The Keeneland September Yearling Sale kicked off Sept. 12 with a running start and continued its bullish ways through to the end of the first session, as nine horses broke the seven-figure barrier. A Quality Road colt consigned by breeder Stonehaven Steadings as Hip 97 led the day, bringing $2.5 million from the partnership of Talla Racing, Woodford Racing, and West Point Thoroughbreds, with David Ingordo signing the ticket as L.E.B agent.
The partnership ended Day 1 as the leading buyer after spending $3,275,000 for two yearlings.
"It was a great day from beginning to end, and to see as many people in the sales pavilion as we did, the packed house, all the people in the seats, it was exhilarating," Shannon Arvin, Keeneland's president, and CEO said. "It is a testament to the excitement about racing and in Kentucky in particular."
Session 1 produced impressive results, seeing 118 of the 144 horses through the ring selling for gross receipts of $57,995,000, a 44.3% increase over the 2021 opening session. An average price of $491,144 posted a 28.3% increase and a median of $442,500, a 42.7% increase year-over-year. There were 26 horses who failed to meet their reserve to represent an RNA rate of 18.1% to show a decrease of 44.4% over last year.
"Just looking at the raw numbers, these are figures we haven't seen in recent years, with nine million-dollar horses in the first session, which is the first time since 2007," Keeneland vice president of sales, Tony Lacy, said. "The first hip through the ring brought $850,000, and Hip 8 brought $1.2 million. We can't find a horse that brought more than $850,000 as the first horse through the ring in the history of the sale."
During the 2021 opening session, 105 of the 156 horses on offer sold for gross figures of $40,177,000 at an average price of $382,638 and a median of $310,000. The 51 yearlings who failed to meet their reserve represented an RNA rate of 32.69%.
"We had a lot of principals here. To have them back, enjoying this tremendous sport, and acquiring their next champions was wonderful," Arvin commented. "The atmosphere was fun, and the energy was high; it has been that way for the past three days. To see the culmination in the results and prices we had today is exciting."
At the close of the first selling session, Taylor Made Sales Agency finished as leading consignor after selling 15 horses for a gross of $8,115,000 at an average of $541,000.
John Gunther of Glennwood echoed a similar feeling after selling four horses Monday, two of which brought over $1 million.
"If you have the right individual, there is money here for it," he said. "I think it's a strong sale. There seems to be a lot of money around. We never had a break (at the barn)."
"Overall, there was a lot of bidding beyond the reserves on 80% of our horses. I have to give it to our breeders and sellers because we were preaching to them going into the sale, 'It has been a great market so far, but don't check your brain at the door.' You have to be realistic and put in realistic reserves, which paid off today. We've had a great clearance rate, and it gets me excited for the rest of the sale," Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency said.
"We feel like the stats, 48 of the 118 sold brought $500,000 or more is pretty tremendous. There are a lot of happy people here on the grounds today," Lacy commented. "There is always a lot of anxiety about being on the first day, the early hips and I think that was set aside after things got going. We want to learn what we did here today and try and improve it for the next time. The enthusiasm for racing at the moment, I think we are in a little bit of a golden era and I think we have to learn how to not take anything for granted and find how we develop and work forward on this."
The sale continues Sept. 13 with Hips 191-371 beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Currently, there are 41 horses withdrawn from session 2.
Arvin added: "We want to thank the consignors and breeders who worked with us on the format, and we are delighted that the numbers proved what we hoped they would be."
