Useful Book 6 Types Make the Racing World Go 'Round
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Hip 3830, the Catholic Boy filly out of Rizzoli
It has become commonplace to the point of cliché to read that the Thoroughbred racing business is built on dreams. That may be true for a handful of big spenders and wide-eyed fantasizers, but in reality this business exists on the backs of thousands of horses typically described as "useful." All of them can earn a check if they're spotted in the right race and Book 6 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale is for those buyers who can read between the lines of a condition book as well as they can a catalog page.
The 2022 Book 6 average was $13,685 and the median $8,000. Now consider the current state of Historic Horse Racing-fueled purses in Kentucky. Run third in a single juvenile maiden race at Keeneland next spring and you've earned more than any Book 6 horse sold for under the median. For a Kentucky-bred eligible for KTDF bonuses, a couple of top-five finishes in the maiden claiming ranks next spring at Churchill Downs will get you in the black. And even the last Turfway Park meet ran 2-year-old maiden races for $70,000 (including KTDF funds), where just a fourth-place finish gets you more than $3,000.
All of which is to say, the useful horses of Book 6—covering the sale's final two sessions, Sept. 22-23—can quickly add up to a nice living in the right hands. There were 604 head cataloged, with 90 having been withdrawn Friday and 100 outs on Saturday, leaving 414 to go through the ring as of Thursday afternoon.
A yearling walks back to its barn after selling at Keeneland
Intriguing pedigrees remain plentiful, including multiple offerings by stallions among the top 10 on the 2023 Leading Sires list. Not This Time is represented by Hip 3876, a filly out of Stetson Gold (Uncle Mo ), while Practical Joke is responsible for Hip 3733, a filly out of Indiana Charmer (Indian Charlie).
Plenty of these fillies carry the additional allure of residual value. Hip 3830, consigned by Denali Stud, is a Catholic Boy filly out of the winning mare Rizzoli , from a Whitham Thoroughbreds family tracing back to Frank and Janis Whitham's two-time champion mare Bayakoa (ARG). This is Rizzoli's first registered foal.
"This is a filly that could still be any kind of racehorse," said Conrad Bandoroff, vice president of Denali. "She comes from a family and a program that have proven time and time again that they can breed horses that run at the highest levels.
"You see some of the Catholic Boy coming through in how this filly moves. She's an athletic mover, and she's nicely balanced."
Hip 3830, the filly by Catholic Boy out of Rizzoli
She's also a Kentucky-bred, and therefore able to get that added KTDF HHR money. There are no promises anytime a future racehorse is sold, and especially not in session 11 or 12, but for those more inclined to work than to dream, the opportunities are there.
And if you still insist on daydreaming, just think of War Like Goddess . The multiple grade 1-winning earner of more than $2.2 million was a Book 6 offering in 2018 but did not meet her reserve, set at a mere $1,000.