Summer Raven, winner of the 2004 Tempted Stakes (gr. III) and in foal to Unbridled's Song, became the first horse to bring seven figures Nov. 11 during the second session of the Keeneland November breeding stock auction in Lexington. Offered around noon (EST), she sold for $1.7 million to Kentucky bloodstock agent Reynolds Bell.
Part of dispersal of Overbrook Farm, which was founded by the late W.T. Young, Summer Raven was consigned by Eaton Sales. Earlier in the session, Bell had purchased another mare from the Overbrook dispersal, grade II winner Mary Delaney (in foal to Elusive Quality ), for $850,000.
Bell said he was acting on behalf of the same domestic client, whom he declined to identify, when he purchased both Summer Raven and Mary Delaney. The two mares will remain in Kentucky.
Produced from the winning Rahy mare Rahy Rose, Summer Raven is from the family of grade I winner and sire Wild Rush. She has produced the winner Winslow Homer, a 2-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song.
“I like the family, and I like the fact she is by Summer Squall,” Bell said. “(Belmont Stakes, gr. I, winner) Summer Bird is out of a Summer Squall mare, and I think he (Summer Squall) is a nice broodmare sire. She’s got what looks like a nice 2-year-old in Winslow Homer, who won his second start nicely at Saratoga, and I think he’s training well. Wild Rush is under her (Summer Raven’s) second dam, and I thought he was a terrific sire. She’s a real attractive mare, and she’s got a nice looking Pulpit weanling by her side (who sold for $275,000 to Elizabeth Moran’s Brushwood Stable).”
Reynolds described his client as “a fairly new person in the business,” and he added: “He’s looking to put together a nice broodmare band to breed to race and sell. He’s a bargain shopper, that’s for sure. He understands that there’s some value in the market right now, and this mare might have cost $2.5 million last year. He’s a nice individual for our business, and I’m happy to be working with him.”
Not long after Summer Raven sold, Sweet and Careless, who is in foal to Tapit , brought $900,000 from Craig Bandoroff of Denali Stud in Kentucky. He purchased the 10-year-old daughter of Hennessy and the winning Desert Wine mare Not So Careless from Brookdale Sales, agent for the dispersal of Windfields Farm. Like Bell, Bandoroff wouldn’t reveal the name of his client.
Sweet and Careless in the dam of Careless Jewel (by Tapit), who scored in this year’s Alabama (gr. I) and Fitz Dixon Cotillion (gr. II) Stakes and the Delaware Oaks (gr. II). In her most recent effort, Careless Jewel finished last of eight in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic (gr. I).
“I’m pleased with that (price),” Bandoroff said. “I think in this market, she’s good value. We’re real happy. When I had her almost at $500,000, I was really happy. We’re like everybody else; we’ve got to have (a good) physical, and she’s a pretty mare. We liked her physical. I spoke to (trainer) Josie (Carroll), and I know the filly (Careless Jewel) is staying in training next year. She (Sweet and Careless) is in foal to Tapit, and I like the idea that we maybe can go to A.P. Indy with his stud fee being dropped. What do I know? But I don’t see a lot of downside.”
Sweet and Careless is a half-sister to grade I winner Subordination (by Mt. Livermore) and another stakes winner, Domination (by Prized).