Diverse Group on Offer at Keeneland Digital Sale

Keeneland's nascent Digital Sales Ring platform will present its third online-only auction Dec. 15, with a diverse group of about 70 horses on offer and sales company officials hope the concept will continue to gain traction with buyers.

The catalog of 79 offerings consists of 41 broodmares or broodmare prospects, 12 yearlings, eight weanlings, six racing or broodmare prospects, two racing or stallion prospects, one stallion prospect, six stallions, two stallion shares, and one stallion breeding right. As of Dec. 14, there had been nine withdrawals.

Among the highlights are: Surrender Now, a half sister to recent Bob Hope (G3) winner Red Flag; Frankly J'ray, a Frankel mare in foal to emerging young sire Sir Prancealot ; Westside Singer, dam of grade 2 winner and grade-1 placed Secret Message; Meow, a half sister to grade 2 winner Engage in foal to Practical Joke ; and Felicita, a 4-year-old half sister to grade 1 winner Dayoutoftheoffice in foal to third-leading freshman sire Not This Time .

The sale also includes an eight-horse consignment from Sheikh Abdullah Al Maddah's Marbat. The Marbat group includes Fancy Green, dam of Criterium de Saint-Cloud (G1) winner Mkfancy, who is offered in foal to Saxon Warrior and her Myboycharlie  yearling colt; Grey Lina, an 11-year-old stakes-producing mare by Empire Maker offered in foal to Zoffany; Grey Lina's yearling filly by Maclean's Music  and weanling colt by Mizzen Mast ; and a 2-year-old filly by Pride Of Dubai who is a half sibling to the dam of Australian group 1 winner Harlem.

Modeled after similar sale concepts that have been popular in other countries, particularly Australia and New Zealand, Keeneland rolled out its digital sale platform earlier this year as the global COVID-19 pandemic led to travel restrictions and reduced attendance at live auctions. The sales company views the platform, designed and managed by Horseco, as a complement to its regular sales calendar, with the internet offering an array of options in which consignors can present their wares, including links to photographs and videos, an online repository for veterinary radiographs and reports, and, in some cases, detailed information about the horse and its breeding and conformation.

For example, the online catalog information for the mare Shut It Up (Hip 40), being offered in foal to Not This Time , includes the following conformation notes from consignor Taylor Made Sales Agency's Stuart Angus.

"Sixteen and a half hands high, Chestnut with a pretty head, full blaze, great length to her neck that ties slightly low into a very strong shoulder, deep girth, long wither and a short back, has a two turn type hip with a mid-high tail set," Angus wrote. "She has plenty of scope and covers quite a bit of ground from nose to tail, her knees and hocks set low to the ground. She tracks slightly base narrow coming towards you. Pushes off well behind."

Marbat's catalog page for Hip 4, Grey Lina's Mizzen Mast weanling colt, notes: "This horse was a result of a mating based on the talented Green Mask (grade 2-winning millionaire by Mizzen Mast). We believed this mating would produce a well-made, strong and quick horse. That is exactly what we have seen so far."

Consignor Jeff Jackson has provided a detailed pedigree description totaling more than 500 words for Mozak, a gelded weanling son of Liaison  cataloged as Hip 8.

"This breeding should produce a dirt 7 furlong to miler type that could extend easily to the 9 to 9.5 furlong range. So 7 to 9 1/2 furlongs on dirt," the analysis of the Oklahoma-bred concludes.

Bidding begins at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday and closes at 2 p.m. The catalog and other information can be found at keenelanddigital.com. Keeneland is charging its standard 5%, with no RNA fees.

The inaugural digital sale in June saw 14 horses sold from 31 offered, with two bringing six-figure successful bids.

The October venue was topped by the $200,000 sale of 3-year-old filly Perfect Happiness, as the catalog dominated by horses that had gone unsold at Keeneland's September Yearling Sale resulted in seven of the 60 offered being sold for $243,000. Of the 46 yearlings presented, two changed hands.

Keeneland officials have said certain types of individuals lend themselves more to a digital sale buyer base than others, especially yearlings. Tuesday's catalog is more diverse than were the first two auctions and that could lend itself to a broader buyer base, with early interest from foreign buyers.

"I think people are more comfortable buying broodmares off photos than they have been to this point with yearlings," said Mark Maronde, Keeneland's director of sales development. "With race horses, there is a little more of a comfort level when you can look at past performances and get videos and pictures."

Maronde said Keeneland was getting credit requests from potential buyers in Europe and Saudi Arabia.

"Having horses of that caliber in there will lend itself to people looking at the catalog," Maronde said. "This will be a good test. We're happy with the numbers and mix that we have. 

Maronde said it is not surprising that the digital platform has been slow to gain traction in North America, noting it was not an overnight success in Australia and there are differences in how the horse racing business works Down Under.

"It took awhile for it to take off and get established down there," Maronde said, adding the lack of claiming races in Australia meant there is greater potential to buy at online auctions. "By not moving horses through that (claiming races), it was probably an easier outlet (digital sales) to sell. My experience from looking at the online sales down there is they are made up primarily of racehorses and fillies off the racetrack."

Angus said that with the digital auction not yet part of the mindset for most North American buyers, Taylor Made's account executives and other management have been reaching out to buyers of mares in the price ranges they anticipate their mares will bring.

"We're all getting on the phone today to kind of do a little bit more for our clients and try to generate some bids," he said, agreeing that digital-only sales will probably be viable for certain types of horses. "I think it could be OK if you wanted to buy a mare or if you want to buy a racehorse and the horses are in locations where you can hire someone you trust to go look at the horse."