A.P. Indy mare sells for $310,000

A daylong run of six-figure horses indicated that demand at the Keeneland November sale's sixth session was still strong, especially for horses perceived to have above-average quality.

At 5 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, Keeneland was reporting a top price of $310,000 for the broodmare Votsi, who satisfied two major market demands: She is a young mare at age 4 and by the popular sire A.P. Indy. A winner, she is a half-sister to the Group 3 winner Divine Task.

Domino Stud of Lexington purchased Votsi, who was carrying a Cherokee Run foal. The seller was Brookdale Sales, agent.

Votsi was one of 38 horses to sell for $100,000 or more by that hour.

Friday's fifth session ended with 245 horses sold for a total of $22,034,500, a drop of 2 percent from last season's equivalent day of selling, when 263 horses brought gross receipts of $22,575,500. But Friday's average price of $89,937 was up 5 percent from last year's $85,838, and the median was level with last year's at $65,000.

Through Friday, the last day for which complete numbers were available, the first five days had sold 1,121 horses for $271,446,500. That was an increase of 9 percent from the aggregate at the same point in 2006, when 1,136 horses sold for $248,553,500. The cumulative five-day average of $242,147 was up 11 percent from last year, but the median for the same period dropped by 4 percent, from $130,000 in 2006 to $125,000 this year.

The Friday session ended a week of selling that saw a world-record broodmare price of $10.5 million for Swettenham Stud's Playful Act. Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum bought the Sadler's Wells mare from the consignment of the Hill 'n' Dale Sales agency. The mare was one of 39 horses to sell for $1 million or more in the auction's first five days.

The Keeneland November mixed sale, which cataloged a record 5,415 horses this year, continues through Nov. 19. Sessions start daily at 10 a.m.