Consigned by Lane’s End as agent for the dispersal of Evans’ Spring Hill
Christmas Kid is out of multiple Grade 3 heroine Christmas Gift (Green
“She will most likely go home to Galileo (champion sire who stands at
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“(The price) was probably a little more than I was expecting. But she was so
good looking, and when a mare gets a good first foal like that you’ve got to pay
attention.”
The $4.2 million marks the highest price paid for a broodmare at Keeneland
since Playful Act sold for $10.5 million at the 2007 November Sale. Also, by
selling 14 horses for one million dollars or more on Monday, Keeneland surpassed
the total of eight million-dollar horses sold during last year’s entire November
Sale.
Benjamin Leon’s Besilu Stables, the day’s leading buyer, bought six of the
Evans offerings, topped by
current Grade 2 romper QUIET GIANT (Giant’s Causeway) for $3 million. The
five-time stakes winner was last seen notching a career high in the Grade 2
Molly Pitcher on September 3 at Monmouth, boosting her bankroll to $405,389 from
her 12-7-2-0 line.
Sporting Hip 203, the four-year-old Quiet Giant is a half-sister to 2005
Horse of the Year and ill-fated stallion Saint Liam (Saint Ballado), sire of
presumptive champion older female Havre de Grace from his only crop.
The March 7-foaled filly, Hip 201, set a record as the most expensive
Aside from Saint Liam, Quiet Giant
Dance Quietly, Hip 92, captured the January 8 Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct.
The best seller not affiliated with Evans was BLIND LUCK (Pollard’s Vision).
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Puhich indicated that Blind Luck would be retired from racing, but breeding
plans have yet to be determined.
“She’s had a rough campaign and she ran her heart out, so we just want to let
her be a horse for a little bit,” Puhich said. “Mark loves the horse. He wanted
to make sure she would have a good home.”
Offered by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, Blind Luck was a late addition to
the catalog as Hip 210A, in keeping with her trademark late-running style. The
four-year-old filly excelled at the highest levels of the game for three
seasons, compiling a 22-12-7-2 record and amassing a bankroll worth $3,279,520.
Blind Luck is the first registered foal from the winning Best of Luck mare
The Evans distaffers dominated the next several spots on the leaderboard.
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Buster’s Ready is yet another from the powerhouse tribe of Saint Liam. She is
the first registered foal from the unraced Honour and Glory mare Beatem Buster,
a half-sister to Saint Liam.
“This was really the mare (the Wertheimers) wanted in the sale,” said Pierre
Yves Bureau, the brothers’ bloodstock manager. “She was a very talented filly.
She’s very nice looking, from a strong family. We don’t have the opportunity to
buy this kind of mare every year, but because of the dispersal of Mr. Evans, we
had a lot of choices. This one was the big number one.”
Bureau said that Buster’s Ready would likely be retired from racing and
remain in the United States to be bred.
Just a few hips later, Grade 1 diva CAT MOVES (Tale of the Cat) also fetched
$2.4 million when knocked down to Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs as Hip 69. The
five-year-old mare, carrying her first foal to Malibu Moon on a March 2 cover,
comes from an entirely different Evans family.
Cat Moves, a half-sister to stakes winner Dance Hall Days (Seeking Daylight),
is out of the unraced Capote mare Dance Move. Her second dam is Grade 1 heroine
Dance Teacher (Smarten). Cat Moves’ biggest win came in the Grade 1 Prioress in
2009, and she also placed third in the Grade 1 Test before signing off with a
resume of 6-3-0-2, $315,350.
Touring the ring as Hip 41, Weekend Strike is in foal to Quality Road on a
Leon bought Grade 1 victress MALIBU PRAYER (Malibu Moon) for $2 million from
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The five-year-old Malibu Prayer, winner of last year’s Grade 1 Ruffian
Invitational as well as the 2009 Grade 2 Chilukki, is carrying her first foal on
a March 10 cover to Smart Strike. Hip 161, who also placed in such events as the
Mother Goose and Delaware Oaks, sports a 14-6-4-2, $618,026, record.
Grand Prayer, Hip 125, is in foal to Medaglia d’Oro on a May 14 cover. The
10-year-old mare is a half-sister to Grade 2 queen Tap Dance (Pleasant Tap) and
to the stakes-placed Lyrical Ghost (Silver Ghost), the dam of Spanish Horse of
the Year Silverside (Pleasantly Perfect). This is the family of champion Silent
Screen (Prince John).
Three Chimneys Sales, agent, consigned the multiple Grade 1-winning
millionaire LIFE AT TEN (Malibu Moon) as Hip 152, who went to Stronach’s Adena
Springs for $1.95 million. The six-year-old mare peaked in 2010, capturing such
high-profile prizes as the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, the Grade 1 Beldame
Invitational and the Delaware ‘Cap, but will likely be best remembered for the
controversy surrounding her lifeless last in the 2010 Ladies’ Classic. Life at
Ten was a shadow of her former self this campaign, and begins her broodmare
career with a scorecard of 22-8-6-4, $1,277,515.
Out of the winning Rahy mare Rahrahsixboombah, Life at Ten counts as her
fourth dam the multiple stakes-winning producer Foggy Note (The Axe II), the dam
of influential sire Relaunch (In Reality). Hot young sire Tapit (Pulpit) is
another of her descendants.
Stronach described the filly as “one of a kind.”
Returning to the Evans dispersal, Summerwind Farm secured DARK SKY (Storm
Dark Sky is a full sister to Nebraska Tornado, heroine of the Group 1 French
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Stonestreet Stables and George Bolton went to $1 million to snare a weanling
filly by Smart Strike out of Evans’ multiple Grade 1 star Raging Fever (Storm
Cat). The February 11 foal appeared late in the day as Hip 204.
Raging Fever, a 10-time stakes winner, earned her signature victories in the
Grade 1 Frizette, the Grade 1 Matron and the Ogden Phipps, and retired with
$1,458,198 to her credit from a 26-11-7-3 line. She is a full sister to Grade 3
winner Stormin Fever and multiple Grade 3-placed stakes scorer Roaring Fever,
both sires. Their dam, the Grade 3-placed Pennant Fever (Seattle Slew), comes
from the family of champion Sacahuista (Raja Baba).
On Monday, Keeneland sold 147 horses for $63,276,500, up 62.4 percent over
2010 when 183 horses brought $38,970,000. Average price rose 102.1 percent from
$212,951 to $430,452. The median of $230,000 increased 64.3 percent from last
year’s $140,000. The RNA rate decreased 12.5 percent.
A total of 63 horses were sold during the opener as part of the Evans
dispersal, for gross sales of $40,684,500, for an average of $645,786 and a
median of $320,000.
“Clearly, the Evans dispersal had a tremendous impact on this session,”
Keeneland Vice President of Sales Walt Robertson said. “Ned was a smart, savvy,
competitive horseman and he was one of the leading breeders in the world. It was
a fitting tribute to his vision and the hard work of his team that some of the
most respected and expert horsemen in the world vied for an opportunity to own a
piece of his life’s work.
“We still have 10 more days to go, and a lot can happen in 10 days, but this
was a terrific start to the sale,” he said.
Evans, who died December 31, operated Spring Hill Farm in Virginia for more
than 40 years, breeding more than 100 stakes winners, including Saint Liam and
multiple Grade 1 winner Quality Road. Proceeds from the sale of these horses,
which were sold without reserve, will go to the Edward P. Evans Charitable
Foundation.
“I have always thought that Mr. Evans put together an exceptional group of
horses,” said Chris Baker, farm manager for Spring Hill. “I’m very pleased to
see that the Thoroughbred public feels the same way.”
The sale continues through November 17, with sessions beginning daily at 10
a.m. (EST). For the complete catalog, results, and live video of the sale, log
on to keeneland.com.