On Monday, Keeneland sold 108 yearlings for a gross of $34,531,000, down 22.65
percent from the opening session in 2015 when 150 horses sold for $44,642,000.
The session average increased 7.43 percent from $297,613 to $319,731, while the
median price of $267,500 was up slightly over last year's $265,000.The number of yearlings sold for $500,000 or more rose from 19 in 2015 to 25 this year.
"We knew the gross would be down because we were offering significantly fewer horses in this session (202 cataloged this year versus 241 in 2015)," Keeneland Vice President of Racing and Sales Bob Elliston said.
"The word 'stable' feels appropriate here because the average was up and the median was just a tick up over last year. So with fewer offerings, an increase in the number of horses purchased in the $500,000 to $999,000 range and a comparable median to last year, we are pretty pleased."
The top 25 yearlings were purchased by 16 different entities, representing major domestic and international buyers.
"We are very happy with the crowd that is on the grounds at the moment," Keeneland Director of Sales Operations Geoffrey Russell said. "There is diversity of buyers and they were spirited in their bidding, so that is positive."
The seven-figure Medaglia d'Oro colt (pictured above) is out of stakes winner Spring Party, by Smart Strike. He is from the family of Grade 1 winners Emcee and Constitution and recent Bet365 Superlative (G2) winner Boynton.
"He's a very nice horse," Magnier said. "He reminded me a lot of (Medaglia d'Oro's Australian champion son) Vancouver. He was an exceptional horse. He was an unusually good 2-year-old.
"If (this yearling) runs like him, we will be in good shape. That's a lot of money to give for a horse, but he's very good looking and a great mover. Most likely he will stay in America."
The colt was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Stonestreet Bred & Raised.
"We said in our estimates that he would bring between six and eight (hundred thousand dollars), but we knew he could (sell for $1 million)," Taylor Made President and CEO Duncan Taylor said. "You hardly ever get a horse that is that well-bred that walks like that. He walks like he was gliding on air. He had all the muscle in the world to go with it. We knew he was a special horse. (The owners) paid a lot for the mare so it is nice to see them get rewarded. That is a colt that might be standing in Kentucky for a lot of money one day. He sure looks the part."
Taylor Made was the day's leading consignor, selling 15 yearlings for
$5,552,000.John Ferguson, on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, paid $900,000, the session's second-highest price, for a daughter of leading sire War Front who is the first foal out of Group 3 winner Aloof (IRE), by Galileo (IRE). Timber Town, agent, consigned the filly, whose family includes the Galileo colt Churchill, winner of Sunday's Goffs Vincent O'Brien National (G1) at The Curragh in Ireland.
"She's a beautiful filly, very athletic," Ferguson said. "The War Fronts have done very well and are still progressing. She is out of a Galileo mare. It's a great family. We are delighted to have her not only as a racehorse but also as a future broodmare. She was one of the better European pedigrees in the book.
"People underestimate how difficult it is to breed yearlings to look like that. So they deserve to get well paid for them when they come along," Ferguson added. "She has a turf pedigree so she will probably go to Europe."
Newgate Farm's The Factor (pictured) had two lots offered during the first session, a colt out of Bayou Tortuga selling for $450,000 to Spendthrift Farm LLC and a colt from Sultana making $300,000 to Blandford Bloodstock.
On the buyer's side, Julian Blaxland's Blue Sky Bloodstock teamed with Aquis Farm to purchase two lots, a colt by War Front from Sassy Image for $250,000 and a colt by Giant's Causeway from Alone (IRE) for $180,000.
