A Malibu Moon filly topped Day 4 at the Keeneland September yearling sale on Wednesday when making $700,000 to the bid of Glen Hill Farm. The filly is from Group performer Erhu (Tactical Cat).
Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Estates was next on the leader board with a $500,000 Dynaformer – Ensenada (Seeking the Gold) colt. His second dam Desert Stormer (Storm Cat) was a G1 winner of the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. It’s the family of English based filly White Moonstone (Dynaformer) who has won her last two starts in the G2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster and G3 Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket.
A Giant’s Causeway half-sister to G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up Crown of Thorns (Repent) sold to Whisper Hill Farm for $475,000. They are from Thunder Gulch mare Crowning Touch who is a half-sister to Champion sprinter Smoke Glacken (Two Punch) and stakes winning filly Capote’s Crown (Capote). The latter is the dam of a Bernardini colt who brought $550,000 on Day 3 of this year’s sale.
Also bringing $475,000 on Wednesday was a Candy Ride colt from Champion Argentine 2YO Filly Ivory Tower (Southern Halo). He hails from a family that has spawned Argentine Horse of the Year Invasor (Candy Stripes) and South African Horse of the Year Illustrador (Cipayo).
Trade on Day 4 saw 196 yearlings change hands for $23.85 million. The average increased by 17.1% to $121,730 compared to the corresponding session a year ago.
The auction continues through to September 26. For complete results, as well as live video of the sale, log onto www.keeneland.com.