Public auction prices for the 21 horses entered and still under consideration for the Kentucky Derby (G1) ranged from a bargain $14,000 from the final book of the September Yearling Sale 2022 in Keeneland to a $2.3 million top sale price from select Saratoga stores by Fasig-Tipton. revenue.
Fourteen horses sold for $1 million or more at the 2022 edition of The Saratoga Sale, but none brought more than that. Gun Runner The colt is the second of the Grade 1 winning mare Malibu Moon love Heaven . White Birch Farm and MV Magnier collected $2.3 million for the black horse or brown colt now known as the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner. Sierra Leone .
Gainesway, representing breeder Debby M. Oxley, consigned Sierra Leone at Saratoga. Gainesway general manager Brian Graves said it was clear Sierra Leone was something special, but Graves liked him at the time and declared he was the hungriest he had seen all year if not say for several years.
“Gun Runner had several Grade 1 winners already in his first season, which was unusual, so it looked like he could be a superior stallion, and Sierra Leone is a monster who is hungry for a young Grade 1 winner.” “He has a powerful body, a beautiful neck and the action of an extremely strong individual. He is the culmination of Oxley’s decades of buying and selling the highest quality breeding stock. I wrote gave Miss Oxley a letter, and I said that if I couldn’t get seven figures for this horse, I would sell it for free.
“It’s great to see that quality come out on the track and be as worthy as he looks. I told Chad Brown the same thing when we sold him. Last week we went to dinner and Chad said, ‘You told me it was the most wonderful longing you’d seen in years and I believed you.'”
At the other end of the price spectrum are purchases of $11,000 and $14,000, respectively. West Saratoga And Mugatu . Mugatua Kentucky-bred colt of the Maryland stallion Blofeld , has gone through the Ocala Breeders’ 2023 Spring Sale for 2-year-olds in training. Mugatu worked a long time in :10 3/5 at OBS, where he was consigned by Wavertree Stables and purchased by dealer Dan Preiss for $14,000. Mugatu has yet to win a black title, but he secured a potential Kentucky Derby spot with a fifth-place finish at the Blue Grass.
Steadying the field is the 2023 Iroquois Stakes (G3) winner West Saratogawhose trainer Larry Demeritte bought Keeneland back in September to owner Harry Veruchi for $11,000.
Demeritte is known for patrolling the back ring during long sales as well as determining and assessing value just minutes before a horse enters the auction ring. Demeritte said his budget is for West Saratoga, a colt of exaggeration is $12,000.
Demeritte said from his warehouse at Churchill Downs April 30 when West Saratoga had a nearby bathroom. “I don’t buy cheap horses. I buy good horses at cheap prices.”
Demeritte said West Saratoga stood out to him because of his strong shoulders and hips and great overall balance.
“I usually buy a lot of speed horses because I want to get back quickly, but I told the barn, ‘I’m going to buy a horse that I think will get on the ground.’ And I saw this horse, and I said, ‘This is that horse.’ If you look at this horse, you can’t tell it apart. You can’t find any flaws by looking at it, and it has a great intelligence.
“It took them a long time to hit the hammer, and I was sitting there saying, ‘Let’s hit the hammer!’ I am so lucky to buy this horse.”
The $11,000 West Saratoga gallops April 30 ahead of the 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs
ORACLE BOODSTOCK HAS TWO IN DERBY
Conor Foley’s Oracle Bloodstock, as agent, has specifically purchased two horses at Keeneland September to enter this year’s Derby, amounting to $325,000 for multiple Grade 2 winners Dornoch and $85,000 for runner-up Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) Social man .
“It was quite a humbling and shocking achievement for the two of them to be able to participate,” said Foley, who also credited Oracle bloodline chiefs Jim Hatchett and Nick Esler for the sale. arguably the greatest race in the world.” “The people who own these horses are superheroes and we couldn’t be happier for them to experience this.”
2023 Kentucky Derby winner magician had yet to begin its first career when Oracle acquired its full brother Dornoch—a Good magic The colt got out puca via Big brown —but Foley has history with pedigree.
“I tried to buy Mage at the 2-year-old sale (Fasig-Tipton Midlantic), and four months later I met Dornoch, and he’s a great horse. Saw the brother and liked him, that gives me confidence.” we have an athlete on both sides,” Foley said. “And I’ve always had a soft spot for Puca. Jerry Crawford had Puca in foal to Paul Pompa, and I liked him so much that I encouraged Jerry to buy Paul. That was the first pony Jerry bought!”
Conor Foley of Oracle Bloodstock
Another shrewd purchase in this year’s Derby was made by Travis Durr, Kristian Villante and Kyle Zorn’s Legion Bloodstock, who under the name “In the Trees” purchased the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) winner. the next year 2023 Honor Marie for $40,000 at Keeneland in September.
“At the time, we were buying horses for our racing group and we were on a budget, so to speak,” Durr said. “Honor Code was very cold at the time, but the colt had all the parts and looks we liked and the pedigree behind him. We were happy to get him at that price.”
Honor Marie is one of three horses entering this year’s Derby—along with Follow the ghost And Epic trip —authorized by Nicholasville, Ky.-based Taylor Made Sales. at Keeneland September.
