Bourbon War's full-sister leads the way at revived Keeneland April breeze-up

A swift daughter of leading sire Tapit who is a full sister to Kentucky Derby contender Bourbon War lived up to expectations on Tuesday when she sold for $1,300,000 to top the Keeneland April Sale.

The price was the fifth-highest in the history of the Keeneland two-year-old sale, which began in 1993, was discontinued in 2014, and was revived for the first time in five years this week with the addition of a new horses of racing age component.

From 169 catalogued, Keeneland reported 67 horses sold for gross receipts of $6,083,500, for an average price of $90,799 and a $40,000 median. The RNA rate was 29.5 per cent as 28 horses went unsold.

With a small catalogue and several withdrawals for the return of the sale to an already crowded spring two-year-old sale calendar, the one-day auction met Keeneland's goals, said Geoffrey Russell, Keeneland's director of sales operations.

"I thought trade today was very good," Russell said. "The racehorses sold very well and (momentum) continued on with the two-year-olds. The Tapit filly obviously was on everybody's list and it just shows the money was here for those kind of horses.

Geoffrey Russell: pleased with the trade at Keeneland

"We are in a rebuilding process with this sale and some people were willing to rebuild with us and some people were willing to wait and see," Russell continued. "We hope they saw and will participate next year."

Russell said two-year-old sale consignors are pressed at this time of the year, with juvenile sales in Florida in March and later in April and in Maryland in May, so Keeneland had to find a fitting place on the calendar for the sale. The sale was held on Tuesday following Keeneland's opening weekend, which included the Grade 1 Central Bank Ashland Stakes and Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes.

View sales results here

"April is a very full month, and I think having it close to the Ashland, Blue Grass, and other races, helps very well here," he said. "For two-year-old consignors, we have to be cognisant of the fact they have another sale they have to prepare for, so we have to dove-tail into what works for them. Looking at the calendar, I think the first week of April works very well."

Consigned as lot 130 by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds, the sale topper was purchased by Chad Schumer, agent for Saudi Arabia's HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud, who was also a leading buyer at this year's Ocala Breeders' Sales March Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale.

Chris Baccari bought the filly for $775,000 from Bedouin Bloodstock at the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Bourbon War - who finished second in the Fountain of Youth Stakes and fourth in the Florida Derby since the catalogue was published - is the first foal out of the Artie Schiller mare My Conquestadory, winner of the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes. The Tapit filly was bred in Kentucky by SF Bloodstock.

During the April 8 preview show, held over a muddy track at Keeneland, the filly was one of three juveniles to breeze an eighth-mile in the fastest time of :10.

"(She is a) tremendous physical (specimen)," Schumer said. "I thought she had a superb breeze, her gallop out was really strong. Obviously the full brother (Bourbon War) makes a big difference. She's by one of the leading sires of all time. It's a massive pedigree. It's not an unexpected number. I don't think she requires that much studying, she's a pretty obvious choice. She's the goods."

Schumer, who said the filly is the most expensive horse he has purchased, had estimated she would fetch a price between $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 and he jumped in at the $1,250,000 million level.

"I think once you get above a certain number it's kind of numbing," Schumer said. "I don't know how to describe it. I haven't done it before so it hasn't really sunk in yet. Hopefully she'll be a Grade 1 horse, at that sort of money she almost has to be, so it's a lot of pressure. She's a beautiful filly, we couldn't be happier with her.

"Anytime you're looking at a Tapit with that kind of pedigree, you have to expect to pay that sort of money."

Dean DeRenzo said he and Randy Hartley had brought well-bred, well-conformed fillies to the boutique auction.

"They got a really nice horse for $1,300,000," DeRenzo said of the Tapit filly. "We shipped in about 10 days ago. The weather is a little cooler than Florida, and (horses) thrive when they come here. She is a May foal, and we have taken our time with her. We wanted to target a sale that is a little later in the year. We hope that Keeneland continues having this sale because we love the timing and we love to sell here.

"(Because the sale is during the race meet), everybody is here—owners, trainers, bloodstock agents, and farm owners who see a filly like that and think she will have a lot of broodmare value later after she races. That is a reason we brought fillies here: to attract breeders who are in this area."

"This is the first year doing the sale back, and I didn't really know what to expect," Schumer said. "I think they need more horses, obviously, but it's the first year back doing it and I think it will improve."

The horses of racing age segment was topped by Sweet Diane, a multiple stakes-placed daughter of Will Take Charge, who most recently finished third in the Fair Grounds Oaks and was purchased by River Bend Farm for $500,000.

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