Breeders Steve and Jane Long knocked it out of the park April 9 at the Keeneland April 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale when a filly from the first crop of Competitive Edge  was purchased by Shepherd Equine Advisers, agent, for $235,000.

Consigned as Hip 129 by Kirkwood Stables, the filly named Le Competition breezed the fastest quarter-mile over the dirt, getting the distance in :21 1/5.

Le Competition is out of the Bellamy Road  mare Lefreakcestchic, who was purchased by Ed Price for $14,000 on behalf of Steve Long from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency to the 2017 The February Sale, Fasig-Tipton’s winter mixed sale. At the time, the mare was carrying the Competitive Edge filly in utero.

“We’re floored,” Jane Long said, crediting their 34-year-old son Brooks with the initial purchase. “He did all the homework, liked the breeding, liked the race records, and Competitive Edge as a first-year sire. We were all aboard. We looked at her but we couldn’t be here when she was selling and had gone home and made the bid over the phone.”

Pennsylvania natives, the Longs own three broodmares and are hands-on horse people. When they came to Lexington for the April sale—a 10-hour drive—they also brought two mares with them to drop off at Indian Creek Farm, where they will be bred this season to Practical Joke  and Classic Empire . Le Competition was the last recorded foal for Lefreakcestchic, who was most recently bred to Blofeld for 2019.

“We do everything ourselves,” Jane Long said. “We’re getting just a touch of the commercial side.”

The filly was the first for the Longs in association with Kip Elser of Kirkwood. The agreement was initially put together because Elser wanted to purchase the filly as a yearling.

“We weren’t ready to part with her but we said, ‘If he wanted to buy her as a yearling, maybe he would like to sell her as a 2-year-old,'” Jane Long said. “He was gracious enough to take her.”

The Longs said they enjoyed the days leading up to the sale, which included a trip to Keeneland during opening weekend of the Spring Meet for a stakes-laden Saturday card.

“Keeneland has treated us awesome,” Steve Long said.

“This is a great venue,” said Jane Long