Keeneland September Gets Underway

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, looking to follow up on a power-packed 2013 renewal, begins its 13-day stand Monday in Lexington with the first of four Book 1 sessions. Surveying the barns bustling with activity Sunday morning, Keeneland Vice President of Sales Walt Robertson said, “We are always cautiously optimistic. We’ve got a lot of nice horses here and buyers from all over the world. There is a lot of activity and hopefully that will translate into a good sale.” 

Despite a 2013 foal crop that was the smallest in decades, the September catalogue is up by nearly 300 head from last year, with 4,181 yearlings catalogued versus 3,908 a year ago. 

“This is the smallest foal crop since the ‘60s, so for us to be up 300 more horses is pretty exciting,” Robertson added. 
The 2013 September sale produced strong results, with 2,744 yearlings selling for $280,491,300. The average of $102,220 rose 17% from 2012, while the median was up 11% to $50,000. Consignors are looking for more of the same this year. 

“I think it’s going to be equal to last year, maybe a little bit better,” said Taylor Made’s Duncan Taylor. “Just the feel that I’ve gotten around the barns is similar to last year–which is great.” 

Craig Bandoroff of Denali Stud agreed. 

“I’m staying realistic,” Bandoroff said. “I don’t think there is any reason not to be optimistic. It was good last year and the stock market is better this year and the economy is much better. I’m very pleased with the number of European and international people we’re seeing. I think we had a big jump last year, so I don’t look for that again–I would just like to see it stay steady.” 

Bandoroff credited an influx of horses from regional markets for the increased catalogue. 

“I think a lot of people in the regional markets said, ‘Hey, the market in Kentucky was good last year, so let’s send them there,’” he explained. “They decided to bring them back to Kentucky to sell.” 

This is the second year Keeneland will be offering an expanded Book 1. The format proved popular last year, with 546 yearlings selling for a gross of $153,385,000 and an average of $280,925. The Book 1 median was $207,500. 

While the total number of yearlings catalogued for the sale is up, the number of Book 1 yearlings is down. A year ago, 875 horses were catalogued in Book 1. That number is down to 762 this year. That statistic is a concern for consignor Peter O’Callaghan. 

“I think they’ve come up short on the numbers,” O’Callaghan said. “It’s hard to sell what’s going to amount to 150 or 160 horses a day for four days and expect a lot of people to hang around. The agents and the pinhookers will stay around for a few books, but it’s hard to keep the top trainers here for the reduced number. If we’re going to keep this format, we need to keep Book 1 around 1,000 horses–sell 250 a day so there is enough critical mass there. Rather than going from selling 150 a day to over 400 a day on the Saturday. I know it’s hard to breed Book 1 horses, but as consignors, if we’re going to have a more open format for the first part of the week, we need to put more nice individuals out there early in the sale.” 

O’Callaghan did offer advice to potential buyers. 

“The first days, I think people need to get in there and buy them,” O’Callaghan said. “That always proves to be where the value is–let’s hope people remember that. Everyone always looks back and says, ‘I wish we bought earlier.’ I hope people remember that and get in there early.” 

The first four sessions of the September sale begin at noon. After a dark day Friday, the auction reconvenes Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m. through Sept. 21.