Sending a yearling through the sales ring—any sales ring—comes with its share of anxiety for all interested parties. And at the end of the day, while achieving a good price may be what brings a horse immediate recognition, what remains the most important factor for most breeders and consignors is that the person signing the ticket will keep the horse’s best interest at heart.
With the opening books of this year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale concluded, consignor Bridie Harrison can breathe a sigh of relief ahead of Book 4, knowing that all seven of her horses offered in earlier books landed in good hands for equally good returns.
“They’ve all gone to very good homes and that’s what we want,” said Bridie. “We want them to go to good people who will give them the best homes. Steve Young bought one and Christophe Clement bought one of our horses privately. Others were bought by Jonathan Thomas, Tom Ryan, Donato Lanni … you can’t ask for better people.”
Harrison, who operates Hurricane Place Farm in Cynthiana, Kentucky, has only one client on her consignment roster. For more than three decades, the veteran horsewoman has helped raise and sell the horses bred and owned by Peter Blum, who was named the 2020 national breeder of the year by the Thoroughbred Owner and Breeder Association.
The vast majority of yearlings Blum sells are the product of female families he's nurtured for multiple generations. The pedigrees and the history of top-level performance that accompany the majority of Blum’s horses to the sales help drive traffic to Harrison’s barn each year. With so much to offer the partnership rarely ends a sale on a sour note.
“He likes to stick with him own families,” said Harrison. “He likes to keep a lot of fillies but a lot of fillies that he has sold, he’s bought them back again. He lets other people race them and then if they come back up in the sale again he buys them back. There are a lot of big winners out of his families. His horses are well-raised and well taken care of and they have great temperaments. Peter always wants what is best for his horses. He just really, really loves his horses.”
Total receipts for the six horses that went through the ring during the opening books under Harrison’s banner were $2.285 million. While the seventh (Hip 139) was later sold privately, each of the horses purchased in the ring achieved six figures. The sales were topped by Hip 8, a colt by Lane’s End stallion Quality Road out of Inspired (by Unbridled’s Song), who was purchased by bloodstock agent Donato Lanni for $650,000 on behalf of SF Bloodstock, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stable.
On Sept. 21, Harrison will send her final five horses through the ring for Blum. Among the standouts is Hip 2698, a colt by Lane’s End’s Union Rags who is extra unique as he is the only colt from the handful of yearlings offered. Named Punctuality, Hip 298 is of the Tapit mare Etiquette. His second dam is the Pleasant Tap mare Archduchess, who produced Ohio Derby (G3) winner and Florida Derby (G1) second Pleasant Prince. His third dam is My Marchesa, who produced graded stakes winners Rookie Sensation and Mark One and appears as the granddam of Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Holy Helena and graded stakes winner and sire Holy Boss .
“I really like the colt (Hip 2698),” said Harrison. “He’s by Union Rags and he’s just a very nice, good walking horse. I think he’s going to be a very nice horse going forward and a very good mover. Hopefully he will really stand out.”
First through the ring will be Dashing (Hip 2464), a gray or roan filly by Ashford’s Uncle Mo out of Prancing (Tapit) and from the family of grade 1 winner Voodoo Dancer. Joining her on offer is Hip 2493, a dark bay filly named Racing by Lane’s End stallion Candy Ride out of Running Wild (Indian Charlie).
Hip 2542 is a bay filly named Evening Breeze by Spendthrift Farm’s Into Mischief out of Sundown, another Tapit mare, and is from the family of Kentucky Derby (G1) runner-up Invisible Ink. Rounding out the fillies is Hip 2676, a chestnut daughter of Candy Ride named Love Story out of Diamond Ring (Malibu Moon). The filly’s third dam, Lady of Choice, was a half sister to grade 1 winner Well Chosen and appears as the granddam of grade 1 winner Leofric .
While Book 4 will kick off the latter half of the sales' two-week span, Harrison is hopeful that the “right hands” will remain on the grounds and be competitive in their bidding.
“I think we’re going to see a lot of lookers,” said Harrison. “I’m very encouraged and I think the sale will hold up because it’s been so strong, a lot of people (bidders) aren’t getting their horses bought. I hope that it stays strong.
“This sale has exceeded our expectations. We’re delighted we’ve sold everything so far. And even in the (Fasig-Tipton) July sale, The Saratoga Sale, and now this sale—we have sold everything that we have put through the ring and you really can’t ask for any better than that and we’ve been very happy with the prices."
