Keeneland September: Tapit filly goes for $1 million

by Joe Nevills and Nicole Russo

A filly by leading sire Tapit sold for $1 million to Robert Krembil's Ontario-based Chiefswood Stable as the Keeneland September yearling sale continued on Tuesday.

The filly, out of the graded stakes winning Medaglia d’Oro mare Super Espresso, was consigned by Stone Farm, as agent. She was the second horse of Tuesday’s session, and the fourth horse of the sale overall, to fetch seven figures.

"I loved the female family, and she's good looking physically," Krembil said. "We'll take her back to the farm, break her, and she'll be racing probably in the States somewhere. Eventually, she'll be a broodmare."

The filly is the first foal out of Super Espresso, who scored her biggest victory in the Grade 3 Allaire DuPont Distaff Stakes. The mare was also multiple Grade 1 placed, finishing second in the Ruffian Invitational Handicap and third in the Ogden Phipps Handicap.

Super Espresso is a half sister to Irish Group 2 winner King of Rome, who was also Group 1 placed in Germany.

Super Espresso’s second dam is the prolific broodmare Courtly Dee, dam of champion and stakes producer Althea. It is the family of Grade 1 winner and prominent sire Arch. Additional Grade/Group 1 winners from the family include Acoma, Balletto, Ali Oop, Ketoh , Aldiza, Azzaam, Green Desert, and, more recently, Bayern, winner of this year’s Haskell Invitational.

"To me, she's like a pearl beyond price," said Arthur Hancock III of Stone Farm. "She's a lovely filly. The mare has a Tapit filly at the farm and is in foal to Tapit, and they bought into a real future here. I really like this filly. So did everybody else."