'Kia wanted this one' - Amo Racing USA fend off fierce competition to secure Ted Noffey's dam for $6.2 million

Fresh from making huge investments at the yearling sales, Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing USA made headlines once again when they purchased Streak Of Luck, the dam of undefeated Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Ted Noffey, for a sale-topping $6.2 million at Monday night’s Fasig-Tipton November Sale in Kentucky. 

Streak Of Luck, a stakes-winning daughter of Old Fashioned, was sold in foal to Taylor Made’s sire sensation Not This Time and was one of the final lots through the ring. She was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, for longtime client Marie Jones, the breeder of Ted Noffey. 

The ten-year-old was supplemented for the sale in mid-October, following Ted Noffey’s triumph in the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland. The Todd Pletcher-trained son of Into Mischief then tightened his grip on champion juvenile honours on Friday with an accomplished performance at the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar. 

View the results from The November Sale

Ben McElroy was tasked with bidding for Amo Racing and he dug deep to fight off fierce competition from Ace Stud’s Paul Curran. 

"We had to wait around, and I kind of knew who was waiting around; it was going to be extremely strong," McElroy told Bloodhorse.com. "She was probably the elite mare that came in here with all the momentum. She's got the champion two-year-old colt, or champion-elect [Ted Noffey], Kentucky Derby future favourite. He's a great-looking horse; he's unbeaten.

"Kia wanted this one. She'll go to Archie St George's farm, Brookstone Farm, to foal her out."

McElroy said they were not certain who they would breed her back to, but it was likely she would return to leading sire Into Mischief. The mare foaled a brother to Ted Noffey this year.

"We remember him [Ted Noffey] as a yearling, and he made our list as a yearling," said McElroy. "Unfortunately, we weren't smart enough to buy him. 

"She's a young mare in foal to a great stallion. Frank [Taylor] told me that the foal is a superstar. When you get a mare like that, that's produced a horse like that, and she looks like that, she's got a great cover, I wouldn't say she's cheap but I think she's a great long-term investment."

The California-bred Streak Of Luck was bought by Jones and her late husband Aaron when carrying a foal by Authentic at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale in 2021. 

"That was fantastic," said Taylor Made’s Frank Taylor. "I'm so happy for Mrs Jones. She's just such a great lady, and they've been with us forever. 

"I met the Joneses when I was 17, and they sent us our first horses, they sent 40 to us right off the bat, and nobody knew who Taylor Made was at that point. They gave us a shot when nobody really knew us. It's been an amazing relationship for so long. 

"That was the fourth Breeders' Cup winner she's bred, and she just keeps supporting the business. Her and Mr Jones have been so good to the thoroughbred business and so good for Taylor Made. 

"They're just such great people. When they come to the farm, they treat all the grooms and everybody that takes care of the horses like royalty. They're just class acts."

The one-session sale again produced impressive results. A total of 138 horses sold for an aggregate of $102,027,000, with 27 selling for $1m or more. The average finished at $739,326, a 35 per cent increase year-on-year, while the median improved to $300,000, up 20 points on 2024. The clearance rate was 77 per cent. 

“We’re overall very pleased with the results of the November Sale,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. “The market was very good but also still rational, with tremendous support from international buyers. It’s very rewarding to see a horse that came in late and got a significant update top the sale.

"The buyers are demanding, in terms of you have to have the proper combinations of pedigree, conformation, being by the right horse, and the right physical – whether it's a mare or whether it's a baby. But it's a very fair market overall."

Taylor Made finished as leading consignor, selling 25 from its draft for a total of $16,230,000. 

Morplay stick with Shisospicy

Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Shisospicy will stay in training next year after Morplay Racing bought out the mare’s co-owner Qatar Racing for $5.2m. 

The daughter of Mitole has enjoyed an almost flawless year, with her only defeat in five starts coming when finishing down the field in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. 

Morplay Racing’s co-founder Rich Mendez had made it clear that he wanted her to continue racing as a four-year-old, while Qatar Racing, the other half of the partnership, had wanted her to be retired to paddocks. 

"I just think maybe they have different thoughts on how to handle certain things," Mendez said by phone. "It's not a bad thing. For us, we wanted to continue to race her. We had a number in mind that we'd consider [to sell], but we just thought, ‘She's got us this far, she's a three-year-old, give her another year’."

Shisospicy brought $5.2 million from her co-owners Morplay RacingCredit: Fasig-Tipton Photo

Mendez said Morplay Racing can be more selective in what races she runs in 2026 and not risk overracing her. The goal for next year is to once again win at the Breeders' Cup, which will be held at Keeneland.

He said: "Wherever those big races are at, I would expect for her to be there. She's our brand right now. She is the opportunity as a company or as a small racing outfit that's new to the business, she's a very special horse. … Who knows, if we end up selling her next year, she just might be the start of a business on the other side of broodmares."

Ace Stud secure leading broodmare Puca

Despite missing out on the top lot, the Raging Torrent Syndicate did not leave the sale empty handed, with the UK-based operation shelling out $5m for Puca, the reigning broodmare of the year. 

Entered for the sale by John Stewart’s Resolute Bloodstock, who bought the now 13-year-old by Big Brown for $2.9m at Keeneland in 2023, Puca is the dam of Kentucky Derby winner Mage and Dornoch, winner of the Belmont Stakes and Haskell Stakes, as well as Pennsylvania Derby scorer Baeza.

The mare is not in foal after producing a Good Magic sister to Mage and Dornoch on May 5.

Paul Curran, bloodstock and racing manager at Newmarket-based Ace Stud, who signed the ticket down to Raging Torrent Syndicate, said the operation is affiliated with Yuesheng Zhang's Yulong Investments.

Hip 135: Puca fetched $5 million at The November Sale in KentuckyCredit: Fasig-Tipton Photo

Regarding future plans for Puca, he said she would kept in America to support Lane’s End Farm resident Raging Torrent, who raced in Zhang’s bottle green and white silks at the backend of his career, or the operation’s multiple Grade 1 winner Carl Spackler, who it was revealed on Monday would join the Land’s End Farm roster for 2026. 

"We're thrilled," he said. "We just picked up probably one of the best broodmares in the U.S. at the moment. So, yeah, phenomenal. Really exciting.

"Anywhere you go in the world, she's a phenomenal, phenomenal mare," Curran said. "That's really, really special now that she's ours."

In addition to Puca, the Raging Torrent Syndicate purchased Violent Wave, a daughter of Violence who is in foal to leading sire Into Mischief. Consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, agent, the mare sold for $1.5 million.

Ace Stud also purchased Mylinda's Grey, a $575,000 broodmare prospect consigned by Hartwell Farm, agent for Alastar Farm. 

Northern Farm splash the cash

Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm made its presence felt at Monday's sale, finishing as the leading buyer after landing six mares for $14.9 million. 

Just F Y I, the champion juvenile filly of 2023, was the most expensive of the sextet at $4.5 million. Offered by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, the four-year-old daughter of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify is believed to be carrying her first foal by leading sire Into Mischief. 

Raced by George Krikorian and trained by Bill Mott, Just F Y I won the Frizette Stakes and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies as a two-year-old and finished runner-up in Kentucky Oaks and Ashland Stakes the following season. 

"She was a two-year-old champion," said Shingo Hashimoto, who signed the ticket on behalf Yoshida. 

"She looked gorgeous; she has a very nice pedigree. She's in foal to Into Mischief, so she basically clicked all the boxes that we wanted. We're very excited."

"She's a very big mare with a very good frame," Hashimoto said. "I think she will match many types of stallions in Japan."

Shingo Hashimoto signed for six horses on behalf of Katsumi Yoshida's Northern FarmCredit: Fasig-Tipton Photo

On the mare’s price tag, he added: "Of course, it would've been better if we could've bought her a little cheaper, but she's one of those horses that's going to be very expensive; it's a very tough market. So, I'm kind of relieved that we got one mare at least in the beginning, but I assume it's going to be a very strong market."

Yoshida also secured Tenma, a Grade 1-winning daughter of Nyquist, and dual top-level winner Randomized, for $3.2 million and $2.5 million, respectively. 

Tenma won the 2024 Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante Stakes as a juvenile and back-to-back Graded stakes as a three-year-old for owners Baoma Corp and trainer Bob Baffert. She was offered as a racing or broodmare prospect by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, agent. 

Hashimoto said: "She [Tenma] had a very nice racing career, and her pedigree is great. We have a mare called Simply Glorious from the same mare line, and she had a very good foal this year. We're very excited to take her to Japan.

"We haven't decided yet [who to breed Tenma to]. But the foal out of Simply Glorious was by Kitasan Black, so that may be a choice."

Just F Y I sold for $4.5 million at Fasig-Tipton's November Sale on MondayCredit: Fasig-Tipton Photo

Hashimoto said Randomized's two Grade 1 wins really stood out.

"Her pedigree is very strong. She looks like a typical Nyquist filly," he said. 

Yoshida also added Grade 1 winner Excellent Truth to his collection, bringing down the hammer at $2.5 million. 

The five-year-old daughter of Cotai Glory was bought by Stamford Bloodstock and Meridian Bloodstock for €1.6 million at the Arqana Breeding Stock Sales last year, before winning the Group 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga Race Course for Jon Stwart’s Resolute Racing and trainer Chad Brown. She was consigned by Elite, agent. 

Graded stakes winners Special Wan and Saffron Moon rounded out Northern Farm’s list at $1.3 million and $900,000 respectively.

Lascelles stretches to $800,000 for Justify filly

Hugo Lascelles bought the night's highest-priced weanling paying Gainesway $800,000 for a daughter of Coolmore’s US Triple Crown winner Justify.  

The filly is a half-sister to five-time Grade 1 winner She Feels Pretty, who finished runner-up in Saturday’s Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar. 

Lascelles said the filly will go to Europe and race for a group of high-profile breeders.

Hip 54, a filly by Justify, was the most expensive foal sold on the night at $800,000Credit: Fasig-Tipton Photo

"For me to shop in the early market, they have to be out of the very top drawer, and she was out of the top drawer. You don't get too many like her pedigree-wise," he said. "She is a sister to a very good horse indeed and a very good European family."

The youngster is out of the More Than Ready winner Summer Sweet, who is out of French stakes winner Summer Solstice, making her a half-sister to stakes winners Summer Breezing  and Adirondack Summer. 

Summer Solstice is a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner Act One, who was runner-up in the 2002 Prix du Jockey Club. 

Read more US bloodstock news:

Mighty Mosa Mine shines once more as Gstaad claims Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf victory 

Evergreen Tapit and exciting young sire McKinzie headline Gainesway roster for 2026 

Share in leading stallion Not This Time sells for $3 million at the Keeneland Championship Sale