Carpe Diem’s $320,000 colt sold Thursday at the Keeneland November Sale marked the top price paid for a weanling by a first-crop sire during the session.
Bedouin Bloodstock, agent, was the consignor of hip No. 454, which went to West Bloodstock. The colt is out of the top producer Courtly Choice, who is also the dam of Wild Dude, a five-time graded stakes winner of over $1 million.
Asked his impression of the foals by Carpe Diem he has seen, Jacob West, who signed the ticket, said, “They are just like him–big, strong, forward-looking horses with big shoulders and big hips and good walks. They look athletic. I’ve seen a lot of them and the ones I’ve seen have good substance, good quality and all of the right pieces that you’re looking for. That weanling definitely had it all, so we took a big swing on him.”
Two other weanlings also sold very well. Hip No. 413, consigned by Crestwood Farm, agent, went to Brookstone Farm for $215,000. All eight foals to race out of the colt’s dam, Betty’s Solutions, are winners, led by Mother Goose S. (G1) winner Include Betty and Grade 1-placed Blonde Fog.
Hip No. 575, another colt, was consigned by Bluewater Sales LLC and purchased by McMahon and Hill Bloodstock for $150,000. He is the first foal out of San Clemente H. (G2) winner Istanford.
Carpe Diem’s first two books included a total of 306 mares, making him one of the most popular new stallions in the nation. A Grade 1 winner at both two and three, he is standing the 2018 season at WinStar Farm for a fee of $25,000 stands and nurses.
