CHAMPION Midnight Bisou, in foal to Tapit, sold for $5.5 million to Japan’s Katsumi Yoshida to lead the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, continuing the excitement at Keeneland which hosted the Breeders’ Cup at the weekend.

At the opening session, Keeneland sold 136 lots for $66,980,000, for an average of $492,500 and a median of $290,000, The aggregate was 32% above the $50,634,000 for the first session last year, while the average rose 15% from $429,102 and the median dipped 12% from $330,000.

Ten lots sold for $1 million or more, compared to seven during the first session of the 2021 sale.

“We’re seeing a focus on quality,” Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said afterwards. “And there’s a broadness in the marketplace. The top 15 horses that went through the ring were bought by 11 different buyers. It’s always good to see a mix of domestic and international buyers.

“We’re coming off a very successful Breeders’ Cup. Our team put in a huge effort to turn this around from putting on the largest racing event in North America to switching to having the second-largest horse sale in the world within a few hours. I have to commend everybody.”

Midnight Bisou, a seven-year-old daughter of Midnight Lute out of Grade 3 winner Diva Delite, won 13 races and earned $7.47 million. Consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa, she was supplemented to the sale. “This mare has been so good to us in so many different ways,” co-owner Jeff Bloom said.

He added: “I’m so happy about the home she is going to. She will forever hold an incredible place in my heart, my family’s heart, my partner’s heart. It’s impossible to describe the journey she has taken us on. These horses afford us the opportunity to have these life experiences we wouldn’t be able to have. It’s been a great run.”

“We’ll take her back to Japan most likely. I’m kind of speechless,” translator Shingo Hashimoto said on behalf of Yoshida. “(He said) the first time I saw her was in Saudi when she was running for the Saudi Cup. I already knew of her race record, and she was really gorgeous. It was very lucky for us to purchase her.”

Yoshida made three purchases on the day for $9.7 million. He also acquired the multiple French Group 1 winner, and Irish-bred, Dreamloper, a five-year-old daughter of Lope de Vega for $2.7 million, and Grade 2 winner Jouster, a four-year-old daughter of Noble Mission, for $1.5 million. Dreamloper was consigned by her trainer, Ed Walker.

Shamrock Rose

Lane’s End consigned the champion Shamrock Rose, who is in foal to Curlin, and sold her for $3 million to Japan’s KI Farm. A half-sister to stakes winner Loyalty, the seven-year-old is out of the Elusive Quality mare Slew’s Quality. “The physical and race record are what stood out,” said Sean Toriumi, interpreter for buyer Tomoyuki Nakamura.

He added: “(Curlin is) a top sire and that is something that stood out as well. (The price) was in the rough range of what he was expecting. Right now, he is deciding whether to take her to Japan or leave her in the States. There are a lot of options for us.”

Lane’s End’s Allaire Ryan said the purchase price “certainly surpassed our expectations, which just goes to show you how strong this market is when something ticks all the boxes for two people.”

MV Magnier went to $2.6 million to acquire Marion Ravenwood, a stakes-winning daughter of A.P. Indy, who is in foal to Curlin and carrying a full-sibling to Grade 1 winners Nest and Idol. Also the dam of stakes winner Lost Ark, the 14-year-old mare was consigned by Ashview Farm. “Nest is just an incredible filly,” Magnier said. “(Marion Ravenwood) will most likely go to Justify.”

Multiple Grade 3 winner Four Graces, a five-year-old daughter of Majesticperfection who is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner and sire McCraken, sold to Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm for $2.3 million. “We certainly never expected her to bring more than $2 million,” Denali’s Conrad Bandoroff said. “It went well beyond our expectations. She was an unbelievable physical. Every time she came out for a show, she just had so much class.”

Salty price

Determined Stud and Gage Hill paid $2 million for Salty As Can Be, a stakes-placed daughter of Into Mischief and in foal to Quality Road. The four-year-old mare is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Salty. “It was a partnership, a breeding partnership that we’ve put together,” Terry Finley said about the buyers. “She’ll go to Flightline, and we’re buying a couple others. Our partners just said let’s do some things with Flightline if and when he retires, so that’s what we’re doing. Determined Stud is taking a piece of the deal. They’re trying to make a mark on the breeding side of things.”

Multiple Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed five-year-old Edgeway sold to Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind Equine for $1.7 million. Summer Wind bred Flightline, and Lyon remains a co-owner in the horse. She said she was looking for mares to breed to him. “She’s a beautiful mare. She’s fast,” said Lyon. “Unfortunately, I get a little carried away now and then. We’ll see what happens.”

On Tuesday, stakes winner Park Avenue, a four-year-old daughter of Quality Road, sold to Jane Lyon for $1.45 million. She won this year’s Ouija Board Distaff at Lone Star Park and is from the family of Grade 1 winners Golden Ticket, Well Chosen, Telling and Leofric. “I’ve been outbid on several I’ve wanted, but I was pretty determined not to get outbid on her,” Lyon said.

Grade 3 winner Proud Emma, a six-year-old daughter of Include in foal to Charlatan, sold to Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind Equine for $1 million to head Wednesday’s third session of the sale. She is the first million-dollar horse on day three since 2017, and she increased the number of seven-figure purchases at this year’s sale to 13.

“We saw an awfully pretty mare that we think Flightline would like,” Lyon said. “We were trying to find mares that we thought both physically and pedigree-wise would fit him. I hope he realizes what a job he’s got ahead of him!”

MV Magnier also acquired the sale’s top-priced weanling, a daughter of Medaglia D’Oro who is a half-sister to champion Honor Code, for $1.5 million, the highest price paid for a weanling at the November Sale since 2015 and the highest amount for a weanling filly at the auction since 2001. The dam is stakes winner Serena’s Cat, by Storm Cat.

Incredible amount paid for a small stake in Flightline

A STAGGERING $4.6 was paid on Monday for a 2.5% share in Flightline, who romped to an 8¼-length victory in the $6 million Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at the weekend. Brookdale Farm’s Freddy Seitz signed on behalf of an undisclosed farm client.

The fractional interest, offered by West Point Thoroughbreds, sold during a special auction prior to the start of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. “They just called and said, ‘I really want to make a big splash and get involved a little more in the business,’ ” said Seitz. “I did not expect it to go that high. It was pretty exciting. When you’re dealing with top quality, you’ve got to pay.

“They did not give me that kind of figure going in. I could tell once it started maybe we were going to keep going. I was a little more nervous than he was. He and his family were watching. I think they were having a really good time. With a special horse like him all you can do is get involved and then just hope for the best. “

Seitz added: “There has never been a horse that has done what he has done for however many years, back to Secretariat. You just have to pay up and get involved, and this is kind of what he’s thinking. He has a broodmare band and I think he is going to have a nicer broodmare band now. He does have some nice mares; six or eight mares at any time. He will probably be shopping now from what I understood.”

“It was very exciting; it’s a tribute to Flightline,” Bill Farish of Lane’s End said. “He’s just an incredible horse. There was a tremendous amount of interest. It was so hard to know where something like that would go. It’s the first time anything like this has ever been done with a horse of that magnitude.”

The auction featured a first-of-its-kind Metaverse experience designed to give participants a front-row seat in a virtual sales ring.