Azeri to sell at Keeneland January

Azeri was a force to be reckoned with during her racing career (Benoit Photo) Keeneland will begin its 2009 sale season on Monday when the first horse enters the ring for the January Horses of All Ages Sale. The six-day auction, which runs Monday through Saturday, will feature the sale of 2002 Horse of the Year AZERI (Jade Hunter). Offered in foal to 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper, the 11-year-old mare is one of only six females ever to win Horse of the Year honors and the only female to earn three Eclipse Awards as champion older mare (2002, 2003 and 2004). John Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency will consign the chestnut mare for the Allen E. Paulson Living Trust. She’s listed as Hip No. 301. Also cataloged is multiple Grade 1 winner ISLAND FASHION (Petionville). Consigned as Hip 90 by Pope McLean (Crestwood Farm), as agent for Everest Stable (Reduction Phase 1), the nine-year-old mare is in foal to Storm Cat. “The January Sale offers exciting opportunities for buyers, whatever their interest,” said Tom Thornbury, Keeneland’s associate director of sales. “This year, besides stars like Azeri and Island Fashion, we’ve cataloged more than 500 horses of racing age, a wide variety of yearlings by hot sires, and numerous stallion prospects. The January Sale features quality stock to fit any price range.”

Keeneland has cataloged a total of 2,379 horses for the January Sale,
comprising 986 broodmares, 834 yearlings, 543 horses of racing age and 16
stallions.

Broodmares in-foal to such prominent stallions as Afleet Alex, Any Given Saturday,
Aragorn (Ire), Arch, Awesome Again, Bernardini, Bernstein, Bluegrass Cat,
Distorted Humor, Dynaformer, Elusive Quality, Forestry, Ghostzapper, Giant’s
Causeway, Gone West, Hard Spun, Henny Hughes, Lion Heart, Malibu Moon, Medaglia
d’Oro, Mineshaft, Mr. Greeley, Rock Hard Ten, Rockport Harbor, Seeking the Gold,
Smart Strike, Speightstown, Street Sense, Tapit and Tiznow, among others, will
be offered.

Also cataloged in January are horses of racing age representing such sires as Afleet Alex, Aragorn (Ire), Arch, Awesome Again,
Bernstein, Bluegrass Cat, Candy Ride (Arg), Cherokee Run, El Corredor, Elusive
Quality, Empire Maker, First Samurai, Forestry, Ghostzapper, Giant’s Causeway,
Gone West, Harlan’s Holiday, Henny Hughes, Lemon Drop Kid, Lion Heart, Malibu
Moon, Medaglia d’Oro, Mineshaft, More Than Ready, Proud Citizen, Rock Hard Ten,
Rockport Harbor, Sky Mesa, Smart Strike, Smarty Jones, Street Cry (Ire), Tapit
and Tiznow, among others.

Sessions begin daily at 10 a.m. EST. The entire sale will be streamed live at
Keeneland.com. A PDF version of the catalog is available on Keeneland’s website.