Champion Midnight Bisou, who is in foal to Tapit, sold for $5.5 million to Katsumi Yoshida of Japan to lead today’s Book 1 opening session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale and continue the excitement at Keeneland, which hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships Friday and Saturday.

Midnight Bisou

A half-hour prior to the 1 p.m. ET start of the session, spectators packed the Keeneland Sales Pavilion for the offering of a 2.5 percent ownership interest in Flightline, a colt by Tapit and the undefeated winner of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). Brookdale Farm’s Freddy Seitz, bidding on behalf of an undisclosed farm client, signed the ticket for $4.6 million.

For the session, Keeneland sold 136 lots for $66,980,000, for an average of $492,500 and a median of $290,000, The gross was 32.28 percent above the $50,634,000 from the first session last year, while the average rose 14.77 percent from $429,102 and the median dipped 12.12 percent from $330,000.

Ten lots sold for $1 million or more, compared to seven during the first session of the 2021 sale.

“We’re seeing a focus on quality,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “And there’s a broadness in the marketplace. The top 15 horses that went through the ring were bought by 11 different buyers. It’s always good to see a mix of domestic and international buyers. Six horses brought more than $2 million plus with the Flightline fractional interest the number at that amount was seven. These are the increases we’re looking for.

“We’re coming off a very successful Breeders’ Cup,” Lacy added. “Our team put in a huge effort to turn this around from putting on the largest racing event in North America to switching to having the second-largest horse sale in the world within a few hours. I have to commend everybody.”

Midnight Bisou, a 7-year-old daughter of Midnight Lute out of Grade 3 winner Diva Delite, by Repent, won 13 races and earned $7.47 million. Consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa, she was supplemented to today’s auction.

“This mare has been so good to us in so many different ways,” co-owner Jeff Bloom said. “I’m so happy about the home she is going to. She will forever hold an incredible place in my heart, my family’s heart, my partner’s heart. It’s impossible to describe the journey she has taken us on. These horses afford us the opportunity to have these life experiences we wouldn’t be able to have. It’s been a great run.”

“We’ll take her back to Japan most likely – I’m kind of speechless,” translator Shingo Hashimoto said on behalf of Yoshida. “(He said) the first time I saw her was in Saudi when she was running for the Saudi Cup. I already knew of her race record, and she was really gorgeous. It was very lucky for us to purchase her. We were very excited when we saw her on the catalog. We are very satisfied. We are very happy with the result.”

Yoshida was the leading buyer with three purchases for $9.7 million. He acquired three seven-figure horses, including multiple French Group 1 winner Dreamloper (IRE), a 5-year-old mare by Lope de Vega who ran in Saturday’s FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) Presented by PDJF, for $2.7 million and Grade 2 winner Jouster, a 4-year-old daughter of Noble Mission (GB) from the family of Racing Hall of Famer Personal Ensign, for $1.5 million.

A 2.5 percent ownership interest in Flightline, who sealed his place among racing’s legends with an 8¼-length romp in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) on Saturday, sold today at Keeneland for $4.6 million to Brookdale Farm’s Freddy Seitz, who signed the ticket on behalf of an undisclosed farm client.

Sales Pavilion

The fractional interest, offered by West Point Thoroughbreds, sold during a special auction prior to the start of the premier Book 1 session of Keeneland’s November Breeding Stock Sale.

“(The buyer) just called and said, ‘I really want to make a big splash and get involved a little more in the business,’ ” said Seitz, who was on the phone with the buyer during the bidding. “I did not expect (the price) to go that high. It was pretty exciting. When you’re dealing with top quality, you’ve got to pay. (The buyer) did not give me that kind of figure going in. I could tell once (the bidding) started maybe we were going to keep going. I was a little more nervous than he was. He and his family were watching. I think they were having a really good time.