Breeders' Cup: Princess Noor rare juvenile to justify seven-figure sale price
Regardless of the result of Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, Princess Noor already stands alone.
Princess Noor was the most expensive horse of the turbulent 2020 juvenile sales season, bringing $1.35 million at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training from Saudi businessman Amr Zedan, who competes as Zedan Racing. She is the only seven-figure horse of her crop to make it to the Breeders’ Cup.
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There were 31 foals of 2018 who brought seven-figure price tags as weanlings, yearlings of 2019, or juveniles of 2020 at public auction in North America. Illustrating the trying process just to get a horse to the races, let alone to succeed at the top level, 21 of those horses are unraced, including America’s Joy, who brought $8.2 million at the Keeneland September yearling sale.
Excepting Princess Noor – who is unbeaten in three starts, including the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante and Grade 2 Chandelier – the others in the pricey group have combined to win four races.
Princess Noor, who was bred in Kentucky by International Equities Holdings, is from the first crop of Grade 3-winning juvenile Not This Time and is out of the Grade 3-winning Wilko mare Sheza Smoke Show. Princess Noor was purchased for $135,000 by bloodstock agent Mark Marino at the 2019 Keeneland September yearling sale. She was then consigned to June’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s March sale of 2-year-olds in training by Top Line Sales, as agent, and proceeded to set herself up for a wildly successful pinhook by working a quarter-mile in 20 1/5 seconds on the Ocala Training Center’s Safetrack surface during the under-tack preview, the fastest time at that distance.
“The tracks are fast for workouts at the sales,” said private clocker and bloodstock agent Gary Young, who signed the OBS ticket for Zedan “But you could tell before she even got to the wire, she was going really fast, then they hung up 20 and a fifth for a quarter of a mile. Even at a 2-year-old in training sale on a fast synthetic surface, you could tell she was rolling. First thing you wondered when you saw the time was had the board malfunctioned or had she really gone that fast. . . . She galloped out another furlong really nice and didn’t lose her rhythm.”
Princess Noor would be the most expensive horse to ever win the Juvenile Fillies, eclipsing Cash Run, who was a $1.2 million purchase by Padua Stables at the 1998 Keeneland July yearling sale. The most expensive winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile is 2002 winner Vindication, also a Padua purchase, who sold for $2.15 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale. Two other Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winners lit up the board with seven-figure price tags. Unbridled’s Song brought $1.4 million at the 1995 Barretts March sale of 2-year-olds in training. However, the sale was later turned back when buyer Hiroshi Fujita’s own vetting of the horse raised questions, and Ernie Paragallo offered to buy the colt back, eventually racing him. Good Magic was a $1 million sale from breeder Stonestreet Farm to e Five Thoroughbreds at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale. Stonestreet then rejoined e Five to race the colt in partnership.
Although Princess Noor is the only member of the expected Juvenile Fillies cast to sell for seven figures, Thoughtfully flirted with that ceiling, selling for $950,000 to Heider Family Stables at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. Scott Heider was in attendance at that sale to represent the family as they sold a Curlin colt out of Grade 1 winner Taris for $950,000 that is now stakes winner King Fury. He spent the same amount to unexpectedly acquire Thoughtfully on the advice of bloodstock agent Donato Lanni and trainer Steve Asmussen.