Keeneland September: Half-sister to Proud Spell lights up board at $1.3 million

A Bernardini filly who is a half-sister to Kentucky Oaks winner and champion Proud Spell sold for $1.3 million to Texas-based Baumann Stables to become the first horse to surpass seven figures during Tuesday’s second session of the Keeneland September yearling sale.

Lane Seliger, the representative of Baumann who signed the ticket, credited his adviser, Dr. Naoya Yoshida, the owner of Winchester Farm in Kentucky, for evaluating the filly. Baumann was active at this year’s Keeneland January sale, buying Nereid, the winner of the American Oaks, for $1.3 million.

The filly is out of the Langfuhr mare Pacific Spell and is a half sister to 3-year-old filly champion Proud Spell, who won $2.1 million and both the Kentucky Oaks and the Alabama Stakes. Proud Spell is by Proud Citizen, so the $1.3 million filly sold on Tuesday brought a considerably larger amount of sire power to the catalog page.

“The bloodline was very, very attractive, very deep, and I think it will be well-supported in the future,” Seliger said.

The filly’s second dam, Malibu Magic, is the dam of Call Her Magic, a stakes winner who is the dam of J P’s Gusto, winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity and $811,760.

The filly was bred and consigned by Brereton C. Jones’ Airdrie Stud, as agent.

“We're beside ourselves, thrilled,” Bret Jones of Airdrie said. “We couldn't be happier. That family has meant so much to us, and to have a result like that is certainly what you dream about.”

Seliger said that Baumann has not yet settled on any immediate plans for its purchase. The group is based out of Amarillo, Texas, and currently has horses in training with Graham Motion, Michael Matz, and Ron Ellis, Seliger said.

The filly became the fifth yearling to sell for $1 million or more since the sale started on Monday. The price easily topped the leaderboard for Tuesday with approximately half the horses in the session sold. At the time of the sale, the second-highest priced yearling was a Street Cry colt, purchased for $725,000 by Juddmonte Farms.

--additional reporting by Joe Nevills and Nicole Russo