Constitution Colt Is Top Day 2 Keeneland Weanling

One of the nicest colts Griffin Mayer said has been raised at his family's Nursery Place Farm in the last 10 years verified that assessment by becoming the top-selling weanling Nov. 9 during the second session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

The dark bay or brown Constitution   colt with a black-type-rich pedigree sold for $525,000 to trainer Peter Pugh, as agent for Cherry Knoll Farm.

"We try to bring a handful of weanlings every year to Keeneland—a very select few. They have to be really, really nice with pedigrees and by the right sires," Mayer said. "He's very special."

Griffin's father, John Mayer, with one of his partners, John Dicken of Dicken Equine, bred the colt out of the Munnings   winner Gone to Town. The mare is a half sister to stakes winner and multiple stakes producer San Souci Island (Chester House) and to stakes-placed winners Nomistakeaboutit  and Zia .

"You bring the weanlings here and sometimes it works out, sometimes you leave a little money on the table," Mayer said. "I wish them the best of luck pinhooking him next year, but we're awfully happy with $525,000. We've had a lot of success here at Keeneland November selling babies because it's a great market."

Cherry Knoll Farm is owned by Margaret and Robert Duprey, who compete internationally with high performance dressage and show jumpers. Margaret Duprey is a lifelong equestrian and an accomplished Grand Prix dressage competitor. She serves on the United States Equestrian Team Foundation's board of trustees.

Cherry Knoll first got involved in horse racing with steeplechase horses campaigned with Hall of Fame trainer Janet Elliot. The Dupreys eventually got involved in flat racing around 2013 with Pugh and have since added weanling-to-yearling pinhooking to their Thoroughbred ventures.

"When we buy these foals, they usually spin them back as yearlings," Pugh said. "If we don't get it done, then we race them."

Cherry Knoll has farms in West Grove, Pa., and Wellington, Fla. Any horses the farm has heading to the races are broke and trained by Kate and Bernie Dalton in Camden, S.C.

"This colt is just a lovely horse," the trainer continued. "He's an extremely good mover with plenty of hip. He has all the attributes you want. All the right people were on him, which makes me feel better."

Cherry Knoll purchased two other weanlings during the first two sessions of the Keeneland November sale. It also acquired a Charlatan   filly (Hip 53) during the opening session for $175,000 from Bedouin Bloodstock. The filly is out of the Into Mischief   daughter Mannhal, who is a half sister to multiple grade 2 winner Takeover Target  (Harlan's Holiday) and stakes winner, graded stakes producer Ladies' Privilege  (also by Harlan's Holiday). The third weanling acquired during the second session was a $75,000 colt (Hip 288) by Vekoma   consigned by Green Hills at Elmendorf. The colt is out of the Street Boss  daughter Graceful Wish, who is a half sister to stakes winner Ray's Way (Limehouse ). Hip 288's immediate family also produced grade 1 winner Tell a Kelly .