Likely Eclipse Award winner Royal Delta (by Empire Maker) was purchased by Ben Leon’s Besilu Stables for $8.5 million to conclude a highly charged Nov. 8 session of the Keeneland November breeding stock sale.
The price was the third-highest in Keeneland November history, exceeded only by the $10.5 million for Playful Act in 2007 and the $9 million brought by Ashado in 2005.
The sale of Royal Delta, one of the last horses through the ring during the session, came in an electrically charged atmosphere that reminded many observers of the sales previous to the downturn in the breeding and sales economies.
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