A chestnut son of Mr. Greeleywent to Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables for $875,000 midway through the third session of the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale Sept. 10 at the Central Kentucky auction house.
Sobhy Sonbol, representing Zayat Stables, signed the ticket for the colt who was consigned by Gainesway, agent. Jezebel Farm, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Bell III, and et. al., bred the colt in Kentucky.
The colt was produced from the Old Trieste mare Chinoe Road, who is out of champion Epitome (by Summing) and is from the family of grade II winner Essence of Dubai(by Pulpit) and stakes winner Danjur.
“He was a beautiful horse, looked exactly like his father, and we just loved him,” Sonbol said. “He wasn’t a very big horse but he has a lot of room for improvement. We hope he is as good as his Daddy.”
Concerning his price tag, Sonbol said, “We thought he was going to be between $500,000 to $700,000, but the good ones are fetching good money. I also think a lot of horses are falling between the cracks. The horses that we were on brought what we thought they were going to bring, some of them brought more than we thought and we just got out bid on some. That is the way it goes.”
Through 730 hips and three days of selling, Zayat has purchased seven yearlings out of the 15 they have attempted to purchase. “You can’t get them all,” Sonbol said.
The Mr. Greeley colt will be sent to the McKathen Brothers in Florida for his early training. No trainer has been decided for him.
Earlier in the day, Jerry and Ann Moss went to $725,000 for a daughter of Rock Hard Tenout of the Unbridled mare Unsurpassed to mark the second-highest price of the auction and the most expensive filly to sell during the third session.
The striking dark bay or brown filly named Exceedingly was consigned by William S. Farish’s Lane’s End, agent. G. Watts Humphrey bred the filly in Kentucky.
The second dam of Exceedingly is the grade III winner Squan Song (by Exceller). The female family includes Japanese group winner Symboli Indy (by A.P. Indy) and stakes winner Omega Code (by Elusive Quality ) and Tempest Fugit (by Unaccounted For).
“She was a great looking filly and we don’t have that much by the sire so we thought we would take the plunge,” Moss said after signing the sales ticket.
Moss said the price was a little more than he had expected to pay, but he loved the filly and went the extra bid to secure her.
Discussing the state of the market, Moss said, “This was a pretty expensive filly so I think the market is pretty strong.”
In addition to the filly by Rock Hard Ten, Moss also purchased a colt by Rock Hard Ten colt out of Storm Alert for $400,000 during the second session and a filly by Maria’s Mon out of Tafcar for $150,000 during the Sept. 10 session.
