A $2.1-Million Send-off for Dayatthespa

It’s been a whirlwind five weeks for Pete Bradley and the other owners of Dayatthespa (City Zip). The Chad Brown-trained 5-year-old won the GI First Lady S. at Keeneland Oct. 4, then returned to establish herself as the prohibitive favorite for champion turf female with a stylish wire-to-wire win in the GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Turf. Last night, the run was completed at Fasig-Tipton when Dayatthespa sold to Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stable for $2.1 million. Dayatthespa was offered by Lane’s End’s as Hip 184 as a racing or broodmare prospect. 

“I’m so glad she went to Stonestreet,” Bradley said after congratulating Banke and her advisor John Moynihan. “It’s a great operation. I don’t know if they’ll run her again; if they do, she’s in great hands from that standpoint. And then they’ll give her every chance to be a top-quality broodmare.” 

Bradley purchased Dayatthespa privately as a 2-year-old in training and formed a partnership that included Jerry and Ronald Frankel and Steve Laymon. Since then, she’s won 11 of 18 starts, including the 2012 G1 QEII Challenge Cup at Keeneland, and earned nearly $2.3 million. 

Dayatthespa got off to a late start this year, making her seasonal debut when second to Filimbi (Mizzen Mast) in the restricted De La Rose S. at Saratoga Aug. 2. But she quickly got back to winning ways when romping in the Yaddo S. three weeks later, and was just as brilliant in her next two facing Grade I foes. 

“She had enough of a problem where we had to give her some time off [earlier in the year],” explained Bradley. “It was nothing career-threatening, but she just needed a little time. Then it was just something you couldn’t script. Starting with when she was second to Filimbi (Mizzen Mast) at Saratoga, then the Yaddo S., when she put on quite a performance, then her performance in the First Lady, then to when she was between outlandish and outrageous in the Breeders’ Cup. It was everything you hope for when you know have a good horse, and then they prove you right.” 
 
Bradley did concede there were some nervous moments last night, as the bidding for his stable star came in fits and starts. 

“I’m very happy with the price, but the way the bidding went…it stalled around the $1.7 million range, and we were kind of there scratching our heads,” he said. “She was over her reserve, but it was close, and we thought, ‘Do we want to race her still?’ But we didn’t; she was here to sell, and she sold to a good group.” 

Bradley admitted it wasn’t easy, however. “There’s very few you get attached to like this. She’s something very special.” -LM