Lush Lips, by agent Taylor Made Sales Agency, shipped as Hip 129, was purchased by Dixiana Farm, which plans to keep the 3-year-old filly in training with Brendan Walsh.
The daughter of the winner of group 1 Ten sovereigns has a racing record of 4-4-0 from 10 starts and $769,510 in earnings. She arrived in the United States in 2024 and has competed in five consecutive stakes races this year, never finishing worse than second place and culminating in victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup.
Lush Lips was bred in England by The Pocock Family and purchased as a yearling by Avenue Bloodstock, Medallion Racing and Donnacha O’Brien for the equivalent of $103,340 at the 2023 Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale.
“We sponsor the QEII (Cup), so we saw her win the Grade 1 here (in Keeneland),” said William Shively of Dixiana Farm. “We’ve been trying to get grass mares that can really run, we bought two today. That’s the future for Dixiana, a couple of grass mares from Europe, give us what we want.”
Dixiana bought the French bred La Hoha (hip 117) moments earlier for $500,000 from the shipment from Denali Stud. The 6 year old Al Wukair Mare, a multiple stakes winner on the turf for trainer Christophe Clement and his son Miguel, is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Ocean Fantasy. She was offered as a racing or broodmare.
Shively said he didn’t expect to spend $3.7 million for Lush Lips.
“I expected $3 million, but she was special to us,” he said.
Shively was optimistic about the future of Lush Lips, with the ultimate goal being next year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships, held in Keeneland.
Her sire Ten Sovereigns was well represented at the Breeders’ Cup Sea Through Ballantina who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) for trainer Donnacha O’Brien and owners Medallion Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Lissa Ann McNulty.
“She’s someone who travels so lightly on the ground that she doesn’t hurt herself,” Shively said. “I think she could have a long career, very smooth with her action. You saw the QEII, she really accelerated at the end, that’s what you need in a grass horse. She’s classy.
“I think the Breeders’ Cup should always be here. Can you get that out there? The new philosophy, let’s just keep it here, right?”
Book 1 statistics
On Day 1 of the auction, 17 horses fetched $1 million or more – eight of which fetched $2 million or more.
The weanling market proved incredibly strong, with a colt on the way Rifle runner (hip 146) fetched $2.2 million, the highest price for a weanling since 2015, when a War front filly out of Take Charge Lady grossed $3.2 million. Donato Lanni signed the ticket for the colt on behalf of Zedan Racing.
“It showed an overall confidence and continued excitement about our sport and about our industry,” said Shannon Arvin, Keeneland president and CEO.
“It was fun for us and rewarding in many ways because Keeneland is the only racetrack and sales ring in the world, and top sellers Vahva, Kilwin and Buchu sold here as yearlings; Lush Lips, Vahva and Buchu won higher stakes here; and then they returned to the sales ring here. That’s a lot of fun, and we’re very happy with all the connections who did so well with them.”
A total of 129 horses changed hands during the first session, with gross proceeds of $74,299,000, including after-ring sales, a 13% increase over last year’s gross $65,555,000 from 152 horses sold. The average price was $575,961, with a median of $400,000, both significantly higher than last year’s $431,283 and $350,000 respectively. Thirty-two horses did not meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA percentage of 20%.
“What was very encouraging is that the domestic breeders were very active,” said Tony Lacy, Keeneland’s vice president of sales. “They were the main players here today. Most of those big mares that we used to see leaving the country are now staying. It’s nice if we get the confidence of the domestic breeders to step up and spend this kind of money to invest in the future.”
The two purchases from Dixiana Farm totaling $4.2 million led the buyers, with Taylor Made Sales Agency topping the consignors, selling 31 of their designs for $19,377,000.
The first session of Book 2 begins on November 5 at 10:00 AM ET, with hips 231-619 ready to go through the ring.
“Stable traffic has been very strong for both mares and weanlings, so I don’t think the momentum will slow down,” Lacy said. “I think demand for quality stocks will be very strong until the end.”
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