NEWS
Storm Cat has another standout at Keeneland sale
Posted: Thursday, September 17, 2009 10:38 PM
HIP 926
PhotosByZ.com/Keeneland
by Jeff Lowe
The fourth session of the Keeneland September yearling sale mirrored the first three, with prices continuing to plummet and Storm Cat commanding the spotlight.
After buying a Storm Cat filly for $750,000 on Monday, Westrock Stables and Racing Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas went back to the well for another Storm Cat filly who brought $675,000 to top the day’s session.
Total sales dropped 35.4% as 252 horses sold for a total of $26,185,500 compared with the same session last year, in which 267 horses sold for $40,534,700. Average price declined 31.6%, from $151,815 to $103,911, while the median fell 40% from $125,000 to $75,000.
Through four days, 1,073 horses have sold for $117,659,500, down 42.5% from $204,698,700 at the same stage last year. Average price has declined 31.56%, from $244,562 to $167,368.
“It is amazingly consistent,” said Geoffrey Russell, Keeneland’s director of sales. “It is very consistent at all levels of the market.”
The session-topping filly was the final Storm Cat yearling in Book 2 and the second-to-last Storm Cat in the sale. The pensioned stallion enhanced his sale-leading average to $445,263 from 19 horses sold, including the top-priced colt out of champion Fleet Indian who brought $2.05-million on Tuesday.
Westrock’s Scott Ford bid from his seat next to Lukas in the pavilion, warding off three other suitors who were all involved up to about the $600,000 point.
“I’m glad we were able to persevere for her,” Ford said. “Actually, she was [one of Westrock’s top prospects in the sale]. Maybe we were wrong in the stacking order, but we really liked her. She came in right around where we thought she would. The two we got were the two we went through and looked at a second time. We looked at a lot of them once; these were the two we thought would work the best.”
The filly is out of stakes winner Winendynme, by Dynaformer. Overbook purchased the mare in foal to Empire Maker for $800,000 in the 2008 Keeneland November breeding stock sale.
Lukas trained Dynaformer, as well as Storm Cat’s dam, Terlingua, by Secretariat.
“The Dynaformer dam gives us a little more distance,” Lukas said. “We’re interested in going all the way around.”
Eaton Sales consigned the filly as agent for Overbrook Farm in its complete dispersal. Overbrook stood Storm Cat for his entire career, which ended in the spring of 2008 because of declining fertility. His final three foals arrived this year.
“I was really pleased how well he was received,” said Ric Waldman, who managed Storm Cat’s stallion career for Overbrook. “It looks like he’ll be the leading sire of yearlings for this year again. I think that’s a fitting ending for the great sire that he is. Forget the numbers; everybody has to adjust downward. His average was above a million for all those years, but it’s a different market.”
Let’s Go Stable purchased the session’s highest-priced colt, a $630,000 son of Candy Ride (Arg).
Westrock also bought a Medaglia d’Oro colt for $600,000.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
|
Keeneland September yearling sale
Session Four Summary |
|
2009 |
|
2008 |
| No. offered |
363 |
(-1.6%) |
369 |
| No. sold |
252 |
(-5.6%) |
267 |
| Pct. not sold |
30.6% |
|
27.6% |
| Total sales |
$26,185,500 |
(-35.4%) |
$40,534,700 |
| Average |
$103,911 |
(-31.6%) |
$151,815 |
| Median |
$75,000 |
(-40.0%) |
$125,000 |
| For hip-by-hip results, click here. | | |
