Clearsky Farm
The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, which set its record gross with a full six sessions to go, concluded its 12-day run Saturday in Lexington with new highwater marks for, not just gross, but also average, median and total number of million-dollar-plus offerings. "What an incredible September sale," Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. "We definitely had reasons to be optimistic going in, but the strength of the results day after day exceeded even our highest expectations. From start to finish, the energy on the grounds never waned. Buyers from...
1st-Churchill Downs, $117,143, Msw, 5-27, 2yo, 5f, :58.78, ft, 1 3/4 lengths. OWEN'S LEAP (c, 2, Bolt d'Oro--Defy Gravity {SW, $171,240}, by Bandini) became his freshman sire (by Medaglia d'Oro)'s third winner with a powerful performance here on unveiling. Sent off at 5-2 for the contest, the Tom Amoss trainee stalked the early pace of :22.86 and :46.35 from third, challenged outside through the far turn, and came five wide into the lane to take over in the upper stretch. Kept under strong handling, the $175,000 KEESEP alumnus came home...
Shane and Josh Hennessy grew up in an Ohio family whose only connection to horse racing was a yearly tradition of watching the Kentucky Derby on television, but the two brothers are more than making up for lost time. Both now serve as managers at Kentucky farms which enjoyed strong results at the recently concluded Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Josh is in his third year at the Knelman family's Farfellow Farms, while Shane joined forces with Robbie and Susie Lyons's Hartwell Farm last December. "I came down to University of...
A Clearsky Farm-bred and -consigned daughter of leading sire Into Mischief out of the stakes-placed Mary Rita (Distorted Humor) was hammered down for $1.025 million to Don Adam's Courtlandt Farm to become the first to breach the seven-furlong threshold during the second Book 1 session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in Lexington. The Cleary family gave $230,000 for Mary Rita in foal to The Factor at the 2016 Keeneland November sale and her first live foal, a full brother to hip 275, fetched $375,000 as a short yearling at...