A stallion share in undefeated Horse of the Year Flightline sold for $2.5 million, and Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint entrant Pandora’s Gift sold for $850,000 to highlight the elite offerings at the inaugural Keeneland Championship sale, held Wednesday evening in the paddock at Del Mar, the track that on Friday and Saturday hosts the Breeders’ Cup.
In curating an elite catalog for this pilot Breeders’ Cup tie-in sale, for which both sellers and buyers participated by invitation, Keeneland focused on racing and breeding stock with ties to this year's Breeders' Cup, as well as other extremely high-end offerings. In the end, the company curated a catalog of a dozen offerings, of which 10 were ultimately presented for bidding after early outs. Keeneland president Shannon Arvin said she felt the catalog was “the right size” to fit with the vision of having “a party with a sale, not a sale with a party.”
Keeneland has leaned into building atmosphere at its Kentucky sales, with live music, passed cocktails, and other attractions in the sale pavilion. The tone of the Championship sale, part of the Breeders’ Cup’s official event calendar, was another step in that direction.
“What we have said from the beginning is, we want to be adding to the market, and we want to have a really fun party,” Arvin said. “This week is about celebration.”
Five of the 10 lots presented – with all horses offered remotely due to logistics and safety – ultimately met their reserves, selling for a gross of $4,325,000 – an average of $865,000 that highlighted the high-end nature of the offerings. The fact that this was the elite end of the marketplace also factored in to the high buyback rate, as sellers at the top of the game more often have the means to choose not to sell if the response is not quite as hoped.
“Any time you start something new, it’s always a learning curve and about gaining acceptance from the public, learning what it is exactly,” said Tony Lacy, Keeneland’s vice president of sales. “We’re doing something different, selling fractional interests in horses, selling horses holding entries. There are a lot of hoops to jump through. But the feedback we’ve gotten has been incredibly positive.”
The stallion interest in Flightline – who won three Grade 1 races, including the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic, by a combined 33 1/2 lengths in his championship season – representing 2.5 percent of the horse, was consigned by Lane’s End, as agent, where the horse stands. Keeneland said that the share was offered by an original owner of the horse, who still retains multiple shares.
Flightline raced for the partnership of Hronis Racing; Siena Farm, which will disperse its breeding stock in November; his breeder, Summer Wind Equine; West Point Thoroughbreds; and the Lane’s End-affiliated Woodford Racing.
In the end, one of his original owners deepened their investment by purchasing the interest, with Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind making the winning bid.
Pandora’s Gift will have new ownership when she contests Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, as she was purchased for $850,000 by Leslie and Larry Sarf’s LSU Stables to rank as the second-highest price of the evening. LSU Stables will now have two colorbearers Saturday as it already brought in Turf entrant Far Bridge.
Pandora’s Gift, a 3-year-old daughter of Churchill, was owned and trained by Stuart Williams. In two starts in the United States, the filly was second in the Grade 2 Presque Isle Masters on Tapeta, and third in the Grade 2 Franklin Stakes on the Keeneland turf.
Another Breeders’ Cup entrant had a new owner join the team as a 25 percent interest in Gold Phoenix was purchased for $125,000 by Agave Racing Stables. That outfit joins Little Red Feather Racing – with which it has campaigned horses in partnership with previously – Sterling Stables, and Marsha Naify.
Gold Phoenix, a 6-year-old gelding, will be making his third straight appearance in the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Saturday.
Final entries for the Breeders’ Cup were taken Monday, under the ownership of horses at that time. Since LSU Stables already had a horse entered on Breeders’ Cup Saturday, and Agave Racing regularly runs in California, both should be properly prepared and credentialed to participate on the program. However, to guarantee there were no last-minute mishaps, given the nature of the sale, Keeneland officials had California Horse Racing Board officials present on the night to ensure that full or fractional buyers of horses entered at Del Mar were properly licensed to participate in California racing.
“I think it’s gone absolutely better than expected,” Lacy said of adding that step to the sale process. “We got great support from the CHRB, from the Breeders’ Cup, and all parties involved. There were no hurdles that couldn’t be overcome.”
A stallion share in Cogburn, the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint favorite, was purchased by Richard and Connie Snyder of Cove Springs Farm for $475,000.
Rounding out the five lots purchased Wednesday night was graded stakes winner Reincarnate, sold for $375,000 to the K.O.I.D. purchasing moniker for Korea. Lacy said buyers from throughout Asia, as well as North America, Europe, the Middle East, and South America were active on the night, bidding in person, by phone, or online.
This was the first sale venture outside of Kentucky for Keeneland, which hosted the Breeders’ Cup in 2015, 2020, and 2022. Keeneland officials indicated they planned to continue this sale as a traveling show at future Breeders’ Cup sites. Del Mar will host the event again next year.
Lacy gave praise to the Keeneland team for the logistics involved in setting up the sale without the usual infrastructure in place. The paddock party and sale podium began to be installed about noon Wednesday, after morning training and paddock schooling was complete. The sale concluded shortly after 7 p.m. Pacific, and the paddock needed to be cleared out by 2 a.m.
Keeneland now turns its attention to its November breeding stock sale, running from Nov. 5-13, and its horses of racing age sale on Nov. 14. Ties to the Breeders’ Cup are always also a feature of the fall sales, and this edition of Keeneland November is no exception. Book 1 alone boasts Breeders’ Cup entrants Anisette (Filly and Mare Turf) and Vahva (Filly and Mare Sprint), both Grade 1 winners this year, as well as Violent Wave, the dam of Sprint entrant Raging Torrent.
For hip by hip results from the Championship sale, click here.
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