This is the way Keeneland auctioneer Ryan Mahan remembers it: Thoroughbred owner Jerry Crawford once brought Mahan to Iowa to conduct a greyhound auction. A year later, Crawford was bidding on a yearling at Keeneland.
"He bids $95,000, and somebody else bids $100,000," Mahan said. "He stands up to leave, I say, 'Whoa, sit back down. This ain't no dog.' He turned around and smiled and bid $105,000. And that horse was Paddy O'Prado."
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Quality racing-age stock continued to be in some demand Wednesday at the Keeneland November sale's 10th of 13 sessions in Lexington, contributing to some increases. But the cumulative figures continued to lag behind last year's total, which was helped by Overbrook Farm's pricey dispersal.
Grade 2 winner and $903,000 earner Nownownow, the next-to-last horse through the ring, was the session-topper at $130,000. A 5-year-old Whywhywhy horse, he sold as a racing or stallion prospect to Richard Giacopelli. Highclere Sales, agent, was the consignor.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - As New York Thoroughbred breeders and owners anticipate the arrival of casino-style gaming at Aqueduct, Kentucky's Vinery Stud has announced it will take over management of Empire Stud in Hudson, N.Y., under the name of Vinery New York.
The Kentucky-based stallion operation stood Posse and Repent at Empire for this first time this year for $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Three Chimneys Farm will lower the stud fees for four of its stallions in 2011, including dual classic winner Big Brown. A son of Boundary he will have his fee dropped from $55,000 to $40,000.
Dynaformer will remain at $150,000 again next year. His fee is the only one due Sept. 1. All other Three Chimneys stud fees are due when the foal stands and nurses, and the farm has announced that early payment incentives, multiple-mare packages, and breed-back specials are on offer.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kiss the Kid, a dual Grade 3 winner, has retired to Journeyman Stud in Florida after earning $820,873 on the track.
A 7-year-old Lemon Drop Kid horse, Kiss the Kid will have his fee announced soon, according to the Ocala, Fla., farm.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A day after WinStar Racing’s racehorse consignment fueled gains, Keeneland’s November breeding stock sale returned to more workaday prices at Wednesday’s 10th session.
A trio of weanlings held the top three spots by price at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The most expensive was a $50,000 colt from Tiz Wonderful’s first crop of foals. A February foal, he sold to Cobra Farm from Spendthrift Farm’s consignment (John and Frank Penn, agent). He is a son of the course record-setting Wild Again mare Roaming Wild.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - WinStar Racing's strong draft of racing-age horses provided a batch of six-figure horses that lit up a rainy day at Keeneland's November breeding stock sale and helped the ninth session produce a long-awaited gain in gross and average.
Seven WinStar horses brought $100,000 or more, led by the $380,000 juvenile winner Funny Sunny. Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm purchased the Sharp Humor filly. She won her first start, a Hoosier Park maiden race, by 2 1/4 lengths on Oct. 13 for WinStar and trainer Richard Budge. She is a half-sister to stakes-placed Awesome Launch.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - WinStar Farm is leaving most of its stallions' fees at 2010 levels for the upcoming 2011 breeding season but will offer discounts for early payment.
One sire, champion Speightstown, gets a raise from his 2010 fee of $35,000 to $50,000 in 2011. That fee is the same on both stands and nurses and Nov. 1 payment terms. A Gone West horse, Speightstown is a leading third-crop sire this year with such Grade 1 performers as Haynesfield, Lord Shanakill, and Munnings.
