Best Lands $1.3M Quality Road Filly from Lyon's Program
Image:
Description:
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
The Quality Road filly consigned as Hip 302 in the ring at the Keeneland September Sale
Larry Best waited until midway through the second session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Sept. 13 to place a bid.
He had to go to battle to secure the filly that caught his eye, but when the dust settled after the $1.3 million drop of a hammer, the OXO Equine owner found himself in possession of a Quality Road filly that could be any kind.
"I feel lucky, actually," Best said. "This is the first horse I've bid on (at the sale)."
Larry Best
Consigned by Lane's End as Hip 302 for breeder Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine, the filly is out of the Irish black-type winner Key to My Heart , a Galileo mare out of grade 1 winner A Z Warrior (by Bernardini). In addition to A Z Warrior, third dam Carson Jen produced grade 2 winner JoJo Warrior, grade 3 winner E Z Warrior, and black-type winner J Z Warrior.
"It's a great page and Quality Road speaks for himself," Best said. "You saw yesterday the value of the Quality Road bloodline. This particular filly just was beautiful, with a great pedigree... It's a quality horse and a quality breeder in terms of who we got it from, so I'm thrilled."
Quality Road was represented during the sale's opening session Monday by nine yearlings sold for an average of $886,111 and gross receipts of $7,975,000, including Monday's $2.5 million session-topper, who still leads the sale as the most expensive horse sold. Momentum for the Lane's End stallion continued Tuesday with eight sold for a $622,500 average and gross receipts of $4,980,000. That brought the son of Elusive Quality's two-day total to 17 sold for a $762,059 average and a total of $12,955,000.
Bill Farish of Lane's End said he pegged the filly, named Keeper of the Key, as a star early on.
"She was a lovely filly, really my favorite filly that Jane had this year," he said. "She's just so racy and a great body on her. I think she's really an exciting prospect for Larry. You never expect $1 million, but she was that kind of filly for sure. You saw how many bids were on her. There were a lot of people bidding on her."
Bill Farish