Paris Lights sells for $3.1 million to top Book 1 at Keeneland November sale

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Grade 1 winner Paris Lights brought the hammer down at $3.1 million late in the Keeneland November breeding stock sale’s Book 1 session Wednesday, bringing the curtain down on a solid day that closed with double-digit gains in average and median.

Keeneland reported 118 horses sold in the single-session Book 1, which opened the 10-day run of the November sale, for gross receipts of $50,634,000. In last year's Book 1 session, 128 horses brought $49,775,000. Paris Lights and $2.3 million Pink Sands led seven fillies and mares traded for seven figures. In last year’s Book 1 session, nine horses met that threshold – but only eight of those were sold through the ring, as one was a private sale after the bidding failed to meet her reserve, and none surpassed the $2 million mark.

Fueled by that, Book 1's average price was $429,102, jumping 10 percent from $388,867 last year. The median – which many consider a more important indicator of market health because it is less influenced by outlying horses the way the average can be – rose 18 percent, to $330,000 from $280,000. The buyback rate remained relatively steady, ticking up to 29 percent from 28 percent.

Tony Lacy, Keeneland’s vice president of sales, was encouraged by those median and buyback figures.

“I think it was really encouraging – the money is spread across the board a lot more,” Lacy said. “And people were protecting stock [with reserves]. They weren’t going to give it away. So again, a sign of strength.

“I think, overall, it was a very honest, fair, and encouraging session as we move forward,” Lacy continued.

Spendthrift Farm outlasted other outfits in a spirited bidding duel to secure Grade 1 winner Paris Lights, the third-to-last horse through the ring as a supplemental entry to the sale. Spendthrrift general manager Ned Toffey said that the royally-bred filly, who was offered as a racing or broodmare prospect, will be bred to Spendthrift’s two-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief.

“Very classic American racehorse,” Toffey said. “Big, scopey filly. I think she will fit Into Mischief really well. We are happy to have her.”

Paris Lights, a 4-year-old Curlin filly, was bred by WinStar Farm and was raced by its WinStar Stablemates partnership. She was consigned to Keeneland by Elite Sales, as agent.

The Stablemates program was born as a virtual program that provided an inside look into WinStar’s operations with the aim of involving and educating fans. It evolved into a racing syndicate that provided an entry point into Thoroughbred ownership without an exorbitant buy-in fee or ongoing expenses.

Paris Lights was an early and top-level success for the syndicate. The filly won 3 of 4 outings last year, including the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga. Away from the races for more than eight months following that victory, she returned to win the Grade 3 Distaff Handicap in April at Aqueduct. She placed in two other stakes this year, at Churchill Downs and Colonial Downs.

"For her to be our first Grade 1-winning filly in such a short time period is very special in and of itself,” said Mary Cage, director of WinStar Stablemates. “And for her to then be able to come to Keeneland November and sell for such a high price tag really speaks to the quality of fillies and mares that we're able to offer to these people to be part of the ownership experience.

"Partnerships and syndicates are so important to getting people into the sport for a fraction of the cost, a fraction of the risk,” Cage continued. “And to be able to do it at this level, I think is a second-to-none sort of experience that they're gonna remember forever."

Paris Lights sports a stellar pedigree for a broodmare prospect. She is out of Paris Bikini, a winning half-sister, bred on the same A.P. Indy-line cross, as America, a Grade 3 winner and also multiple Grade 1-placed. America is the dam of the Curlin colt First Captain, a seven-figure yearling who won this year's Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes.

Paris Bikini's granddam is Butterfly Blue, dam of Group 3-placed multiple stakes producer Sapphire Pendant, Group 3-placed Asama Blue and The Blue Brilliant, and stakes-placed King George River. Butterfly Blue, in turn, is out of 1982 Kentucky Oaks winner Blush With Pride, the dam of graded/group stakes winners Better Than Honour, Smolensk, and Turnberry Isle, Group 1-placed Maryinsky, and stakes-placed Fire Thunder.

Her daughters have gone on to be outstanding producers, led by 2007 Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour, dam of Kentucky Oaks and Belmont Stakes winner and Eclipse Award champion Rags to Riches, as well as Belmont winner Jazil. Better Than Honour also produced Breeders' Cup Marathon winner Man of Iron and Grade 2 winner Casino Drive, and her daughters and granddaughters are responsible for Grade 1 winner Streaming and graded stakes winners Cezanne and Greatest Honour, among others.

Also from this family, Maryinsky is the dam of European champion Peeping Fawn, now the dam of stakes winners September and Willow in her own right; as well as Group 1 winner Thewayyouare. Smolensk produced Grade 3 winner Can the Man and stakes winner Martha's Moon.

One generation back, this family's outstanding production continues, as Blush With Pride is out of 1982 Broodmare of the Year Best In Show, also the dam of champion Malinowski and group stakes winners Gielgud and Monroe. Best In Show and her descendants also are responsible for producing champion and prominent sire El Gran Senor; leading sire Redoute's Choice; champions Aldebaran, Almond Eye, Close Hatches, Try My Best, Xaar; Breeders' Cup Mile winners Spinning World and Domedriver; Irish 2000 Guineas winner Siskin; and additional Grade/Group 1 winners Al Maher, Aviance, Bahamian Pirate, Chief Contender, Chimes of Freedom, Denon, Effinex, Fusaichi Pandora, Good Journey, He's No Pie Eater, Hurricane Sky, Manhattan Rain, Platinum Scissors, Rockemperor, Saddex, Senure, Umatilla, and Yagli.

The price was “very much what we thought we would have to pay,” Toffey said. “She comes from as good a family as we have in the stud book. We are always trying to add select mares to our broodmare band.”

Multiple graded stakes winner Pink Sands sold for $2.3 million to Masahiro Miki of Japan. The 6-year-old Tapit mare, who sold carrying her first foal, by Into Mischief, was consigned by Gainesway, which co-owned her with Andrew Rosen.

“She exceeded what we thought we'd get for her, coming here, by a bit," Gainesway general manager Brian Graves said. "Obviously, everybody's really happy. She was really quality. We felt we had a chance to be one of the best mares in Book 1 with her, and we're just really thrilled with that.”

Pink Sands won the 2019 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park. She broke through with her first graded stakes score in the Grade 3 Rampart Stakes in December 2019 at Gulfstream Park, and, the following month, also captured the Grade 2 Inside Information Stakes. The young mare is out of Her Smile, winner of the Grade 1 Prioress Stakes and also third in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint and the Acorn Stakes.

Her Smile is a half-sister to stakes winner Moon River and to Doolittle, the dam of Grade 3-placed stakes winner Tricks to Doo. The latter is by Into Mischief, making him bred on a similar pattern as the foal Pink Sands is carrying.

The highest-priced weanling of Book 1 was an $800,000 filly by unbeaten two-time European Horse of the Year and prominent sire Frankel. She was purchased by Matt Dorman's Determined Stud, with trainer Phil Schoenthal as agent, from the consignment of Four Star Sales, as agent.

"Obviously, a Frankel," Dorman said. "It's a great page, great family, and she's got great conformation, so she ticked all the boxes. She'll be in the racing program and hopefully improve her page and go from there. She's long-term for us."

The filly is out of the English Channel mare Lady Ederle, making her a half-sister to Arizona and Nay Lady Nay, both Grade/Group 2 winners who also are Grade/Group 1-placed. Lady Ederlie is out of Italian Oaks winner Bright Generation, and this is the immediate family of European champion Dabirsim.

The Keeneland November sale continues with its Book 2 portion on Thursday and Friday. That is followed by a two-session Book 3, a two-session Book 4, and a three-session Book 5. The sale's final Book 5 session, on Friday, Nov. 19, is highlighted by a selection of horses of racing age, a market segment that has steadily grown in scope and popularity at Keeneland November.

“We heard a lot of people say it was tough to buy,” Keeneland president and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “They didn’t get to fill their orders today. So we expect they’ll be looking to do that in the next nine sessions.”

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