Keeneland's November Opening Session Soars

By Ron Mitchell, Alicia Wincze-Hughes, and Erin Shea

With buyers showing an insatiable appetite for quality fillies and mares and their 2016 foals, the Keeneland November breeding stock sale opened Nov. 8 with key figures that soared well beyond the gross, average and median prices for the same session a year ago.

With fewer horses sold—115 versus 136 in 2015—gross receipts totaled $50,155,000, up 11.2% over the $45,094,000 total last year. This year's Day 1 average of $436,130 represented a phenomenal gain of 31.5% when compared with $331,574, and this year's median price of $260,000 surpassed the 2015 figure of $202,500 by 28.4%.

The 57 horses that did not sell represented 33% of the total through the ring, compared with an RNA rate of 29.9% in 2015.

"I thought it was a very strong session with great international appeal," said Geoffrey Russell, Keeneland's director of sales, noting a strong Japanese presence among the buying bench. "We had 10, $1million horses this year instead of seven, with three over $2 million and a strong Japanese performance—many different buyers from Japan, too, not just one buyer.

Russell said buyers found they had to stretch to get horses they desired, but felt compelled to keep bidding.

"One major buyer told me, 'Well, I have two choices: either I stretch or I go home with nothing. I have to have product, so I'm going to stretch.' I think the quality of the catalog reflected that. People realized going in that the quality that is here you're going to have to stretch to buy them."

Monday's buying frenzy was led by most of the same players who had pushed Fasig-Tipton's November sale the previous evening to unexpected levels—Bridlewood Farm, Summer Wind Farm, SF Bloodstock and Newgate Farm, China Horse Club International, and the Japanese-based Shadai Farm and Yoshida family—joined by others such as Whisper Hill Farm and September Farm.

But it was Sheikh Mohammed's agent John Ferguson who came away with the biggest prize of the day, paying $3.5 million for a daughter of Coolmore's super international sire Galileo in foal to one of North America's perennial leading sires War Front  .

Consigned by Hunter Valley Farm, Secret Gesture was multiple group I placed—including a runner-up finish in the 2013 Investec Epsom Oaks (Eng-I)—and competed in the 2014 and 2015 editions of the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (gr. IT), finishing fifth and seventh, respectively.

Bred by Newsells Park Stud, the bay mare is a full sister to group III winner Sir Isaac Newton and a half sister to stakes performer Maurus.

"She's a lovely mare and was an outstanding race filly in Europe from a beautiful family," said Ferguson, adding that the mare will likely be sent to Europe. "From our point of view, she was a mare that could make the difference."

"It's bittersweet really. It was a great price and she's going to a great home," said Julian Dollar, general manager of Newsells Park Stud. "She's going to be mated well. We have two daughters we own and we have the mare...so we've got the factory, if you like. And we felt like if she made enough we could afford to let her go.

"It was a commercial decision really. But she was pretty special. It's sad to let those kind go. But it was a great price."

Hunter Valley's Fergus Galvin said Secret Gesture and Peace and War, a grade I-winning daughter of War Front in foal to leading sire Tapit   sold to Katsumi Yoshida for $1.45 million, are typical of the horses most in demand.

"They are what the marketplace wants right now--young, with good pedigrees, great race records, and in foal to the right stallions," he said. "They both went comfortably past their reserves. Secret Gesture was owned by a partnership. They set the reserve and let it be known she was here to sell and were rewarded for that with a nice price."

The day's second-highest price of $2.55 million was paid by Moyglare Stud Farm for Celestine, a daughter of the late Scat Daddy, who this year won the June 11 Longines Just a Game Stakes (gr. IT) at Belmont Park and April 2 Honey Fox Stakes (gr. IIT). The 4-year-old filly has six wins from 14 starts with earnings of $825,100. She finished third in Keeneland's First Lady Stakes (gr. IT) before finishing 12th in the Nov. 5 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (gr. IT).

Fiona Craig of Moyglare Stud signed the ticket and said the filly would head to Florida to go back into training with Christophe Clement. Celestine had been conditioned by Bill Mott.

The top weanling price of $600,000 was paid by R. C. Thoroughbreds for a Pioneerof the Nile   colt produced from the grade II-winning Vindication mare Dust and Diamonds. Both the March 3, 2016 foal, and his dam, who brought a bid of $1 million, were consigned by Three Chimneys Farm as agent.

Three Chimneys was the Day 1 leading consignor, with 17 sold for a total $12,975,000. Ferguson's lone purchase made him leading buyer at $3.5 million.

The Keeneland sale resumes Wednesday with an 11 a.m. session and beginning Nov. 10 continues through Nov. 20 with 10 a.m. daily start times.