'He's magnificent' - $1.4 million Into Mischief colt the toast of Keeneland

The opening session of Book 2 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale saw six yearlings bring over seven figures, including an Into Mischief colt out of the fast mare Dawn The Destroyer, topping day three after selling for $1.4 million (£1.2m) to Larry Best's OXO Equine.

The colt was bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, which campaigned the stakes-winning mare to earnings of $556,405 with multiple graded-placed efforts, including a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, all in her five-year-old campaign.

Summerfield [Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck] consigned the colt as hip 604.

"Horses like him, there aren't a lot of them. There are so many agents, and they have good eyes, so it doesn't matter where you put them, they're going to find them," Francis Vanlangendonck said. "He's such an athlete; he's big and looks like an NBA player."

Breeder Barbara Banke was on hand to watch the special colt command the attention of the entire sales pavilion on Wednesday.

Barbara Banke: 'I would love to stay in - I know Larry doesn't [run with] partners, but I may ask him anyway!'Credit: Keeneland photo/PhotosbyZ

"We loved him. He's a great colt out of a great race mare," Banke commented. "I would love to stay in - I know Larry doesn't [run with] partners, but I may ask him anyway!"

Best was situated inside the pavilion but close to the door, signalling his final bid, he rushed over to the Northern Dancer Bar, eager to watch his two horses, Fortin Hill and Gunton Roe break from the gate at Horseshoe Indianapolis, taking the win in races five and six, respectively.

"It's always good when the breeder, after you buy it, offers to partner with you on the horse," Best commented. "As you know, I love Into Mischief. My filter is pretty stringent. I have all these filters I use [in my selection process] and rarely does a horse meet all the filters when it's a colt. That's why you don't see me buying many colts. Believe it or not, this one cleared them all, and I said, 'Why am I not buying the horse when I've bought all these other Into Mischief's and done well with most of them?' I waited until I saw it in the ring again, and I said if I'm going to roll the dice at a big number for a colt, I'm going to stick with the Into Mischief bloodline, and this one looks as good as I've seen."

Best added: "In racing, it's so hard to win one race, the likelihood of a colt becoming a sire is remote, but this is my shot because I love the bloodline. He's magnificent. He's a well-balanced, beautiful horse.

"When you're buying colts, the risk is very high. You almost have to be willing to lose on the colts. The first horse I bought was Moi, and I paid $750,000. She didn't do very well on the racetrack, but her second foal I sold for $570,000 as a weanling last year to Archie St George and it sold yesterday for $1.05 million. I feel like I'm doing something right."

At the close of selling on Wednesday, 219 of the 296 horses through the ring sold for gross receipts of $66,695,000, marking an increase of 9.3 per cent over 2021. An average price of $304,543 was achieved, a 5.3 per cent increase and a median of $250,000 shows a rise of 8.7 per cent. There were 77 horses who failed to meet their reserve to represent an RNA rate of 26 per cent.

"Last year's corresponding session was solid, and today's session's median ticked from $230,000 to $250,000. The RNA rate was actually the same, and those are just signs that a good session last year got even better this year," Cormac Breathnach, director of sales operations for Keeneland, commented.

Keeneland's opening session for Book 2 took place on WednesdayCredit: Keeneland photo/photosbyZ

"A lot of domestic buyers participated, and we are very grateful to them. Their involvement in the sale speaks to the strength of the purse structure and the sport of racing. We still have a lot of international buyers on the grounds, and they're not finding it as easy as they might have expected. The energy from Book 1 passed very strongly into Book 2, and we're looking forward to that momentum carrying through into the next nine sessions."

During the third session last year, 211 of the 283 horses on offer sold for gross figures of $60,996,000 at an average price of $289,081 and a median of $230,000. There were 72 yearlings who failed to meet their reserve, representing an RNA rate of 25.4 per cent.

"It is very active in the barns," said Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy. "A whole wave of pinhookers from Europe are just arriving. A lot of international people are coming for the first time or the first time in a long time. I predict the market to be energetic through the entire sale."

Cumulatively over the three days of selling, 439 of the 578 horses on offer sold for gross receipts of $180,355,000, an increase of 18.9 per cent year-on-year. An average price of $410,831 was established and a median of $325,000 to show an increase of $12 per cent. There were 139 horses who failed to meet their reserve to represent an RNA rate of 24 per cent, a 22.7 per cent increase.

In 2021 419 of the 599 horses through the ring sold for gross receipts of $151,618,000. An average price of $361,857 and a median of $290,000 was made. One hundred eighty horses went unsold to represent an RNA rate of 30 per cent.

Session three leaders include the purchasing partnership of Donato Lanni, agent for SF/Starlight/Madaket, who secured seven yearlings for gross receipts of $5,320,000 at an average price of $760,000. Gainesway sold 27 head for gross figures of $9,780,000 at an average price of $362,222 to be the session's leading consignor.

Book 2 continues on Thursday with hips 759 - 1130 going through the ring from 11am local time. As of Wednesday evening, there were 31 horses withdrawn from the session.

Leading juvenile consignor Eddie Woods found the first three days of selling to be tough sledding: "The market today was exceptionally good, but for pinhooking very difficult. As it rightly probably should be. The money spent here is amazing, vibrant, and from a pinhooking point of view, it's challenging."

He added: "We have purchased five yearlings so far and need quite a few more, but the problem is later on, as you get into the later books, the quality falls away, and then…not so good. At the end of the day, you can only sell the nice horses, which are getting harder and harder to find. In tomorrow's horses, you can already see a bit of a downturn in overall quality."

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