Keeneland party comes to Del Mar with Pandora’s Gift among Breeders’ Cup contenders

Interest in the Breeders’ Cup will take another step forward Wednesday with the opening of the Keeneland Championship Sale.

Held in the paddock at 6.30pm local time (11.30am GMT), the exclusive catalog features a selection of horses commissioned to run across the two-day meeting in a dazzling, invite-only format not unlike Goffs London.

The main thing that will attract the attention of the British and Irish will be the man trained by Stuart Williams. Pandora’s GiftChurchill mare who won a Listed race at Chelmsford in the spring.

He was placed in the Ballyogan Stakes at Naas in August and has since gone on to further black type races in the US in Grade 2 races at Presque Isle Downs and Keeneland. He was retired to stand five for Saturday’s Filly & Mare Sprint.

25 percent of other potential candidates for auction have been sold golden phoenixIn comes Irish-bred Belardo, who won a Grade 1 in the Frank E Kilroe Mile last year and also has a hat-trick of Grade 2 Del Mar Handicaps on his CV. He drew the 12th wicket on the grass field on Saturday.

The same share is offered for the unbeaten competitor in the Juvenile Fillies Turf kilwinVosburgh Stakes winner’s 50 percent stake also up for grabs mufasaWe set off towards the Dirt Mile.

“We’ve always looked at the market, not just in the U.S. but around the world, to see what works, what doesn’t, what we could potentially try, and that’s something we’ve been talking about for the last two years.” three years,” said Tony Lacy, Keeneland’s vice president of sales.

“We are a Breeders’ Cup host site and we have a great relationship with Del Mar, we are a sponsor of the Del Mar Oaks, so the Breeders’ Cup is a very natural partner for us.

“There are horses that will go on and have plans for next year. Pandora’s Gift ran a great race with us at Keeneland a few weeks ago and finished third in the Franklin Stakes. It seemed like a natural decision to offer him; with the current revitalization of the turf program here “There’s a lot of interest and opportunity, so it could be a very productive year.”

A 1/40 share of unbeaten sensation Flightline, who sold first foals this year, could amount to a huge sum, considering a similar number sold for $4.6 million at Keeneland upon retirement in 2022.

“We sold the first fractional interest after we won the Flightline Breeders’ Cup Classic, and I don’t think it has disappointed anyone so far,” Lacy said.

“His foals are amazing, I haven’t seen a bad stallion yet and I think he’s a very attractive stallion known all over the world. The stallion also has its share. cogburnA young horse who will be retired after the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

“He’s been a great horse and will go to Australia and stop here. He’s a great transitional spot for a lot of mares, he fits in with a lot of broodmares and I think he’ll be incredibly popular.”

Among the other horses recruited, Bucchero also has 25 percent. Book DannoConsistently appearing in the Saudi Derby Cornell is being offered and is another one who may emerge as an international traveler.

Lacy is hopeful the sale will provide a useful briefing as part of this event before the company turns its attention to next month’s November Sale, which features a large collection of foals and breeding stock, including a number of major distributions.

“We didn’t set out to buy 30 or 40 horses, this is a party that includes sales,” he said. “We had a party at the last Breeders’ Cup which was a small, intimate affair and I think the Breeders’ Cup team found it interesting.

“When we talked to them we thought we could find something that goes hand in hand, having some sort of connection or high quality horses being sold and that turned into that. The figure looks like where we want to be, We don’t want to take over the event, we just want to be a part of it, we want to be fun and we want the excitement of it.” We hope it will be a rewarding opportunity.”

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