Hailing from the immediate family of Kentucky Oaks (G1) heroine Always a Runner, a colt (Hip 1275) by North America's leading sire Not This Time topped the opening day of Book 3 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Sept. 19 on a $1.5 million bid from RTM Racing.
RTM Racing's Mahmud Mouni, who has remained active during all five sessions of the sale as one of the leading buyers, said he had to go higher than he originally planned for the son of Not This Time. He noted that being nearly halfway through the sale, there will not be many more opportunities to find a horse of his caliber.
"He's gorgeous, nice pedigree," Mouni said. "He's been on our list from Day 1. This horse could be in Book 1 or Book 2."
Mouni said the immediate plans for the colt are to head to Randy Miles' farm near Ocala, Fla., where he will go through the early training stages. Mouni said a trainer will be determined down the road.
The colt was bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys Farm, and is the first foal out of the Gun Runner mare Ana's Gun. Ana's Gun showed promise in limited racing action during her career, posting two seconds and then a victory in her third and final start for trainer Chad Brown and owner Three Chimneys Farm.
Ana's Gun is a half sister to Structor, a Brown-trained son of Palace Malice who won the 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) for owners Jeff Drown and Don Rachel. Another half sibling to the dam, Always Carina, was graded-placed for Brown and Three Chimneys and later produced Always a Runner, winner of this year's Kentucky Oaks for Brown and co-owners Doug Scharbauer and Three Chimneys.
Hip 1275 was consigned by Gainesway, who led the consignors for the fifth session, selling 39 horses for a total of $12,685,000.
Carlisle Lands $1.4m Not This Time Filly
Taylor Made Stallions' marquee sire Not This Time was also responsible for the top-priced filly of the day. After a competitive bidding war with bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, it was Lauren Carlisle who prevailed with the winning bid of $1.4 million for Hip 1523.
"She was a standout. Not This Time, obviously, another grade 1 winner today (with Bodacious Bay in the Cotillion Stakes). He speaks for himself," Carlisle said.
"We were waiting for her all day. We knew it was not going to be easy. I didn't know it was going to be that hard, but that's kind of the sale right now. We tried to buy the Life Is Good colt (Hip 1412 sold for $1.25 million); we were the underbidders on that, so that hurt."
Carlisle said Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse will train the filly.
"He told me before he left today, 'Buy that horse,' and I said 'OK, I'm going to try my best!' Beating Bob (Baffert) and Donato is not easy to do, so we gave it our best. I'm lucky that we got her."
The filly was bred in Kentucky by Jumping Jack Racing and is out of the Paddy O'Prado mare O'Maggi, who is a half sister to grade 1 winner Dream Tree (Uncle Mo). She was consigned by Eaton Sales, agent.
Carlisle said she was not surprised by the strong results of the fifth session.
"It's a trickle-down effect, and when everyone is getting outbid in books 1 and 2, then they've got to fill their orders," she said. "I wasn't expecting today to be easy. Tomorrow probably not either. But the market's just so strong.
"People are so in the bridle to buy, and that's a good thing for our industry. Is it frustrating when you're bidding? Absolutely. I've had every emotion you can think of here. Blood, sweat, tears. It's not easy. But it's good for the health of our industry, so it's encouraging for that."
Looking ahead to Book 4, Carlisle expects the trend to continue.
"I still have orders to fill. I anticipate it being strong. I think the entire sale will be strong, top to bottom."
Carlisle was the leading buyer of Book 3's opening day, securing five horses for $2,835,000.
Day 5 Statistics
At the end of the day of trade Saturday, 276 horses had changed hands for $62,870,000, including private sales. Gross sales fell from $65,327,000 at last year's corresponding session, though 21 fewer horses were traded. The average price was up 3.6% to $227,790 and the median saw a 5.7% increase to $185,000. Seventy-five horses failed to meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 21.4%.
Four horses sold for $1 million or more, bringing the total number of seven-figure yearlings to 69 for the sale. Gainesway, the leading consignor Saturday, sold two of the four.
Brian Graves, general manager of Gainesway, said the strength of the market is a ripple effect from the previous books.
"People look for quality horses, regardless of the book, and when they find them, they're willing to go hard for them," Graves said. "There's a line, and if you cross it, you're good.
"If there was any stickiness in this auction, it may have been in Book 2. And I hope that this will just trickle into books 4 and 5 as the people that are buying horses to trade and pinhook, they can get a lot of work done there."
