Half Brother to Honor Code Sells for $1.05M
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Tapit colt, sold for $1.05 million.
A Tapit colt that is a half brother to champion and Lane's End stallion Honor Code sold to Chris Baccari for $1.05 million during the Nov. 9 session of the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, the highest-priced weanling so far during the auction.
Consigned by Hill 'n' Dale Sales, the dark bay colt is out of the top-producing Storm Cat mare, Serena's Cat, whose offspring have been extemely popular in recent years.
A half sibling to the Tapit colt sold for $2.6 million at last year's Keeneland November sale with a full sibling bringing a then-North American record weanling price of $3 million at the 2014 exercise.
Given those prior levels, Baccari felt he got one of the steals of the sales in the colt he purchased in the name of his Baccari Bloodstock on behalf of a partnership.
"That's a very very hard pedigree to get into," said Baccari, who said the partnership could race the colt or resell him. "I happened to see the colt on the farm ahead of time so I had the ability to see what I was going to get into. He's just a very special horse. Very hard to find that kind of pedigree with that kind of sire power.
"I just felt like he could have brought a lot of money here," Baccari continued. "But it's like anything, he's a younger foal and he's been here for several days. When I first saw him he was very sharp and the last two days he was probably a little sluggish for some people. But I remembered what he looked like. That's why I thought if I have the ablility to get him, I'm going to try."
In addition to Honor Code, the Tapit colt is also a half brother to graded stakes winner Noble Tune.
"I think the horse was a great value to the buyer," said Hill 'n' Dale's John Sikura. "It seems to me that the breakout foals are not happening."