Keeneland HORA Sale Sets New Record as Bishops Bay Sells for $1.3 Million
Recent GIII Forty Niner Stakes winner Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo–Catch My Drift, by Pioneerof the Nile) sold for a record $1.3 million to bloodstock agent Pedro Lanz, representing Saudi Arabia’s KAS Stables, during Wednesday’s Keeneland Horses of Racing Age Sale. The transaction occurred within the first 30 minutes of trading, eclipsing the previous sale record of $1 million paid for 2-year-old colt Extortion (Into Mischief) in 2022.
The 5-year-old entire was among three horses commanding more than $500,000 during the 3½-hour session. Overall, 108 horses changed hands for $10,455,000, marking a 21.39% increase over last year’s figures. The average price rose 18.01% to $96,806, while the median declined 20% to $40,000. Twenty horses (15.63%) were reported as not sold, slightly higher than 2024’s 14 horses (11.76%).
“This was a strong finish to a remarkable sales season,” said Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. “Setting a record for top price in this format is very satisfying and reflects an ongoing demand for quality, race-ready horses as we move into a new season.”
The sale caps a successful auction season for Keeneland, following strong results at both the September Yearling Sale and the eight-day breeding stock sale. The next Keeneland auction will be the 2026 January Horses of All Ages Sale beginning January 12.
## Saudi Cup The Target For Bishops Bay
The launch of the Saudi Cup in 2020 has significantly transformed horses-of-racing-age sales in Central Kentucky and beyond.
Bloodstock professionals representing Saudi Arabian and Gulf country interests have become increasingly aggressive with their spending, motivated by potential high-six, seven-, or eight-figure paydays during the desert racing season.
“All year,” Lanz told Keeneland media when asked how long Bishops Bay had been on his radar. “That’s a typical horse that can work for us. I was watching the replays and I recommended this horse because he is a very honest horse: 12 starts, eight wins, three seconds. It’s a very honest horse and I think he will be fine.”
Bred by WinStar Farm and sold for $450,000 as a Keeneland September yearling in 2021, the bay was trained by Brad Cox for a partnership headed by Spendthrift Farm. He won his first two starts as a 3-year-old before transitioning to stakes company, finishing second to future champion Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the GIII Peter Pan Stakes and runner-up to Two Phil’s (Hard Spun) in the GIII Ohio Derby.
After making just one start at four, Bishops Bay has won five of seven outings this season, including the GIII Westchester Stakes and GIII Salvator Mile in addition to the Forty Niner on November 2. His career record stands at 8-3-0 from 12 starts with earnings of $702,800.
Bidding started slowly with incremental increases of $10,000 and $15,000 until reaching the $400,000 range. The pace accelerated dramatically after a $450,000 bid was raised by $50,000, continuing in $25,000 increments through the $1-million mark before concluding with Lanz’s $1.3-million offer. Bloodstock agent Chad Schumer was the immediate underbidder.
“Pedro was sitting right across from me and poor E. C. [46-year Keeneland bid spotter E. C. Larkin] was going back and forth, I felt sorry for him,” Schumer said.
Bishops Bay will continue racing under Cox’s care into his 6-year-old campaign, with the world’s richest race potentially on the horizon.
“We have the [GII] Cigar Mile [at Aqueduct on December 6],” Lanz said. “We will talk to Brad Cox and that’s a possibility. We have the option to continue training the horse in quarantine for the Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia, not confirmed yet.”
“If we win the [G3] King’s Cup against local-trained horses, we have a pass. We qualify. If we win the Cigar Mile and we get a nice high rating, that’s another way. We have to receive an invitation from the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia.”
The 2026 King’s Cup, an internationally recognized Group 3 contest, is scheduled for January 17, four weeks before the February 14 Saudi Cup over the same 1800-meter distance.
In an ironic twist, Bishops Bay is a half-brother to Strava (Into Mischief), who topped the racing-age section in 2021 when it was still incorporated into the breeding stock sale. The late Louisville head basketball coach Denny Crum made the winning bid of $825,000 for that horse.
## ‘Rising StaRRR’ World Record Also Off To Middle East
Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi’s Dubai-based RRR Racing paid $900,000 to acquire ‘TDN Rising Star’ World Record (Gun Runner–Marwa {GB}, by Exceed and Excel {Aus}) as the sale neared its conclusion.
“I thought he sold well, that’s kind of where we had him pegged, from $500,000 to $1 million,” said WinStar Farm’s Elliott Walden, who raced the colt in partnership with BBN Racing. “He had 12 vets and was very popular.”
Consigned by ELiTE Sales, the bay colt was bred by Runnymede Farm LLC, Falguieres Bloodstock, Gestut Zur Kuste AG, et. al. and was originally purchased for $410,000 as a weanling at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale.
Trained by Rodolphe Brisset, World Record earned ‘Rising Star’ status when graduating impressively at second asking at three. Two starts later, he dominated the GII Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga, winning by 6¾ lengths.
After an allowance win at Churchill Downs during Derby week this May, the bay finished second in the GIII Aristides Stakes and third in the GI Bing Crosby Stakes. His career record stands at 11-4-1-4 with earnings of $504,540.
“I think there was quite a bit of interest in this horse from the Middle East,” said Ed Prosser, who signed the ticket for RRR Racing. “Bhupat Seemar, who will train him in Dubai, asked me to bid on him. He is always on the lookout for horses in America. There are some people from Saudi Arabia and the (Persian) Gulf region who are interested in this horse and this sale.”
RRR Racing’s notable runners include Isolate (Mark Valeski), winner of the G2 Godolphin Mile; Clapton (Brethren), victorious in the 2023 GIII Lukas Classic Stakes and Group 1-placed in Dubai; G3 UAE Oaks heroine Rayya (Tiz Wonderful); and Mufasa (Chi) (Practical Joke), a two-time Grade III winner in the U.S. late in 2024.
Walden explained that selling World Record was a business decision for WinStar, which already stands numerous top stallions but lacks a son of Gun Runner.
“We’ve had discussions about him over the years and there are great opportunities to run in those races in Saudi and Dubai. I think he’s a good fit for them,” Walden said.
“For us—and typical of what we’ve sold in this sale—we felt he just missed the mark on being a stallion in Kentucky at this point and that’s why he was for sale,” he added. “There are also a lot of sprint sons of Gun Runner in Kentucky.”
## Another ‘ELiTE’ Day at the Office
Brad Weisbord and Liz Crow’s ELiTE agency led all consignors by gross at the Horses of Racing Age Sale, selling 45 horses for $5,683,500 (including post sales). Bishops Bay and World Record accounted for approximately 40% of those receipts.
“They way exceeded expectations,” Weisbord said. “Bishops Bay is the end of a terrific partnership with Spendthrift and WinStar bred the horses and stayed in. The reserve was just a fraction of that.”
“Anytime you bring these sorts of horses to the marketplace, both Bishops Bay and World Record, you’re going to get paid. The opportunities to buy these sorts of horses are rare, so when they come about, especially right ahead of the racing carnivals there in Saudi and Dubai, you’re going to get paid. The owners were rewarded.”
