TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015 HARD NOT TO LIKE PACES KEENELAND CURLIN UP TO SIX FIGURES FOR 2016 by Jessica Martini, Steve Sherack, Brian DiDonato Curlin (Smart Strike), whose son Keen Ice is the only horse to Hard Not to Like (Hard Spun), who sold for $1.5 million a year defeat Triple Crown winner and certain Horse of the Year ago, added a pair of Grade I wins to her resume this term and American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) in the GI Travers S. in returned to the Keeneland sales ring to bring a session-topping 2015, will see his fee raised to $100,000 for his first season at $2.2 million during Monday’s first session of the November Hill ‘n’ Dale, it was announced Monday. The Horse of the Year in Breeding Stock Sale in 2007 and 2008, Curlin stood the 2015 breeding season at a fee Lexington. The 6-year- of $35,000 at Lane’s End Farm. old racing or Currenltly seventh on the TDN general sire’s list among North broodmare prospect American-based (hip 79), who sold to stallions with progeny Tom Ryan’s DATTT earnings in excess of Farm, was one of $9.7 milion in 2015, seven mares to bring Curlin has also been seven figures Monday represented by GI Santa at Keeneland. That Anita Oaks winner Hard Not to Like at the walk | Keeneland matched the million- Stellar Wind and dollar sales from last Curalina, victorious in year’s opening session, which was topped by the $3.6-million Keen Ice training at Saratoga ahead of his the GI Acorn S. and the Naples Bay (Giant’s Causeway). All seven-figure purchases were Travers upset | NYRA/Susie Raisher GI CCA Oaks, who made by separate buying interests. finished second and A colt by Medaglia d’Oro was Monday’s top-priced weanling, third, respectively, in the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff Oct. 30. In selling to Darley for $475,000. addtion to Curalina, Curlin was also represented at Saratoga by In all, 136 horses sold Monday for a total of $45,094,000. A GIII Schuylerville S. winner Off the Tracks and Exaggerator, who year ago, 135 head grossed $41,398,000. The average rose took down the GII Saratoga Special S. Cont. p16 8.13% to $331,574 and the median was up 19.12% to $202,500. “I thought [the market] was very good--very consistent with last year,” said Keeneland Director of Sales Geoffrey Russell. “We had seven million-dollar horses today, and we had seven last year. We only had one over $2 million this year, while we had three last year, but the next level of the market obviously helped dramatically because the median and average were up considerably.” There were 58 horses reported not sold for a buy-back rate of 29.90%. It was 25.41% a year ago. “At this level of the market, there’s emotional attachment to these horses,” Russell said of the buy-back rate. “They’re hard to replace. So, if I sell it, and I want to own a broodmare, where am I going to find one? It is the higher end, it is the tougher part, but it’s something I guess we’re just going to have to live with.” The second and final Book 1 session of the Keeneland November sale begins Tuesday at 11 a.m. The sale continues through Nov. 13 with sessions starting Wednesday beginning daily at 10 a.m. KEENOV cont. p3 Brilliant 3yo colt RUNHAPPY put an exclamation point on a championship season Saturday, setting a NEW TRACK RECORD en route to winning the 1:08.58 $1,500,000 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Keeneland. [WATCH THIS SUPER PERFORMANCE] 2016 Fee: $65,000 S&N www.WinStarFarm.com Office: (859) 873-1717 | Kyle Wilson: (859) 699-8589 Caroline Walsh: (859) 537-2527 | Sean Tugel: (859) 940-0456 There was plenty of activity at the Taylor Made barns and all PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord through the sales grounds at [email protected] Keeneland. Day one of book one is in the books and our Jessica SR. V.P. & CO-PUBLISHER Sue Finley @suefinley Martini, Steve Sherack and Brian [email protected] DiDonato have all the stories from Lexington. Keeneland photo V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN KEENOV coverage continues p3 [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief: Jessica Martini Managing Editor: Alan Carasso Senior Editor: Steve Sherack SOPHIA A RAGS-TO-RICHES STORY 10 Racing Editor: Brian DiDonato Trainer Phil Sims gave the upset price for Don’t Tell Sophia Associate Editor: Justina Severni (Congaree) at the 2010 September sale. He and partner Jerry Associate Editor: Christie DeBernardis Assistant Editor: Heather Anderson Namy needed a Brinks truck to leave Lexington Monday. Assistant Editor: Ben Massam ADVERTISING DARLEY ACQUIRE NYQUIST RIGHTS 18 [email protected] J. Paul Reddam’s Nyquist (Uncle Mo), who endured a brutally Director of Advertising: Alycia Borer wide trip to make it five-for-five in Saturday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Art Director: Lia Kusch Sr. Ad Coordinator/Dir. of Distribution: Juvenile, will stand at Darley at Jonabell at the end of his career.. Sarah K. Andrew Advertising Designer: Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistant: Amanda Foster PRINCE OF PENZANCE UPSETS IN MELBOURNE Social Media Strategist: Nichola Henry Prince of Penzance (NZ) (Pentire {GB}) caused a huge upset when CUSTOMER SERVICE winning the G1 Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington late Monday night. [email protected] His jockey, Michelle Payne, became the first female rider to win the Director of Customer Service: historic race, which has been run since 1861. Irish raider Max Dynamite Vicki Forbes (Fr) (Great Journey {Jpn}) was second, and Criterion (NZ) (Sebring {Aus}) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY was third. Three-time Cup runner-up Red Cadeaux (GB) (Cadeaux Director of IT: Robert Williams Genereux {GB}) was pulled up near the winning post and has been [email protected] diagnosed with a suspected fetlock injury to his left fore. He has been Director of Internal IT: Ray Villa transferred to the University of Melbourne Veterinary Clinic at Werribee [email protected] to undergo further assessment. The full result will appear in Wednesday's TDN.. WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor: Kelsey Riley [email protected] Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing: Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.thoroughbreddailynews.com www.thetdn.com HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 24 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • NOV. 3, 2015 DATTT ‘Likes’ Hard Spun Mare the Most “She’s a really nice filly and we’re glad to have her,” said Denali Stud farm manager Gary Bush, who signed the ticket for Twelve months ago at this sale, Hard Not to Like (Hard Spun), Hard Not to Like while seated next to DATTT principal Tom Ryan. who had won that April’s GI Jenny Wiley S. locally, was snatched “We’re looking for a nice filly to add to our broodmare band. up for $1.5 million by Speedway Stables, the upstart operation She may race one more time, and we’ll see how it of Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner. goes.” Transferred from Michael Matz to Christophe Of how he has found the market overall so far, Clement for her 6-year-old season, the grey Bush offered, “For the top mares, it’s still tough. crossed the wire first in her initial outing for her You’ve got to pay a lot of money for those, and new connections in Tampa’s GIII Endeavour S. in nobody wants to pay that, but that’s where it is at January, only to be demoted to second by the the top and that’s where we’re shopping.” stewards. Third in defense of her Jenny Wiley DATTT, whose horses are predominantly trained title after that, she proceeded to reel off back- by Mark Hennig, currently owns about 12 to-back Grade I victories in Santa Anita’s broodmares--all boarded at Denali. The operation Gamely S. in May and over eventual GI acquired GSW Wine Princess (Ghostzapper--Azeri) Breeders’ Cup Mile heroine Tepin (Bernstein) in for $3 million at Fasig-Tipton November last year. Saratoga’s Diana S. in July. Last seen finishing With $540,250 in earnings on the track this off-the-board in Santa Anita’s GI Rodeo Drive S. year, Fluor and Weiner did pretty well with their Sept. 26, she was scratched from Saturday’s GI somewhat unconventional pinhook of Hard Not to Breeders’ Cup F/M Turf due to soft turf, but still DATTT Farm’s Tom Ryan | Keeneland Like. lit up the Keeneland complex Monday when "Everybody knows what we paid for her, and she's proven DATTT Farm went all the way to $2.2 million to become her herself [since then]--she won two Grade I races,” Fluor said after newest owner. receiving congratulations from trainer Christophe Clement. Hard Not to Like was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, Cont. p4 Agent XLV as hip 79. HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 24 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • NOV. 3, 2015 DATTT Farm Acquires Hard Not to Like cont. “We're pleased, and I think the people who purchased her were pleased, so it's all good." Speedway also paid $1 million for local GII TCA S. winner Leigh Court (Grand Slam) at last year’s Fasig-Tipton November sale. The 5-year-old hit the board in a pair of graded stakes this year. The 2-year-old Bob Baffert pupil One Last Shot (Any Given Saturday), a $230,000 OBS April 2-year-old, was second in the Sept.