Recently retired 5-year-old Premier Steps (Ire) (Footstepsinsand {GB}) provided the first major jolt to the Keeneland sales pavilion Monday morning as Japan's Shadai Farm saw off all challengers to secure the broodmare prospect for $400,000. Craig and Holly Bandoroff's Denali Stud, Agent II consigned the bay as hip 39.
Trained in Europe as a juvenile by Tom Dascombe, Premier Steps was third in Royal Ascot's G3 Albany S. and finished a dead-heat second, beaten just a neck, in Deauville's G3 Prix du Calvados-Haras des Capucines. Transferred to Chad Brown after being purchased privately, she defeated subsequent Grade I winner Discreet Marq (Discreet Cat) to take Gulfstream's Sweetest Chant S. in early 2013. She finished third in last April's GIII Wilshire S. for Tom Proctor.
“That was significantly more than I thought [she would bring],” admitted Pete Bradley, manager of the partnership group of Swift Thoroughbreds, Inc., Vintage Thoroughbreds LLC, Kisber, et al. that campaigned Premier Steps in the U.S.
“She's a beautiful mare, she had some real potential as a racehorse, and if you looked back at who she raced against in Europe–that's why you saw Coolmore and the Europeans bidding on her–she was right there among the very best 2-year-olds of her year or just a half-notch below. She's a pretty mare with a race record behind her and we got lucky…That was a good way to start the year. We won a listed stake with her, had some fun with her and came out ok on the other end.”
Pete Bradley was sporting a Dayatthespa (City Zip) cap Monday–that Chad Brown trainee, who sold recently for $2.1 million at Fasig-Tipton November, appears a shoe-in Saturday evening for champion turf female honors off front-running scores in Keeneland's GI First Lady S. and GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf.
“We're 1-9–let's put it that way,” said Bradley, who campaigned Dayatthespa with another partnership group. “And 1-9 can always lose, but it's a nice spot to be in.”
Teruya Yoshida's Shadai Farm also took home fellow European import Orion Moon (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}) (hip 19) for $230,000. The Grade III-placed 6-year-old was consigned by Castle Park Farm LLC (Noel Murphy), Agent VIII.
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