold to the late Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms.

"I called up Rick Porter who had liked him a lot, as had his trainer Larry (Jones)," McDonald said. "I said, 'For some reason you didn't bid on my horse.' He said, 'I thought he'd bring a lot more, too much for me, so I'll send the guys down to look at him.' He had promised Richard Mandella a horse so that's who he sent down to look.

"Richard looked at the horse approximately five seconds and said, 'What am I missing here? This is the nicest horse I've seen.' He ended buying him and the rest is history there."

Omaha Beach won the Rebel Stakes (G2), Arkansas Derby (G1), Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G1), and Malibu Stakes (G3) at 3 and also finished second in the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). He retired to Spendthrift Farm with earnings of $1,651,800 and has his first foals on the ground this year.

McDonald said Omaha Beach as a yearling showed traits of his dam's family.

"Not huge, not small, average size. Big shoulder, great depth, just a perfectly balanced horse," he said. "It's quite remarkable that he fell through the cracks a little bit but that can happen at that select day of Keeneland if you're in fairly early.

"Charming was quite beautiful and she threw the exact same conformation as her mother in Omaha Beach."

Take Charge Lady was named Broodmare of the Year in 2013. Her 2009 foal was Take Charge Indy   (A.P. Indy), and her 2010 foal was Will Take Charge   (Unbridled's Song)—both became grade 1 winners.

"The one that I really remember was Take Charge Indy, who had his mother's beautiful body but he had no overstride at all. In fact, he had an understride, so a very stiff walker and very upright in the front," McDonald said. "But nevertheless he had that beautiful body with the big shoulder that she had. We RNA'd him for very little money ($80,000 at the 2010 Keeneland September sale), then resold him privately to Carl Bowling."

Take Charge Indy, resold at 2, was campaigned throughout his career by Chuck and Maribeth Sandford (at times in partnership) and trained by Patrick Byrne. He won the 2012 Florida Derby (G1) and 2013 Alysheba Stakes (G2) on his way to career earnings of $1,103,496 and stands at WinStar Farm. 

Will Take Charge, sold by Hill 'n' Dale at the 2011 Keeneland September sale, brought $425,000 from owner Willis Horton. Trained by D. Wayne Lukas, Will Take Charge was named champion 3-year-old male in 2013 after wins in the Travers Stakes (G1), Clark Handicap (G1), Pennsylvania Derby (G2), Rebel Stakes (G2), and Smarty Jones Stakes, as well as a second in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). He captured the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) and placed in multiple grade 1s at 4 to retire with earnings of $3,924,648. He stands at Three Chimneys Farm.

"(Take Charge Lady) was really one of the coolest broodmares I'd ever seen. That she went on to become as good a broodmare as she was following her racing career is quite remarkable," McDonald said. "I have great memories and I was very fortunate to be a part of her, even though it was a small part."

'Like a Throwback'

Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni has played a role in the selection of many top racehorses, but a large gray colt he selected for Juddmonte Farms in 2014 stands outs for a string of particularly impressive performances. 

Later known as Arrogate , the Unbridled's Song colt was bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farms, which also offered him at the Keeneland September sale. Out of the multiple stakes-winning Distorted Humor   mare Bubbler  and from the female family of champion 2-year-old filly Meadow Star, the way the colt presented himself made him one his connections couldn't pass up.

"I showed him to Bob (Baffert) and Bob instantly loved him. Garrett (O'Rourke, Juddmonte U.S.A. general manager) loved him as well and that was it. We had to buy him," Lanni said.

Arrogate cost $560,000 as a yearling. He became the richest horse in North America, earning $17,422,600.

"He was a really big horse, and for a big horse he was really light on his feet and very athletic," Lanni recalled of Arrogate as a yearling. "He had a tremendous amount of bone on him and kind of looked like a throwback, like an old-school Thoroughbred.

"He was just a really laid back, really cool horse. I remember he was real quiet at the sale and a big giant that moved really well."

Though he did not debut until April of his 3-year-old year, Arrogate closed out that season with wins in the Travers Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic to secure the title of champion 3-year-old male in 2016. In the Travers he romped by 13 1/2 lengths and set a track record of 1:59.36 for 1 1/4 miles, and in the Classic he edged Horse of the Year California Chrome  .

Arrogate returned at 4 to take the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), setting a track record at Gulfstream Park in for 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.83. He then went to the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1), in which a slow start cost him his typical forward placing, but he produced a last-to-first flourish to pull off the victory.

"I get goosebumps thinking about that race at Saratoga when he broke from post 1 in the Travers and what he did there. And then he followed that up with the race in Dubai and the whole world got to see on an international stage what he was all about," Lanni said. "I've never seen a horse put together four races like he did—Travers, Breeders' Cup, the Pegasus, and Dubai. I've never seen a horse come up with four races like that. And of course, Bob, the best trainer in the world, what he did with him is phenomenal."

Arrogate began his stud career in 2018 at Juddmonte's Kentucky operation. The stallion unfortunately died at age 7 last year after a neurological illness. The racing industry was reminded of its loss Sept. 6 when Arrogate sired his first two winners between Saratoga Race Course and Monmouth Park.

"He was a unique individual, just very different," Lanni said. "I was just lucky I got to be part of it."

As of Friday morning, there are 50 yearlings from Arrogate's second crop set to sell at Keeneland September. Clearsky is also offering Arrogate's Justify half brother, consigned as Hip 288.

Little Risk for Big Reward

Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency remembers sending a filly from the first Kentucky crop of Saint Ballado through the ring at the 2002 Keeneland September sale, one who went the way of Starlight Stables for just $170,000.

Three years later in that same auction ring, future Hall of Famer Ashado  set what was then a world record when she hammered for $9 million to John Ferguson Bloodstock at the Keeneland November sale. 

"There was a particular pedigree pattern which my brother Duncan (Taylor) loved about the mare Goulash to go to Saint Ballado. He was obsessed with this," Taylor recalled. "We got Mr. and Mrs. Jones to buy Goulash specifically to breed to Saint Ballado, so this filly had a lot of pressure on her from conception on.

"She was always a nice filly. She wasn't necessarily the superstar of the farm, but she had all the parts. Growing up she had been a little back in her knees. A lot of horses run through that, but it can be a sales flaw. She had kind of grown out of it a little bit and by the time we got her to September, she was in Book 1 and she really was a beautiful mover. She had a great neck and shoulder, really well-balanced—but if people were taking notes on her they'd say she was a touch back in the knee.

"Barry Berkelhammer was helping Jack Wolf (of Starlight Stables) pick horses at that time, and I give them credit. They were in love with her walk and her balance and her athleticism."

Ashado went on to win Eclipse Awards in 2004 (champion 3-year-old filly) and 2005 (champion older mare); her top wins from seven grade 1 victories included the 2004 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and that year's Breeders' Cup Distaff Presented by NexTel (G1).

"What she did on the racetrack was fantastic," Taylor said. "She actually became the first horse we sold for Starlight when she came off the track, and of course she set the world record when she sold at Keeneland November. So she really came full circle and won all those grade 1 races in the middle. She was just a tremendous, tremendous horse."

Starlight's luck from Taylor Made's 2002 draft to Keeneland September didn't stop there.

"We sold two grade 1 winners within about an hour and a half of each other; it was Ashado and (2005 Hill 'n' Dale Cigar Mile, G1) winner Purge, and Starlight bought both of them," Taylor recalled. "Starlight has always had a lot of luck buying from Taylor Made and selling from Taylor Made. We've just had a fantastic history with them."