$3 million Into Mischief colt leads the way on day two of Keeneland September Yearling Sale

The second session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale took no time to see fireworks, setting a new top price after Terry Finley signaled a final bid of $3 million for an Into Mischief colt for the partnership of Chuck Sonson, Woodford Racing, and West Point Thoroughbreds.

Lane's End consigned the bay bred in Kentucky by Repole Stable as hip 261.

"When you bring an individual like him to this sale, you hope to be rewarded, and that's what happened today," said Allaire Ryan, sales director for Lane's End. "Over the past decade, of the horses we've raised at the farm, he is right up there. He's always been a forward individual from day one. He's been a special horse for us."

The colt is out of Frizette Stakes-placed Nonna Mia, producer of Wood Memorial Stakes winner Outwork and the stakes-placed Nonna's Boy. Under the second dam Holy Bubbette is her Pioneerof The Nile son Cairo Prince, a sire and a multiple Grade 2 winner.

"All the top players you think would be interested in a future stallion prospect like him," Ryan said. "I'm just thrilled for everybody on the farm. To be entrusted with a mare like this for Mr Repole means a lot in and of itself, but raising a horse and bringing him to an auction is rewarding for everybody."

Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds shakes hands with Chuck Sonson after his purchase of the $3 million Into Mischief colt at KeenelandCredit: Keeneland photo

Finley and Sonson were situated inside the pavilion to watch the colt sell on Tuesday afternoon.

"Beautiful colt," Finley said. "He was always in the hands [of] Lane's End, so we knew a little about his upbringing. We are excited and have a new group of partners who are in on him. We will try to get to the Derby in 2025."

The group picked up two yearlings on day one, a $325,000 Gun Runner filly and the $1.35M Uncle Mo colt out of Diva Delite, dam of champion Midnight Bisou. On Tuesday, they scored a Candy Ride colt and a Quality Road colt, each for $800,000, before the session leader purchase.

"I thought he would bring a significant amount of money, but you never know after they get past [$1.5 million]," said Finley. "I am just glad we got to where I thought it was a reasonable amount - if you can say $3 million is a reasonable amount of money for a racehorse who has never had a saddle on his back."  

Day two concluded with 112 horses traded of the 154 on offer for a gross of $61,695,000, up 5 per cent over the previous year. The average price was up eight per cent to $550,848, while the median dropped 8.3 per cent to $412,500 from 2022. An RNA rate of 27.3 per cent is representative of the 42 yearlings who failed to sell.

The Into Mischief colt out of the Grade 1-placed Nonna Mia sells to Terry Finley for $3 million on the second day of the Keeneland September Yearling SaleCredit: Keeneland photo

"It was a great day!" Keeneland president and CEO Shannon Arvin said. "There were lots and lots of buyers. The partnerships were active. It was active from the domestic side and the international side. The 15 top prices were bought by 13 different buyers, a real diversity among the consignors, which was really nice to see. There were a lot of consignors who had success today."

Last year, during day two, Keeneland reported 115 of the 138 horses through the ring were sold for a gross of $58,680,000, an average price of $510,261 and a median of $450,000. There were 23 horses who failed to meet their reserve to represent an RNA rate of 16.7 per cent.

 There were 15 horses who sold for $1 million or more, by Into Mischief, Uncle Mo, Not This Time, Tapit, Gun Runner, Volatile, Medaglia d'Oro, and Curlin. 

One of those was the Uncle Mo half-sibling to multiple Grade 1 winner Shedaresthedevil, a WinStar Farm-bred filly who sold to John Stewart for a hefty $2.5 million. 

"She is a lovely filly," Gavin O'Connor, agent for John Stewart, said. "I know the family personally - I worked for WinStar for five years. She's an unbelievable broodmare prospect as well. The residual value is there; we feel we have a safe asset. [The price] was a little bit more than we wanted to go, but like we said, John is a buyer. John was on the phone, giving us the clearance to keep going.

The Uncle Mo half-sister to Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil Credit: Keeneland photo

"We've had an incredible sale, and I think we are sealed up now; we're done. We have a total of ten, and for John, as a first-time owner, he has an exciting stable of horses."

O'Connor added: "She is so pretty, and I love Uncle Mo babies. They are so smart, so intelligent. When you see them, you see them. Everybody loved her. She was a standout filly. To get her is a dream come true."  

Denali Stud consigned the filly out of Starship Warpspeed as hip 337; the filly's Daredevil sister has accumulated earnings of $2,77,458 and a record of 10-3-6 in 21 races. She captured the Kentucky Oaks, La Troienne Stakes, and Clement L. Hirsch Stakes before Whisper Hill's Mandy Pope bought out her partners at $5 million during last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

"Good things come to those who wait," Conrad Bandoroff, VP for Denali Stud, said. "It's a cliche to say, but she's a queen in every sense of the word. She was a beautiful filly with an unbelievable physical, fantastic pedigree, and raised by one of the best programmes in the industry. David Hanley said, 'Leading into the sale, [I think] she is one of the best horses they've raised in a few years.' And she's one of the best horses we've seen all year. We go around to a lot of places, looking at a lot of horses, and that's the kind of horse that you're going to hope walks out of the stall, and she just had everything to back it up.

"We couldn't be more thrilled for WinStar and wish the best of luck to the connections. She's the kind of filly who you would hope to see running like her sister in the Kentucky Oaks and further down the line being a foundation blue hen mare for somebody. She's got every license to do that."

Gavin O'Connor: "The residual value is there; we feel we have a safe asset"Credit: Keeneland photo

Over the past two days, 229 yearlings have been traded of 298 to go under the hammer, for gross receipts of $118,465,000. An average price of $517,314 and a median of $400,000 was made. The 69 horses who failed to attain their reserve represent an RNA rate of 23.2 per cent.

At this point last year, 235 yearlings had sold of the 282 on offer for gross receipts of $117,295,000, at an average price of $499,127 and a median of $450,000. An RNA rate of 16.7 per cent is representative of the 47 yearlings who failed to sell.

"When you look at everybody from Elm Tree Farm having their first [seven-figure sale], seeing Brian Graves [Gainesway] having a banner Book 1, and for Mandy Pope [breeder, Whisper Hill Farm], it was a testament to her breeding programme that she was able to gain such amazing results," Tony Lacy, vice president of sales, said. "It was incredible to see." 

"The depth and diversity of the market was encouraging," Lacy added. "It was great to see new money still here. The Japanese were very active today. People say they are enjoying themselves again, and seeing people happy is good. It's not an easy process. There are good sales and some slightly disappointing sales, but people are encouraged by the fact that so many people here are very active. The repository was getting a lot of hits from the vetting side."

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