Tapit filly goes for $1.3M at Keeneland April

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Tapit filly sold for $1.3 million to lead the day as action returned to the Keeneland sales pavilion with the auction company's re-imagined April sale of 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age on Tuesday.

A total of 67 horses changed hands on Tuesday for gross receipts of $6,083,500. The average price finished at $90,799, while the median checked in at $40,000. The buyback rate finished at 29 percent overall. Because this sale was last held in 2014, and then included only 2-year-olds, without the horses of racing age section that was added this year, there are no comparable year-to-year figures.

With the lone seven-figure horse leading the day, the average price for only the unraced 2-year-olds in training during Wednesday's auction was $147,283. That figure compared well with other major-market sales this season, and indicating that the current buying and selling climate for horses perceived as quality individuals remains strong, while the prevailing trend is still toward selectivity. The two-day Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s March sale of 2-year-olds in training, which was led with a pair of seven-figure horses, posted an average price of $143,762. Later in the month, the boutique, single-session Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale recorded a record average of $493,475, thanks to six seven-figure lots. The buyback rates for those two sales were 23 percent and 41 percent, respectively. Keeneland’s buyback rate for 2-year-olds finished at 39 percent.

"I thought the trade today was very good," Keeneland's director of sales Geoffrey Russell said. "I thought the racehorses were well received, and then I think it continued on very well into the 2-year-old sale.

"We're in a rebuilding process for this sale, so some people are willing to rebuild with us, and some people wanted to take a wait-and-see [approach]," Russell added. "We hope they saw, and will participate next year."

The single-session sale began with the group of horses of racing age before moving into the more traditional group of 2-year-olds. Russell said that that format was devised to give buyers time to take a closer look at juveniles after they breezed during the under-tack preview show on Monday, with the sale activity taking place during dark days following the Keeneland spring meet’s opening weekend.

"I think the format actually works very well with the horses of racing age going first," Russell said. "I think that's a good idea, it kind of helps set the stage and get it going. Especially because the vet work on a 2-year-old takes place after the gallop show, so we want to give them as much time as possible."

Bloodstock agent Chad Schumer purchased the $1.3-million Tapit filly, who is out of Grade 1 winner My Conquestadory, on behalf of Prince Sultan bin Mishal al Saud. The Saudi Arabian prince is building a U.S. stable, and was active at Florida's juvenile sales last month.

This filly, a full sister to Kentucky Derby hopeful Bourbon War, further enhanced her appeal when she breezed a furlong in 10 seconds on a muddy, sealed track during the breeze show, tying for the fastest time at that distance.

"Tremendous physical and I thought she had a superb breeze," Schumer said. "Her gallop-out was really strong. Obviously, the full brother makes a big difference. She's by one of the leading sires of all time. It's a massive pedigree. [The price is] not an unexpected number."

The filly was a successful pinhook despite a high early price tag, as she was purchased for $775,000 by Baccari Bloodstock as a weanling at the 2017 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. She was consigned at Keeneland April by Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds, as agent.

The Artie Schiller mare My Conquestadory won the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes as a juvenile and finished third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks the following year. Her Tapit colt Bourbon War finished second in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes and fourth in the Florida Derby. This is also the family of Grade 1-winning millionaire Kelly Kip.

The horses of racing age section of the sale was led by the Grade 2-placed filly Sweet Diane, who sold for $500,000 to Ina Brown Bond's River Bend Farm in Kentucky. Overall, horses during that portion of the sale posted an average price of $61,273.

Sweet Diane, who was third in the Fair Grounds Oaks last month, currently sits 16th in the point standings Churchill Downs uses to determine the field for the Kentucky Oaks, which is limited to 14 starters. One points race, the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn, remains this weekend, but several fillies already ahead of Sweet Diane on the points list are not certain to move on to the Oaks. Eddie Kenneally, who will take over the training of the filly for River Bend, said he and his team will get to know Sweet Diane before making any specific race plans.

"We're just gonna play it by ear, get to know her a little bit here, and then make a decision about whether we want to go that route," Kenneally said.

"She's proven against some quality fillies going long on the dirt already this year, and she looks like a filly that may continue to improve," Kenneally said. "We're delighted to have her."

Sweet Diane, from the first crop of Will Take Charge, will be the second horse currently in training for River Bend, which focuses on commercial breeding.

"We're basically a broodmare farm and we're gonna branch out and go in a new direction and try and do some racing," said farm manager Larry Weeden, who signed the ticket. "She's got a nice pedigree, good conformation, so at the end, if we end up with a broodmare, that won't be a problem."

Sweet Diane is out of the stakes-placed Tiznow mare Inside Passage, making her a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Take the Ribbon, stakes winners Bright Magic, Flash Forward, Flash Mash, Glinda the Good, and Hot War, and stakes-placed House of Magic and Oysters. Glinda the Good is the dam of champion and Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic.

For hip-by-hip results from Keeneland April, click here.