Fri, 11/09/2007 - 00:00

Holy Bull mare tops Adena sale

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A pair of six-figure broodmares led the 11th annual Adena Springs broodmare auction Thursday night at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's Newtown Paddocks in Lexington.

Agent Eugenio Colombo paid the top price of $130,000 for Silent Bull, a 6-year-old Holy Bull mare offered in foal to Awesome Again. Leonard Riggio's My MeadowView operation purchased the night's other six-figure mare, 4-year-old Prom Dancer, in foal to Macho Uno.

Thu, 11/08/2007 - 00:00

Fleet Indian sells in private deal

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Champion Fleet Indian, last seen leaving the Keeneland November auction as a $3.9 million buy-back Monday, has a new home after Frank and Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Farm in Georgetown, Ky., struck a private deal with Fleet Indian's owner Paul Saylor.

The Lyons beat out two other interested parties to make the purchase Monday night for a price that consigning agent Mark Taylor of Taylor Made wouldn't disclose, but he said it was near the mare's undisclosed auction reserve.

Thu, 11/08/2007 - 00:00

Exclusive Quality to start at $4,000

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Exclusive Quality, a record-setting stakes winner by Elusive Quality, will begin his stud career in 2008 at Brent and Crystal Fernung's Journeyman Stud in Ocala, Fla. The 4-year-old colt will stand for $4,000. Exclusive Quality, who is out of the Glitterman mare First Glimmer, won the Spectacular Bid Stakes in 2006. The same year, he also took a seven-furlong Gulfstream allowance in track-record time of 1:21.11. Exclusive Quality will stand as the property of a syndicate.
Thu, 11/08/2007 - 00:00

$850K mare early Thursday topper

LEXINGTON, Ky. - An $850,000 broodmare set off some early fireworks Thursday at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale. Countess Gold, the dam of Group 1-placed and Group 2 winner Strike the Deal, sold in foal to Eurosilver.

The 7-year-old mare went to Frankfort Park Farm, a three-person partnership managed by Irishman Brendan Gallagher. Frankfort Park Farm operates two farms, one in Co. Kildare, Ireland, and the other at the former Old Frankfort Stud near Lexington.

Thu, 11/08/2007 - 00:00

Keeneland day three still strong

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The two-week Keeneland November breeding stock sale ended its third session Wednesday night with mixed results, but the three-day cumulative returns were up from last year's at the same point.

Topped by the $800,000 racing or broodmare prospect Stylish Wildcat, who sold late in the day, the session grossed $42,638,000 for 258 horses. That total was down 5 percent from last year's third day, which sold 274 horses. Median also dropped 13 percent to $130,000. But the average price climbed 1 percent to $165,264.

Wed, 11/07/2007 - 00:00

Keeneland session wraps with $800K topper

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A new player from Europe, a Frenchman named Florent Couturier, added sparkle to the final minutes of the Keeneland November sale on Wednesday night when he bid a session-topping $800,000 for the racing or broodmare prospect Stylish Wildcat. A 4-year-old Forest Wildcat filly, Stylish Wildcat eventually will join Couturier's broodmare band at Haras de Bois Carrouges near Normandy, France. But first she will complete her racing career in the United States, Couturier said.

"I will leave her in training here to try to improve her racing record," he said.

Wed, 11/07/2007 - 00:00

Riggio buying high and low at sales

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Barnes & Noble chairman Leonard Riggio has been on a buying spree at both the Keeneland November sale and the earlier Fasig-Tipton November auction held last Sunday. At Fasig-Tipton, he purchased 11 horses in the name of his My MeadowView Farm for a combined $2,345,000. He was even more aggressive at Keeneland, buying five mares for $9,705,000 at the Monday and Tuesday sessions. Riggio's Keeneland purchases, as of Wednesday, were led by $4.2 million Island Sand, Tuesday's session topper, who sold in foal to A.P.
Wed, 11/07/2007 - 00:00

Youbet posts slim profit

Youbet.com, the online horse race broadcasting and wagering company, had net income of $67,000 in the third quarter of 2007 on revenue of $30.5 million, according to financial documents Youbet released Wednesday.

The third-quarter profit compares with a loss of $440,000 in the third quarter last year on revenue of $29.6 million. The results include revenue and expenses from Youbet.com's U.S.-based account-wagering operation, its offshore rebate shop, International Racing Group, and its bet-processing company, United Tote.

Wed, 11/07/2007 - 00:00

Churchill quarterly profit dips

Churchill Downs Inc., the owner of four large racetracks in the United States, had net income of $818,000 in the third quarter of 2007, a sharp decline from the company's third-quarter profit of $8.7 million in 2006, according to financial documents released by the company Thursday.

Wed, 11/07/2007 - 00:00

Any Given Saturday retired to stud

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum's Darley Stud has decided to retire Haskell and Brooklyn Handicap winner Any Given Saturday rather than continue his racing career, the organization announced Wednesday.

He will stand for $40,000 at Darley's Lexington farm, Darley at Jonabell, alongside his rivals Street Sense and Hard Spun.