Keeneland party comes to Del Mar with Pandora's Gift among Breeders' Cup hopefuls going under the hammer

Interest in the Breeders' Cup will be taken up a notch on Wednesday with the staging of the inaugural Keeneland Championship Sale.

Held in the paddock at 6.30pm local time (1.30am GMT), the select catalogue includes a number of horses engaged to run over the course of the two-day meeting in a glamorous, invite-only format not dissimilar to Goffs London. 

In terms of British and Irish attention, the chief attraction will be the Stuart Williams-trained Pandora's Gift, a Churchill filly who won a Listed race at Chelmsford in the spring. 

Having been placed in the Ballyogan Stakes at Naas in August, she has since achieved more black type in the US in Grade 2 races at Presque Isle Downs and Keeneland. She has been drawn in stall five for the Filly & Mare Sprint on Saturday.

Of other likely runners appearing in the auction, there is a 25 per cent stake being sold in Gold Phoenix, the Irish-bred Belardo gelding who was a Grade 1 winner last year in the Frank E Kilroe Mile and also has a hat-trick in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap on his CV. He has drawn gate 12 in the Turf on Saturday. 

The same share is offered in unbeaten Juvenile Fillies Turf contender Kilwin, while also up for grabs is a 50 per cent share in Vosburgh Stakes winner Mufasa, bound for the Dirt Mile.

"We've always looked at the marketplace not only in the US but around the world to see what works and what doesn't, what's something we could potentially try, and this is something we've been talking about for the last two or three years," said Tony Lacy, Keeneland's vice-president of sales.

Gold Phoenix: Grade 1 winner and Breeders' Cup contender has been a stellar performer for Phil D'Amato

"We're a host site for the Breeders' Cup and have a great relationship with Del Mar, we sponsor the Del Mar Oaks, so the Breeders' Cup is a very natural partner for us. 

"There are horses that will keep going and have plans for next year as well. Pandora's Gift ran a great race with us a few weeks ago at Keeneland and finished third in the Franklin Stakes. Offering her looked like something that was a natural decision; with the current reinvigoration of the turf programme over here, there's a lot of interest and opportunity, so she could have a very fruitful year."

A 1/40th share in the unbeaten sensation Flightline, whose first foals are selling this year, could reach a heady sum, given that after he retired in 2022 a similar issue was sold at Keeneland for $4.6 million.

"We sold the initial fractional interest after Flightline won the Breeders' Cup Classic and I don't think he's disappointed anybody so far," said Lacy.

"His foals are stunning, I've not seen a bad one yet and I think he's just such an appealing stallion known all across the globe. There's also a stallion share in Cogburn, a young horse who'll be retiring after the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. 

"He's been a wonderful horse and is going to shuttle to Australia as well as stand over here. He's a wonderful outcross for a lot of mares, he'd suit so many broodmare bands and I think he'll be incredibly popular."

There were remarkable scenes at Keeneland last year when a share in Flightline sold for $4.6mCredit: Edward Whitaker

Of other horses engaged, there's also a 25 per cent interest in Bucchero's Book'em Danno, who was placed in the Saudi Derby, while the consistent Cornell is being offered and is another who could emerge as an international globetrotter.

Lacy is hopeful the sale will fulfil a useful brief as part of the occasion before the company turns its attention to next month's November Sale, a huge collection of foals and breeding stock including a number of key dispersals.

"We didn't set out to get 30 or 40 horses, it's a party with a sale as a component of it," he said. "We had a party at the last Breeders' Cup which was a small and intimate occasion and something that I think the Breeders' Cup team found intriguing.

"When we were talking with them, we thought we could find something that went hand in hand, selling some horses that have some kind of connection or are high quality, and it evolved into this. The number seems like where we want to be, we don't want to be taking over the event, we just want to be a part of it, to be fun, and hopefully it's an exciting opportunity."

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