Dec_112_Sales_CircuitV2_Sales 20/11/2013 14:35 Page 72
SALES CIRCUIT >>
Buyers from home and away spread the joy in Lexington Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sales
The Kentucky fall mixed sales in Lexington, which ran for two weeks after Breeders’ Cup weekend at Santa Anita in California and featured the winners of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Groupie Doll, and the Turf Sprint, Mizdirection, cumulatively grossed $271,048,000, leaving plenty of smiles on the faces of sales executives and consignors at Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland. The sheer wealth on hand five years after the global economic downturn was staggering. Between Fasig-Tipton’s lone session at Newtown Paddocks on November 4, and the two sessions of Keeneland’s Book 1 across town on Tuesday and Wednesday, a total of 38 – 24 at Fasig-Tipton and 14 at Keeneland – broodmares or broodmare prospects changed hands for a million dollars or more, with buyers from North America competing with those from South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Last year the number of million-dollar horses at the same sales numbered 22. Fasig-Tipton's niche is the glittering high end ($572,550 average price for 129 lots) and the sale notably featured the first two mares offered in foal to Frankel, as well as Mizdirection and the highly desirable Galileo mare Betterbetterbetter, in foal to sire-of-the-moment War Front. American Mandy Pope, who has been making a name for herself as the ultimate collector, bought Betterbetterbetter under her Whisper Hill Farm for $5.2 million, topping the sale a year after Pope famously purchased 2011 US Horse of the Year Havre de Grace for $10m, a record price for a broodmare prospect. Betterbetterbetter was not the racehorse Havre de Grace was, but she’s plenty special enough. A three-parts sister to Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Yesterday and another
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Group 1 winner in Quarter Moon, Betterbetterbetter is one of two Galileo foals from her dam, Jude, whose first ten consecutive foals were sired by Sadler’s Wells for the partnership of Richard Henry – CEO of Primus Advertising, which handles the Coolmore account – and
Coolmore head John Magnier. The Jude foals were bred under the name of Henry’s Premier Bloodstock and raced in the colours of Mrs Richard Henry and Mrs John Magnier. Fillies from this family are not easy to come by, especially in America, and Pope had to pay the piper to buy in.
KEENELAND
By Sid Fernando
Awesome Maria, at $4 million, was one of 38 seven-figure lots sold in three days
THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER