Conrad's sell Champion Shamrock Rose for $2.5 million

Manfred and Penny Conrad of Waterloo, ON tossed around the idea of keeping their Eclipse champion, Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner SHAMROCK ROSE to breed themselves. But the couple, relative newcomers to racing and breeding, changed their mind when they saw the price on the First Dude 4-year-old broodmare prospect continue to climb at The November Sale in Kentucky Tuesday.

Shamrock Rose, bought by the Manfreds for $120,000 as a 2-year-old in training, was sold to Mike Shannon as agent for a whopping $2.5 million.

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The price was the third-highest at the one-day auction which saw Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner BLUE PRIZE (Arg) sell for $5 million and PHOTO CALL for $2.7 million.

Mr. & Mrs. Conrad, 2019 Fasig-Tipton November Sale

The Conrads, who are in their seventh year of racing horses, have had a lean season on the track in 2019, but their colt Muskoka Gold recently won the Cup & Saucer Stakes. The couple told Thoroughbred Daily News that they plan to put the money from the Shamrock Rose sale back into horses.

Another Canadian star, WONDER GADOT, who is Canadian-bred (unlike Pennsylvania bred Shamrock Rose), is going to join some other famous Canadian gals that raced for Gary Barber in Japan.

The Anderson Farms-bred Horse of the Year and Queen’s Plate and Woodbine Oaks winner, is set to be bred to Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) after being bought for $2 million by K I Farm of the Nakarmura family. This is the same farm that bought LEXIE LOU for $1 million and CATCH A GLIMPSE for $3 million in recent years.

ESCAPE CLAUSE, the Champion Older Mare in Canada in 2018 and one of Manitoba’s greatest homebreds, sold for $300,000 to Katsumi Yoshida. The Going Commando mare, owned by Barry Arnason, Don Schnell and True North Stable, became a graded stakes winner in the U.S. this year. Bred by Arnason and Cam Ziprick, Escape Clause cost $5,000 (Can) as a yearling, won $866,000 US on the track and brought the $300,000 Tuesday.

MS BAD BEHAVIOR, a 4-year-old Ontario-bred by Blame and a graded stakes winner for SayJay Racing, Greg Hall and Brooke Hubbard, was originally a $75,000 yearling purchase by Hubbard three years ago at Keeneland. Bred by Ron Clarkson, the mare won over $500,000 on the track and sold for a whopping $600,000 on Tuesday to Freyer Bloodstock.

A total of 128 horses were sold at The November Sale for $68,011,000, marking a 24 percent decline in gross from last year’s sale, when 140 horses brought $89,473,000. The average sale price dipped 17 percent to $531,336, the median declined 8 percent to $300,000, and the buyback rate finished at 24 percent on Tuesday, compared with 27 percent in 2018.