LEXINGTON, Ky. — Better Than Honour was even better than advertised tonight at Fasig-Tipton's thoroughbred sale, shattering the all-time sales record for a broodmare.

The dam of back-to-back Belmont Stakes winners, Jazil and Rags to Riches, sparked a bidding war between her two primary owners as the last horse through the ring in the one-day November sale.

Southern Equine's Michael Moreno, who owned 70 percent of the 2007 broodmare of the year, bid $14 million to keep her — a price that eclipsed the previous broodmare record by $3.5 million. And Moreno says he would have even gone higher.

"Best mare in the world," he said. "Who knows. You don't plan this kind of thing. It evolves."

Better Than Honour, by former horse of the year Deputy Minister and out of Blush With Pride, was the top star among several horses owned in a former partnership between Southern Equine and Jon Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale Farm.

Sikura bid on Better Than Honour too, calling her worthy of the record, but he stopped when the price passed $10 million. He credited Moreno for his bidding strategy of running the price high quickly to discourage competitors.

"It's a like a fighter throwing left hooks in the first round," Sikura said.

The sale price topped the previous high for a mare of $10.5 million paid by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, for Playful Act at last November's Keeneland sale.

Better Than Honour produced not only the two Belmont winners but Grade II champion Casino Drive, which enjoyed most of his racing success in Japan. She was pregnant last year with a Giant's Causeway foal that was aborted.

As for her next mating, Moreno said he expects to go to top stallion A.P. Indy.

"Why fix something that's not broken?" he said.

Also Sunday, the owner of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown added the nation's top juvenile filly to his stable with a $5.7 million purchase of Stardom Bound.

Michael Iavarone, co-owner of IEAH Stables, said it was a little more than he wanted to pay, but trainer Rick Dutrow, who was sitting beside him during the Fasig-Tipton sale, wouldn't let him stop bidding.

"Rick wouldn't let me say no," Iavarone said. "I guess if you were going to spend $5 million, you can spend $5.7 million."

The sale of Stardom Bound, coming off a victory at the $2 million Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita, marks the first time a horse was sold at auction in the same year as a Breeders' Cup victory.

Dutrow, who teamed up with Iavarone with Big Brown, said he sees similar potential with Stardom Bound.

"I love her," he said. "We were at the Breeders' Cup and when she won, I said, 'Mike, we've got to have her.' She seemed to sweet and laid back. She's our kind of horse."

Iavarone didn't disclose all the members of the ownership group that put in the winning bid for the filly, but he said some of them were celebrities.

The gray filly stood poised in the sales ring while the bidding skyrocketed.

"It truly is an awesome experience," Fasig-Tipton marketing director Terence Collier said. "What a classy, classy filly this is. She is a lovely lady. She is probably one of the highest class racehorses we've ever had to sell here."

Despite a sluggish economy, the high-dollar horses were strong throughout the evening.

The first mare through the ring, Madcap Escapade, sold for $3.1 million to Sikura.

Sikura already owned a 25 percent interest in the mare, in foal to A.P. Indy. Now he owns a 50 percent share. Kentucky Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford owns the other 50 percent.

Other high sellers included Lear's Princess, a 4-year-old bay filly who won four races at age 3, sold for $2.7 million as a broodmare prospect to Rick Nichols' Shadwell Farm. Grade I winner Panty Raid sold for $2.5 million to Sheikh Mohammed.