Harrison, Blum a Powerful Team at Keeneland Sale

Owner/breeder Peter Blum was cautiously optimistic heading into the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He knew his eight homebred yearlings consigned by Bridie Harrison had quality, but Blum has been breeding and selling Thoroughbreds for more than 30 years and knows to keep expectations in check.

By the end of session nine Sept. 19, six of Blum's yearlings had sold for $2,855,000, with the lowest price to that point a solid $220,000. Harrison is currently the leading consignor by average at $475,833 among the sellers of three or more.

The consignment's star is Hip 383, a $1.4 million Uncle Mo  colt out of the Street Cry mare Secret that agent Mike Ryan bought.

"I knew we had some nice horses, and we thought the Uncle Mo was special," Blum said. "Bridie is very modest, but when the colt was on the grounds, she told me she thought he could bring anything. I've been doing this long enough that my expectations are tempered. I would rather be surprised than disappointed."

Boy, was Blum ever surprised.

"As long as I've been doing this, I enjoy selling a good horse. We're delighted Mike bought him because of his track record," continued Blum, who lives in Atlanta, where he is a commercial real estate investor. "I would rather have a horse get into the right hands than bring more money."

Harrison and her family care for Blum's broodmare band, handle the matings with Doug Cauthen, raise the foals, and manage all the sales. Harrison has been involved with the breeding and selling of Blum's top-shelf Thoroughbreds for more than 30 years.

The vast majority of yearlings Blum sells are the product of female families he's nurtured for multiple generations, with many of them tracing back to his foundation mare, Mono, a 1963 daughter of Better Self. Blum went to the 1975 Keeneland January Sale specifically to buy this mare, whose dam was a full sister to 1946 Triple Crown winner Assault. 

"The mare wasn't being bred to good stallions but produced nothing but winners," Blum said.

Secret, the dam of the $1.4 million Uncle Mo colt, traces back five generations to Mono through the winning Mr. Prospector mare Mine Only, who distinguished herself by producing three graded stakes winners and five additional winners out of 11 to race.

"He has seven generations from this one family, and I've foaled everything on the (Uncle Mo colt's) catalog page," said Harrison. "He has a mare on the farm who is 26 years old, and she had her last foal this year. She's now retired. Well, I remember foaling her. It is great to foal them and watch them race and come back to the farm. It is a very, very good family."

Harrison said she was cautious, too, about being overly optimistic on the Uncle Mo colt's price. All she knew for sure was that he was a special individual.

"We knew he had the potential. We were expecting between $600,000-$800,000, but then we had so many good people that really liked the horse, and he was such a nice horse. He has a great profile and great walk. Everyone seemed to be seeing the same thing," she said.

The rising tide of demand for quality yearlings at Keeneland continued lifting Harrison's consignment long after the Uncle Mo colt had exiting the auction ring. During the eighth session, the last day of Book 3, Harrison had sold four of the day's top 10 purchases: a $350,000 Into Mischief —Flawless colt named Authentic bought by SF Bloodstock/Starlight West; a $335,000 filly by Malibu Moon  out of Déjà Vu named Crystal Ball, whom Spartan Bloodstock bought; a $225,000 Uncle Mo—Lady Godiva colt named Candy Bar that Quarter Pole Enterprises bought; and the last American Pharoah  yearling to be offered at the sale, a filly out of Platinum named Album that Victory Racing Partners bought for $220,000.

"We had very good sire power. I think they were Book 2 horses, but they were standouts in Book 3," said Harrison, who has two more to sell through the Sept. 20 session. "We never dreamed it would be this strong. It has been extraordinary."