$8.2 million filly helps close out Book 1 at Keeneland September

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A filly by Triple Crown winner and leading freshman sire American Pharoah and out of Broodmare of the Year Leslie's Lady sold for $8.2 million, among the top prices in the history of the Keeneland September yearling sale, as the auction's marquee Book 1 portion closed its three-day run on Wednesday with major gains.

Mandy Pope, who breeds and races under the nom de course Whisper Hill Farm, purchased the sale-leading filly, who is a half-sister to four-time Eclipse Award heroine Beholder, Grade 1 winner and leading sire Into Mischief, and globe-trotting Grade 1 winner Mendelssohn. The price tag for the American Pharoah filly, who was bred and consigned by the Mitchell family's Clarkland Farm, surpassed the $4.4 million Shadwell paid for Moon's Whisper in 2000 as the highest price for a yearling filly at Keeneland September. Among the sale's highest prices among all horses, she is tied for fourth, joining a quartet of colts purchased by John Ferguson in the years prior to the recession: $11.7 million Meydan City (2006), $9.7 million Jalil (2005), $9.2 million Plavius (2006), and $8.2 million Act of Diplomacy (2006).

“I don’t have any words,” Clarkland patriarch Fred Mitchell said. “It’s something we haven’t seen in many years, especially for a filly to top the sale, the highest price so far. It’s unreal. But in my opinion, this was the best individual the old mare has ever had.”

Powered by Pope’s new purchase, one of seven yearlings sold for $2 million or more, a total of 340 horses sold during the three-day run for Book 1 for gross receipts of $160,463,000.

This year, Keeneland has again tweaked the format of its top-market portions in Books 1 and 2. Book 1 encompassed the auction’s first three days – compared to four sessions last year – with a total of 569 horses cataloged, compared to four sessions with 989 cataloged in 2018. The size of the Book 2 catalog is 730 horses compared to 826 last year. Because of the changes, year-to-year session-to-session and book-to-book comparisons for some figures, notably gross receipts, are difficult to compare.

"We listen after every sale, and try to respond to asks and comments and feedback we get from our buyers and consignors where there is a commonality, if there really is a consensus," Bob Elliston, Keeneland’s vice president of racing and sales, said of the changes. "What we heard from last year was, 'We need fewer horses up front, because we really want to get around and do our due diligence.'"

The Book 1 average and median figures posted significant gains from the same segment of the market last year. The Book 1 cumulative average finished at $471,950, a 30 percent spike from $363,780, the final Book 1 figure after four days in 2018. Even removing Leslie's Lady's filly from the equation, the average price for the past three days would have finished at $449,153, still a gain from Book 1 in 2018.

The Book 1 median price checked in at $355,000, rising 18 percent from $300,000 last year. The cumulative buyback rate for the book was 26 percent, compared to 28 percent last year. Elliston noted that those two figures, in particular, display strength throughout the market, rather than a handful of horses driving the gains.

"That speaks to, it's not just $8.2 million, or [the others who brought seven figures], it is that deep in every part of the sale," Elliston said.

Book 1 closed with a powerhouse third and final session on Wednesday, with the gross up more than $12 million, or 23 percent, from the third session in 2018 - the penultimate Book 1 session - despite 27 fewer horses sold. The day-to-day average soared 50 percent, and the median was up 39 percent. The buyback rate finished at 19 percent, a very low figure in a selective market, as spirited bidding took place throughout the day. The second horse through the ring on Wednesday sold for $1 million, and the final horse in the ring brought the hammer down at $750,000.

"I think I'd describe today's session as the cherry on top of the sundae that is the three days of Book 1," Elliston said. "That's the way you close out a book. I don't know that I've been through a session like today. That was memorable. I'll always remember that."

While there were fewer horses sold for seven figures in this year's Book 1 compared to last year's longer segment - 20 versus 26 - seven cracked the $2 million threshold over the last three days, compared to three in the four days last year. This year's Book 1 sessions averaged 9.3 horses per day sold for between $999,000 and $750,000, and 19.3 per day sold between $749,000 and $500,000. Those per-session averages were 5 and 18.3, respectively, last year.

Five of the seven-figure lots went to the international Godolphin operation of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum, who was in attendance at the Keeneland September sale for the second consecutive year, after not attending for several years. Godolphin purchased a total of 10 horses for $16 million in the last three days, leading all Book 1 buyers by gross.

"You heard rumors that Sheikh Mohammed was coming here, and you can’t be more excited for when he does show up," bloodstock agent Jacob West said. "That man changes people’s lives in the sales ring and he carries this sale. He has an incredible presence here. And as an American, I’m just excited that he is over here supporting us."

However, Pope prevailed when the star filly came to the auction ring. The early action was fast and furious, with the bid board lighting at $2 million less than 30 seconds in, with bids coming from various points in the sale pavilion and in the back holding ring.

"It's not your turn yet," auctioneer Justin Holmberg admonished at one point as two bids were called out simultaneously.

As other bidders dropped out, the action slowed to a deliberate pace as Godolphin's bloodstock advisers, standing in the back holding ring with Sheikh Mohammed looking on, and Pope, seated inside with adviser Todd Quast, locked in a final duel. Pope and Godolphin's Anthony Stroud began raising their bids in increments of $200,000 and $300,000, hoping to land the knockout blow. After Godolphin bid $8 million, Pope relatively quickly upped to $8.2 million. In the back of the ring, Stroud and others in the group discussed the final figures before walking away about 30 seconds later, leaving the gavel to fall. The filly was in the ring about six minutes, all told.

"It was a very tough battle, a big battle," said Pope, who said she had predicted the price to be in the $4 million range. "I was persevering. [Quast] was trying to hold my hand down - he was getting pretty adamant about it. But I'm getting older; I'm getting to the final phases of what I'm going to do with my life, and this is what I want to do. I have lots to look forward to.

"She's the only thing in the sale I really wanted," Pope, 64, added. "So this is probably going to put me out of shopping in November. I think I pretty much blew through my broodmare budget."

Pope said the filly will head to Florida this fall for her early training, and said that she has not yet considered a racetrack trainer for her for next year. Some years from now, the filly is likely to reside at Wayne and Cathy Sweezey's Timber Town Farm in Lexington, where Pope boards her star-studded broodmare band, including Horse of the Year Havre de Grace (a $10 million purchase), Eclipse Award champion Songbird ($9.5 million), Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty ($4.2 million), Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic winner Unrivaled Belle ($3.8 million), and Eclipse champion Groupie Doll ($3.1 million).

"She's got a lot more pedigree than some of them, but she doesn't have the race record yet," Pope said. "So we've got a lot of racing to do. ... She's perfectly balanced, she's gorgeous, not too big, not too small. She certainly has tremendous value should she not make it to the races, for whatever reason. Like everything else, it's a big gamble."

American Pharoah, whose eight Grade 1 victories included his sweep of the 2015 Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic, is North America's leading freshman sire by earnings, and is tied for the lead by individual winners. The young Coolmore sire, by Pioneerof the Nile, has far and away the most black-type stakes horses of any freshman on the continent with seven. No one else has recorded more than three. That septet is made up of French Group 3 winner Maven, stakes winners Another Miracle and Four Wheel Drive, Irish Group 1-placed Monarch of Egypt, and stakes-placed Envied, Saggara King, and Sweet Melania. American Pharoah’s international success helped boost his already high commercial popularity coming to the global marketplace at Keeneland September. In addition to the Leslie's Lady's filly, the stallion was represented by a $1.3 million colt sold to Coolmore and partners earlier on Wednesday. Coolmore's M.V. Magnier sang the praises of his breakout young stallion, who finished second among all Book 1 sires by gross sales this week.

“We’re absolutely delighted to get [the yearling]," Magnier said. "He’s going to go to Bob Baffert. He was very high on the horse. He’s got a couple of very good American Pharoahs he bought a couple yesterday. We run Monarch of Egypt in a couple weeks, and hopefully [trainer Aidan O'Brien] is pretty confident in him and American Pharoah is going so well right now at the moment."

Blue hen Leslie’s Lady was bred in Kentucky by David E. Hager II and was purchased by James T. Hines Jr. for $27,000 out of the 1997 Keeneland September yearling sale. She won 5 of 28 starts in Hines's colors, highlighted by the 1998 Hoosier Debutante Stakes in Indiana, before beginning her broodmare career for him. Her first two foals, Judy B (by Marquetry) and Louis the Bold (Orientate), were winners.

Hines died in February 2006 and his stock was dispersed, with Leslie’s Lady going to the ring at the 2006 Keeneland November breeding stock sale on behalf of his estate. At the time, the mare had a yearling colt by Harlan’s Holiday who was a pinhook prospect. She had delivered a Yankee Victor filly earlier that year, and was carrying an Orientate filly.

Clarkland took home Leslie’s Lady for a relatively modest $100,000, and her stock immediately skyrocketed. The following March, Spendthrift Farm owner B. Wayne Hughes purchased her Harlan’s Holiday colt for $180,000 in Ocala, Fla. That colt was Into Mischief, and by the end of the year a score in the CashCall Futurity had made him a Grade 1 winner. Into Mischief has developed into a perennial leading juvenile sire for Spendthrift, and this year, with Grade 1 winners Covfefe and Mia Mischief and classic-placed Owendale on the track, he is leading the general sire list.

Following Into Mischief, Leslie’s Lady foaled Victory Party and Daisy Mason, both unraced. Clarkland got the winning One World (Rockport Harbor) and the placed Florida Holiday (Harlan’s Holiday) out of Leslie’s Lady. They sent the mare to Henny Hughes in 2009, and she produced a filly whom Spendthrift snapped up for $180,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale. That filly was Beholder, who earned Eclipse Awards as the outstanding 2-year-old female of 2012, 3-year-old female of 2013, and older female of 2015 and 2016. She bankrolled $6,156,600 while winning 11 Grade 1 stakes, including a trio of Breeders’ Cup races – the 2012 Juvenile Fillies, 2013 Distaff, and, in a dramatic conclusion to her career, the 2016 Distaff by a nose over Songbird. Other career highlights included an 8 1/4-length victory over males in the 2015 Pacific Classic.

In 2011, Leslie’s Lady delivered Curlin to Mischief (Curlin), who was unraced after injuring himself in a stall accident and now stands in California. Two years later, she produced a full sister, Leslie’s Harmony, who sold for $1.1 million as a yearling but never won. In 2014, she delivered an Eskendereya filly, then was bred to Scat Daddy in what turned out to be the stallion’s penultimate book. The resulting foal, Mendelssohn, sold to Coolmore for a sale-topping $3 million at the 2016 Keeneland September sale. The colt was Group 1-placed in England as a juvenile before making his first trans-Atlantic trip to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. He handled a switch to dirt with aplomb as he romped in the Group 2 UAE Derby the following spring, finished second in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, and third in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

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After getting a year off following Mendelssohn’s delivery, Leslie’s Lady delivered a Medaglia d’Oro colt, who failed to meet his reserve at $60,000 at last year's Keeneland sale, before being bred to American Pharoah in his second season at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky. She delivered the filly on April 28, 2018.

“She’s just been special from the time she hit the ground," Fred Mitchell said. "She was born with muscle, she was correct when she was born, and she just has such a mind on her, it’s unreal. When I watch her compared to Beholder and Mendelssohn growing up, it looked like she had Beholder’s sprinting speed in her, because when the other fillies came to her out in the field and were running, she was like ‘I’ll see ya,’ and had another gear. She’s just been special since day one."

Leslie's Lady delivered a filly May 6 by young stallion Not This Time whom the Mitchells have already named Marr Time. She is in foal to Kantharos for what is likely to be her last foal, as she will be 24 when she delivers. Clarkland has plans to retain both those foals.

"The farm has been in the family since 1774 and it’ll be there for the children for the rest of their lives," Fred Mitchell said. "We’re keeping two fillies out of the old mare; [the American Pharoah] is the last one to sell out of her. The fillies will stay there for the kids and grandkids."

In addition to her three Grade 1 winners, Leslie’s Lady is the dam of three daughters who have stakes performers on their own résumés - not only boding well for Beholder, whose first foal is a yearling, but for the potential for the $8.2 million filly to become a part of Pope's broodmare band. Those daughters of Leslie’s Lady are: Daisy Mason, who is the dam of stakes winner Harry’s Holiday and Grade 3-placed Remedy; Victory Party, the dam of Australian Group 2-placed Victory Kingdom; and Judy B, the dam of stakes-placed Sarah Her Highness.

Although Godolphin was outslugged for Leslie's Lady's filly, it did land Book 1's second-highest-priced horse and its top colt, going to $4.1 million for a son of Curlin during Tuesday's session. The colt was consigned by Eaton Sales, as agent for breeder Stonestreet Farm, which co-campaigned two-time Horse of the Year Curlin and maintains an interest in his stud career. A Smart Strike stallion, Curlin stands at Hill 'n' Dale Farm and is enjoying a monster year in the commercial arena. Curlin was represented by the most expensive 2-year-old sold in North America this year, a $3.65 million colt who topped the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale. Proceeding into the yearling market, he then sired three seven-figure colts in a single night at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, with a pair tying for the top price at $1.5 million before coming to Keeneland September with a strong draft, recording five seven-figure lots, and finishing as the book's leading sire by gross, with 27 yearlings sold overall for $18,825,000.

Stonestreet owner Barbara Banke said that her major goal is for Curlin to achieve international success as a sire. To that end, Stonestreet, which has made forays into Australian and New Zealand racing under Banke's leadership, purchased the New Zealand champion sprinter Bounding for about $1.3 million out of the 2016 Magic Millions national broodmare sale, and brought her to the U.S. to be paired with Curlin for her first foal.

"She was tough as nails," Banke said of Bounding. "She tore down the barn door when she came out. She's just gorgeous, it's a great family.

"I've always been trying to raise an internationally acclaimed Curlin. It's one of my goals in life. This horse has every license to do that. I think that Curlin really deserves to be recognized in Europe as well as here."

Godolphin maintains powerful racing stables in both the U.S. and Europe; has made forays into other jurisdictions, including Australia; and has Northern Hemisphere stallion operations in Kentucky, Europe, and Japan, as well as shuttling stallions for the Southern Hemisphere season. Stroud said Sheikh Mohammed will make decisions following this sale as to which of his new purchases would be ticketed for which arm of the operation.

"He was a well-balanced horse, from a good farm, and [Sheikh Mohammed] liked him very much," Stroud said of Bounding's colt after outbidding representatives from the Coolmore group.

Bounding, by leading sire Lonhro, was New Zealand's champion sprinter of 2014, when she won the Group 1 Railway Stakes and Group 3 Mr Tiz Trophy. Those were among her five group stakes victories. She placed in seven group stakes, including runner-up efforts in the Group 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas and Group 1 Diamond Stakes, both in 2013. The mare is out of the Group 3-winning Exceed And Excel mare Believe 'N' Succeed, making her a half-sister to this year's Epsom Derby winner and Irish Derby runner-up Anthony Van Dyck. Bounding's third dam is Grade 1 Alabama and Test Stakes winner November Snow, the pivot point for runners including Grade 1 winner Morning Line.

Godolphin also landed the third-highest overall price of the sale, bidding up to $2.9 million to acquire a War Front colt out of another outstanding racemare, Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can.

"They pushed us all the way," said Stroud, who continually evidenced the strength of the top end of the market. "I don't know who the underbidder was, but it was a lot of money. Hopefully, it will prove well worth it, but it was more than we anticipated, yes."

The colt was consigned by the Airdrie Stud of former Kentucky governor Brereton C. Jones, who raced Believe You Can as a homebred. The Proud Citizen mare won 8 of her 14 starts, highlighted by the 2012 Kentucky Oaks. She also won the Grade 3 Tempted Stakes as a juvenile; the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks and the Silverbulletday Stakes prior to the Oaks; and the Tiffany Lass Stakes and New Orleans Ladies as a 4-year-old, retiring with more than $1.2 million in earnings. The mare's first foal, Believe In Royalty, won last year's Ellis Park Derby and was second by a nose to Lone Sailor in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby.

Airdrie's Bret Jones said that, while the colt's pedigree and physical appearance made him a standout, the way the youngster took the busy sale atmosphere in stride helped make the difference.

"We brought him up here thinking we had a chance to have a really special Tuesday, and we were fortunate everything worked out," Bret Jones said. "So thankful that the horse handled everything as well as he did, because you never know how they're going to handle it. You can have all the class in the universe back at the farm, but this horse handled it like a really special horse. He showed himself as well as one could."

Book 1's other lots sold for more than $2 million were a $2.5 million Tapit colt who is a half-brother to Kentucky Derby winner and champion juvenile Nyquist, purchased by Godolphin; a Medaglia d'Oro colt out of Grade 1 winner Tara's Tango, purchased for $2.15 million by Godolphin; a $2.1 million Pioneerof the Nile half-brother to unbeaten Grade 1 winner Guarana, purchased by bloodstock agent Mike Ryan for e Five Racing; and a $2 million Empire Maker filly who is a half to champion Jaywalk, purchased by agent Shawn Dugan on behalf of Al Shira'aa. Medaglia d'Oro's high-ticket colt was one of four seven-figure yearlings for his sire, helping him to lead by average price among stallions with three or more offspring sold, with 16 averaging $739,063.

Hinkle Farms, which bred and consigned the half-brother to Nyquist, as well as a seven-figure Curlin colt, finished as the leading consignor by average among those with three or more sold, with five yearlings averaging $1.01 million. Perennial leader Taylor Made Sales Agency sold the most yearlings in Book 1, 61, and led consignors by gross, with $23,745,000 in revenues. Four of its lots were seven-figure offerings, led by the Pioneerof the Nile colt.

Following its lone dark day on Thursday, Keeneland September continues with a pair of Book 2 sessions on Friday and Saturday, before continuing on with Books 3 through 6 through Sept. 22. The smaller Book 1 will likely have created a trickle-down effect of quality horses into the upcoming books of the sale – and the competitive nature of the auction’s early days means several high-profile buyers are likely still looking to fill their orders, boding well for the continued marketplace.

“There’s a whole lot of money sitting on the sidelines still that couldn’t get in here in Book 1,” Elliston said.