Keeneland have announced that 4,538 yearlings have been cataloged for the 75th annual Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the world's most important sale of Thoroughbreds, to be held September 10-23.
The auction, which attracts major buyers from around the world, produces horses that compete at the highest level of racing led this year by Triple Crown winner Justify and four-time Grade 1 winner Monomoy Girl among alumni that have won a total of 132 graded or group stakes in North America and internationally.
September Sale catalogs will be available online at September.keeneland.combeginning Tuesday, Aug. 7. Print catalogs will be mailed Thursday, Aug. 16.
"The unparalleled strengths of the September Sale are the quantity of outstanding yearlings at all price levels and the deepest buying bench globally in the industry," Keeneland Vice President of Racing and Sales Bob Elliston said. "This year was an historic one for the September Sale with graduate Justify becoming racing's newest Triple Crown winner. This is another milestone in a sale with a record of consistently producing world-class athletes."
Among the exciting highlights of the 2018 September Sale catalog are the first yearlings by 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.
2018 September Sale Format
As announced in July, Keeneland adjusted the format of Week 1 of the 2018 sale, with Book 1 encompassing the auction's first four days versus the single-session Book 1 held last year. A total of 989 yearlings are cataloged in Book 1, which covers sessions on Sept. 10-13.
The format for the September Sale, which features 13 sessions, one more than last year, is as follows:
Week 1 (Book 1) – Monday-Thursday, Sept. 10-13. Sessions begin at 11 a.m. ET daily.
Friday, Sept. 14 – The traditional "dark day" when no sale will be conducted.
Weekend (Book 2) – Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 15-16. Sessions begin at 10 a.m.
Week 2 (Books 3-6) – Monday–Sunday, Sept. 17-23. Sessions begin at 10 a.m.
Keeneland will present live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the entire September Sale at Keeneland.com.