LEXINGTON, Ky. — The owner of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown added the nation's top juvenile filly to his stable today 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."

Yet despite the filly's high sale price, she wasn't expected to be the sale topper. That distinction was expected to belong to the final horse through the ring Sunday night, broodmare of the year Better Than Honour, the dam of two Belmont Stakes winners.

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 Hill 'n' Dale Sales president John Sikura.

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

Another high seller was Grade I winner Panty Raid, who sold for $2.5 million to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.