Emerald Gal Leads the Way in Book 3

Emerald Gal (Gilded Time) brought top price of $320,000 as the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale marched into Book 3 Friday in Lexington with numbers off slightly from last year’s comparable session. Dam of recent GII Raven Run S. winner Sarah Sis (Sharp Humor), Emerald Gal (hip 1411) was consigned by Select Sales and was purchased by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings. Stonestreet was also responsible for the day’s top-priced weanling, going to $260,000 to secure a son of Curlin (1359) from the Bluewater Sales consignment.

For the session, 236 horses sold for $14,099,000. The average of $59,742 fell 1.19% from a year ago, while the median dropped 10% to $45,000. The buy-back rate was 27.38%. It was 21.17% a year ago. Seven horses sold for $200,000 or over Friday. That figure was eight a year ago, with a top price of $230,000.

Through five days, Keeneland has sold 968 horses for a total of $178,778,000. At this same point a year ago, 1,046 head had grossed $166,443,000. The cumulative average of $184,688 is up 16.07% and the median is up 11.11% to $100,000. The cumulative buy-back rate is 27.49%, compared to 22.75% in 2014.

The November sale continues through next Friday, with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

Bluewater Leads All Consignors Friday

Meg Levy’s Bluewater Sales enjoyed a banner day at the Keeneland November sale Friday, leading all consignors with 18 horses sold for a gross of $2,094,000 and an average of $116,333–well above the overall session average of $59,742. Bluewater consigned the day’s top weanling, a colt by Curlin, for $260,000 to Stonestreet Farm.

“I knew we had a lot of action at the barns, especially on the weanlings” commented Levy. “I knew we were strong on the weanlings because people kept coming back to look at them. I was really pleased with what the mares brought–it was a stronger mare market than I had envisioned.”

Levy acknowledged the market remains polarized, with most buyers landing on the same top-level offerings.

“It seems like everyone is falling on the absolute top-of-the-market weanlings–there isn’t much of a middle market for weanlings right now,” she said. “The ones that really hit the mark are going over the top. And it’s kind of the same for the mares. Young mares are in demand–those carrying their first foals. We got lucky to have a mare in foal to Uncle Mo and a couple of Tapit mares–there was a lot of demand for Tapit mares. And physical is king right now.”

Stonestreet was one of many end-users signing for weanlings at Keeneland this week and Levy noted as stud fees continue to rise, buying weanlings becomes a more attractive proposition.

“I was surprised that some of the big buyers were buying weanlings, which is fantastic,” she said. “I like to see that. I was thrilled that the Curlin went to Stonestreet and I hope that he is going to be a great racehorse for them. It’s kind of interesting see them in that market. It’s nice to have the end-users around. Pinhookers are having a really hard time, they are having to stretch for that nice weanling. With stud fees going up–that’s the talk of the town, how much stud fees are increasing, what are you going to breed your mare to and how are you going to produce this–and then when you look at weanlings, we had a weanling by Curlin and a weanling by Scat Daddy today, they are bringing just a little bit more than what the stud fee is predicted to be for next year.”

Basking in a great day at the sales, Levy added, “It just ended up a great day. We were lucky to have the right horses on the right day.”

Darley Aims to Support New York Stallions

Darley, which will stand three stallions at Sequel Stallions in 2016, will continue its support of the New York breeding program through a new initiative in partnership with Sequel’s Becky Thomas. Thomas is currently shopping at the Keeneland November sale and buying mares under the name Alpha Partners specifically to send to Darley’s young stallion who will be standing his second season in New York in 2016.

“This arrangement between Darley and Alpha Partners will utilize our stallions to support the New York program,” explained Darley Chief Operating Officer Dan Pride.

Under the two-year lease agreement, Alpha Partners’ mares will be bred to both Alpha and an additional Darley stallion and the resulting foals will be co-bred by the two groups.

In addition to Alpha, Darley’s current New York roster also features Emcee and Desert Party. Freshman sire Girolamo, whose first crop included the New York-bred Grade I placed She’s All Ready, has returned to Kentucky where he will stand the 2016 breeding season.

“We believe these are very good prospects and we believe New York is a great market to get a stallion started–as Girolamo proved this year,” Pride said. “Darley is committed to finding and participating in new initiatives to support the New York program.”

Through five sessions of the November sale, Thomas has signed for three mares for Alpha Partners. Alys (Dixie Union) (hip 1300) was the group’s most expensive purchase to date, selling for $165,000 Thursday. The goal is to purchase over 10 mares for the partnership.

Thomas said that her approach to buying for New York stallions doesn’t vary from her normal criteria.

“I look for exactly the type of mare that suits the stallion the best,” she explained. “Whether it’s in Kentucky or New York, I try to pick out a mare that fits the stallion both physically and in pedigree and I try to get a quality individual.”

Thomas continued, “We’re buying the same kind of mares that we would support any other stallions with in a commercial marketplace; in other words quality mares to a quality stallion whether it’s in New York or in Kentucky.”

New York’s rich breeder rewards program provides plenty of incentives to breed in the state, according to Thomas.

“New York has a rewards program that is second to no one,” Thomas explained. “A lot of these mares that are going through the sale here, had the progeny been foaled in New York, you have the added value of having a New York-bred. The lucrative award program makes breeding in New York pretty exciting, as both breeders that breed to race, as well as sell, benefit in the sales ring and on the racetrack.”

 

Emerald Gal Pays Dividends for Mauk

Stonestreet Stables acquired Emerald Gal (Gilded Time), the dam of recent GII Raven Run S. winner Sarah Sis (Sharp Humor), for $320,000 Friday at Keeneland November. The 9-year-old mare was consigned by Select Sales and sold in foal to Street Sense.

“She’s a pretty, young mare whose second foal is a graded stakes winner,” Stonestreet’s John Moynihan said of the Emerald Gal’s appeal. “She’ll go well with a lot of our stallion interests.”

Bred by Catherine Whelan-White and Oz Farm, Emerald Gal RNA’d for $7,000 while carrying Sarah Sis at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February sale. The mare was bred back to Tale of Ekati in 2013 and was subsequently purchased privately by Bill Mauk of Mauk One Farm.

“[Mauk] thought Tale of Ekati was going to do really well as a sire and he called me and asked if I knew of any mares anywhere in foal to Tale of Ekati,” explained Select Sales’ Carrie Brogden. “And I had another agent call me who had an inexpensive mare named Emerald Gal who was in foal to Tale of Ekati.”

Not long after Emerald Gal changed hands, Sarah Sis debuted with a 11 3/4-length romping victory at Arlington last August. She became a graded stakes winner with a 1 1/2-length tally in the GIII Honeybee S. this past March. In addition to the Raven Run, she also won this year’s GIII Iowa Oaks.

Select Sales sold Emerald Gal’s weanling by Tale of Ekati on behalf of Mauk for $40,000 at this year’s Keeneland January sale. The mare was followed into the Keeneland sales ring Friday by her weanling filly by Sidney’s Candy, who also sold for $40,000.

“Obviously, Sarah Sis came along and all the stars aligned and they were kind enough to sell the mare back with Select,” Brogden continued.

Brogden added the choice of covering stallion was made in anticipation of Emerald Gal’s trip through the November ring.

“When he booked her back to Street Sense, we had a long talk and I said he needed to breed her back to a stallion that the end-users would be happy to buy her for,” Brogden explained. “So he chose Street Sense and the rest is history.”

Curlin Weanling Takes Early Lead Friday

John Moynihan of Stonestreet Stables signed the ticket at $260,000 for a weanling by Curlin to lead early returns during Friday’s session of the Keeneland November sale. The chestnut colt (hip 1359) is the second foal out of Chaotic Cat, a half-sister to Grade I placed Sweet Shirley Mae (Broken Vow), and was consigned by Bluewater Sales. The mare’s first foal, a filly by Broken Vow, was a $50,000 Keeneland November weanling last year and brought $155,000 at the Keeneland September sale this year.

“He’s a really pretty horse and you know we love Curlin,” Moynihan said. “He’s a really nice physical. We’ll put him into our racing program.”

The weanling was the first horse to break the $200,000 mark at Keeneland Friday and, while happy with the colt’s final price tag, Bluewaters’ Meg Levy was far from surprised.

“He had a lot of attention with as good as the sire has been doing,” Levy said. “He’s a very typey and precocious example of his sire–the more he walked the better he got. I thought he would sell well, but that was definitely a good price.”

The foal market has been competitive at Keeneland all week, but Moynihan doesn’t think that is a new trend.

“For the last five years, it’s been this strong,” he said. “So it’s not any different than it has been.”

Empire Maker Action for Three Chimneys

Three Chimneys Farm offered a pair of mares by recently repatriated sire Empire Maker within minutes of each other during Friday’s fifth session of the Keeneland November sale and the pair became the second and third horses to break the $200,000 mark on the day.

First up, Circle the Empire, in foal to Strong Mandate, sold for $250,000 to BBA Ireland. The 4-year-old mare (hip 1367) is a half-sister to Chatham (Maria’s Mon), the dam of this year’s multiple Group 1-winning juvenile Air Force Blue (War Front). Three Chimneys purchased Circle the Empire for $60,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Summer Horses of Racing Age sale.

“Circle the Empire had lots of attention with that big update,” Three Chimneys’ Case Clay said. “There were plenty of people on her that spend in this range, so they fought for her there.”

Four hips later, Three Chimneys was back in action again, selling Clarinda (hip 1371) for $230,000 to Crupi’s New Castle. The 6-year-old mare, a half-sister to graded placed Dr. Diamonds Prize (Pure Prize), sold in foal to hot young sire Uncle Mo.

“On Clarinda, you’ve got Empire Maker coming back to America and Uncle Mo’s stud fee [$75,000] announced on the same day of the sale–he’s doing really well,” Case said. “She is a big pretty mare and she was fast. So all the pieces were put together on her. People probably wanted to spend $200,000 on her and they had to bid a few more times to get her.”

With buyers like Crupi and Stonestreet Farm still on the sheets as Book 3 opened Friday, Clay agreed it was encouraging to see major buyers still active as the sale continued.

“Usually after Book 1 and 2, you see some planes fly out of here,” Clay said. “It’s very nice to see some of the big buyers that are here, as well as some new faces, for Book 3, but there is some good quality in this sale.”