The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale entered Book 3 in Lexington, with the highest sale for the day being the 4-year-old broodmare Chameleon in foal to Practical Joke, grossing $15,012,500 for the day with a lower average and median, 24.77% as buyback rate, and only six horses sold for $200,000 or over.
– 4-year-old broodmare Chameleon (Candy Ride Arg) sold for $425,000 to Terri Burch of Stoneway Farm
– 243 horses grossed $15,012,500 during the session, with 80 horses reported as not sold
– Weanlings from the first crop of Yaupon have been in demand all week, selling for $220,000 to Brownsboro Racing and for $205,000 to Peter O’Callaghan’s Cavalier Bloodstock
https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/chameleon-to-stoneway-farm/
The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale is in full swing, and the action has been intense. Just yesterday, the 4-year-old broodmare Chameleon (Candy Ride Arg) took the lead, selling for $425,000 to Terri Burch of Stoneway Farm. This mare, in foal to Practical Joke, has been raising the stakes and leaving its mark on the world of horse breeding. Beyond this highlight sale, 243 horses grossed $15,012,500 for an average of $61,780 and a median of $50,000 at the Book 3 session of the sale. This reflects a 27% decrease in average prices from last year’s opening Book 3 section and a 23.08% decrease in median price.
The market has proved to be selective, with 80 horses not taken by any buyer. The buy-back rate was 24.77%, less than the 26.63% seen a year ago. Commenting on the unusual market dynamics, Tommy Eastham of Legacy Bloodstock said, “The market is good, but it’s really selective. It’s very polarized. It just makes us better horsemen. We need to be better consignors, take better care of our horses because little penalties that you used to be able to get away with, that were maybe 20% penalty in the past, are fatal for your sale now. I hope it gets a little better and spreads out a little bit, but if you tick all the proverbial boxes, it’s still really good.”
Meanwhile, weanlings from the first crop of Yaupon have emerged as hot commodities. Two colts by the well-regarded Spendthrift stallion topped the foal category during the sale, fetching $220,000 to Brownsboro Racing and $205,000 to Peter O’Callaghan’s Cavalier Bloodstock. The consensus among buyers and sellers seems to be that the weanling market has been competitive, but there has been a noticeable drop in quality from years past.
Concluding her observations, Terri Burch of Stoneway Farm highlighted the farm’s long-term strategy. Having campaigned multiple graded winner Stonetastic (Mizzen Mast), of which Stoneway Farm purchased for $77,000 at the 2012 Keeneland September sale, the overall ambition is to focus on breeding and nurturing their own racers. “It’s so much cheaper for us to race one of our own and make it a stakes horse then try to come over and buy one,” Burch said. “We’ve been very successful buying them on the cheap and they turn into graded stakes horses and we bring them home to the farm. So we are hoping we get great babies out of [Chameleon] because she’s so beautiful.”
