Passing the first test

Just two years after Raven's Pass romped home in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, his first-crop foals are proving to be as hot as he was, with the first six to sell at public auction at Keeneland making an average of $196,667.

Top-priced among these was a grey colt out of the four-time winner Eishin Bridle (Unbridled), whose half-brother Road To Ready won this season’s Lost In The Fog Stakes and three-parts sister Be Smart (by Elusive Quality’s Kentucky Derby winner Smarty Jones) was runner-up in the G1 Darley Alcibiades Stakes. He was bought by Ray Bell for $335,000 from the Gulf Coast Farms dispersal.

Gainesway Farm’s chestnut colt out of the Pretty Polly Stakes winner Hallowed Dream (Alhaarth) was the selection of Foxtale Farm, who went to $260,000 to secure him, while Hip 146, another colt, this time out of the winning Giant’s Causeway mare Fair Princess, was knocked down for $200,000.

A pair of fillies, one out of Dancesowell (Sadler’s Wells) and another from Port Roberto (Dynaformer) fetched $140,000 and $120,000 respectively, and Santolina’s chestnut colt, consigned by Indian Creek, made $125,000 to ensure a clean sweep of six-figure returns for the young son of Elusive Quality. The median price of all sold was $170,000.