Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings produced three seven-figure yearlings that sold during Day 2 and second session of Book 1 during the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her rich breeding operation not only sold the sale topper—a $5 million Curlin colt—but also the day's second-highest price, a $1.75 million Into Mischief colt.
Summerfield consigned Hip 345 for Stonestreet, which bred the colt out of the Malibu Moon daughter Catch the Moon, making the colt a half brother to grade 1 winner Girvin and graded stakes winners Midnight Bourbon, Cocked and Loaded , and Pirate's Punch.
Monique Delk signed the ticket on behalf of Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stable, for which she is in charge of racehorse development.
"He's a beautiful colt with a fantastic walk. We fell in love with him right away. We look for the classic stallion prospect horses," Delk said. "Into Mischiefs can be a little different across the board and this one had the beautiful balance and had the right size. He's a very classic-looking horse. Elegant walk. The whole package for us."
Francis Vanlangendonck with Summerfield said Hip 345 was definitely one of the better colts on the grounds Tuesday.
"He's well bred. Stonestreet does a fantastic job and people seek out these horses," he said. "(Hip 345) was a model show horse. He's all class. He looks like an athlete. He looks like a basketball player who is 6-foot tall and can rebound."
Summerfield sold three yearlings for Stonestreet during Book 1 for a total of $3,325,000. During the first session, the consignor sold a $1.05 million filly (Hip 175) by Quality Road out of grade 1 winner Rachel's Valentina, a daughter of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra.
Hip 345 was the only yearling Delk bought during the first two days of the September sale. She said the buying has been particularly tough.
"We had nice horses on the list and they brought good money. You have to expect to pay those kinds of prices for those sorts of horses," she said. "We are all looking for classic winners. There are going to be days when we get what we want and there are days we are going to get outrun. We're excited to be here and love doing this. We'll keep shopping. There are some we will stretch for. We're very disciplined in our buying. We set strict parameters for what we accept physically and the price. It is a long sale and there are plenty of horses and we will get our orders filled."
