Keeneland’s Record September Sale Ends

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale closed Sept. 21 in Lexington as the highest-grossing auction in history with total sales of $427,800,000.

“During our inspections earlier this year, we saw a level of quality and consistency among the crop that gave us a lot of excitement, and when the horses arrived, they verified our excitement and expectations,” said Tony Lacy, vice president of sales at Keeneland.

The previous record, set in 2022, was surpassed in the September 19 session. The last two days have helped increase the total with strong trading for the level of horses offered. In the final session on Saturday, 209 horses were sold of the 235 offered, for a total of $2,817,000. The average was $13,478, with a median of $10,000. Twenty-six horses did not meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 11.1%.

Last year, at the last session, 180 horses were sold out of the 194 that were presented. The gross price was $2,533,100, with an average of $14,073 and a median of $9,250. The sale rate was 7.2% for the 14 horses that were not sold.

Demand was strong throughout the sale, with strong interest both nationally and internationally.

“Our international reach is paying off. We’ve had sales team members all over the world, including three to the Middle East this year for an extended period between the Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup,” said Cormac Breathnach, Keeneland’s director of sales operations. “We’ve had members in Japan, Eastern Europe, South America and across the country here in the United States, as well as Ireland and England.”

“We sponsor races all over the world. We really do our best to attract the international community as well as domestic buyers. I think the most rewarding thing for us is to see the number of countries: 31 countries have already purchased products from the September catalogue, which is two more than last year,” he added.

The leading buyer of the 12th session for the second day in a row was Nadir Khassanov. He purchased 13 head for a total of $113,500. Vinery Sales sold 27 yearlings for a gross of $470,400, earning him the title of top buyer of the day. First-Crop Yearling Sire Rock your world He led the stallion standings on the final day with nine horses selling for $194,000.

“It was a great opportunity to test the first season stallions, the young stallions with their first starters this year are getting results on the track. It also gains a lot of ground in the ring,” said Lacy.

“When you looked at the start of the sale, the first week, we had a great variety of stallions that were attracting attention, gaining traction in the market; Maxfield And Charlatan with several horses worth over a million dollars is just a testament to that, and it’s exciting for the future.”

For the entire 2024 sale, the average was $148,426, with a median of $70,000 for the 2,888 yearlings sold. Of the 3,539 hips offered, 651 horses did not meet their reserve, which gives an RNA rate of 18.4%.

In 2023, 2,885 horses were sold out of the 3,452 horses that went through the ring for a final sale price of $408,179,900, an average of $141,484 and a median of $67,000. An RNA rate of 16.4% accounted for the 567 yearlings that were not sold.

“Demand really comes from momentum. So when the sale takes off like it did and people are driven to come back out there, they end up buying athletes on the later books. You can’t have those kinds of results in week two without a good first week, in our opinion,” Breathnach added.

At the 81st sale this year, 36 horses sold for $1 million or more, up from 30 last year.

The leading buyer in the sale was Repole Stable (West Bloodstock, agent), who signed the ticket for 31 horses for a total of $11,410,000. Taylor Made Sales Agency led the way with a total of 334 head sold for $53,333,200. Arms trafficker topped the gross sire standings with 62 yearlings selling for a total of $32,665,000, including seven grossing $1 million or more.

A foal per Rock your world dominated the 12th and final session on Saturday. The colt was sold as Hip 4228 to Stoneriggs Farm, Zap/Murphy for CA Racing Partners and Ciaglia, and paid $85,000 to acquire one.

He was bred in Kentucky by MJK Bloodstock; he is the first foal of the winner Alternation mare Very fast .

“(Hip 4228) was a really good colt, I thought he stood out today. He had a lot of presence, he moved really well, he was simple and correct. He was a really good colt, very smooth, a great representation of his stallion (Rock Your World),” said Martin Keogh, managing director of Stoneriggs Farm.

Rock Your World’s first foals are yearlings this year. He was bred his first year for an advertised $10,000 at Spendthrift Farm. The son of The candy tour won the 2021 Santa Anita Derby (G1) at 3 years old.

“I left him here in Book 6 on purpose because I feel like a lot of people have been shying away from coming here, hoping he’d be a big star of the day, which definitely worked in our favor; it doesn’t always work out that way,” he added.

Keogh, with partners Sebastien G. Murat, Justin Wojczynski and Gemma Freeman, bred Hip 4228’s dam and sold her as a yearling for $50,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September Sale. He always wanted his filly back, which he was able to do for $1,000 privately. He was well rewarded Saturday afternoon.

“We sold from Book 1 all the way to Book 6, and we had really strong sales from start to finish. The market has been phenomenal. I don’t think any of us came here – with everything going on in the world, election year – expecting to break records. That says a lot about the industry, where we are today and the improvements we’ve made,” Keogh said.

Keeneland’s next sale will be the November Breeding Horse Sale, November 5-13, followed by the Keeneland All-Ages Sale on November 14.