Keeneland Catalogs 4,479 September Yearlings

Keeneland has cataloged 4,479 yearlings for its September yearling sale, which will cover 13 days from Sept. 12-25.

Of the 4,479 yearlings cataloged, 2,334 are colts and 2,145 are fillies, Keeneland officials said Aug. 3. The schedule is similar to that of 2015, when the first three sessions made up the "premier Book 1" catalog.

Book 1 offerings will go through the ring Sept. 12-14 (Monday through Wednesday) beginning at 11 a.m. EDT. There will be a dark day, Sept. 15, following by Book 2 Sept. 16-17 (Friday and Saturday) with sessions beginning at 10 a.m.

Books 3-6 are scheduled for Sept. 18-25 (Sunday through Sunday) beginning at 10 a.m.

"The September sale provides more winners of racing's biggest events and more participants at the sport's highest level than any other sale," Keeneland director of sales Geoffrey Russell said in a release. "From the Triple Crown to Royal Ascot to Dubai's Racing Festival and the Breeders' Cup, buyers are attracted to the September sale for its consistency in producing world-class athletes."

Keeneland officials said the September yearling sale has produced more graded stakes winners around the world—117 to date, including 29 grade or group I winners—than all other North American sales companies combined.

The September auction will offer yearlings by 242 stallions including Arch  , Awesome Again  , Bernardini  , Blame  , Bodemeister  , Camelot, City Zip  , Congrats  , Curlin  , Distorted Humor  , Empire Maker  , Flatter  , Frankel, Galileo, Ghostzapper  , Giant's Causeway, Into Mischief  , Kitten's Joy, Lemon Drop Kid  , Malibu Moon  , Medaglia d'Oro, More Than Ready  , Pioneerof the Nile  , Redoute's Choice, Scat Daddy  , Sea The Stars, Smart Strike, So You Think, Speightstown  , Street Cry, Street Sense  , Tapit  , Teofilo, Tiznow  , Uncle Mo  , and War Front  .

Also cataloged are yearlings by freshman stallions such as Animal Kingdom  , Data Link  , Declaration of War  , Orb  , Oxbow  , Paynter  , Point of Entry  , and Shanghai Bobby  .

The 2015 September yearling sale produced numbers similar to those of 2014. The auction was led by a $2.1 million Tapit colt purchased by Mandy Pope from the Gainesway consignment. Eleven yearlings sold for $1 million or more, two less than the previous year.

Keeneland last year sold 2,745 yearlings for $281,496,100, up 0.55% from the 2014 gross for 2,819 horses. The $102,549 average price increased 3.2% from $99,312, while the median of $50,000 was level with the record established in 2014.

The 2015 buyback rate of 24.3% was up from 21.8% in 2014.