Gun Runner’s $2.2 million colt at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling sale
The recently concluded Keeneland September Yearling sale was another banner auction for Gun Runner, with at least seven lots bringing seven figures, topped by a $2.2 million colt sold during the opening session of the marathon sale.
Gun Runner now has 10 yearlings this year to hit the $1-million mark at auction, the most for any stallion in North America. His 2024 yearlings are also his largest crop to date and were bred on a $125,000 stud fee.
The $2.2 million colt was bred by Three Chimneys farm and consigned to the sale by Four Star Sales, agent. The winning bidder for hip No. 169 was Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm.
“He is an amazing horse,” Pope’s advisor Todd Quast told the TDN after the purchase. “He’s got everything: the looks, the shoulder, the hip, the movement. We bought the Pure Clan filly up at Saratoga and we love her. We know where he was raised. We do a lot of stuff with Three Chimneys, so we know he was raised right. We are just super happy to have him. Hopefully he can run. But he sure looks the part.”
The colt’s dam is Princesa Carolina, who set a course record in the Dueling Grounds Oaks and placed in the QEII (G1) at Keeneland. Her dam Pure Clan was a multiple Grade 1 winner. Princess Carolina is also the dam of Muhimma, bred by Three Chimneys and owned by Shadwell Stable. Muhimma won her maiden special weight debut Sept. 20 at Churchill Downs by 7 ½-lengths, earning a TDN Rising Star tag.
Gun Runner’s 2024 yearling sales average of $564,729 is third-best worldwide, ahead of stallions such as Tapit, Dubawi (IRE), Frankel (GB) and Not This Time.
