The first session of the 2020 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale was conducted Monday evening at the Fasig Tipton Sales Pavilion in Lexington, KY, and among the stars of the show was the opening night sale topper, Kadena, who fetched a final bid of $725,000.

Hip #89 Kadena, a daughter of Walner, is just the second foal out of the World Champion, Mission Brief (1:50.2 - $1.5 million). Agent Marcus Melander signed the sales slip for Courant Inc of New Egypt, NJ. She sold as part of the Hunterton Farm consignment.

The price set a record for any yearling filly sold at auction, surpassing the $625,000 for pacer Laugh A Day in 1983 and $600,000 for trotter Ineffable in 2019.

“That was exciting,” Melander told the USTA's Ken Weingartner. “We knew she was going to be expensive. She’s a nice filly with a great pedigree. She has a great body, great conformation, stands correct, which is very important. She has everything a good horse should have. I’m very happy to train her. For Anders it’s good too. He’s already thinking about breeding her to Greenshoe when she’s done racing. Now I just have to do a good job in between.”

Hip #64 Bonanza was a $600,000 purchase by agent Nancy Takter of Allentown, NJ. The Muscle Hill brother to Greenshoe (1:49.4 - $1.3 million) is out of the 100% producing mare, Designed To Be. The colt was consigned by Kentuckiana Farms.

“He’s a really nice individual, great pedigree,” Takter said. “I know that he’s been raised right. It’s like a home run working with (the breeders and consignor).”

Hip #62 Monkey Queen was a $450,000 purchase by Lindy Farms and M&M Racing of Enfield, CT. The Chapter Seven-Steamy Windows lass, who was consigned by Concord Stud Farm, is the full-sister to Gimpanzee (1:50 - $2.3 million) and Iteration (1:55 - $268,634).

Hip #37 Knights Guard was a $400,000 purchase by Andy Miller Stable Inc of Millstone Twp, NJ. The Muscle Hill-Stubborn Belle colt sold as part of the Kentuckiana Farms consignment. The colt is a full-brother to Ms Savannah Belle (1:51.4 - $239,618).

The Andy Miller Stable Inc also signed the sale slip on Hip #40 Trunk Bay. The son of Muscle Hill, who sold as part of the Kentuckiana Farms consignment, is the first foal out of the stakes-winning mare, Sunshine Delight (1:53.1 - $350,000).

“Right when I got the catalogue these horses jumped off the page at me because of how much I liked their pedigrees,” trainer Julie Miller told the USTA. “Then when we went to Kentuckiana, they just both stood out. I’m just fortunate it worked out in my favour and I’m bringing them home.

“I think the top horses went for the prices they would have always brought (even during COVID-19),” continued Miller. “I think it was a really good night for buyers and sellers. Fortunately, things have started to straighten out. New Jersey received their appropriation, New York is back up and running and Pennsylvania is strong. The Ontario program is phenomenal. So, we can buy horses because they have places to go.”

Total sales for session one of the auction were $15,237,000 for an average of $129,127. Last year, the 118 yearlings that went through the auction brought the total sales up to $18,206,000 for an average price of $154,288.

“I thought it was a very good sale overall and it should set the tone for the rest of the week,” said sale co-manager Randy Manges. “Everyone that brought horses to sell here were pleased and so were the buyers.

“Although a lot of the people that normally are here were not, which certainly can be understood, there was a good crowd, and we had a lot of bidding online. We did not sell many horses online but there were a lot of bids. We should have the numbers for that (Tuesday) and I look forward to seeing them.”

IMPORTANT LINKS

• Sale Roster (Sortable Sale Roster / Entire PDF Yearling Sale Catalogue)
• Outs List (click here)
• Sale Results (click here)
• Online Bidding, via Proxibid (click here)
• Sale Streaming Video (click here -- will be active during the sale, and will also appear below)