Mare brings $170K but Keeneland session again down

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A single six-figure broodmare was the highlight Monday at day eight of Keeneland's 13-day breeding stock auction as the sale continued to post losses compared with last year's results.

Grade 2-placed stakes-winner Get Ready Bertie brought a $170,000 bid from Vin Cox Bloodstock as the day's price leader. The Taylor Made Sales agency consigned Get Ready Bertie, a 6-year-old More Than Ready mare who was cataloged in foal to Majestic Warrior. She is a daughter of Grade 2 winner De Bertie, by De Niro, and is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Whirlie Bertie. She was runner-up in the 2006 Demoiselle and third in the Grade 3 Silverbulletday the following season, when she secured her only stakes win in the Tiffany Lass Stakes. She earned $222,602.

Get Ready Bertie has no racing-age foals yet.

The session sold 260 horses for a total of $3,795,800, a 23-percent decline from last season's gross for 241 horses. The average price plummeted 28 percent, from $20,343 to $14,599, but median fared far better, with an 8-percent decline.

The cumulative gross for 1,924 horses was down 9 percent to $136,145,600 as compared to last year's aggregate for 1,786 horses. The $70,762 eight-day average was down 16 percent, and the median fell 23 percent.

The sale was to continue through Nov. 20. Sessions begin daily at 10 a.m. in Keeneland's sale pavilion.