Pioneerof the Nile gets first seven-figure auction horse

Pioneerof the Nile, the sire of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, saw a surge in commercial popularity last year and has continued to ride the wave, getting the first seven-figure auction horse of his career Wednesday night.

The WinStar Farm resident was represented by a colt who sold for $1 million to M.V. Magnier of Coolmore at the Fasig-Tipton Florida sale of 2-year-olds in training. That international outfit stands 2015 Horse of the Year American Pharoah, who emerged from Pioneerof the Nile’s second crop, at its Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

The colt’s price tag made him Pioneerof the Nile’s most expensive foal sold at public auction, surpassing the $840,000 that Linda Rice, acting as agent, paid for Championofthenile at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale of 2-year-olds in training, mere days after American Pharoah’s Preakness romp.

"He was as nice a colt that was in the sale, so I wasn't shocked that he brought that much," said bloodstock agent Jamie McCalmont, who signed the ticket for Magnier.

Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds consigned the colt as agent.

Pioneerof the Nile recorded career-high averages in last year’s yearling market, with 55 sold for an average of $163,182, and juvenile market, with 19 sold for an average of $203,000. The stallion is standing the 2016 season for an advertised fee of $125,000, more than double his 2015 fee.