Pair of juveniles among top sellers at Keeneland January

LEXINGTON, Ky. – With the 2-year-old sale season still months away, the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale is not the conventional venue for newly turned juveniles. But a pair of well-bred fillies from this class, Princesse Lele and Justly, were among the day’s top prices as Keeneland January opened with gains Tuesday.

Both fillies were purchased by Goncalo Torrealba’s Three Chimneys Farm in a partnership buyout. The fillies were co-bred by Three Chimneys and Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm, which announced last fall that they would be dispersing their shared holdings. Hill ‘n’ Dale is handling the consignment.

“It just happened this way,” Hill ‘n’ Dale’s John Sikura said of selling juveniles in January. “It is the end of a dispersal. We had two 2-year-olds left, and they are in this sale. It was not pre-arranged – it was the next venue. We had not come this far down the road [planning the dispersal], so we were not prepared to sell them in September. [Their dams] sold in November, and this is the last logical step.”

Both fillies were shipped to Kentucky for the sale from the Ocala, Fla., area, where they have been undergoing early training. Princesse Lele, who Three Chimneys had to stretch to a session-leading $750,000 to retain, has been in training with Ian Brennan. Justly, who tied for the session’s fourth-highest price at $410,000, has been training with Eddie Woods. Three Chimneys did not immediately reveal plans for their continued training or future racetrack plans.

Princesse Lele is by Quality Road out of the Grade 1-winning Malibu Moon mare Carina Mia, who was campaigned by Three Chimneys. The mare sold for $2.6 million to Shadai Farm at November’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale, which featured the first phase of this dispersal. Princesse Lele is the second foal out of the mare; her first foal, a 3-year-old Curlin colt named Plus Maximus, has not yet started.

Carina Mia is out of Miss Simpatia, a full sister to Argentinian champion and U.S. Grade 1 winner Miss Linda. That makes Carina Mia a half-sister to Argentine Oaks winner Miss Match, also a Grade 1 winner in the United States.

Justly is from the first crop of Triple Crown winner Justify. The filly is out of Eclipse Award champion juvenile filly Take Charge Brandi, who went home to Three Chimneys after it bought out Hill ‘n’ Dale for $1.15 million at the Fasig-Tipton November sale.

Take Charge Brandi, a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Omaha Beach, and a granddaughter of Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady, updated the catalog page this month when her son Courvoisier won the Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct.

Sikura said he was the underbidder to his former partners on Justly.

“She is a lovely filly,” Sikura said. “I tried hard to buy her. It’s a lovely, active pedigree and there is a good current 3-year-old, everything is positive.”

The well-bred juvenile fillies helped fuel solid figures in the opening session of Keeneland January, as the sale began its four-day run a day later than originally scheduled due to logistical complications caused by a record snowfall last Thursday in Lexington. Keeneland reported 249 horses sold through the ring on Tuesday, the first of two Book 1 sessions, for gross receipts of $18,015,200. The opening session of the 2021 edition of the January sale grossed $12,095,400 from 206 horses sold through the ring.

Tuesday’s average price finished at $72,350, up 23 percent compared to $58,716 in the opening session last year. The median jumped 11 percent, to $39,000 from $35,000.

The session’s buyback rate was 25 percent, compared to 32 percent.

Gun Runner season raises funds for tornado relief

The Keeneland January sale’s opening session concluded with the live auction of a 2022 season to Horse of the Year and record-setting freshman sire Gun Runner, donated by co-owners Three Chimneys and Ron Winchell to benefit victims of the tornadoes that ravaged numerous western Kentucky towns in December.

The season raised $130,000 with its purchase by Bill Layni – reaching beyond Gun Runner’s advertised fee of $125,000 for this season. He is reported to be booked full off his breakout freshman season, in which he sired six stakes winners, including Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and likely champion Echo Zulu. As the purchase was for charity, the season does not factor into the overall sale results, and Keeneland will not take a commission on the offering.

“This was a wonderful gesture by Ron Winchell and Three Chimneys, and Keeneland was happy to have been able to support their effort,” Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. “It’s great to see the horse industry get behind the western Kentucky tornado relief effort, which is very important to our state.”