After a one-day break at the conclusion of a
blockbuster Week 1 of Keeneland's September Yearling Sale that produced gross sales
exceeding $216 million, the momentum continued Saturday led by the sale of the
Uncle Mo colt Wall Street Lion for $1 million.
The colt, the 27th million-dollar horse of the 2018 September Sale,
is the first seven-figure sale of the auction's fifth session since 2011 and
contributed to robust increases in session results.
On Saturday, Keeneland sold 284 yearlings for $51,059,700, an increase of 62.65
percent over the $31,392,500 paid for 253 yearlings in 2017. Average price
jumped 44.90 percent from $124,081 to $179,788. The median of $140,000 was up
40 percent over last year's $100,000.
"Today was an excellent session, very strong in all numbers," Keeneland
Director of Sales Operations Geoffrey Russell said. "When you increase the
average and the median by how much we did and still have a very low buyback
rate (22 percent), it shows the strength of today's session. It started off
very strong and finished very strong too; it was all go all day. Auctioneers
said it had a great feel with people bidding left, right and center.
"Book 2 over Saturday and Sunday is a very important book, because consignors
like to sell right after the break," Russell said. "We have always stressed to
people that this should be a very strong conformation book because people have
plenty of time to look at the yearlings. Strong physicals are what sells. And
today really was a phenomenal session."
Through the first five sessions of the September Sale, Keeneland sold 880
horses for $267,872,700, a 17.47 percent increase over the $228,037,500
recorded during the corresponding period in 2017. The average of $304,401 rose
24.68 percent above last year's $244,151, while the median of $240,000 was up
39.13 percent when compared with $172,500 in 2017.
China Horse Club/Maverick Racing purchased Wall Street Lion, whose dam is the
Grade 2-placed Street Cry (IRE) mare Sweet Bliss. Consigned by Lane's End,
agent for Wygod Equine, the colt is from the family of champion Sweet Catomine,
Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (G1) winner Life Is Sweet and stakes winner
Calimonco.
"He was really well received and was extremely
popular," Lane's End Director of Sales Allaire Ryan said. "He exceeded our
expectations, but we did have high hopes. We wanted him to stand out, and we
wanted to put him in the right spot.That goes with our strategy overall
for this sale. We really streamlined what we put in Book 1. We wanted to
strengthen what we put in (later books) and that will have a trickle-down
effect within our own consignment. We are glad the strategy is working out.
(Breeder Wygod Equine) has a lot of this family so they thought this was a good
opportunity to sell and we are glad it worked out."
"Just a gorgeous athletic colt," China Horse Club's Mick Flanagan said about
the purchase. "He's by a fabulous stallion in Uncle Mo; there's a lot of good
blood on the page. There's Giant's Causeway, Street Cry (IRE), even a bit of
Arch on there, so he's got a mix of all those good stallions. His dam was very,
very good, obviously. She could run a bit, too, so we're very happy to get the
colt.
"It was probably a little more than we wanted to give for him but we were very,
very high on him, and that's what the good horses are making so that's where we
had to be," Flanagan added. "It seems like a good sale; it feels like a good
sale. There's lots of people still looking to buy, and there are good horses
out there."
West Bloodstock/Robert and Lawana Low paid $850,000 for the second high-seller,
a colt by leading sire Tapit. Consigned by Gainesway, agent, the colt is out of
the stakes-placed Giant's Causeway mare Flores Island, a half-sister to Grade 2
winner Annual Report and a full sister to stakes winner Giant Payday. The colt
is from the family of champion Heavenly Prize and Grade 1 winners Furlough,
Dancing Spree, Fantastic Find, Good Reward and Oh What a Windfall.
"Another big purchase for them," Jacob West said about the Lows. "We had gotten
outrun on some big colts in Book 1, and just kind of saved our powder for this
colt in Book 2 and were pretty happy to get him. Breeders
keep breeding quality products and bringing them to market, and you have to pay
for it."
Mayberry Farm went to $800,000 for the session's top-priced filly, Sense of
Time, by Street Sense. Consigned by Lane's End, agent, she is out of the
Unbridled's Song mare Test of Time and from the family of Grade 1 winners To
Honor and Serve and Angela Renee and Japanese Group 1 winner Mozu Ascot.
"That was as lovely a filly as walked up here," bloodstock agent David Ingordo
said. "For the program we're trying to do, she's a long-term investment. Not
only does she look like she's going to win a bunch of races – she's such an
athlete – she'll have a great pedigree to be a foundation mare.
"The market is strong," Ingordo added. "There's this backwards pressure. In
Book 1 we were bidding strong and underbidding million-dollar horses at
$800,000, $900,000, $925,000. We're in there firing away, so we get pushed back
(to bidding on horses in Book 2). We got some bought; we found some diamonds in
the rough, some horses that for whatever reason maybe were a little too far
forward (in the catalog), and that was easier than trying to buy some of the
higher-end horses.
"So now we're here. Then the next people that think they have $400,000-500,000
for a horse get pushed back, and it's this trickle-down effect. Then in Book 6
or whatever we go to, Book 26, you're going to have a good sale all the way
through if the right horse walks in."
Lane's End was the session's leading consignor, selling 25 horses for
$7,096,000.
Larry Best's OXO Equine paid $750,000 for Spanish Mischief, a colt by Into
Mischief.
Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for
Alastar Thoroughbred Company, the colt is out of the Empire Maker mare Spanish
Empiress and from the family of champions Gold Beauty and Sky Beauty, English
Horse of the Year Dayjur and Grade 1 winners Pleasant Home and Tale of Ekati.
"I think it's a good price, but I think it was just a
great individual," Duncan Taylor, President and CEO of Taylor Made, said. "Into
Mischief can throw fast horses, but this horse looks like he could run two
turns. (He's out of) an Empire Maker mare, so I think that's going to add the
distance. You could buy this Into Mischief and think you could be competing for
the Kentucky Derby (G1).
"(The market) is still strong (after four days of Book
1). (Good prices) ought to continue. There's plenty of demand, a lot of people
still looking at the barns so I think it's going to be good."
A filly by Pioneerof the Nile from the family of Horse
of the Year Point Given sold to Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Stables for
$700,000. Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, the filly is out of the
Grade 2-placed Tiznow mare Live for Now, a half-sister to Point Given.
"Barbara (Banke) was looking for a really nice filly
all week and kept getting outbid for some of those, so she decided to take a
swing," bloodstock agent John Moynihan said. "She looks like she'll be really
fast and the Casners who bred her raise a really good horse. (She was bred by
Susan Casner, wife of Bill Casner.)
"(The market) is strong," Moynihan added. "It's very
difficult to buy them – really difficult to buy them."
Ben Glass, agent, was the leading buyer Saturday,
spending $2,490,000 for 10 yearlings.