Gun Runner Continues Reign Through Book 2 at Keeneland

A yearling colt by Gun Runner sold for $1.55 million to M.V. Magnier and Peter Brant's White Birch Farm to top the Sept. 11 fourth session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. His progeny continued to be in high demand through the end of Book 2, with Hip 969 becoming Gun Runner's 12th seven-figure purchase during the September sale, with a total of 36 sold averaging a robust $932,917. Gun Runner has had the session topper through four consecutive sessions, and leads all sires by gross with $33,585,000. The bay colt, bred by Three Chimneys Farm and consigned as Hip 969 by Four Star Sales, is the second foal out of the graded stakes-winning Into Mischief mare Twenty Carat. Her first foal, a 2-year-old full sister to Hip 969, is training in Southern California and recorded a bullet half-mile breeze at Los Alamitos Race Course late last month. "He's a revelation," Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said of Gun Runner. "I mean, what can't you say about Gun Runner?" Four Star Sales' Kerry Cauthen said. "You can't go wrong right now with Gun Runner. They're in love with him and they should be. "(Hip 969), he just walked great. He was a big, tall, strapping horse that looks like he's got all the world and a future ahead of him." Magnier and Brant have plenty of experience with Gun Runner colts, as they purchased 2024 champion 3-year-old male and recent Whitney Stakes (G1) winner Sierra Leone, who they campaign with other partners. The multiple grade 1-winning son of Gun Runner has won $7 million from 13 career starts, never finishing off the board. This is their second Gun Runner yearling purchased at the sale, including the current sale topper, Hip 177, who sold during Book 1 for $3.3 million to Magnier, White Birch Farm, and Winchell Thoroughbreds. Cauthen said Hip 969 really developed a lot over the last few months, from the first time he saw him in April. "He probably wasn't furnished yet, and that's the magic of the Kentucky bluegrass. Thanks to Goncalo (Borges Torrealba) and thanks to all the guys at Three Chimneys. They have done a fabulous job with all of their horses. "Take Tony Cissell (general manager and chief operating officer of Three Chimneys Farm) running the farm, and he's got a great crew there. It's really all of them, it doesn't really have a whole lot to do with us. We just get to be the lucky people who bring him the last mile." Gun Runner, currently the third-leading stallion in North America, stood this past breeding season at Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky., for an advertised fee of $250,000. The highest-priced filly of the fourth session was Hip 887, a filly by Not This Time out of the Quality Road mare Road to Victory who sold to Flying Dutchmen for $1 million. Hip 887 was bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings and consigned by Warrendale Sales, agent for Stonestreet Bred for Brilliance. They were the leading buyers of the fourth session, securing five horses for a total of $3,745,000. Flying Dutchmen has had a successful year after their colt Owen Almighty won the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) and finished a game fifth in the Kentucky Derby (G1) behind Sovereignty. READ: Flying Dutchmen Secure Not This Time Filly for $1M Not This Time has had a remarkable sale, as he also notched his 12th seven-figure yearling purchase at the sale through Thursday evening. Fifty-three Seven-Figure Yearlings At the end of the fourth session, 53 horses had sold for seven figures, smashing the September sale record of 40 set in 2005. Those 53 horses were represented by 23 different consignors. "Over the course of week one, we sold more horses than last year, and grossed $55 million more," said Cormac Breathnach, Keeneland's senior director of sales operations. "That's all just through-the-ring numbers (not including post-ring sales). "It's up 20% by gross, 16% or 17% by average and median, and the RNA rate has came down three points for the week. So, those are incredible numbers. We're grateful to our supporters, to the breeders who have sent us all these fantastic yearlings." Lacy described the market as being "a little surreal." "The consistency over the first four sessions, we're at double-digit increases across the board," Lacy said. "I think the tax law (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) probably gave it a good boost for people who are of high net worth, it's advantageous for them. We all benefit from that as an industry." A total of 717 horses had changed hands through the end of Book 2, grossing $318,461,500, up 21% from last year's $262,793,000 from 690 sold through Day 4. The average is up to $444,158, from $380,859 last year, and the median is at $350,000, after standing at $300,000 after four sessions in 2024. Taylor Made sits atop the consignors going into Book 3, with $47,645,000 in gross sales from 112 horses to change hands. Repole Stable leads all buyers with 31 purchases totaling $13,975,000. "It's been consistent and just a good, healthy environment," Lacy said. "Money was here right to the end and you have a great vibe for Book 3 as well." Gross sales for the fourth session totaled $79,624,500, including post-ring sales, with an average of $323,677, and a median of $260,000. Seventy-eight horses did not meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 24%. "Today, again, the top 15 horses sold to 13 different buyers, by 12 different stallions, and from 11 different consignors. That's what gives you confidence going into the next eight sessions, because we have depth in the market," Lacy said. "The next wave of buyers are going to arrive for Book 3 and beyond, and people will still have to bid hard for the horses they really want." The sale will resume Sept. 13, at 10 a.m. ET for the first day of Book 3, with Hips 1155-1578 slated to go through the ring. The sale will continue each day at 10 through Sept. 20.