NEWS
Sikura says Azeri is at Keeneland to sell
Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2009 7:48 PM
AZERI
Adam Coglianese/NYRA photo
by Pete Denk
There will be no record buy-back this time.
Hill ‘n Dale Sales Agency owner John G. Sikura says 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri was entered in the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale to sell.
Hill ‘n’ Dale is consigning Azeri and eight other horses on behalf of the Allen E. Paulson Living Trust.
Paulson’s son Michael, manager of the trust, valued Azeri’s first foal—the A.P. Indy colt Vallenzeri—so highly that he bought him back for a record $7.7-million at the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale.
“I know Michael Paulson has stated his emotional attachment to Azeri, and it’s an obvious question given what happened with the yearling, but it’s a non-issue,” Sikura said from his barn at Keeneland on Saturday. “Azeri is here to be sold. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be here. The experience of the yearling—that was then and this is now.
| To read more about the $7.7-million RNA, click here. | | |
“Azeri is going to be sold to the highest bidder. We discussed that prior to bringing her here, candidly. Somebody is going to buy a great, great mare.”
Bred in Kentucky by Allen Paulson, 11-year-old Azeri is by Jade Hunter out of the Ahonoora mare Zodiac Miss (Aus). Paulson died in 2000, when Azeri was an unraced two-year-old.
The three-time Eclipse Award winner as champion older female won 17 of 24 starts and earned $4,079,820 from 2001 through ‘04. Medium-sized and correct, Azeri is in foal to 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper.
Sikura said the January sale, particularly this January, which comes just months after a disappointing sequence of breeding stock sales, is not the ideal time to sell a mare of Azeri’s quality. He hopes Azeri presents such a unique opportunity to buyers that it will offset current economic conditions.
“She’s a Horse of the Year in foal to a Horse of the Year,” Sikura said. “She’s the kind of mare that has everything you could ask for and more. For a mare to be Horse of the Year is virtually impossible to achieve, and she achieved it.”
Sikura said that Vallenzeri is scheduled to be sold at the 2009 Keeneland April sale of selected two-year-olds in training. Azeri’s yearling filly by Giant’s Causeway will be offered at one of the select sales in the fall.
“We didn’t think it was appropriate to sell a filly of her quality as a short yearling in January,” Sikura said. “She’s not been sale prepped, so there was no reason to sell her here.”
Sikura said Azeri has shown herself to be all class on the sales grounds.
“She thinks she’s somebody special,” Sikura said. “She’s dealt with a lot of people and press, so she’s always one to animate and show herself well. She’s a queen.
“As things get more difficult economically, what remains are those elite special horses. If you’re looking for market security, the best of any market is what holds its value best. And when things turn around, they give you the greatest returns.”
Azeri will be offered as hip 301 on Monday. The January sale begins Monday and continues through Saturday, with sessions starting daily at 10 a.m. EST.
Pete Denk is sales editor of Thoroughbred Times
