Negligee returned to the site of her former glory and made news again Jan. 10.
The winner of Keeneland’s Darley Alcibiades Stakes (gr. I) in 2009 for Sovereign Stable brought $625,000 during the lunch hour of the opening day of the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale in Lexington. Fergus Galvin and Adrian Regan of Hunter Valley Farm purchased the 4-year-old daughter of Northern Afleet for a client they declined to identify.
“She’s a lovely filly; it’s very obvious,” Regan said. “Myself and Fergus both recommended her highly. At the moment, the plan is she’ll stay here (in the United States). It was a bit more than we wanted to pay, but it probably was a fair price. Two years ago she would have made more.”
Said Galvin: “She would have been a million-dollar mare two years ago.”
John Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency, agent, consigned Negligee as a broodmare prospect.
“We haven’t talked about breeding plans yet,” Regan said.
Produced from the stakes-winning Relaunch mare Naughty Notions, Negligee was the 2009 champion 2-year-old filly in Canada, where she finished second in the Ontario Debutante Stakes at Woodbine. In 2010, the bay filly was second in the in Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs and third in the Sands Point Stakes (gr. IIT) at Belmont Park.
“These racing fillies are very hard to buy, and she was top-notch,” Regan said. “She’s a mixture of everything you want. She’s the right package.”
Negligee won two of her nine career races and earned $381,379. She had not run since finishing seventh in the Lexus Raven Run Stakes (gr. II) last October at Keeneland.
“Overall, we’re very happy with what she sold for today," said Matt Gatsas of Sovereign Stable in a telephone interview. "The market is what the market is. Do we wish we were back a few years ago (when auction prices were higher)? Sure."
Sovereign sold Negligee because "we're a racing partnership company," Gatsas said. "We like to race horses and leave the breeding to the breeders. We do very little breeding. Unfortunately, she injured her left front leg in her last race so it was time to sell her as a broodmare prospect."