From the Bloodhorse:
The team at ELiTE began the 2020 mixed sales season on a high note, offering broodmare and racing prospects at Fasig-Tipton’s The November Sale that included the $9.5 million sale topper Monomoy Girl.
Their momentum in the sale ring continued at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, and showed staying power during the ninth session Nov. 17 with a solid group of racehorses that found a receptive audience with the deep buying bench.
ELiTE was the session’s second-leading consignor by gross, with 17 horses selling for $1,389,000 at an average price of $81,706. Five of the nine six-figure transactions were consigned by ELiTE.
Leading the way was Miss J McKay (Hip 3085), a stakes-winning 3-year-old filly from the first crop of Murmur Farm’s Hangover Kid out of the Street Boss mare Ballykissbought by Jackson Farms for $300,000. Bred in Maryland by Linda Oliff Rohleder, the filly was named in honor of Jim McKay, the legendary sportscaster and a leader in Maryland Thoroughbred breeding.
Trained by Cal Lynch for Sidney Karmia’s Maxis Stable—which purchased the filly for $55,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic October Yearling Sale—Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stable, and Marc and Joe Lore’s Wonder Stables, Miss J McKay has also placed in six stakes and earned $210,053 previous to going through the sale ring.
“Credit Cal Lynch for campaigning Miss J McKay beautifully,” ELiTE’s Bradley Weisbord said. “She won a stake at 2 and had a good year this year. She was extremely unlucky as the favorite in the (Oct. 10) Sands Point (G2T), getting stymied and stuck down on the fence. She’s a beautiful, beautiful horse.”
Although the filly brought “way more than her reserve,” Weisbord said he was not surprised by the hefty price tag. “When you bring a horse in current form that is a beautiful physical into racehorse day (in the sale) you generally get rewarded.”
Other six-figure racing or broodmare prospects sold by ELiTE Tuesday included Catch a Bid (Hip 3243), a stakes-winning 4-year-old daughter of Calumet Farm stallion Real Solution who had earned $190,524 for Klaravich Stables, purchased by Shepherd Equine Advisers, agent for Larry Hirsch, for $180,000; Moral Reasoning (Hip 3091), Klaravich’s stakes-placed 3-year-old daughter of WinStar Farm’s More Than Ready whose second dam produced French classic winner and Gainesway stallion Karakontie , bought by T&C Horse Farms for $175,000; Growth Engine (Hip 3422A), a 4-year-old gelded son of Tapit who has won or placed in all seven career starts while earning $133,780, was purchased by David Ingordo for $150,000; and Abuse of Power (Hip 3208), a 3-year-old Karokontie filly from the female family of multiple grade 1 winner and sire Street Boss acquired by Preferred Equine, agent for Lindy Farm, for $120,000.
With owners that campaign horses that succeed at the highest levels such as champion Monomoy Girl, ELiTE not only manages the racing careers of many of its clients’ equine portfolios but also assists in finding new homes at auction for those that have not lived up to expectations to date.
Weisbord said buyers have confidence not only that the horses in ELiTE’s consignment are brought to auction to be sold with few buy-backs, but also that the consignor has a deep knowledge of the horses’ careers.
“We’re so lucky to work for most of these clients for 365 days a year,” he continued. “We enjoy being around them at the races, we enjoy being around their horses at the tracks, we enjoy working with them at the sales, and we get to bear the fruits of that at the sales arena and get top dollar for them when they’re done.
“Knowing the product is where we differentiate ourselves,” Weisbord continued. “We’re around these horses every day. People understand that when they come to our consignment we know our product. I think that helps us and helps these horses bring top money.”
