Con Te Partiro confirmed for Keeneland sale
Two-time Australian Group 1 winner Con Te Partiro (Scat Daddy) will add an international flavour to one of the world’s premier bloodstock sales, Book 1 of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, when she is offered in Lexington on November 9.
It will come two days after the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained mare contests the Breeders’ Cup Mile (Gr 1, 8f) at Keeneland, becoming the first ever horse at the American championship meeting to represent Australian trainers.
Con Te Partiro, who won the Coolmore Classic (Gr 1, 1500m) at Rosehill and the Coolmore Legacy Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at Randwick during the Sydney autumn this year, becomes the second high-profile mare announced for the sale in as many days, joining Clement L Hirsch Stakes (Gr 1, 8.5f) heroine Ollie’s Candy (Candy Ride).
It is expected that Book 1 will feature an especially notable catalogue this year, given it will be just the second time the Breeders’ Cup meeting will have been held at Keeneland.
“Con Te Partiro has excelled at the highest level of international racing while she has exemplified just how small the global thoroughbred industry is,” Keeneland’s Shannon Arvin said. “We are thrilled to hold a Keeneland homecoming for Con Te Partiro. She sold as a yearling at the September Sale and she began her racing career here during the 2016 Spring Meet. We look forward to presenting her at the November Sale with all the fanfare she deserves.”
While there are a number of horses that would have more frequent flyer miles than Con Te Partiro, not many have had the range of experiences and races that she has had across her four-year career.
Sold at the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale as a half-sister to stakes performer Donworth (Tiznow), the filly who became Con Te Partiro was sold for US$130,000 (approx A$178,500) to Cromwell Bloodstock.
Beginning her career with Wesley Ward, she was an emphatic winner on debut at Keeneland over four and a half furlongs on the dirt in April, 2016. By start three, she was a stakes winner – and at Saratoga, no less – taking the Bolton Landing Stakes (Listed, 5.5f) on turf.
While she was a model of consistency, she was an infrequent winner for Ward, only adding one further victory in nine starts after the Saratoga success. That win, though, was one of her crowning achievements, taking the Sandringham Handicap (Listed, 1m) at Royal Ascot in 2017 under a sublime Jamie Spencer ride.
After a lacklustre 2018, she was sent through the Fasig Tipton Kentucky November Mixed Sale that year, fetching US$575,000 (approx A$790,000) to the bid of S F Bloodstock and Newgate Farm.
In what would prove a shrewd move, the partnership decided to send her to Australia and to continue racing her, winning the Dark Jewel Classic (Gr 3, 1400m) at Scone at her first Australian outing.
She mixed her form in her first six months down under and was retired in October, 2019, before a decision was made to return her to the racetrack after she failed to get into foal to Zoustar (Northern Meteor). That would prove a blessing in disguise, with the headstrong mare taking two of Australia’s top mares races, the Coolmore Classic and the Coolmore Legacy Stakes, and adding significantly to her value.
“Con Te Partiro truly is a one-of-a-kind mare,” said Tom Ryan of S F Bloodstock. “Her accomplishments on the track – including two Grade 1 wins in Australia, stakes victories at both the Royal Ascot and Saratoga race meets and successes on both dirt and turf – put her in an elite category of racehorses with the ability to perform at the highest level around the world.
“We purchased her in 2018 as a beautiful stakes-winning filly by Scat Daddy from the family of Into Mischief, and we are proud to say she has exceeded all expectations since.”
Waterhouse added: “It is remarkable to reflect on what Con Te Partiro has achieved in her racing career. It is a rare feat in itself to win stakes races on three continents, but it is her performances at the elite level in Australia for which she will be remembered. Con Te Partiro won both of the time-honoured Group 1 races, the Coolmore Classic and the Coolmore Legacy, making her, arguably, the best-performed mare in Australia.”
Con Te Partiro is set to have her penultimate Australian start in the George Main Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at Randwick on Saturday before her Sydney swansong in the Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) two weeks later.