'If you have a horse that ticks every box, this is what you have to pay'

The team at Farfellow Farms believed they'd brought a special colt to the Keeneland September Yearling Sale for the fourth session. The dark bay son of Street Sense had the pedigree, the conformation, and the right people seemed to be looking at him.

"We expected something big would happen, that he could be a breakout horse, but we keep our expectations in check because this is the horse business," said Jak Knelman, whose parents Kip and Suzanne Knelman own Farfellow Farms, a 12-broodmare breeding operation near Paris, Kentucky, they started in the 1990s.

"Sometimes it all lines up and it works out," he continued.

Boy did it work out. A protracted bidding battle late in the day pushed the colt to $1 million, with the BSW/Crow Colts Group prevailing. The venture with nine to ten partners put together by trainer Brad Cox had been shopping primarily in the $200,000 to $500,000 range all week, but everyone on the selection team was solidly behind this colt.

"He was really the first horse at the sale that we all lined up on and felt good about," said Liz Crow, who is a partner with Bradley Weisbord.

Their short-listers include Paul Sharp, who will break and train all the horses for the group; Eric Gustavson and Ned Toffey of Spendthrift Farm; and, most importantly, Cox, and they all believed this was the colt to buy - so much so that they all agreed in advance to go to seven figures.

"He had a nice pedigree and was a really nice physical, with a beautiful shoulder and a really nice hip," said Crow. "He's a really classy, great mover. He seems like a route horse and that was what we were looking for and by a great sire that I really respect.

"A million was definitely tops for us, but we were really happy to get him for that price. We are looking for Grade 1 quality horses and we want to make stallions. If you have a horse that ticks every box, this is what you have to pay."

Yearlings await their turn at KeenelandCredit: Keeneland photo

The final price was a thunderclap for the Knelmans, who once sold another horse for seven figures years ago, but know these types are few and far between.

"Everyone who was on the horse I really respect, so it was rewarding as a breeder to see who was interested," said Jak Knelman. "That was part of the excitement - to see that you brought a horse that people really appreciated, and it's not every year you do that."

This colt hails from a family that is particularly special to the Knelmans. His second dam, Critikola, was imported from Argentina and raced with trainer Bill Spawr. For Farfellow Farms, she placed in the 2001 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap and the Santa Maria Handicap.

As a broodmare, Critikola produced a striking filly by Lemon Drop Kid named Lemons Forever, who won the 2006 Kentucky Oaks for Horton Stable and trainer Dallas Stewart. Lemons Forever would later produce Grade 1-winning full sisters Forever Unbridled and Unbridled Forever.

The Street Sense colt is out of the stakes-placed winner Critikal Reason, who is also the dam of the Grade 1-placed stakes winner Bajan and the Grade 3-placed Virtual Machine.

"He just kept getting better and better," said Kip Knelman. "Our farm manager and staff at the farm did a marvellous job. We handle our horses all the time, from the time they are babies. He was a real gentleman the whole time. We are very pleased and very blessed.

"This horse business can be tough, so sometimes when you get a little luck like this, it brings it back so we can do it again.

"We have always been coming to the yearling sales, but we started selling under our own banner a few years ago. We haven't brought a colt like this to the sale, so it is very exciting. This family has a lot of sentimental value and it is such a rewarding family with the highs we've experienced on the racetrack and now in the sales ring.

"The people who really deserve a lot of credit are the people at the farm, like our farm manager Josh Hennessy, who year in and year out put so much work into these horses and caring about them."

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