Keeneland September Sale 2016 Results Show Stability

A little more than hour into Monday’s opening session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier paid $1 million for what would be the day’s highest-priced horse, a colt by leading sire Medaglia d’Oro

At the close of the session, results showed signs of stability as the average of $319,731 was 7.43 percent above the $297,613 from the opening session of the 2015 September Sale, while the median price of $267,500 was up slightly over last year’s $265,000.

Another positive indicator was the sale of 25 yearlings for $500,000 or more compared to 19 during the first session in 2015. Meanwhile, the 25 highest-priced yearlings were purchased by 16 different entities, representing major domestic and international buyers.

Monday’s seven-figure yearling is out of stakes winner Spring Party, by Smart Strike, which breeder Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings purchased in foal to Unbridled’s Song for $525,000 at Keeneland’s 2012 November Breeding Stock Sale.

Another mare purchased at the November Sale also made her mark Monday.

In 2014, Mandy Pope paid the November Sale-topping price of $3.9 million for the Galileo (IRE) mare Aloof (IRE), dam of yesterday’s top-priced filly. The daughter of War Front sold for $900,000 to John Ferguson Bloodstock.

“(The price) was more than we expected but, on the other hand, Mandy paid $3.9 million for that mare,” said Wayne Sweezey of consignor Timber Town, agent. “Mandy is tickled. That frees her up to go buy some more horses and it helped this market, and so it was a really good sale.”

BUYERS COMMENT ON OPENING SESSION - Charlie Boden, agent, who bought two yearlings for $565,000: “Keeneland September is the biggest and best array of quality yearlings in the world. Being able to come here is a treat because it is a great place to buy good stock.”

Frank Brothers, agent for Starlight Racing, which bought two horses for $540,000: “I am like a kid in a candy store trying to figure out which ones we like best and which ones we can afford. There are wonderful horses here and horses for every budget. We were very happy with the two we bought on Monday. The one was within our budget but we really had to fight for the other one (during bidding).”

J.J. Crupi, whose New Castle Farm bought five yearlings for $1.15 million: “I have bought a lot of good horses here; it’s the place to buy horses. I thought I got a lot of value (with five purchases) on Monday. There is a good bunch of horses here. We do our homework and we look at them all.”

Nick deMeric, whose deMeric Stables bought one horse for $190,000 in partnership with Omar Olivares’ Europa Mundo Stable: “This is one we bought for resale as a 2-year-old. We loved everything about the horse. We are excited to have him. The horses that we are trying to buy as always are very hard to buy. There is strong demand for good horses, and I think that will hold up throughout the sale.”

Christina Jelm, agent, who bought one yearling for $100,000: “We find Keeneland September to be an ideal place to buy young stock. The quality is outstanding. We had difficulty buying Monday, but we are hoping for better luck today. We did buy a nice colt by Pioneerof the Nile (Hip 63 at $100,000) at what we felt was a great value. We are going to keep trucking along hoping to get the best value we can.”

Hoby Kight, a Florida pinhooker who bought two horses for $230,000: “I thought it was great overall. The horses with good physicals with good vetting sold well. I got outbid a lot, but I’m different. I vet 20-25 horses a day – horses I shouldn’t be able to buy because that’s the kind of horse I want. I want a good physical with pedigree – just like the racehorse guys. That’s why I shop Book 1 because if those guys aren’t on, that leaves me. When I get a horse that falls in my lap, I’m happy.”

Mike Ryan, agent, who bought five horses for $1,375,000: “The competition’s always strong for the horses you want. Earlier in the day (the sale) was a little soft, but as the day progressed it was plenty strong. We got outbid on several. It’s the same story: People want quality; they’re very thorough in their preparation. If you have what the buyers want, you’ll be rewarded. There’s so much to choose from. There’s a massive pool of horses, and (buyers are) very selective.”

RINGMAN WELL ACQUAINTED WITH STAR SEPTEMBER SALE GRADUATE: Longtime Keeneland ringman Cordell Anderson has handled countless high-priced horses and other star graduates in the sales ring. Those moments usually last about 90 seconds while Anderson poses the horses to look their best.

At the 2014 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Anderson held Hip 1630, a colt by Super Saver, while he landed a final bid of $200,000 from Jim McIngvale. More than a year later, Anderson and the colt – better known as champion sprinter Runhappy – were reunited. Anderson, who previously had worked for McIngvale, agreed to assist McIngvale’s racing team at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington.

“When I took him off the trailer, I said, ‘Wow this horse looks great,’ ” he said. “He filled out and looked so nice. I had not seen him since he was a yearling. I kept thinking about the Breeders’ Cup.”

Runhappy earned the 2015 Eclipse Award as champion male sprinter following a campaign that featured six consecutive victories. His graded stakes-winning string included the NYRA.com King’s Bishop (G1) at Saratoga, Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G3) and TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Keeneland and Malibu (G1) at Santa Anita. He won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in a Keeneland track-record 1:08.58 for 6 furlongs.

Early during Tuesday’s second session of the 2016 September Sale, Runhappy’s half-brother by Exchange Rate sold to Shadwell Estate Co. Ltd. for $475,000. He was consigned by breeder Ashview Farm, agent.

CATALOG UPDATES AND MORE AVAILABLE ONLINE: Keeneland.com/sales has a wealth of free and useful sales information for consignors, buyers and others.

For Book 1 horses, Keeneland Pedigree offers enhanced catalog updates with links to race charts and race-replay videos for active members of their family.

To access Keeneland Pedigree, click on Keeneland.com/sales and use the dropdown tab on the left side to click on Catalogs and Interactive Index to reach the blue Keeneland Pedigree icon. Catalog updates are in red. Links to charts and videos of recent races are in blue.

Catalog updates for all horses in the sale occur daily and are sortable.

Other information on Keeneland.com/sales includes a list of outs for the current sales; searchable catalogs and results for sales beginning with the 1999 July Selected Yearling Sale; and lists of stakes-winning Keeneland sales graduates that can be sorted by sale and are available by year back to 2010.

During the live streaming of the sale, each yearling’s catalog page appears with the video when the horse is in the ring.

TVG COVERING BOOK 1 AND BEYOND: Full coverage of the entire September Sale is available at Keeneland.com. TVG is providing periodic coverage of Book 1, including live reports from Britney Eurton. TVG2 will have full coverage of the sale today and periodic coverage on Wednesday of Book 1 and beyond.

Source: Keeneland