Topliner, a grade I producer and a half sister to two grade I winners, commanded $1.4 million to establish a new high price during the first session of the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale Jan. 9.
By Thunder Gulch and in foal to hot sire Medaglia d'Oro , Topliner was bought by Naohiro Hosoda on behalf of Katsumi Yoshida. Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency, agent, consigned the mare, who will be sent to Yoshida’s Northern Farm in Japan.
“We spent a lot (on Topliner), but that’s the market,” said Hosoda of the mare’s price.
“She’s a young, proven mare and her family is great,” he continued of Topliner, who is unraced. One of Topliner’s main attractions, he said, was the fact her first foal, Star Billing (by Dynaformer), is a grade I winner on turf. Racing as a homebred for George Kirkorian, Star Billing scored her big victory in the Nov. 25 Matriarch (gr. IT) at Hollywood Park. With a record of 3-2-1 from seven starts, including an additional score in last year's Senorita Stakes (gr. IIIT), she has earned $355,067.
Topliner, bred in Kentucky by Wind Hill Farm and produced from the winning, graded stakes-placed mare To the Hunt (by Relaunch), is a half sister to grade I-winning millionaires Stellar Jayne (by Wild Rush) and Starrer (by Dynaformer).
Topliner's other foals are an unraced 3-year-old Rock Hard Ten filly named Starseeker, a 2-year-old Rock Hard Ten colt, and a yearling Giant's Causeway filly. Future breeding plans for Topliner are undecided.