LEXINGTON, KY – In the end, not even Mother Nature could slow the steady progress of Keeneland’s January Race Horse Sale, which ends Thursday in Lexington on par with the 2022 renewal despite although the last session was delayed briefly. due to tornado warnings in the area.
“We are very pleased with the sales results,” said Tony Lacy, Vice President of Sales at Keeneland. “In the warehouse is very busy. A lot of sellers were very satisfied with the way the horse was received. I think everyone will come out this week feeling very positive. We feel like it’s giving people a lot of confidence as we’re entering breeding season. The demand for quality mares and proven mares is stronger than ever.”
At the end of Thursday, 962 horses were sold for $45,408,300. The median was $47,202 – up 3.18% from a year ago, while the median was $19,000, down 5% from the 2022 record equivalent of $20,000.
“Last year was a record sale,” Lacy said. “So when you’re on par with record selling, that’s incredibly healthy. I think stabilizing some parts of the market is absolutely very encouraging.”
Lacy continued: “Obviously, I think there’s a bit of a correction in the market, there’s a little bit of weakness in the mid to lower region, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think it shows a bit of stability. It’s a slight adjustment or a slight softening in points. And I think that’s very normal, which means we don’t see big changes. With all the economic headwinds around the globe, to see minor adjustments, I think actually in a way is a bit of a consolation. When you look at the global market, there’s every reason why we should have a more challenging environment and we don’t. I think there are a lot of positive things that we have to nurture and be encouraged.”
ancient peace (War front), a chubby 3-year-old who just turned his first year broke his maidenhood in a second start in the final days of 2022, delivering the auction’s highest bid when on sale Tuesday for $650,000 for Travis Boersma’s Boarding Shorts Camp from Indian Creek shipment. Boersma, co-founder of the Dutch Bros. Oregon-based, made headlines in Keeneland in November when it bought shares of Flight route for $4.6 million.
In addition to top selling, Boersma also bought Hope Empire (Empire Maker) for $450,000, as well as a Mary of Bethany (Medaglia d’Oro) for $80,000 and Candy jar (candy ride {Arg}) for $47,000.
“You see a lot of farms like Defined Stud and Boardshorts, Travis Boersma, these are all young businesses that are really starting to establish and grow solidly,” Lacy said. “It’s great to see those newer activities uploaded.”
Matt Dorman’s bought a pair of mares in the January sale, for $425,000 to buy Dream Paragraph (Stormy Atlantic) and $290,000 to buy Saucy Lady T (tone artist).
Ancient Peace was added to the January sale just days before the start of the auction. Also supplementing the sale is Naughty Ack (Afleet Alex), whose son Practical Move (Realistic jokes) won the December GII Los Alamitos Futurity. That mare was sold for $500,000 to Chester and Mary Broman, the fifth-highest bid in the sale.
A Vekoma pony, another addition to the auction, was the highest-priced pony in Wednesday’s session when it sold for $180,000 from the St George’s Sales consignment and Literary (Traveler), at $200,000, was the best seller in Thursday’s final auction after being added following a graded score at Woodbine in December.
“We try to be more flexible and responsive to the needs of our customers, which I think is paramount to our future vision of where we need to go,” Lacy said. “The extra aspect is really helpful for our customers, both buyers and sellers. So I think the more we can build on that and find ways to work and make this environment more user-friendly, I think that’s just going to help people.”
A person dirty by Quality Sugar was the highest-priced short-term covet in the January sale, selling for $450,000 to blood dealer Jacob West, auctioning on behalf of Robert and Lawana Low. The filthy is sold directly behind her bangs, suggest (Pioneerof the Nile), who offered a final bid of $550,000 — the third highest price on sale — from blood supply dealer Kerri Radcliffe.
Over four days of sales, 417 weaners were sold for $18,361,300 and an average of $44,032.
In 2022, 493 one-year-old saplings were sold during the January sale for a total of $18,140,800 and an average of $36,797. The highest priced desire is a pony gunman was sold for $375,000.
Lacy said: “I think the quality short one year old chicks are selling very well. “Buyers find it hard to buy. And I think when you hear that, it means quality is what they’re looking for. You just have to be satisfied with that.
Wentru Tops at the Keeneland finale
Literary (Traveler) (hip 1571), a 5-year-old gelding dog that won the GIII Valedictory S. at Woodbine in December, will join trainer Will Walden’s barn after being sold for a session high of $200,000. Frank Taylor won the bid on Dark Bay, who was added to the auction as part of a Taylor Made Dealership shipment and signed the ticket as Will Walden Racing Stable.
“It was for a group of people I spoke to to buy him,” Taylor said. “I’m trying to find another good horse in Will’s stable. So we gathered a group and bought him. There’s $125,000 in stakes on it [at Turfway] February 18th and hopefully he’ll be ready for it. And then another one in March for $300,000.”
Wentru won his fourth race in a row in Valedictory, all at Woodbine, in the colors of Elliott Logan’s TEC Racing and coach Martin Drexler.
“He’s a great horse and he’s rolling. Hopefully we can help him continue to grow,” Taylor said.
Walden also trains Kate’s Kingdom, which Taylor and partners purchased for $400,000 from the Fasig-Tipton Digital Flash sale. The 5-year-old mare won the December 11 My Charmer S contest.
Taylor said of the mare: “We bought it for $400,000 and we’ve had good luck with it so far. “She won that $125,000 bet a month ago and she got priority over another $125,000 bet on Saturday.”
Kentu
When Mike Repole and Taylor Made Farm teamed up for a Class I winner Idol (make for curly–Marion Ravenwood, of AP Indy) for the stallion mission, the plan was always to support the 6-year-old with co-purchased mares. That plan was put to work this week at Keeneland’s January sale, with Repole/Taylor Made Idol Mare Partners signed a contract to buy 10 mares for a total of $925,000.
“When we bought horses with Mike Repole, one of the things that we discussed was, as a group, to get the best possible support to get. Idol Go early with the right mare,” said Taylor Made stallion nominee manager Travis White. “We did the same thing with the Albaugh family for Not this time and some of the mares we bought ended up being his best horses. We just thought we would use a similar play.”
meadowding purchase of the partnership is Waterfall (Uncle Mo) (hip 66), who was purchased for $170,000. Showtime, sister (Euroear) (hip 637) is a $160,000 purchase and excited (blur) (hip 417) cost the team $140,000.
“We tried to buy the right material that we thought would be suitable Idol,” said White. “Males look early, nimble, and precocious, whether it’s the mare herself or she produced something early. That’s the game plan; to buy quality mares that we think would be a good fit and get him off to a good start. So we may be able to get some good ponies on the grounds that we can put them in line next November or for sale as one year ponies they will be cataloged good enough to be included. into good books and get them off to a good start.”
Idol champion GI Santa Anita H. 2021 and second in GII San Antonio S. 2020 and third in GII San Pasqual S. 2021, but perhaps more importantly for Repole, the stallion is a half-brother with Nest, the likely champion 3-year-old boy born in 2022 that he co-owns with Michael House and Purebred Eclipse Partners.
“We all heard that Idol Repole’s advisor, Eddie Rosen, said. “And that obviously appeals to Mike because of his success with Nest.”
Rosen continued, “We want to do our best to continue supporting the stallion. So we agreed to cooperate on these 10 mares. With the Taylor Made team and from our side, Jacob West and Alex Solis doing physical exams, we exchanged notes with their team and these are the notes we’ve agreed on. We bid on other people, but these are the things that we can get at based on the strategy we’re trying to execute.”
Partnering with major owners is a strategy that has worked for Taylor Made with its successful pony Not this time. According to White, the partnership just makes sense.
“With the stallion business today, I think it is very important to have partners that support stallions,” says White. “They will cross-breed the right mares with stallions and they have advisors who give them good advice. Mike has Jacob West, Eddie Rosen, and Alex Solis. Those people can direct him to the right kind of mares, both physically and pedigree. In the past, we had horses that didn’t have an ownership group that could help support them. I think it is very important in this day and age.”
Idol will top his first season at the stud at this year’s Taylor Made for a $10,000 fee. White was very pleased with the response the stallion had received from the market.
“He would make a good sized book,” he said. “And we’ve done some horse breeding and we have people on board to support the horse for the first three years. Mike will also breed many other mares on his own. And Calvin Nguyen, who owns Idol as a racehorse, partly staying as a stallion and he is raising five or six mares on his own which he acquired in November. Overall, it’s been very good. and we are very pleased with the way things are going.”
In addition to the 10 mares purchased at Keeneland in January, the Taylor Made/Repole partnership could add a few more mares before the breeding season begins.
“We may continue to see if there are any private acquisitions that we can make or at the Fasig-Tipton sale in February,” Rosen said.
White added, “It was a very good experience. All mares will come back here with Taylor Made. We can send one or two to New York to fool.
