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The Keeneland 2011 November breeding stock sale gets underway today with 3920 horses catalogued for the 11 day sale which runs until November 17th.
Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic winner, Royal Delta, a daughter of Juddmonte bred Stallion, Empire Maker is being sold as part of a dispersal of her owner/breeder Palides Investment and is scheduled as Lot 427. Having been beaten 8 lengths by the Classic runner, Havre de Grace, she had previously won the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga for Bill Mott.
Breeders will have further opportunity to buy into this prestigious family when her half-sister, by Smart Strike (Lot 314) is due to sell along with their dam, the 12yo Delta Princess (Lot 313) selling in foal to Distorted Humor, the sire of Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, Drosselmeyer while Lot 208 is Red Barchetta, a 4yo by Seeking The Gold selling in foal to Giant’s Causeway out of Grade 1 winner, Indy Five Hundred, a full-sister to Delta Princess and dam of Ecliptic, a son of Kingmambo who was second in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket. Lot 293 is Carmargue, an unraced three-parts sister to Delta Princess who sells in foal to Street Sense.
Lot 1398 is Cautionary Tale, a Yes It’s True half-sister to the dam of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and former Keeneland Sales graduate, My Miss Aurelia whilst Lot 159 is Lorena Wood, a daughter Irish 1000 Guineas second, Vilikaia by Woodman and half-sister to the dam of Grade 2 Turf Sprint winner, Regally Ready (More Than Ready).
St Nicholas Abbey’s (Montjeu) victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf was a timely reminder of the devastating turn of foot he showed when winning the Racing Post Trophy as a juvenile and breeders will be hoping his half-sister, Esher (King of Kings) will pass on some of those family traits when she sells in foal to Henrythenavigator (Lot 1841). Her 2011 foal, also by Henrythenavigator sells as Lot 1842.
Court Vision (Gulch) was seemingly unfancied when winning the Breeders Cup Mile at odds of 65/1 but his record at Churchill Downs reads, 7 starts, 2 wins, 2 places with his 3 unplaced efforts being a 2 length defeat by Breeders Cup Mile winner Goldikova (Anabaa) last year, a 24 length defeat behind Big Brown (Boundary) in the Kentucky Derby and a 5 length defeat in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve on his last visit to Churchill Downs. Given these star credentials, Lot 40, a colt foal by Malibu Moon is sure to be popular as his dam is a half-sister to Court Vision. In turn, their dam Weekend Storm is a sister to A P Indy and Summer Squall while Lot 41 is a half-sister to Court Vision by Smart Strike and sells in foal to Quality Road.
Drosselmeyer (Distorted Humor) who was purchased at the 2008 Keeneland September Yearling sale hadn’t put up much of a fight in his races since winning the Belmont Stakes in grand style, but his Breeders’ Cup Classic victory couldn’t have been better timed for the vendors of Lot 186, a three-parts sister to Drosselmeyer out of his half-sister, Our Golden Song who also sells as lot 187 in foal to Speightstown, the sire of Lord Shanakill. Lot 2099 is an Any Given Saturday (Distorted Humor) colt foal from the family of Drosselmeyer while Lot 3641 is Sparkles Plenty, selling in foal to Any Given Saturday and whose dam is a half-sister to the dam of Drosselmeyer.
Other notable entries include the Champion filly of 2010, Blind Luck (Lot 210A) and notable Grade 1 winner, Life at Ten (Lot 152) as well as a 2011 half-sister to Zenyatta by Henrythenavigator (Lot 36).
