Steady Keeneland September Concludes

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale concluded its 13-day stand in Lexington Sunday with figures holding largely steady with last year’s powerful renewal of the auction. 

“It was a very successful sale,” Keeneland’s Director of Sales Geoffrey Russell summed up at the close of business Sunday afternoon. “We have had two Septembers that have had very large increases, so now we’ve had a good, stable market. And a solid market is where the industry needs to be at this stage.” 

Of the 4,181 yearlings catalogued for the 13-day sale, 3,606 were offered and 2,819 sold for a gross of $279,960,500. That figure was off slightly from last year’s 12-day sale when 2,744 yearlings grossed $280,491,300. The average fell 2.8% to $99,312 and the median was unchanged at $50,000. The buy-back rate was 21.8%, compared to 19.9% a year ago. 

The 2013 average was up 17% from 2012 and the $102,220 figure was the sale’s highest since 2006 and the third-highest in September sale history. The median was up 11.1%. 

“With the last two years being up so dramatically, it wouldn’t be healthy in some regards for the market to go up by the same percentages again,” Russell said. “We were looking for some stability and we got it.” 

Trade in the upper-middle market proved strong. With 113 fewer horses catalogued in Book 1 this year, 13 yearlings sold for $1 million or more, including two for the sale-topping price $2.2 million, compared to 18 last year. During Book 1 and Book 2, 121 yearlings brought $400,000 or more each, versus 105 sold in that price range in 2013. 

The sale produced six-figure yearlings right through to the final day, with a pair of youngsters topping the $100,000 mark Sunday. The top price during last year’s final session was $65,000. 

“It just proves there is money here every day for the top horses,” Russell said. “My overall view of the sale was that there was strong, competitive bidding from Day 1 to Day 13. I think the sale was very impressive in that regard.” 

The 13 sessions of the September sale attracted an international mix of buyers. In addition to the U.S., Europe and Dubai, buyers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Japan, Korea, Russia, and Central and South America were active at the sale. 

“We had very strong international participation, which is something we strive for here,” Russell confirmed. “Keeneland promotes the Thoroughbred industry 52 weeks a year to buyers in nearly every state and all four corners of the world. It’s a global strategy we’ve employed for many years to build and sustain relationships with horsemen. It’s very gratifying to see those efforts translate into huge crowds.” 
“We had a gentleman today from Kazakhstan buy a horse,” Russell added. 

Leading the Way 
The sale’s leading buyer was Darley bloodstock advisor John Ferguson, who bought 22 yearlings for $7.88 million. The second-leading buyer was Ben Glass, agent for Gary and Mary West, who purchased 29 horses for $7,805,000. 

Lane’s End was the sale’s leading consignor with 211 yearlings sold for $28,581,700. 

The sale’s leader board was dominated by progeny of leading sires War Front and Tapit and each stallion was represented by a co-topping $2.2-million yearling. 

Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Shadwell Estate Company Ltd. made that final bid for hip 749, a Clearsky Farm-bred and consigned son of Tapit out of multiple graded stakes winner Justwhistledixie (Dixie Union). The colt is a half-brother to GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner New Year’s Day (Street Cry {Ire}). 

Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier matched that figure with the purchase of hip 680, a colt by War Front out of Gold Vault (Arch). The half-brother to Grade I winner Contested (Ghostzapper) was consigned by Claiborne Farm. 

For the third consecutive year, Tapit was the sale’s leading sire by gross, with 36 yearlings fetching $21,725,000. The average price for his yearlings was $603,472, the highest average for a sire at the September sale since 2007, when 23 yearlings by A.P. Indy sold for an average of $858,043. The Gainesway stallion had four yearlings sell for seven figures. 

Strong from the Start 
The 2014 September sale marked the second time Keeneland has offered an extended four-day Book 1 and Russell said the format continued to work. 

“I think the extended format works very well,” Russell said. “It gets boots on the ground and here for a longer period of time, which is very important. The buyers encouraged us to do that and they felt comfortable they could find the good horses out there, so we just had to get them on the grounds and let them go through them. It’s been proven two years in a row that they were able to do it and it was very successful. And that continued on into Book 2, Book 3, 4, 5, and 6. That’s the magic of September, once you start the sale off well, it continues on. You get new buyers in for each book and you have residual buyers from the previous book who might not have been successful.” 

Overall, Russell said the September results were a positive for the entire industry and marked its continued rebound from the 2008 recession. 

“I think it is what the industry needed now,” Russell said. “My famous line is, the farther away we get from 2008, the better it is for everybody. We are another year away from it and we had two very good years behind us. Now we are maintaining that and I think that is good for the industry. It doesn’t have any inflationary aspect to it, which would then be passed on to higher production costs. So hopefully for the whole industry it is a very positive thing.” 

Fort Prado Colt Tops Sunday Session 
A colt by graded stakes winning freshman sire Fort Prado topped Sunday’s final session of the Keeneland sale when purchased by Lisa Orth for $120,000. The chestnut is out of the unraced Zindi (Vindication) and from the family of multiple graded stakes winner Big Jag. He was consigned by Martin Keogh’s MJK Bloodstock, which purchased him for $13,000 as a Keeneland November weanling last year. The yearling was one of two to bring six figures Sunday. On the day, 178 head sold for $1,913,300. The average was $10,749 and the median was $6,000.