LEXINGTON,, Ky.--The 80th Keeneland September Yearling Sale week one ended Thursday ,, Sept. 14 with a session highlighted by steady trade among a number of major buyers and the sale of colts by Curlin for $1.1 million and by Not This Time for $1.05 million.
The 30 million-dollar horses equals the number sold last year and is the highest for the September Sale since 2007.
For an undisclosed buyer, Lauren Carlisle, agent, paid $1.1 million for a colt by Curlin out of G2 winner Miss Sunset, by Into Mischief.
Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, consigned the colt, who is from the family of Grade 2 winner Prayer for Relief.
“He looks really fast and hopefully he proves that,” Carlisle said. “He has a really good walk and looks very athletic. We’re looking for a nice two-turn colt, and hopefully he can be that horse. I was worried that the price would be that high; I did not want it to be, but that is how it is right now.”
West Point Thoroughbreds and Talla, LEB, agent, spent $1.05 million for a colt by Not This Time from the family of G2 winner Cowtown Cat and Grade/Group 3 winners Crafty But Sweet and So Perfect.
St George Sales, agent, consigned the colt, who is out of winner Foreign Affair, by Exchange Rate.
“I thought he was just a dude,” West Point’s Terry Finley said. “He walked around the back ring like he owned it. He had that presence about him. When I looked at him, he was like ‘Hey, I’m the man.’
“TODAY WAS a very steady, good, healthy market,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “We were tracking the median all through the day, and it never moved at all. It was very, very steady. I think people were overall very happy. There was some confidence that if you brought a product that people really liked, you were going to get well rewarded. There was definitely a lot of trade going on, and there was good energy. To wrap up the first week with results that equate almost identically to last year, which was an incredible sale. We look forward to this momentum carrying through into Book 3 and hopefully into Book 4 and beyond. It gives us a lot of encouragement.”
“There was great energy and big numbers today,” Keeneland Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach said. “RNAs were a little higher, but there is selectivity creeping into the market, though it is still a very robust and healthy market with a lot of good trade and domestic interest. We had a treasure trove of $500,000 and above purchases again today. It is a great way to end the week going into the Dark Day on Friday when everyone reloads. And there are a lot of people here who haven’t had their hands up yet, so we are looking forward to the weekend and beyond.”
Cumulative gross sales for the first four days of the auction, when the 30 yearlings sold for seven figures, reached $234 million, down slightly from the same period last year, while the average and median prices posted increases.
Week 1 featured Books 1 and 2, with more than 1,100 horses, among the sale’s finest individuals based on pedigree and conformation, in the catalog. The format was designed to offer the largest number of exceptional horses possible to major domestic and foreign buyers before the sale takes a one-day hiatus on Friday, Sept. 15.
During that span, Keeneland sold 637 horses through the ring for a total of $234,300,000, for an average of $367,818 and a median of $300,000.
Compared to Week 1 of 2022, the gross dipped 1.14 percent, while the average was up 3.83 percent from $354,245 and the median climbed 9.09 percent from $275,000.
On Thursday, Keeneland sold 207 yearlings for $53,351,000, down 5.8 percent from $56,635,000 for the corresponding session of 2022 when 230 horses sold.
Average price climbed 4.67 percent from $246,239 to $257,734. The median of $200,000 was nearly equal to last year’s $202,500.
