Tony Lacy
The seasonal foliage was about the only thing falling at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, which concluded a wildly successful run in Lexington Friday afternoon. Over the course of 10 days of trade, sales officials reported gross receipts of $203,585,500 for 2470 horses sold, good for an average of $82,423. Further demonstrating the strength of middle market, the median price of $37,000 established a new November record, eclipsing the previous mark of $35,000 set on five previous occasions, but most recently in 2014. The buyback rate closed at a...
by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - Demand for horses remained high across the board as the Book 2 section of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale concluded Friday in Lexington. "Today was pretty spectacular from start to finish," Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach said Friday evening. "It was a very strong day all the way through. We sense some frustration on the part of buyers with the momentum from September carrying through to November." A total of 475 head sold during the two Book 2...
By Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale continued with strong demand during a lively session of bidding Thursday in Lexington. The auction's first of two Book 2 sessions concluded with both average and median up and the buy-back rate down from the corresponding session in 2020. "Incredible," Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said of Thursday's action. "It was a really vibrant market again today. I think people were a little frustrated in buying, but we had a lot of happy...
A total of 254 head have been catalogued for the horses of racing age section of the upcoming Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. The single session will be held Nov. 19--the final day of the auction. The catalogue is now available online at www.keeneland.com. The November sale begins Nov. 10. The Nov. 19 session will start at 10 a.m. with 148 cataloged head of breeding stock and will continue with the horses of racing age. Keeneland will continue to accept supplements to the horses of racing age section through the...
Prominent owner/breeders Gary and Mary West will begin an annual reduction of their broodmare band at Keeneland November starting with the 2021 sale. With Paramount Sales consigning, the Wests will offer 31 broodmares and broodmares prospects at this November's auction. Mares will be offered in foal to Hard Spun, Union Rags and The Factor, as well as to the Wests' champions Game Winner, Maximum Security and West Coast and Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed American Freedom. The Wests had acquired a significant number of mares in past years to...
A total of 3,594 head have been catalogued for the weanling and breeding stock portions of the 78th Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, to be held Nov. 10-19 in Lexington. The catalog pages for those entries can now be viewed online, and print catalogs will be mailed out around Oct. 15. This year's auction will feature a single session for horses of racing age on the sale's final day. With the entry deadline for those horses extended to Oct. 4, the catalog for that part of the sale will be...
The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, launched last week with a Bluegrass band, mimosas, and a boutique Book 1 section, continued its momentum straight through to the end of its 11th session, concluding with a sales record average, median and buy-back rate. The gross, which was over $300,000,000 for three straight years before falling to $248,978,700 during the pre-vaccination pandemic in 2020, rebounded to $352,823,000 by the time the last hip went through the ring Friday evening. It was the auction's sixth highest gross in history. "The hope was that we...
LEXINGTON, KY--The Keeneland September Yearling Sale starts its 11-day run Monday with the first of two Book 1 sessions, beginning at 1 p.m. The five-book catalogue offers a total of 4,032 yearlings by a variety of stallions, such as Triple Crown heroes American Pharoah and Justify; the red-hot Into Mischief; perennial leading sire Tapit; stalwarts like Medaglia d'Oro, War Front and Candy Ride (Arg); and top freshman sire Gun Runner. "I think when you get this volume of horses and there are a lot of really nice horses, there is...
Keeneland will offer a horses-of-racing-age section at its 2021 November Breeding Stock Sale by creating a separate, single-day session to be held on the final day of the auction. A selection of breeding stock will be offered early in this final session, followed by the full group of racehorses cataloged to the sale. "We are excited about this refreshed take on the racehorse segment, and we feel this change will provide a nice bookend to what we anticipate to be a lively market for the November Sale," said Keeneland Vice President...
A total of 4,034 yearlings have been catalogued for Keeneland's 78th annual September yearling sale, scheduled for Sept. 13-24 in Lexington, KY. "This is an exciting time at Keeneland as we welcome Tony Lacy as our new Vice President of Sales and Cormac Breathnach as our new Director of Sales Operations, while longtime Director of Sales Operations Geoffrey Russell remains on the team in a consulting role," Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. "We have initiated a number of new features to further enhance the September Sale and facilitate...
The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale will begin on Wednesday, Nov. 10 according to an update from Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin and Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy Tuesday. Fasig-Tipton's one-day November Sale will be held Nov. 9. The Breeders' Cup will take place at Del Mar Nov. 5 and 6. "In keeping with Keeneland's mission, we continually strive to do what is best for the industry," said the statement from Keeneland. "Setting the stage for a successful November Sale is a top priority as we work to...
The village of Rhode in the Irish heartland of County Offaly may be better known for its peat but it can also boast a growing reputation as home to some of the stars of the racing and breeding world. The most recent comet to shoot to prominence having been raised on its turf is Gubbass (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), winner of Saturday's Weatherbys Super Sprint for Richard Hannon and owner Jassim Bin Ali Attiyah. The youngster was bred at Ballyheashill Stud in Rhode by Barry Lacy and his father Tom, the...