A mare of Gunman and a pony Knock on the door topped the third session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale on September 11 for $1.05 million each. The momentum from the first two days continued into Book 2, proving to be a strong market for top horses.
“We had an incredibly diverse buying force. We had 34 seven-figure horses for sale, which was the second-largest number in the history of the September Sale,” said Cormach Breathnach, director of sales operations at Keeneland.
Nearly three-quarters of the way through the third day of bidding, SF Racing, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables reached a $1.05 million price tag for the top-placed horse on September 11, the Tapit colt consigned as Hip 674.
“You know, it’s a very deep family. … It’s a beautiful piece of paper, from a mare that’s very fast on the dirt. It’s Tapit. What more can we say about him? He just continues to prove how good he is and age doesn’t slow him down,” said Tom Ryan of the co-op.
The colt will be trained by Bob Baffert, who Ryan said doesn’t have much experience with Tapit’s offspring. Although he noted that one is currently under Baffert’s care, Fort Bragg Last year he won the Dwyer Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park.
Hip 674 is out The Story of Ekati mare Verve’s Story winner of the 2016 Comely Stakes (G3). She has been bred five times, all to Tapit, most recently to a reported live foal in May. Of Hip 674’s three older siblings, two have started but have yet to win.
The colt was delivered by Hunter Valley Farm, a dealer, to Charles Fipke, who bred him in Kentucky. The colt’s gray or tan mare is a full sibling to the racehorse Fipke. The Story of Verve runner-up in the 2015 Preakness Stakes (G1).
“You never know if you’re going to hit a million dollars,” said Hunter Valley managing partner Adrian Regan. “I think there’s only about 70 Tapits in this yearling class, so there’s not many left. He’s a lovely horse, he’s done fantastically all week and it’s been great to do it for Mr Fipke. We’ve sold to him for years and he’s always been there for us.”
SF Racing, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables purchased eight hippocampi on Day 3 for a total of $4,545,000. In addition to the colt Tapit, they went for $950,000 for a McKinzie foal and $775,000 for one of his sons. Uncle Mo .
Another Gun Dealer Hits Seven Figures
Hip 695, the top-priced mare of the day at $1.05 million, was purchased by Doug Scharbauer from Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment. Bred by Three Chimneys Farm, the mare is a Grade 2 Malibu Moon mare. Always Carina . She is the seventh yearling to earn seven figures for Gun Runner at this year’s auction. As of Day 3, Gun Runner is the leading stallion by total weight at the Keeneland September Auction.
“Donny Denton (general manager of Scharbauer’s Valor Farm) and Ken Carson (former manager), who retired two years ago, all three of us looked at her and liked her,” Scharbauer said. “I hope I can get her for under a million dollars, but I can understand why she got it for that price. We like her.”
“She’s just a beautiful mare, has a beautiful gait. Everyone was lining up to buy her. We knew she would sell. Her mind was great. She did really well at the stable. Everything went smoothly and she sold well,” said Frank Taylor of Taylor Made.
Gun Runner mare consigned as Hip 695 at the Keeneland September yearling auction
Scharbauer bought three other horses on the third day of the sale. Hip 628 is a Gun Runner mare out of Congratulations mare strive was purchased for $650,000. Scharbauer spent $500,000 on the Hip 678, equal to Not this time out of mare producing graded stock Creating wealth and $600,000 for the Hip 719, a Gold Medal mare out Belle StreetHe bought two Gun Runner mares on the first day of the auction for $1.5 million (Hip 24) and $500,000 (Hip 153).
“It’s first class, the way they do it, it’s first class. I’m extremely happy with what I bought this time. In fact, this is probably the year I’ve been most happy with what I’ve bought,” Scharbauer said.
The average for the third session was $309,645 with total sales of $72,457,000, including private sales. The average was $255,000 from 234 horses sold.
“The market is very strong. They always want the right horse. These are horses that run. I think Keeneland has done a great job of putting a really great group of runners in Book 1 and now Book 2 and beyond,” said Gainesway’s Antony Beck.
“It probably exceeded our expectations again because when you look at the numbers, last year was very strong. They were up about 7% on average from last year, and when you look at the $500,000 and above level, we went from 39 last year to 47 this year. That’s always exceeded our target,” said Tony Lacy, vice president of sales at Keeneland.
Taylor Made Sales Agency was the leading consignor on day three of the sale, with a total of $10,580,000 from 25 horses sold. The leading stallion was Taylor Made’s stallion Not This Time, with 17 sold for a total of $6,795,000, with early season stallion Charlatan coming in second with $6,770,000 from 21 sold. Repole Stables was the leading buyer with a total of $4,780,000 from 13 colts purchased.
“Buyers are finding it difficult in a very competitive environment. There are a lot of good horses on offer today and I think tomorrow will be the same,” Lacy said.
The Keeneland September Sale will resume on September 12 at 11:00 a.m. ET with 761-1,132 horses entering the ring. As of Wednesday afternoon, Keeneland had reported 30 outings in the fourth session.
