LEXINGTON, Ky. – The $1.3 million mare Anywho led the Keeneland November breeding stock sale’s Wednesday session, as Book 2 of the auction opened with soaring gains from last year. The Keeneland November sale, which began Tuesday with the single-session Book 1 portion that showed double-digit gains, runs over eight sessions through Nov. 11. Wednesday was the first of two Book 2 sessions. Keeneland reported 235 horses sold in this session for gross receipts of $47,362,000. In last year's corresponding Book 2 opener, 201 horses brought $29,440,000. Both sets of figures represent only horses sold through the ring and do not account for private sales that will later be included in Keeneland's official records. “I think that the take-home for me was we sold 235 horses through the ring, but to 180 different buyers,” Keeneland senior director of sales operations Cormac Breathnach said. “And that depth of buyer base here that's really competing against one another is the reason that so many horses are just sailing past reserves and there's real, real live activity.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. While the major gain in gross was understandable with more horses sold, the average and median also spiked. The average for the session, showing the competition that Breathnach referenced, was $201,540, up 38 percent from $146,468 in the 2024 Book 2 opener. The median jumped 33 percent to $160,000 from $120,000. The buyback rate for the session also improved to 22 percent from 32 percent. “It was outstanding coming off yesterday,” Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. “It was incredibly positive across all metrics, and I think we improved the position today. The mares were very strong. Anybody looking for a quality mare really had to step up and pay. There was a real vibrance about the marketplace. It was one that was relentless, and it was consistent.” Anywho, who is carrying her first foal by red-hot sire Not This Time, was purchased in the name of Raging Torrent Syndicate. Paul Curran, a representative for Ace Stud, a stallion brand affiliated with the international Yulong Investments, said earlier this week that the operation is purchasing mares at the major Kentucky sales this week to support its new stallions in the U.S., Raging Torrent and Carl Spackler at Lane’s End. Anywho, by Bolt d’Oro, was second in the Grade 3 Las Cinegas Stakes and third in the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap. She is out of the stakes-placed Zensational mare Flashy and Fancy, who is also the dam of Grade 3-placed Wipe the Slate. Anywho was consigned by Grovendale Sales as agent. “Well, it's just really cool,” Grovendale’s James Keogh said. “It's always lovely to sell a horse for a million dollars. And, you know, she was a lovely, lovely mare, and she came from a tremendous female family, and she was just impossible to fault. You have hopes and dreams, but they'd be hopes and dreams. Really, it was a tremendous price, and we're just very, very grateful to everyone who made it happen.” The top weanlings of the session were both by first-crop sires, as a $550,000 filly by Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish was purchased by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds, and a $550,000 colt by champion Elite Power was purchased by Glen Hill Farm. They continued strong activity at the top of the weanling marketplace. Overall, 12 weanlings have now sold for $500,000 or more through the first two sessions of this sale, tripling the four to meet that mark across the entire 2024 November auction. 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.