A share in the elite young sire Not This Time sold for $3 million to lead four seven-figure offerings, which also included a minority interest in Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, at the second edition of the Keeneland Championship Sale on Wednesday evening in California.
The sale took place in the paddock at Del Mar, which will host the Breeders' Cup this Friday and Saturday. Keeneland debuted the Championship Sale last year as a highly curated, invitation-only event to offer elite stock, including ownership percentages not typically offered at public auction, with a particular focus on horses tied to the Breeders' Cup. There were plenty of Breeders' Cup connections on Wednesday evening, with a 25 percent share in Bentornato sold for $1 million and a 25 percent share in fellow Sprint entrant Mullikin going for $700,000.
All offerings were presented remotely, meaning the horses in training for the Breeders’ Cup were not walked over from their barns to a busy paddock environment at an unusual evening hour, a risky proposition during race week. It also means that bloodstock offerings do not have to ship onto sale grounds, which is beneficial to horses' routines. For example, many times, a broodmare prospect such as Thorpedo Anna would be run through a sale ring to dissolve a partnership. The design of the Championship Sale became the perfect spot to offer the interest of an exiting member of her partnership.
In total on Wednesday night, seven of the nine lots on offer sold for a total of $7,675,000, an average of $1,096,429. It was a more focused effort than last year, when half of the 10 offerings following two pre-sale scratches sold for an average of $865,000.
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Keeneland president Shannon Arvin was pleased with the second edition of the sale and acknowledged that its concept has roots in Europe.
"We see them do this with Goffs and Arqana, before the Arc, so it wasn't our idea, but we definitely have seized onto it and love the concept," Arvin said on Keeneland’s live broadcast of the sale. "It's additive, it makes the pie bigger, it gives people an opportunity. I was just talking to the buyers of the Mullikin interest, and they are so excited to have a runner on Saturday. It's fun to see all the excitement and peoples' lives changing and getting to be part of the Breeders' Cup."
Leading the way was the $3 million share in Not This Time, which was purchased by John Sikura’s Hill 'n' Dale Farms. That farm is home to nine stallions, led by Hall of Famer and classic sire Curlin and his rising son, classic sire Good Magic.
“We own elite mares and we breed to elite stallions,” Sikura told Keeneland representatives onsite. “We own interests in most of the significant Kentucky sires where ownership opportunities are available. This is a horse whose record speaks for itself. He’s a prolific young sire who gets dirt and turf and looks like he’s here to stay. Curlin is 21 years old, and we’re diversifying our interests a little bit. We’re involved in Gun Runner, Nyquist and Flightline. Every time there is an opportunity to get more involved in young, prolific stallions, it’s worth looking at. That was a fair price. It was a substantial amount of money, but you have to have a long-term view.”
The 2 percent fractional interest, which was consigned by Taylor Made Farm, where Not This Time stands, also includes the income associated with this share from the 2025 breeding season. Not This Time stood for $175,000 this year and his advertised fee is climbing to $250,000 for 2026, placing him among the most expensive stallions in the country. He is having a career year, sitting second on the general sires list entering the Breeders’ Cup, where he has eight entrants in the main bodies of various races.
"He's just such a blessing to have a horse like that,” said Frank Taylor, director of new business development for Taylor Made. "He's just a horse that is really a great stallion. He's so versatile. He just really has moved up his mares."
Sikura was also involved with another highly scrutinized seven-figure purchase on the night, buying out another interest in reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna for $1 million. The 10-time graded stakes winner was retired earlier this month and will reside at Hill ‘n’ Dale as a broodmare.
Hill ‘n’ Dale became the majority owner of Thorpedo Anna in August, buying out the share owned by Brookdale Racing. Continuing on in partnership was Magdalena Racing of trainer Kenny McPeek’s family, breeder Judy Hicks, and Mark Edwards. While Hill ‘n’ Dale, McPeek, and Hicks intend to remain involved in the champion’s broodmare career, Edwards chose to exit, and his 20 percent interest was offered at Del Mar, with McPeek handling consigning duties.
“I am excited about being involved in her future,” McPeek said. "It would be easy for me to sell now as well, but I've always told my clients over the years on these Grade 1 mares, 'Don't sell this mare! Keep them, sell out of them.' They're the geese that lay the golden eggs.”
Thorpedo Anna won the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar to cap her championship campaign, and the opportunity to participate in this year’s Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar also drew strong interest. Bentornato, the runner-up in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, is the morning-line favorite for this year’s edition for Leon King Stable Corp. and trainer Jose D’Angelo. They offered a 25 percent interest, which was purchased for $1 million by Michael and Jules Iavarone.
“We’re really excited,” Michael Iavarone said. “He’s a beautiful horse – 17 hands and really super fast. I’ve been trying to get a horse with Jose forever, so he knew that I was on this horse.”
Mullikin, a Grade 1 winner last year before finishing third in the Sprint, will start in Saturday’s renewal before retiring to WinStar Farm. The 25 percent interest offered by WinStar on Wednesday presented a chance to participate in both his racing and stallion careers, and Ted and Mary Nixon’s Storyteller Racing, with RB Bloodstock as agent, went to $700,000 for that opportunity.
“We were in Saratoga when Mullikin won his Grade 1 and [trainer Rodolphe Brisset] is our hero,” Ted Nixon said. “We’ve been plodding along, and [Brisset] said ‘Give it a whirl!’ and we said, ‘Why not?’ It's great and so exciting. Mary and I were watching the works this morning and I told her, 'someday, we’re going to have a Breeders’ Cup horse.' But I didn’t think it was going to be this week. We have so much to look forward to and he has so much in front of him. We obviously want him to win now, and we wanted him to win before. But, regardless, he will be a great stud.”
Final entries for the Breeders’ Cup were taken Monday, under the ownership of horses at that time. To guarantee there were no last-minute mishaps, given the nature of the sale, Keeneland officials were expected to have California Horse Racing Board officials present to ensure fractional buyers of horses entered at Del Mar were properly licensed to participate in California racing.
The other lots sold on the night were:
- A stallion share in Life Is Good, who had popular first yearlings this year for WinStar, sold for $1 million to Emerald Edge, as agent.
- A stallion share in multiple Grade 1 winner Mindframe, who retires to Claiborne Farm after running in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, sold for $550,000 to MorPlay Racing.
- A 25 percent interest in current stakes-performing 3-year-old Bracket Buster was purchased by Bowen Thoroughbreds for $425,000.
These first two Championship Sales at Del Mar marked the first sales ventures outside of Kentucky for Keeneland. Keeneland officials indicated they planned to continue this sale as a traveling show at future Breeders’ Cup sites - and racing's major fall weekend will be hosted by Keeneland for the fourth time in 2026. The company will have the option of hosting the sale in its own sale pavilion, or in its re-vamped paddock that debuted this fall.
"I think it’s a sale that will build upon its success every year, and I think it could be the boutique sale of the year," Sikura said. "It’s ahead of the November sale and a precursor to everything that we’re going to be seeing in the next two weeks. Hats off. It’s a great accomplishment and it’s a void in the sales market. This opportunity doesn’t exist to have a curated, concise, tight group of unique offerings, and I think it’s fantastic."
For now, Keeneland now turns its attention to its November breeding stock sale, running from Nov. 4-11, and its horses of racing age sale on Nov. 12. Additional ties to the Breeders’ Cup are always a feature of the fall sales, and this edition of Keeneland November is no exception. Book 1 alone boasts Breeders’ Cup entrants Richi (Filly and Mare Sprint), Sarawak Rim (Distaff), Vahva (Filly and Mare Sprint), and Lifetime Memory, the dam of Classic entrant Antiquarian, among others.
For hip-by-hip results from the Championship Sale, click here.
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