Gainesway

LEXINGTON, KY - With Godolphin's Belle Street (Street Sense) leading the way at $550,000, the Book 3 section of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale opened Saturday with strong results as the 10-day auction continues to track well ahead of 2020 figures. During Saturday's session, 252 head grossed $19,981,500. The session average of $79,292 was up 36.37% from the corresponding 2020 figure and the median of $65,000 was up 49.43%. With 78 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 23.64%. It was 24.67% a year ago. Through four sessions,...

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - Demand for horses remained high across the board as the Book 2 section of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale concluded Friday in Lexington. "Today was pretty spectacular from start to finish," Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach said Friday evening. "It was a very strong day all the way through. We sense some frustration on the part of buyers with the momentum from September carrying through to November." A total of 475 head sold during the two Book 2...

Pink Sands (Tapit--Her Smile, by Include), a two-time graded winner for Gainesway Stable and Andrew Rosen and offered in foal to Into Mischief, took the lead late on the opening day of the Keeneland November Sale, realizing a final bid of $2.3 million from Japan's Masahiro Miki. Consigned by Gainesway as agent, the 6-year-old daughter of GI Prioress S. victress Her Smile (Include) was brought along patiently by Shug McGaughey and registered her first stakes victory in the 2019 Lady's Secret S. at Monmouth Park. Winner of the GIII Rampart...

Hard Not to Love (Hard Spun--Loving Vindication, by Vindication), victorious in the 2019 GI La Brea S. at Santa Anita, was the latest mare to shine at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale Tuesday, selling to a partnership consisting of Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway for $3.2 million. The Ontario-bred, cataloged as hip 184, was consigned to the sale by Lane's End and is a half-sister to Canadian Horse of the Year Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d'Oro) and SW & GSP Solemn Tribute (Medaglia d'Oro). Her second dam is GSW/GISP Chimichurri...

Gainesway's perennial leading sire Tapit (Pulpit--Tap Your Heels, by Unbridled) will once again head the farm's stallion roster and stud fees for the upcoming 2022 season. Tapit will remain at $185,000 live foal, stands and nurses. Currently among the top five North American stallions on the leading sires list of 2021, Tapit has three year-end leading sire titles and is North America's leading sire of Grade I winners with 27, Grade I performers with 58, graded stakes winners with 92, graded stakes horses with 177, and stakes performers with 284....

Gainesway Farm enjoyed an unforgettable Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale this year as the leading consignor of the elite auction with 12 yearlings sold including the $2.6 million sales topper. Now, they hope to continue the same success at the upcoming Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars Sale on Nov. 9 with a consignment that features three graded stakes winners including the speedy and precocious Perfect Alibi (Sky Mesa - No Use Denying, by Maria's Mon). The Grade I winner campaigned by Tracy Farmer will be offered in foal to super-sire Into Mischief....

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, launched last week with a Bluegrass band, mimosas, and a boutique Book 1 section, continued its momentum straight through to the end of its 11th session, concluding with a sales record average, median and buy-back rate. The gross, which was over $300,000,000 for three straight years before falling to $248,978,700 during the pre-vaccination pandemic in 2020, rebounded to $352,823,000 by the time the last hip went through the ring Friday evening. It was the auction's sixth highest gross in history. "The hope was that we...

A colt by Gun Runner went to the head of the results sheet when selling for $975,000 to Jacob West at Keeneland Wednesday. West was bidding on behalf of the partnership of Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola. Todd Pletcher will train the youngster. The chestnut colt was consigned by Gainesway on behalf of breeder Winchell Thoroughbreds. He is out of the unraced Time to Tap (Tapit), a full-sister to Winchell's champion filly Untapable and a half to Grade I winner Paddy o'Prado (El Prado {Ire}). Time to Tap is also...

Mandy Pope made her first big splash at the 2021 Keeneland September Sale, going to $1.3 million for Gainesway's hip 331. The Lexington nursery acquired the colt's dam Danzatrice (Dunkirk) for $105,000 at the 2014 OBS April Sale and raced her to seven victories, including a trio at black-type level and a third-place effort in the GIII Groupie Doll S. Danzatrice is a half-sister to Eclipse Award winner Jaywalk (Cross Traffic), who is a maternal granddaughter of the late Unbridled's Song the same as Danzatrice. Mandy Pope paid $3.8 million...

A filly by perennial leading sire War Front dropped the hammer at $1.2 million from Eddie Woods, agent for Seahorse Stables, to get day two of the Keeneland September Sale off to a positive start Tuesday in Lexington. The Mar. 24 foal is a daughter of the stakes-winning Vaulcluse (A. P. Indy), the dam of Sovereign Award winner Lukes Alley (Flower Alley) as well as SW & GSP 'TDN Rising Star' Arrifana (Curlin). Hip 223 was bred and consigned by Gainesway, who acquired Vaulcluse for $600,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton...

And suddenly it feels as though the milestones have run out, leaving the road ahead tapering to some unmapped horizon. Because from now on, every dime earned by the progeny of Tapit will take him deeper into record territory. The success of Perfect Grace in a maiden at Saratoga on Saturday--and neither the setting nor the mating that produced this filly, with Horse of the Year Havre De Grace (Saint Liam), could be more commensurate with the moment--took their collective haul past the late Giant's Causeway's current tally of $173,015,900...

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Following a bidless 2020, the sizzle was back at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion with a vibrant concluding session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale Tuesday in upstate New York. The session was punctuated by three seven-figure transactions, led by a colt by Into Mischief who sold for $2.6 million to Coolmore's M.V. Magnier. "Whatever adjectives you want to use to describe it: fantastic, vibrant, energetic, dramatic," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said Tuesday night. "You've heard me say it...