Forward Physicals at Keeneland September Sale

Walking around the picturesque Keeneland sales grounds ahead of the two-week engagement, you can't help but feel the anticipation among consignors, buyers, and staff. The annual event showcases the very best pedigrees and forward physicals, ready to make their next move towards the track. This year, Keeneland has cataloged 4,215 yearlings for the sale, which begins Sept. 11 and runs through Sept. 23.

"This is the culmination of a lot of breeders' work over the last few years and what they've done with their investments," said Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy. "Their professional skills are put forth here; some of the best bloodlines in North America and often the world are here for the international audience. We're really proud of how broad and globalized the marketplace is. We are the center of the North American yearling market here and, in many ways, the center of a lot of the global marketplace; the American-breds have done so well in the Middle East, Japan, and Europe. It has been another great year this year, and I think it's gaining momentum as the American marketplace is back on top again."

WATCH: Shopping Book 1 of Keeneland September With Jacob West

"I have been very pleased with the traffic; it has been busy, and people seem to be intent on looking at these horses and doing their due diligence," Mark Taylor, president and CEO of Taylor Made Sales Agency, said. "We have been coming off a few solid years from a seller standpoint. At some point, the market is going to correct a little bit. My gut feeling is we will have a good sale, but for the horses that have a couple of little vet issues or conformation issues that people can discern and be picky about, those horses will have to have a realistic reserve. We have been preaching to our clients to keep their feet on the ground, put in reserves they think they can live with, and don't get overly aggressive—because we don't know where the market is."

Again, this year, the 4,215 yearlings are spread out between six catalogs, each with two days of selling. Monday and Tuesday, selling out of Book 1 will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET. Book 2, Sept. 13-14, starts at 11 a.m. Books 3, 4, 5, and 6 begin selling at 10:00. There will be a dark day with no hips going through the ring Sept. 15.

"I think there's been a preconception before; as you get towards the later books, there is a severe drop off in quality, and you have the cast-offs," Lacy commented. "One of the toughest parts of putting the catalog together this year was understanding some of these horses will end up towards the end, and they were outstanding quality horses. I think you'll see in the results on the racetrack, like the winner of the Hopeful Stakes (G1) (Nutella Fella—Book 4—$412,000). There is quality all the way through."

WATCH: Brogden Discusses Hip 66—Medaglia d'Oro Filly

Last year, the first day of selling saw 120 yearlings traded of the 144 through the ring, accounting for a gross of $58,615,000. An average price of $488,458 and a median of $442,500 was recorded. An RNA rate of 16.7% accounts for the 24 horses who failed to meet their reserve. 

A son of Quality Road   topped last year's sale out of True Feelings , the colt consigned as Hip 97 to the first day by consignor/breeder Stonehaven Steadings realized $2.5 million from L.E.B. agent for Talla Racing/Woodford Racing/West Point Thoroughbreds. 

Leading bloodstock agent Donato Lanni made 24 purchases last year for receipts of $14,585,000, at an average of $607,708, to be the sales leading buyer. Taylor Made Sales Agency sold 273 yearlings from their 340-horse draft for a gross of $38,969,000, at an average of $142,744, to be the leading consignor.

WATCH: Bowling Discusses Hip 123—More Than Ready Filly

"People talk about the shrinking of the foal crop, but it is more of a concentration of quality," said Lacy. "There is less low-end stuff being bred because the quality of the breeders is more professional. It's a high investment to get involved in the breeding side. You see a concentration of quality throughout the catalogs, and anybody who comes here at different stages of the sale will be surprised by just how good it is. We are very proud of the group we have assembled, and it was important to get the very best we could up into the first week. As you go through the catalogs, the back-end books are equally representative of the quality that anybody would expect to see here."

The success of Keeneland September graduates can be seen on most race days across the country and overseas. During the Saratoga Race Course summer meet this year, Keeneland was responsible for 29 graduates who ticked their maiden special weight win among juveniles. 

WATCH: Taylor Discusses Hip 334—Not This Time Filly

"With graduates like Nutella Fella in the Hopeful Stakes (G1), Gala Brand winning the With Anticipation (G3T), Rhyme Schemes in the Saratoga Special (G2), and the Magic Cross in the P.G. Johnson Stakes," commented Lacy. "It's been gratifying, and it's a fun time of year for us to see people get a return on their investments from last year and know that we've got half and full siblings to some of these horses again this year. The cycle repeats, it's a great time to have a sale, and a great sale to have."

Lacy added: "It's important we emphasize success for the sellers numerically, but I think the successes are equally and significant on the buyer side. It gives us great gratification to have success on both sides of the transaction."

WATCH: Bandoroff Discusses Hip 337—Uncle Mo Filly

Greg Goodman's Mt. Brilliant Farm brings a draft of five-page turning yearlings for consideration. 

"We brought yearlings from some of our best families this year," Bo Goodman of Mt. Brilliant Farm said. "The Tapit (Hip 348) is from a deep family. He is a half sibling to Extra Anejo (by Into Mischief), who seems like he will be pretty good; we are being patient. Our Quality Road colt (Hip 308) is out of the Private Gift family we bred, and everything seems to run in the family. We don't sell anything that we don't believe in."

"On Monday, we are selling a Quality Road filly (Hip 90); we don't generally sell for other people but are selling her for Man O'War Farm. Mr. Baum passed away, and we are helping settle the estate," Greg Goodman commented. "She is an extremely nice Quality Road filly. All of the horses we brought in Book 1 are solid horses."

WATCH: Taylor Discusses Hip 339—Tapit Colt Out of Still There

"In our group this year, sire power diversity stands out. In the past, Book 1 had fallen into a rut where breeders didn't want to support Book 1 unless it was a top-notch horse by an elite stallion," Taylor said. "The way the market is positioned now, it's not feasible because the stallions are breeding bigger books. If you saturate the day with top sires, buyers won't have time to react if they don't get the first one; the horses would come in rapid-fire succession. What Keeneland has been trying to do, and we support them, is identify good physicals by a variety of sires that are very good or by popular young horses that may not be proven. If you look at our diversity this year, we have some nice Volatiles, Not This Times, Authentics, and Nyquists. These are all horses that are good physicals and by good stallions or who have every right to be very good in the future. Taylor Made has been trying to put the physical forward with Book 1, and I think it will work out very well. People are receiving these horses and recognize the quality."

"We are also very proud of the quality of the pedigrees in the sale, but physicals are what we've made a concerted effort to put in front of the biggest buyers that come in," Keeneland director of sales operations Cormac Breathnach said. "Hopefully, everyone will agree at the end of the sale that the physicals match the pedigrees; I think the quality is very forward and strong to the end as well."

New for this year, Keeneland is offering a behind-the-scenes tour, allowing patrons a glimpse into the inner workings of running a sale. Those tours will be Sept. 16, 18, 20, and 22 from 9-10:30 a.m. ET. Guests travel in for the sales and enjoy all downtown Lexington offers, including Thursday Night Live at Fifth Third Bank Pavilion in Tandy Park. The free concert night is sponsored by Keeneland Sept. 14. 

As of Sunday afternoon, Keeneland has marked 36 horses as out, leaving 155 to head through the sales pavilion beginning at 1 p.m.