Colt works in 9.80 to top Keeneland

A Songandaprayer colt topped the work tab Tuesday at the preview for Keeneland's April 2-year-old auction when he worked an eighth in 9.80 seconds.

The dark bay or brown colt sells as Hip No. 23. He is part of the Wavertree Stables consignment and is out of the Storm Bird mare Beach Bunny. The mare also is the dam of winners Smart Bunny and Banyan Tree.

The day's fastest quarter-mile clocking was the 20.80 seconds posted by Hip No. 65, a bay Forestry colt out of the stakes-placed Mr. Prospector mare Juke. Consigned by Kirkwood Stables, agent, he is a half-brother to Grade 1-placed Haka. Haka was runner-up in the Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes and the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes this season.

The sale will take place at Keeneland's sale pavilion on April 6-7, starting each night at 7 p.m. The catalog features 237 horses, but withdrawals through Tuesday afternoon had winnowed that down to 169.

Among those in the sale is Vallenzeri, who set a Keeneland record buy-back price at last year's September yearling sale when he failed to reach his reserve on a $7.7 million hammer price. An A.P. Indy colt, he is out of three-time champion and 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri. Eddie Woods, agent, consigns the colt as Hip No. 23.