Million-Dollar Mares: November Sale Grads of 2015

Take Charge Brandi set the Keeneland ring alight when she sold for $6 million. (All photos Keeneland Photos unless noted)
Given the name ‘Sport of Kings’ centuries ago, the racing industry has become more inclusive through the years with all levels of owners found at the track.
But for those who want to see some of the richest people in the sport spend money in an all-out (bidding) war to get the top mares in North America, they only had to visit Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton in Lexington, Ky. days after the Breeders’ Cup for the November sales. Hearing bids of over $1-million placed on horses wasn’t uncommon in the first few days of the sale with both auction houses taking in quite a lot of money for their sellers.
Some of the mares who brought in final bids of $1 million or more at the auctions were seen in big races over the past year, so let’s see where they are headed with their new owners.
Angela Renee

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Age: 3
Pedigree: Bernardini - Pilfer, by Deputy Minister
Price she sold for: $3 million
Who bought her: Don Alberto Corporation
Her accomplishments: She won the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes last year at Santa Anita as her final prep for the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies where she went off as the favorite in the race (but finished 10th). Angela Renee hasn’t won since the Chandelier but was second in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes and third in the Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes after the Breeders’ Cup.
Fun facts: Angela Renee is a full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner To Honor and Serve and a half sister to Grade 1-placed Elnaawi. Her pedigree is one of the best in the studbook with horses such as Winter Memories and India hailing from the same family. Don Alberto, who recently bought Empire Maker, is planning to breed her to that stallion in 2016.
Callback

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Age: 3
Pedigree: Street Sense - Quickest, by Forest Wildcat
Price she sold for: $2.8 million
Who bought her: Elevage Bloodstock
Her accomplishments: The winner of this year’s Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes, Callback finished second in two other graded stakes races in her six race career.
Fun facts: Callback’s dam is a half-sister to 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver in addition to being the same family as 2015 Grade 1 winner Got Lucky. Callback gave Spendthrift their second Las Virgenes win in three years when winning the race two years after Beholder. Callback was bought in a partnership between Hill ‘n’ Dale and Glen Hill Farm to breed to two-time Horse of the Year Curlin next year. 
Hard Not to Like

Age: 6
Pedigree: Hard Spun - Like a Gem, by Tactical Cat
Price she sold for: $2.2 million
Who bought her: Dattt Farm
Her accomplishments: Hard Not to Like won two consecutive Grade 1 events this year to add to her first Grade 1 victory last year. The 6-year-old by Hard Spun has won eight races in her career for over $1.2 million in earnings, including four graded stakes races.
Fun facts: Hard Not to Like sold for $1.5 million last year at Keeneland November and sold at that same sale this year for $2.2 million. She will be boarded at Denali Stud after she retires at the end of the year but it is possible she may make a start in the Nov. 29 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar to finish off her career after scratching from the Breeders’ Cup last weekend.
Photo Call

Age: 4
Pedigree: Galileo - Theann, by Rock of Gibraltar
Price she sold for: $3 million
Who bought her: Crupi’s New Castle Farm
Her accomplishments: Coming to the United States in late 2014 after breaking her maiden in Ireland, Photo Call placed in two graded stakes before breaking through in the Violet Stakes at Monmouth Park then winning a Grade 1 in September’s Rodeo Drive Stakes.
Fun facts: Photo Call was just 3 ¾ lengths behind Stephanie’s Kitten when finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She is by one of the world’s best sires in Galileo and comes from the family of classic winner Halfway to Heaven.
 
Shook Up

Age: 3
Pedigree: Tapit - Sugar Shake, by Awesome Again
Price she sold for: $1.65 million
Who bought her: Three Chimneys
Her accomplishments: Thought never a stakes winner, Shook Up was the runner up in the Fair Grounds Oaks and the Longines Kentucky Oaks, beating I’m a Chatterbox in the latter.
Fun facts: Shook Up was part of a Regis Racing dispersal (selling of all of their horses). The filly was consigned by Three Chimneys for Regis, and Three Chimneys ended up purchasing her from this sale. The filly was injured in the Acorn Stakes this year, prematurely ending her career. She is by top U.S. stallion Tapit and out of Grade 1 winner Sugar Shake.
 
Stephanie’s Kitten

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Age: 6
Pedigree: Kitten's Joy - Unfold the Rose, by Catienus
Price she sold for: Not sold in the ring for $2.95 million but ultimately sold for $2.8 million
Who bought her: Northern Farm
Her accomplishments: She is one of only four horses to win two different Breeders’ Cup divisions (the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Filly and Mare Turf) and is the winner of five Grade 1 events and nine graded stakes events. The 6-year-old Stephanie’s Kitten was second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in 2014 before a win in the race this year.
Fun facts: Owner-breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey tried to sell Stephanie’s Kitten in 2014 but she wasn’t sold when bringing a final bid of $3.95 million and returned to the track in 2015. That paid off with the mare winning three races this year, including the Breeders’ Cup. While she wasn’t sold in the ring at Fasig-Tipton’s sale, it was announced the next day that she was sold to Northern Farm and will be bred in 2016.
 
Sweet Reason

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Age: 4
Pedigree: Street Sense - Livermore Leslie, by Mt. Livermore
Price she sold for: $2.7 million
Who bought her: Northern Farm
Her accomplishments: Won the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes, Acorn Stakes and Test Stakes in addition to being second in the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes and Cotillion Stakes
Fun facts: Sweet Reason won two straight Grade 1 races last summer in New York and has two Saratoga Grade 1 wins. The filly mostly raced in New York with only three starts outside the state. She was the third-highest priced horse at Fasig-Tipton’s sale this year after selling for $185,000 as a yearling.
 
Take Charge Brandi

Age: 3
Pedigree: Giant's Causeway - Charming, by Seeking the Gold
Price she sold for: $6 million
Who bought her: Hill 'n' Dale Farm
Her accomplishments: Last year’s champion 2-year-old filly won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at odds of 61.70-to-1 to start a four-race win streak that included one other Grade 1 race. She also finished second in the Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes at Saratoga last July.
Fun facts: Take Charge Brandi won her championship a year after her dam’s half-brother Will Take Charge was named 3-year-old male champion for the same connections. Take Charge Brandi’s second dam, Take Charge Lady, is the dam of Grade 1 winner Take Charge Indy and the grand dam of stakes-placed Intelligence. Right after Take Charge Brandi sold, Take Charge Lady's weanling filly set a North American record when selling for $3.2-million to Mandy Pope, $200,000 more than the record set last year.