LEXINGTON, Ky. – Stakes winner Dana’s Beauty, whose race record and pedigree have both improved in the last month, and Cheval de Guerre, coming off a strong debut effort just one day ago, tied for the top price of $450,000 at the Keeneland April horses of racing age sale on Friday night. Keeneland reported 54 horses sold in the single-session sale, which took place following the closing-day card of its spring race meet, for gross receipts of $3,940,000. At last year’s sale, 67 horses sold for $6,743,000. Both sets of figures include only horses sold through the ring, before any private sales took place. Friday night’s average price was $72,963, a drop of 28 percent compared to $100,642 last year. The median was $38,500, down 45 percent from $70,000. The buyback rate was 27 percent, compared to 21 percent. Unlike sale seasons with similar stock throughout, such as the annual yearling sales or 2-year-old sales, the marketplace for horses of racing age is most strongly influenced by the individuals cataloged from year to year. Such massive shifts in the figures are more a reflection on the individuals cataloged in a specific sale than of strengths or weaknesses in the marketplace. Dana’s Beauty was the first to the $450,000 mark, as she was purchased by John Stewart’s Resolute Farm to carry his colors and eventually to join his star-studded broodmare band. Later in the evening, Stewart added to his racing stable with the purchase of Cheval de Guerre. Dana’s Beauty, a 6-year-old Not This Time mare, was consigned by Elite Sales, as agent for the Magic Oaks Stable of the brother and sister team of Adam Rice and Taylor Ortiz. She has won 8 of 37 starts and earned $428,167 to date in a career that began in 2020, but she hit her best form last month at Turfway Park. After finishing sixth in the Mardi Gras Stakes at trainer Joe Sharp’s winter base at Fair Grounds in February, the barn sent her north, and she won an allowance/optional-claiming race on March 8 on Turfway’s Tapeta. She wheeled back about two weeks later in the Latonia Stakes on March 23. The mare caught a flyer out of the gate and led throughout, easily holding sway by 2 3/4 lengths at the wire over Chop Chop. The form of that race was flattered when Chop Chop won the Grade 3 Bewitch on the closing-day card at Keeneland, just hours prior to the sale. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  “We’ll see if we can get a few more regional stakes out of her and then we’re happy to breed her,” said Stewart’s agent, Gavin O’Connor, adding that the mare will be trained by Mike Maker. Dana’s Beauty is out of the winning City Zip mare City Siren, who is a half-sister to Bo Cruz, winner of the Grade 3 Commonwealth on April 6 at Keeneland and a candidate for the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes on the Kentucky Derby undercard. It is the extended family of 2017 Preakness Stakes winner Cloud Computing and of Grade 1 winner Halo America. “Her pedigree works really well in our system,” O'Connor said. “John himself loved the horse.” Keeneland has found great success with dynamic catalogs for its horses of racing age sales in November and April, reviewing and accepting supplemental entries even in the final countdown to sales. The success of this approach was seen yet again as Cheval de Guerre, a 2-year-old colt who was a close second in his debut about 31 hours earlier at Keeneland, was supplemented to the sale and sold for $450,000 to Stewart as the final horse through the ring. The Caravaggio colt represented a major windfall for trainer Eddie Kenneally, who purchased him for $22,000 as a Keeneland September yearling and sent him out Thursday in partnership with Richard Seale. Cheval de Guerre set a sharp early pace and was caught in the shadow of the wire to finish second by a neck in Thursday’s second race, a 5 1/2-furlong turf maiden. “He did everything right but was a little unlucky not to have won,” said Kenneally, who handled consigning duties as well. “He ran a good race. We had some good people on him and we’re delighted to get it done. We’ve had a good little run with this horse in a short period of time.” Plans for Cheval de Guerre were in progress immediately post-sale, with Stewart saying the immediate underbidder had approached him to form a partnership, and that both operations are keen to target Royal Ascot in June. “We were specifically looking for some Ascot horses, and we picked up a couple broodmare prospects that can continue to race,” Stewart said. “Actually, the person that bid against us is going in on him 50-50, so we just got a deal with them to take the horse to Ascot. It works out for both parties.” For hip-by-hip results, click here. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.