SF Bloodstock

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency GUN RUNNER FILLIES DEBUT AT CHURCHILL 7th-CD, $120k, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 3:57 p.m. Freshman sire Gun Runner is represented by a pair of debuting fillies in this six-furlong affair. Richard Baltas saddles PEACE PEDDLER (GUN RUNNER), a $200,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, for Calvin Nguyen. The bay filly is a daughter of Canadian champion Embur's Song (Unbridled's Song). Steve Asmussen sends out Stonestreet homebred Ari Oakley (Gun Runner), a daughter of Belle of Perintown (Dehere) and half-sister to graded winner Strike It Rich (Unbridled's Song) and...

The seasonal foliage was about the only thing falling at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, which concluded a wildly successful run in Lexington Friday afternoon. Over the course of 10 days of trade, sales officials reported gross receipts of $203,585,500 for 2470 horses sold, good for an average of $82,423. Further demonstrating the strength of middle market, the median price of $37,000 established a new November record, eclipsing the previous mark of $35,000 set on five previous occasions, but most recently in 2014. The buyback rate closed at a...

By Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale continued with strong demand during a lively session of bidding Thursday in Lexington. The auction's first of two Book 2 sessions concluded with both average and median up and the buy-back rate down from the corresponding session in 2020. "Incredible," Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said of Thursday's action. "It was a really vibrant market again today. I think people were a little frustrated in buying, but we had a lot of happy...

LEXINGTON, KY - The start of the opening session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale was delayed an hour by heavy rain, but the weather seemed to be the only thing that could hold back the auction once the bidding got started Monday at Newtown Paddocks. "We were very pleased with the opening session of the October sale," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said Monday night. "I don't think there was any surprise that there was a lot of demand. We've seen strength in the yearling sales from the start...

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...

Godolphin's Arqana Breeze-Up@Doncaster £675,000 sale topper Chancellery (Ire) (Medaglia d'Oro) was all the rage for Thursday's Prix de Fontenoy at ParisLongchamp and justified odds-on favouritism in the one-mile newcomers' test to earn 'TDN Rising Star' status with an impressive debut performance. The 7-10 pick shuffled for early positioning and found a slot stalking the pace in second by halfway. Looming large on the bridle approaching the quarter-mile marker, he was comfortably on top with 250 metres remaining and powered clear under minimal coaxing before gearing down to easily outclass Woozle...

In response to an order from a federal judge for trainer Bob Baffert to reveal specifically which of his existing clients have told him they may pull horses from his care if his banishment by the New York Racing Association (NYRA) is allowed to continue, Baffert's legal team on Friday provided the court with a list of five Thoroughbred owners who are allegedly considering splitting with the Hall of Fame conditioner. According to a one-page letter filed electronically by attorney W. Craig Robertson just minutes before the judge's mandated noon...

Classier went wire-to-wire and resolutely held off stablemate Defunded to give trainer Bob Baffert his fifth straight win in the GIII Los Alamitos Derby Sunday. Sent off at 6-5, Classier was on the lead through fractions of :22.98 and :47.01. Defunded, the 3-5 favorite, rolled up to challenge the pacesetter after three-quarters in 1:11.08 and, while Classier began inching away in upper stretch, the favorite battled back in a stirring stretch battle to the wire. Classier refused to yield and earned his first graded victory in determined fashion. "I waited...

It was a stunning couple of days of trade at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, held this past Tuesday and Wednesday at the auction house's Riverside complex at Warwick Farm in Sydney. The event averaged A$371,236, a 5% increase on the last comparable sale in 2019 (last year's sale was held virtually) and was the highest since 2008. The median price of A$280,000 represented a healthy 7.9% bump over 2019 and seven out of eight horses to go under the hammer changed hands. Turnover for the sale was A$132 million,...

SF Bloodstock is one of the largest and most successful investors in stallions in the Thoroughbred business worldwide. So when SF throws it support behind a young sire, it's worth taking notice. SF owns stallions in the U.S., Australia and Europe, and this year the group will find out if its backing of the 2016 champion 3-year-old Almanzor (Fr) will bear fruit, with that three-time Group 1 winner soon set to be represented by his first runners. Meanwhile, SF has continued its patronage of the French breeding business, and in...

Speightstown (Gone West)'s highly promising 3-year-old colts Nashville and Charlatan are set to square off in the Gl Malibu S. over seven furlongs on opening day at Santa Anita Dec. 26, and the race already has the feel of an anticipated prize fight to it, all the way down to their respective heavyweight connections, who were once together on the same team that celebrated Justify (Scat Daddy)'s Triple Crown. But an important focus of this race belongs to their top-class sire, himself a champion sprinter, because it's quite a feat...

When SF Bloodstock and Newgate Farm purchased Con Te Partiro (Scat Daddy--Temple Street, by Street Cry {Ire}) for $575,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November sale, the team was already impressed with her accomplishments, but fast forward two years and it will be an even more imposing mare who goes through the ring during the first session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale Nov. 9 in Lexington. Out of the Grade I placed Temple Street and a half-sister to multiple graded placed Donworth (Tiznow), Con Te Partiro was purchased by...