Belle Street commands $550,000 in foal to Bernardini as Keeneland rolls on

Walmac Farm seized the opportunity to acquire a promising young Street Sense mare in foal to the late Bernardini at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale on Saturday, stretching to $550,000 and winding up with the top price of the session.

Belle Street, an unraced 3-year-old half sister to the ill-fated late Grade 2 winner Eight Belles, was one of 15 mares sent through the ring on Saturday by Godolphin, nine of them in foal to Bernardini. The Darley stallion succumbed to laminitis at age 18 in July, making mares carrying his final crop a hot commodity.

"We don't foetal sex any of our mares and everyone wants to know if they're carrying a filly or not, because that's the main reason they're wanting these mares in foal to him," said Michael Banahan, director of farm operations for Godolphin's Jonabell Farm.

"He's been a fantastic stallion for us and turned into an unbelievable broodmare sire, so everyone is looking for trying to get a filly out of these mares. It's a crystal ball looking in there to try and see if they've got a filly or not, but his colts aren't too bad either if you've got one on the racetrack."

Banahan, currently transitioning to the director of bloodstock role for Godolphin USA pending the end-of-year retirement of Jimmy Bell, said Belle Street was buoyed by the strength of the market to her place atop the session standings.

The unraced mare is the last foal out of the Grade 3-winning Dixieland Band mare Away, who produced seven winners from nine starters. While Eight Belles was chief among them, her produce also included Escape Route, stakes-placed in Dubai, and Grade 3-placed All Hands. Black type-winning California stallion Cat Burglar is also featured further down the page.

Godolphin's Michael Banahan brought a successful draft to KeenelandCredit: Keeneland photo

"It's just part of what we do every year, trying to streamline our broodmare band," Banahan said of bringing Belle Street to market.

"She was one that probably just didn't make the cut, but at the same time when she makes that much money, you're thinking, 'Well, maybe we should still have her.' But we have to try to keep the quality as best we can up at the top... she catalogued very well and in foal to Bernardini, people were keen on her."

Godolphin closed out Saturday's action as the third-leading consignor of the day with all 15 mares sold for a $2,170,000 gross and an average of $144,667.

The mares went to 13 different entities as Walmac went back for more, spending $110,000 on the Tapit mare Ballet Slippers, offered in foal to Kantharos.

"Any time we've brought mares to the sale and even if we haven't sold them ourselves, people are very keen to try to get into the Godolphin families, and they've done very well for other people as well," said Banahan.

"We're only going to keep [a certain] amount of mares and try to keep the quality up as much as we can, and that's a matter of culling some mares as well. So some of them are going to turn into very viable commercial mares for other people as well.

"We've had ones that have gone through the sales grounds in the past that have done very, very well for people. No different to Essential Quality's sister last year [Indelible] that made all the money at Fasig-Tipton for Ocala Stud and the O'Farrells [selling for $1.6 million to Nobutaka Tada in 2020].

"We've lots of half sisters that are in the families as well that can turn out and do really well. So there's always great opportunities, I think, buying mares from any of the great owner/breeders, which Godolphin would be part of that... and everyone is drawn to those families, because you can't get into them.

"Maybe it'll skip a generation, but they're usually there and they'll come back again, and that's why they're so popular."

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