On paper, there aren’t many similarities between the young Rushing Fall, who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf going a route on the lawn, and Roy H, an older gelding who won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on dirt.
The same goes for New York-bred Bar of Gold, who got her dark nose down on the line to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in a major upset, and the flashy Great Britain-born, French-based Talismanic, who prevailed in the marathon Breeders’ Cup Turf.
The pinnacle of the late Edward P. Evans’s experience with the Breeders’ Cup came when Saint Liam, a horse he bred, rallied four wide down the Belmont stretch to win the 2005 Classic.
The Virginia horseman died in December 2010, and his Spring Hill Farm’s roster was dispersed the following year to a record-setting reception at the Keeneland September and November sales, but this year’s Breeders’ Cup results were still covered with his fingerprints.
History has shown that a Breeders’ Cup winner sometimes can be bought cheaply, but this year’s event proved that it often pays to pay up.
The average sale price for this year’s seven Breeders’ Cup winners to change hands at public auction was $674,375, up significantly from last year’s event, when 10 winners averaged $296,632. The spike in average price was largely thanks to a pair of seven-figure purchases out of the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale.
When Butch Savin and trainer Jimmy Croll paid a sale-topping $270,000 for Mr. Prospector at the 1971 Keeneland July sale of selected yearlings, they were buying - or at least hoped they were buying- a talented racehorse, and were focused on winning major stakes races with little thought to a future stud career. Another colt born the same year as Mr. Prospector, however, set in motion seismic changes in the Thoroughbred marketplace perhaps best exemplified by the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last Saturday, Mendelssohn.
Even the humblest horse at a reputable Thoroughbred auction is afforded the dignity of a black and white sticker on its hip to designate its lot number.
Dignity was one of many things on short supply for Meetmeontime in the summer of 2009, when the Marion County Humane Society found her among 33 neglected horses on the Ocala, Fla. farm of Lope Gonzalez. A year and a half after going through the auction ring as Hip 718, the mare was identified by the Humane Society with a sickly green “29” painted on her neck.
Brush off dusty tomes of Thoroughbred racing history, or flip to a current chapter, and you’ll find Runnymede Farm on nearly every page.
The Thoroughbred nursery is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year – making it the oldest continuously operated Thoroughbred farm in Kentucky, according to the historic preservation group Daughters of the American Revolution. Runnymede is looking to celebrate in style Saturday at the Breeders’ Cup with two horses it bred and raised – multiple Grade 1 winner Lady Eli, and Collected, who defeated Arrogate in the Pacific Classic.
A roundup of our bloodstock-based coverage of the 2017 Breeders' Cup at Del Mar, including in-depth features on breeders and owners, analysis of stallions and trends, and more. For related news throughout Breeders' Cup weekend - including November sale catalog updates from the races - follow DRF Breeding Live.
Breeders and owners
A&A Ranch in Anthony, N.M., revealed its advertised fees for the 2018 breeding season, remaining largely unchanged from the previous year.
The only stallion on the roster standing for a different public price is Diabolical, who was set at $4,000 after being advertised for a private fee in 2017. The son of Artax was New Mexico’s leading sire of 2015 and finished second in 2014 and 2016.
Diabolical’s top runners of 2017 include stakes winners Diabolical Dame, Fast Gator, My Mirage, and Pink Cadillac.
Poplar Creek Horse Center in Bethel, Ohio, has released the fees for its 2018 stallion roster, led once again by Tidal Volume, whose fee is unchanged at $3,000.
The stakes-winning son of Tapit was Ohio’s most active stallion of the past breeding season, with 54 reported mares bred. His first foals are yearlings of 2017.
