Majestic Quality Leads Early Action at Keeneland

Multiple graded stakes-placed Majestic Quality led the early action Jan. 8 at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale, where Shadai Farm went to $350,000 to take home the 4-year-old daughter of Quality Road .

Consigned as Hip 127 by ELiTE Sales, the racing or broodmare prospect out of the Lost Solider mare She Nuit All, from the family of grade 1 winner Octave, was scratched from the Keeneland November sale in order to stand out in the January market.

A few hips earlier, Shadai also went to $300,000 to take home two-time Indiana Horse of the Year Lady Fog Horn from the ELiTE consignment, with farm veterinarian Yuki Shimomura signing the ticket for both during Monday's opening session of the winter mixed sale.



"I liked them before, I like them a lot more now," joked ELiTE's Bradley Weisbord in regard to Shadai.

Majestic Quality raced for Big Chief Racing, Rocker O Ranch, and trainer Keith Desormeaux. In addition to breaking her maiden, she was second in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2), third in the Summertime Oaks (G2), and third in the Indiana Oaks (G3). Bred in Kentucky by C. Kidder and N. Cole, she was a $40,000 purchase by Big Chief Racing from Gainesway's consignment to the 2015 Keeneland September yearling sale.

"Keith Desormeaux buys as many good and good-looking horses as anybody under $100,000," Weisbord said. "This is one of his success stories. He got her to be grade 2-placed. Unfortunately she had a little hiccup over the summer, but they got rewarded (here). The market's very strong. I thought the mare was very well-positioned here. She got a chance to shine." 

Lady Fog Horn was another who fit in well at the January sale. The 6-year-old daughter of Zavata earned $824,273 and ran to a 14-4-4 record from 26 starts. Among her wins were seven stakes, including the Falls City Handicap (G2) at Churchill Downs. The Elkstone Group homebred is out of the stakes-placed Northern Spur (IRE) mare Titia.

"(The price was) a little bit on the higher end of what we thought she would bring, considering the stallion and the age," Weisbord said. "We had a reserve just over $200,000. It's very important, especially for a young sales company like ourselves, to have like-minded sellers that want to sell their horses. They came with a realistic reserve and she was a gorgeous physical ... she was a total runner—dirt and turf.

"The market is strong, very strong," Weisbord continued. "I think she stood out here well today compared to November. We're just excited for the seller and the buyers. They got a beautiful, beautiful mare that's probably going to have beautiful babies."

Multiple stakes winner Happy Mesa (Hip 64), a 4-year-old daughter of Sky Mesa , was purchased earlier in the day for $300,000 by Winchell Thoroughbreds from the Bluewater Sales consignment. The filly earned $237,555, with three victories, including the Selima Stakes and the Hilltop Stakes. Produced from the stakes-placed Broken Vow mare Happy Choice, Happy Mesa descends from the extended female family of champion Chris Evert, among others.

"We thought she'd be about $300,000," said Winchell racing manager and farm manager David Fiske. "She could run and she was a very pretty mare. We'll figure (plans for her) out later. We've got several stallions we could send her to, so we'll see what we decide. No decision has been made."