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Merryberry Farm secure colt for US$950,000
A colt by Coolmore Stud’s Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) was the headline act of the first session of Book 2 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale on Wednesday after David Ingordo - who was signing the docket on behalf of Merryberry Farm - went to US$950,000 to secure the Gainesway-consigned yearling.
Catalogued as Lot 506, the colt was bred by Three Chimneys Farm and is out of unraced Smart Strike (Mr Prospector) mare Bella Rafaela, who is herself a half-sister to Grade 1 scorer Twirling Candy (Candy Ride) and now Lane’s End-based stallion, while she also counts Grade 2 winner Ethnic Dance (Tribal Rule) and Grade 3 scorer Dubai Sky (Candy Ride).
Further back this is the family, this is the family of Listed winner Crownette (Seattle Slew) - the dam of Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed Chocolate Candy (Candy Ride).
“He was a really nice colt and, in what has proven to be a pretty selective market, it’s great to see him jump through all of the hoops and do well,” Three Chimneys COO Chris Baker said. “He’s in good hands to do well, so we are excited about that.”
Ingordo said: “I saw this horse at Three Chimneys Farm a few weeks before the sale. He is one of the best prospects I saw and I probably looked at fifteen-hundred (yearlings) on the farms before the sale. He was my personal top pick. We have Twirling Candy (at Lane’s End, where Ingordo is his bloodstock agent), and he looks like the family. This is the horse we wanted to have.
“If you bring a good horse up here and it jumps through the hoops, you get rewarded. We have found it very competitive to buy horses. We try to buy the best horse, and we have our price in mind. We know we have to stretch for the better ones. My clients are usually their own entities. So it is one person’s finances, in some instances, against many people’s finances.
“The hardest thing is adjusting to the partnerships (that bid against us). When you are bidding for one person against an entity that is many headed and many ‘walleted’, we have to figure out how to adjust.”
Mayberry was the session’s leading buyer, outlying US$2,385,000 on five horses, while Gainseway led the way in the vendors division, selling 20 yearlings for US$6,755,000 on Wednesday.
Gainesway were also responsible for selling the joint second highest priced lot of the, after West Bloodstock, agent for Repole Stables and St. Elias Stable, purchased a colt by current red-hot stallion Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday) for US$875,000.
Catalogued as Lot 701, the colt is out of unraced Tiznow (Cee’s Tizzy) mare Mimi’s Tiz, who is herself a daughter of Listed winner Mimi’s Bling (Bernstein) making her a sister to fellow Listed scorer Summer House.
Mimi’s Bling herself is a sister to multiple Grade 3 winner Custom For Carlos (More Than Ready).
Gainesway general manager Brian Graves was quick to praise Keeneland for their hard work putting the sale on, especially given the difficult circumstances surrounding coronavirus.
“I just feel fortunate that we’re here and have the opportunity to sell horses,” Graves said. “Keeneland has done a good job to make it work. My hat is off to Keeneland for making it easy for people to bid in every way. I think that is really necessary this year. There are people at home all over the world and Keeneland has made it easy for them to conduct business and that is fantastic.
“I can’t say we expected to be leading consignor. We’ll take it gladly.”
Earlier on the session, another son of Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday) also realised US$875,000, after Demi O’Byrne paid Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Watercress Farm, that price-tag for a colt out of winning Divine Park (Chester House) mare Divine Heart.
Divine Heart herself is a half-sister to dual Grade 1 winner Include Me Out (Include), fellow elite level winner Check The Label (Stormin Fever) and Listed scorer On The Menu (Canadian Frontier). The colt was offered as Lot 564.
During Wednesday’s session, 185 yearlings grossed US$40,861,000, at an average of US$220,870 and a median of US$180,000. Through the first three sessions of the auction, Keeneland has sold 394 yearlings for US$126,076,000, for an average of US$319,990 and a median of US$250,000.
Book 1 spanned three days in 2019, with Book 2 beginning on Day 4 of the sale. For that reason, comparisons to last year’s corresponding session are not available.
“In a time where there was such uncertainty about how much international participation there would be, we’re really happy with it,” Keeneland president-elect and interim head of sales Shannon Arvin said. “We’ve seen a very diverse base of buyers, and they’re participating in different ways. We continue to have a lot of activity on the Internet – today the most of any day so far with 150 bids and six horses sold.”
During last year’s first session of Book 2, 16 horses brought US$500,000 or more. On Wednesday, 12 horses reached that mark.
“Given the year of COVID, I think that’s a strong statistic,” Keeneland director of sales operations Geoffrey Russell said. “Last year was a surreal market, one of the strongest September Sales we have had in a long time.
“The whole feel of the market was very strong last year. To replicate that even in a normal year would have been difficult. So for what we are doing at the moment in an unusual year, we are very appreciative of our sellers and our buyers who are here to make this market.”
