$700K Love to Shop Distances Herself from the Pack at Keeneland January Tuesday

[Wandering Eyes]

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm

LEXINGTON, KY – The Keeneland January of All Ages Sale produced its third $700,000 mare when Love to Shop (Violence), consigned by Claiborne Farm, brought that co-sale topping bid from Pin Oak Stud Tuesday. During the second session of the three-day auction, 242 horses sold for $10,854,300. The average was $44,852 and the median was $20,000. With 89 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 26.89%. Through two sessions, 442 head have grossed $28,941,300, for an average of $65,478 and a median of $35,000. The two-day buy-back rate stands at 29.39%.

After two days of the four-day January sale a year ago, 430 head had grossed $31,596,700 for an average of $73,481 and a median of $30,500. The cumulative average for the 2024 auction was $46,126 and the median was $15,000.

A pair of supplemental offerings sold for $700,000 during Monday's first session of the January sale and that figure was matched three-quarters of the way through Tuesday's second session with an internet bid from Jim and Dana Bernhard's Pin Oak Stud.

“That was huge,” Claiborne Farm's Jacob West said after watching Love to Shop (Violence) (hip 733) sell. “She was a filly that was bought as a yearling for Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola and we always knew she was going to end up at a public auction to dissolve the partnership.”

Purchased for $200,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September sale, Love to Shop won the 2023 Toronto Cup Stakes and was second in that year's GII Bessarabian Stakes. In 2024, the bay mare was second in the GIII Ontario Fashion Stakes and GIII Bessarabian Stakes while racing for Repole and Viola and trainer Kevin Attard.

“She shipped down to run in a stakes at Turfway Park and she came up with a foot abscess and we had to scratch her,” West said. “We sent her over to Margaux Farms and those guys did an incredible job with her. They've had her for the last 30 days, just keeping her ticking over in light training. She shipped in to us and looked incredible. Virginia at the barn was showing her the whole time and if she had one of those step-o-meters, she would have walked about 30 miles the last couple of days showing her. She never turned a hair. She deserved that price. She was such a quality filly and there are updates in the family. She is by a sire that people like and she has a race record. It all just equaled $700,000.”

Out of Tiffany Case (Uncle Mo) and bred by D. J. Stable, the 5-year-old racing or broodmare prospect is a half-sister to Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro), who was third in last year's GI Natalma Stakes and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and returned last week to win the Ginger Brew Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

With a slimmed down catalogue, the January sale is down to three sessions this year from four days in 2024, blurring the line between a typical Book 1 and Book 2 set-up.

“At Claiborne, we ended up just selling on one day,” West said. “So it wasn't spread out in “Book 1” or “Book 2,” so we just had her in there and we had [the whole consignment] all on one day. She was quality. It didn't matter if there were 1,000 horses in the sale, she was going to stand out. But I think all the scratches helped her stand out even more. At the end of the day, a lot of people try to hold on to their quality horses, that's the market we are in. They get rewarded when they sell yearlings out of them. She just happened to be one of the prize jewels of the sale.”

Jenny O'Callaghan | Keeneland

Peter and Jenny O'Callaghan of Woods Edge Farm purchased the second highest-priced mare, as well as the co-highest price short yearling of Tuesday's session. The O'Callaghans went to $310,000 to acquire Abrogate (Outwork) (hip 513). The stakes-winning 7-year-old mare sold in foal to Good Magic and was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for STH LLC. The couple also purchased a filly by Golden Pal (hip 641) for $300,000 from the Clarkland Farm consignment.

“Everybody is here despite the cold temperatures and nobody misses a good horse,” said Jenny O'Callaghan. “And the key is to buy the ones you really like and stick to your guns. It's always tricky buying because the good ones really stand out.”

Bloodstock agent Kim Valerio matched that $300,000 bid when purchasing a filly by Justify (hip 578) as agent for the Green family's D. J. Stable. Bred and consigned by Stoneriggs Farm, the short yearling is out of GIII Ontario Colleen Stakes winner Chart (Lea). Purchased for $120,000 as a 2-year-old at the OBS April sale and raced by D. J. Stable, Chart earned over $114,000 on the racetrack and was purchased by Stoneriggs Farm for $210,000 at  the 2021 Keeneland November sale. Now in a full-circle moment, the mare's daughter will return to D. J. Stable to race.

Kim Valerio | Keeneland

“She was very athletic, a great mover with a great attitude,” said Valerio. “From the first day I saw her until this morning, she was still walking like a champ, so I liked that, it's important. We're going to run her. [D. J. Stable] raced the mother, so that helped us spend a little bit more money on her. She's very athletic, square across the ground with a great attitude. That's important to me.”

Valerio noted that D. J. Stable has had success buying out of the January sale. The operation went to $335,000 to purchase Moonlit Garden (Malibu Moon) in 2020 and that mare has since produced a 175,000gns Tattersalls Breeze-Up sale grad and a $250,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling.

“I like this sale–it's a value sale, so I like to load up here,” Valerio said. “I've bought some great horses out of this sale, so I'm never going to miss it.”

The Keeneland January sale concludes with a final session beginning Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Golden Pal Continues First-Crop Momentum with 300K Filly

Joining the fold as the co-highest priced yearling of the session at $300,000, a filly (hip 641) from the first crop of Coolmore's dual Breeders' Cup winner Golden Pal went the way of Peter and Jenny O'Callaghan's Rock Bloodstock. Bred and consigned by Clarkland Farm, she is a daughter of the stakes-placed Scat Daddy mare Fairyland. The mare herself was a $375,000 KEESEP grad to M.V. Magnier who raced for the partnership of Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor and trainer Wesley Ward before selling to Clarkland Farm for $700,000 at KEENOV in 2019.

Hip 641, a $300,000 Golden Pal filly | Keeneland

Clarkland's Marty Buckner acknowledged that breeding a pair of classy Wesley Ward-trained runners together was part of the appeal of the Golden Pal/Fairyland cross.

“Golden Pal was a wonderful racehorse with excellent confirmation and Fairyland was also trained by Wesley [Ward]. We thought maybe we'll have a market there.”

The $300,000 price, the highest for a Golden Pal yearling through the end of the first two sessions, exceeded Buckner's expectations.

“[The price] is wonderful, we're ecstatic. I didn't expect anything like that at all. We're thrilled and very lucky. Very fortunate that it happened as it makes up for a lot of ones that don't work out so it was really great.”

While off the board in her only try facing Group company in the G3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot as a juvenile, Fairyland broke her maiden on debut at Keeneland in maiden special weight company and earned her black-type when second in the Bolton Landing Stakes at Saratoga where she was just a half-length back of the winner in her first start following her trip to Ascot. Since retiring to her breeding career, Fairyland has produced four foals with all four being six-figure yearlings paced by $825,000 KEESEP grad Westeros (Into Mischief).

Of hip 641, Jenny O'Callaghan said: “She showed very well these last few days in very difficult conditions. She's out of a very talented race filly and Clarkland does a great job. He's [Golden Pal] a very exciting sire. We've really liked his stuff and we hope she is going to come back next year with the goal to bring a much bigger price. She was a high price but it's a very competitive market. That was more than we expected to pay for her but sometimes the good ones are worth digging deep for.”

In a show of confidence for the cross, Buckner noted that Fairyland is booked back to Golden Pal who bred 293 mares in his debut season for Coolmore in 2023 and stands for $25,000. –@SGrimmTDN

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