Million-Dollar Mares: November Sale Grads of 2014

Princess of Sylmar sells at Fasig-Tipton November for $3.1 million. (All photos by Eclipse Sportswire unless otherwise 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 have to visit Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton in Lexington, Ky. during the November sales. This year was especially lucrative for sellers who wanted to move their horses to new homes, with 41 horses selling for $1-million or more and five others not meeting their reserve (minimum price set by the seller) after bringing in bids of more than $1-million.
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.
Dayatthespa

Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
Age: 5
Pedigree: City Zip – M’Lady Doc, by Doc’s Leader
Price she sold for: $2.1 million
Who bought her: Stonestreet Farm
Stonestreet Farm owner Barbara Banke

Her accomplishments: Dayatthespa is the winner of this year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, which was at the end of a three-race winning streak that also included the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes at Keeneland. She is also the winner of the 2012 Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland and won or hit the board in five other graded stakes throughout her career.
Fun Facts: Dayatthespa was sold to the same farm that owns mares such as Rachel Alexandra, Dreaming of Julia, and Authenticity, among others. She was retired after the sale and will join one of the best broodmare bands in the nation. Dayatthespa sold for the 10th-highest price at this year’s Fasig-Tipton November Sale and was the top seller by her sire City Zip, who had two Breeders’ Cup winners this year. 
Discreet Marq

Age: 4
Pedigree: Discreet Cat – To Marquet, by Marquetry
Price she sold for: $2.4 million
Who bought her: Moyglare Stud
Discreet Marq's former and current trainer, Christophe Clement

Her accomplishments: The winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, Discreet Marq has been within two lengths of winning Grade 1 races on five additional occasions. Her Del Mar Oaks victory wasn’t much different margin-wise as she won by less than a length. In addition to her five on-the-board finishes in Grade 1 races, Discreet Marq has finished first, second, or third in nine other stakes races.
Fun Facts: Discreet Marq was bought by Irish-based Moyglare Stud but she won’t be going to Europe any time soon. The farm has had much success in the United States with 13 graded stakes victories since 2000 and it also owned 1990 Belmont Stakes winner Go and Go. Discreet Marq is returning to trainer Christophe Clement’s barn for a 2015 campaign. Clement has trained the filly since the spring of 2013.
Egg Drop

Age: 5
Pedigree: Alphabet Soup – Rehocracy, by Adhocracy
Price she sold for: $1.9 million
Who bought her: Bridlewood Farm (General Manager George Isaacs, below)

Keeneland Photo
Her accomplishments: The winner of three straight graded stakes races last fall and winter, including the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes, Egg Drop has five Grade 1 or 2 top-two finishes to her name. Her first graded stakes win came in last year’s Yellow Ribbon Handicap and she ended her career in February of this year with a second in the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes. She retired with six victories, three seconds, and two thirds in 13 starts.
Fun Facts: Egg Drop was a fan favorite during her career due to her nearly white appearance. The mare was bred to leading sire Tapit after retiring in April. Tapit’s fee for 2015 has been raised to $300,000 from $150,000, the most expensive fee seen in North America since three stallions, including his grandsire A.P. Indy, stood for $300,000 in 2008. Tapit’s fee change should make Egg Drop’s foal a hot commodity if it goes through the ring as a yearling in a few years.
Hard Not to Like

Age: 5
Pedigree: Hard Spun – Like a Gem, by Tactical Cat
Price she sold for: $1.5 million
Who bought her: Speedway Stables, Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner
John Adger, center, agent for Speedway Stables

Keeneland Photo
Her accomplishments: Hard Not to Like won the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes in April for her first Grade 1 victory but she isn’t a stranger to graded stakes. The mare has a Grade 3 win under her belt in addition to three other graded stakes placings during her career. In addition to her turf starts, Hard Not to Like finished second in the 2012 Ashland Stakes over Keeneland’s Polytrack and finished sixth behind Believe You Can in that year’s Kentucky Oaks.
Fun Facts: Hard Not to Like was bought by Speedway Stables, who bought their first-ever racehorse the night before at the Fasig-Tipton November sale. Hard Not to Like will remain in training in 2015 but no trainer has been determined for the mare. The stable’s advisor John Adger has said that the long-term goal is for the partners to breed the mare. 
Iotapa

Age: 4
Pedigree: Afleet Alex – Concinnous, by El Corredor
Price she sold for: $2.8 million
Who bought her: China Horse Club
China Horse Club Chairman Teo Ah Khing (left) , Bloodstock Agent Michael Wallace, and General Manager Eden Harrington

Keeneland Photo
Her accomplishments: Second to Beholder in the 2013 Santa Anita Oaks, Iotapa has three graded stakes victories, including Grade 1 wins in the Vanity and Clement L. Hirsch in the summer of 2014. The filly hasn’t always hit the line first, but she has been close with 13 on-the-board finishes in 14 starts. Her latest top performance came when she finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, her first start in the Breeders’ Cup.
Fun Facts: Iotapa sold for the fifth-highest price of the Keeneland sale and was one of the first horses the China Horse Club has bought in the United States. The plan is to race her next year with her new ownership looking at racing her in the United States but telling the Thoroughbred Daily News that she may end up racing in Singapore.
Leigh Court

Age: 4
Pedigree: Grand Slam – Padmore, by French Deputy
Price She sold for: $1 million
Who bought her: Speedway Stables
John Adger, center, agent for Speedway Stables

Keeneland Photo
Her accomplishments: Leigh Court is Canada’s 2013 champion 3-year-old filly and spent most of her career in that country, winning four stakes races during her time there. In 2014, she won her first U. S.  graded stakes race when she was victorious in the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland. In her last appearance of 2014, she finished fifth behind Judy the Beauty in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
Fun Facts: Leigh Court is the first-ever purchase for the newly formed Speedway Stables and it is planned that she will continue to race in 2015. She comes from the famous Melnyk Racing Stable and shares a family with multiple stakes winners in Europe. 
My Miss Sophia

Age: 3
Pedigree: Unbridled's Song - Wildwood Flower, by Langfuhr
Price she sold for: $2.15 million
Who bought her: Reynolds Bell Jr., agent

Photo courtesy of Reynolds Bell Thoroughbred Services, LLC
Her accomplishments: My Miss Sophia was a 7 ¼-length winner of the April 2014 Gazelle Stakes in only her third start. The following month she finished second in the Kentucky Oaks, beating third-place Unbridled Forever by six lengths.
Fun Facts: My Miss Sophia was purchased for $260,000 as a yearling and made $418,300 during her career before selling at the Fasig-Tipton November sale, not a bad profit for owner Mathis Stable. My Miss Sophia is out of stakes winner Wildwood Flower, who is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Eye of the Tiger. She also shares a female family with Fiftyshadesofhay, who won the 2013 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.
Princess of Sylmar 

Age: 4
Pedigree:  Majestic Warrior - Storm Dixie, by Catienus
Price she sold for: $3.1 million
Who bought her: Shadai Farm
Shadai Farm's Teruya Yoshida

Photo courtesy of WikiCommons/Cake6
Her accomplishments: Princess of Sylmar won the 2013 Kentucky Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks, Alabama Stakes, and Beldame Invitational Stakes during her 3-year-old year after starting the season with a win in the Busanda Stakes. In 2014, she won the Cat Cay Stakes before finishing second in the Ogden Phipps and Delaware Handicap but was retired after a fifth in the Personal Ensign.
Fun Facts: Princess of Sylmar was the Fasig-Tipton November Sale sales topper at $3.1 million and her dam sold for $1.9 million 18 lots later. Princess of Sylmar’s buyer Shadai Farm is on the island of Hokkaido in Japan and is home to such mares as American champion Stacelita, multiple Grade 1 winner Champagne d’Oro, and Grade 1 winner In Lingerie among many others. It is likely that Princess of Sylmar will visit top Japanese sire Deep Impact at least once in the coming years.  
Ria Antonia

Age: 3
Pedigree: Rockport Harbor - Beer Baroness, by Mr. Greeley
Price she sold for: $1.8 million
Who bought her: Katsumi Yoshida (below)

Photo courtesy of WikiCommons/Cake6
Her accomplishments: Ria Antonia was Canada’s champion 2-year-old filly in 2013 after her win via disqualification in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. The filly had an ambitious campaign in 2014 but finished second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks, Grade 1 Spinster Stakes, and Grade 3 Iowa Oaks during the season, which also included a failed attempt against males in the Preakness Stakes. She ended her career in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, where she finished fourth.
Fun Facts: Ria Antonia was purchased for just $9,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall 2012 Yearling sale and spent her first few races trained by Ricky Griffith at Woodbine before being purchased by Loooch Racing Stable and relocated to Belmont Park. After her first race with Loooch, Christopher Dunn joined her ownership group and the pair raced her for a year before selling her at this Fasig-Tipton sale. Ria Antonia’s buyer Katsumi Yoshida is the owner of Northern Farm, home of 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri. Yoshida, along with his brothers, was responsible for bringing Sunday Silence to Japan and effectively reshaping the breed in the country.
Rosalind

Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
Age: 3
Pedigree:  Broken Vow - Critics Acclaim, by Theatrical (IRE)
Price she sold for: $1 million
Who bought her: SF Bloodstock
SF Bloodstock's Tom Ryan

Photo via Tom Ryan's Twitter

Her accomplishments: Rosalind’s biggest victory came in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes where she dead-heated for a win with Room Service. The filly also has a third-place finish in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (the top three finishers in that race all sold at Fasig-Tipton on Nov. 3), a second in the Alcibiades Stakes, and a third in the Pocahontas Stakes.
Fun Facts: Rosalind was bought for $70,000 as a yearling and made $604,964 in her career. She traveled to Royal Ascot for the 2014 Coronation Stakes but unseated her rider when stumbling out of the gate. She was able to return to the races a month later in the Belmont Oaks. SF Bloodstock, who bought Rosalind at this sale, is an international stable that has horses around the world.
She’s a Tiger

Age: 3
Pedigree: Tale of the Cat - Shandra Smiles, by Cahill Road
Price she sold for: $2.5 million
Who bought her: Katsumi Yoshida (below)

Photo courtesy of WikiCommons/Cake6
Her accomplishments: After winning her debut by nine lengths, She’s a Tiger won the Landaluce Stakes and got her first Grade 1 victory two starts later in the Del Mar Debutante.  With a second-place behind Concave in the Sorrento Stakes and a disqualification to second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, She’s a Tiger was named champion 2-year-old filly in the United States.
Fun Facts: She’s a Tiger is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Smiling Tiger. Her dam is also a stakes winner, spending her whole career racing at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash. Smiling Tiger and She’s a Tiger are the only two stakes winners out of the mare. She’s a Tiger was the first horse past the line in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies but was disqualified to second for interference with Ria Antonia, who was named the winner. The fillies will be getting to know each other a little better in the coming years as they were both bought by Katsumi Yoshida at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, where they went through the ring only seven hips apart.
Stephanie’s Kitten

Age: 5
Pedigree: Kitten's Joy - Unfold the Rose, by Catienus
Price she sold for: Her reserve (price her seller wanted) wasn’t met at $3.95 million
Who bought her: Returned to owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey (below with Stephanie's Kitten)

Her accomplishments: Her six graded stakes victories include wins in the 2011 Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades Stakes, Grade 1 Just a Game Stakes, and Grade 1 Flower Bowl Stakes. She also has six graded stakes placings, including the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf and has $2.63 million in earnings.
Fun Facts: Raced by breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Stephanie’s Kitten has been a major player in the female turf ranks since 2011. After she went through the ring, Ken Ramsey told the media that Stephanie’s Kitten’s reserve was $3,999,999, a shade less than $50,000 more than the final bid she got in the ring. She will be returning to the track in 2015 with trainer Chad Brown and will follow a nearly identical campaign to the one she was on this year but will run with a pacemaker according to Ramsey. The owner also said that he will probably try to sell her again next year according to DRF Breeding.
Stopchargingmaria

Age: 3
Pedigree: Tale of the Cat - Exotic Bloom, by Montbrook
Price she sold for: Her reserve (price her seller wanted) wasn’t met at $3.15 million
Who bought her: Returned to owner Repole Stable (Mike Repole, below center) 

Her accomplishments: She earned her first graded stakes victory in the 2013 Grade 3 Tempted Stakes and her first Grade 1 victory in this year’s Coaching Club American Oaks. Overall, she has five graded stakes victories with two Grade 1 wins and three graded stakes placings.
Fun Facts: Stopchargingmaria is named after owner Mike Repole’s wife who had another good filly named Stopshoppingmaria, who was second in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Stopchargingmaria will probably be named a finalist for champion 3-year-old filly behind Untapable. Both Untapable and Stopchargingmaria are slated to return to racing in 2015. 
Taris

Age: 3
Pedigree: Flatter - Comedy, by Theatrical (IRE)
Price she sold for: $2.35 million
Who bought her: Simon Callaghan (below right)

Her accomplishments: Taris has only run in five races but has four of those five, including destroying the 2014 Raven Run Stakes field where she won by nine lengths to get her first graded stakes victory. She has won her four races by a combined margin of 34 lengths and is undefeated at distances under one mile.
Fun Facts: Taris was a late addition to the Fasig-Tipton November sale and went through the ring second to last but that didn’t deter buyers as she brought the eighth-highest price of the night. She was a $90,000 purchase as a yearling and won her owners $275,700 on the track before selling at Fasig-Tipton.  Trainer Simon Callaghan bought her for one of his clients and told the Thoroughbred Daily News that she may run in another race this year.